Speedway: Bradley Wilson-Dean unbeaten as he retains national title

Bradley Wilson-Dean and the spoils of victory after retaining his New Zealand Solo Bike title in Christchurch. Photo / Paul Taylor

Taking his northern hemisphere successes into account it would have been an upset if Hawke's Bay solo bike rider Bradley Wilson-Dean had lost his national title in Christchurch at the weekend.

When Wilson-Dean, 23, helped his Swindon Robins team capture the British Elite League title in October be became the first Kiwi to win National League (with Eastbourne in 2015), Premier League (with Somerset in 2016) and Elite League titles in three consecutive seasons.

In other words, these feats made him the favourite for the 11-rider national championship at Moore Park.

But the Karamu High School product still had to deliver - and deliver he did.

With his father and fellow rider Darrin, mother Ngaire and English girlfriend Jess sitting together among the spectators for the first time, Wilson-Dean won all four of his races to retain his title by four points from Cantabrian Andrew Aldridge and Aucklander Ryan Terry-Daley.

"Those wins mean that in winning my two New Zealand senior titles, two New Zealand under-21 titles and the New Zealand Grand Prix I have been unbeaten in all of them. That's pretty special," Wilson-Dean said.

"But as good as going unbeaten was, the highlight for me was setting a new track record for a race of 1m 65s [for four laps] ... that was pretty cool.

"You've got to remember that track has been around for more than 70 years and world champions like Ivan Mauger and Ronnie Moore have raced on it," Wilson-Dean explained.

A third-generation racer who started out as a motocross rider and switched to speedway when he was 11, Wilson-Dean admitted he was disappointed with the turnout of riders at Moore Park.

"I thought there might have been a minimum of 16."

When asked if he may have scared off several starters, Wilson-Dean replied:

"I don't think so. I know of three or four riders who were missing for a variety of reasons like holidays or they are taking a break from racing.

"But it was still a quality field. Andrew [Aldridge] is a top rider from Christchurch who wins everything in the South Island and Ryan and I have raced against each other since we started. He races in England in the third division of the National League."

Wilson-Dean has yet to be beaten since returning home from Britain last month. In addition to the nationals he has done one meeting at Meeanee and one at Auckland's Rosebank Park.

He will attempt to retain his New Zealand Grand Prix title in Invercargill next month and during the same week will also tackle the Burt Munro Challenge event. More meetings in Auckland and at Meeanee will also be on his schedule before returning to Britain in March to begin a new division one contract with the Somerset Rebels team he raced for in 2016.

World champion Jason Doyle, two other Aussies, two British riders and a Danish rider will join Wilson-Dean on the Rebels roster.

"It's a pretty good team. Hopefully we can win the division one title," Wilson-Dean said.

In addition to his speedway commitments Wilson-Dean is getting plenty of mountainbiking, motocross and jetskiing in while back in the Bay.

"Those activities are a good way to keep my fitness up as well as catch up with mates and family. It's important I keep my fitness levels up before returning to the United Kingdom."

Wilson-Dean expressed his thanks to the numerous sponsors who assisted with his Christchurch expedition. Needless to say if he keeps recording results like he has recently he will have little difficulty securing sponsors for future assignments.