AUCKLAND - Tony Nagel is being tipped as the man to beat at the opening round of the international speedway motorcycle series at Waikaraka Park tonight.
The solos make their return to the track after several years to start a tour which features six internationals, including Tony Briggs, the 26-year-old son
of motorbike icon Barry Briggs.
But Nagel, having finally won the North Island title last week after 12 years of trying, is the man of the moment.
A regular rider at the track during the early 1990s, Nagel was seldom beaten despite the oval being much larger than his home-town speedway at Stratford.
He will be well tested though, with Briggs accompanied for the international tour by eight-times Finnish champion Petri Kokko, German long-track champion Stefan Bachhuber and Slovenian national champion Matej Ferjan, all of whom are contracted to the British premier league.
The sixth rider of the night is 19-year-old Finn Juha Makela, who has had a meteoric rise to stardom as under-21, pairs and national teams champion in his homeland.
Sixteen-year-old Englishman Andy Appleton will take up the first reserve spot in the line-up. Six points races will decide an individual champion for each night of the 12-round series now into its third year under organisers John McCallum and Jimmy Wells.
The internationals have the advantage of riding virtually all year round, including Briggs, who last rode in New Zealand 10 years ago, but Nagel can boast that he is in his best form ever and his familiarity with the big Auckland track means he has a definite home-town edge.
