Speedway: Fifth time lucky for Bay rider

THE BEST: Hawke's Bay's Bradley Wilson-Dean after winning the New Zealand Solobike Championship at the weekend. PHOTO/KENNETH FOX

IT was Hawke's Bay solobike rider Bradley Wilson-Dean's third meeting after recovering from broken collarbone and broken thumb injuries.

But this didn't stop Wilson-Dean, 22, from winning the New Zealand championship with six wins from as many starts, including the winner-takes-all final at Oreti Park Speedway in Invercargill on Saturday.

"I was probably only 80 per cent and I was still hurting. But the title was the result of a lot of preparation. I had a lot of time on the bike and got something right," Wilson-Dean said, as he reflected on the 16-rider event in which Oreti's Grant Tregoning finished second and Canterbury's Dale Finch third.

"In saying that, I didn't get the rehearsal meeting I wanted in Invercargill before the nationals as my engines didn't turn up from England until two weeks before I travelled south. So I had one meeting in Auckland and another in Christchurch before arriving at Oreti Park."

One of Karamu High School product Wilson-Dean's heat wins came after a fall.

"I was going really well before the fall. The bike just lifted mid corner and I knew I was out of control and it was going to hit the fence so I just dropped it and got it to the ground. I managed to get back up, carry on and win the race, which was pretty hard case."

With the pick of the gates for the five-bike final, Wilson-Dean opted for the outside of the track and the decision paid off big time.

"I knew I had to get out of that start but there wasn't as much dirt on the outside as I'd anticipated. I heard Grant buzzing up on the inside of me at every corner on the opening lap. At the fourth corner I went really tight to block his run and make sure he knew that I knew he was there."

"It was pretty awesome to win the title because I've been trying for years. That was my fifth stab at it," Wilson-Dean said.

A two-time national under-21 champion, Wilson-Dean, finished second to 10-time national champion Jason Bunyan last year.

A New Zealand-based Englishman, Bunyan, has since retired according to former motocross rider Wilson-Dean, who switched to speedway as a 13-year-old.

The national title follows two recent major signings for Wilson-Dean.

When he returns to Britain on February 21 he will race in the Elite League for the Swindon Robins and the Premier League for the Peterborough Panthers.

A contract with a Denmark-based team is expected to be announced during the coming weeks.

"I'm going to be riding between four and seven days each week. I'm going to have to hire a fulltime mechanic for the year because I'm going to be pretty hard out."

Wilson-Dean's father Darrin Wilson, a veteran of 34 years in the class and a long-time rival of his son, admitted to having tears in his eyes as he watched Wilson-Dean collect his silverware.

"It was absolutely awesome. Brad's the first of three generations of riders in our family to win this title and because he is going to be racing against world class riders on a regular basis when he returns to Britain he is only going to get faster.

"Brad is going to be racing in two different countries five nights a week. All this has happened because we built the bullring out at Meeanee. That bullring gave Brad the opportunity to chase his dreams," Wilson, a former Swindon Robins junior rider, said.

Wilson-Dean's next meeting will be the New Zealand Grand Prix in Auckland on January 8.

"Hopefully we will get to race on the bullring out at Meeanee before I have to return to Britain," Wilson-Dean added.