Rory Schlein’s aiming to shine in British Final

Schlein, who now qualifies for the event despite his Australian background, will take his place at his former track Ipswich on Saturday September 26 (7.30pm).

He’ll be up against the likes of Danny King, the 2016 champion, but triple world champion Tai Woffinden will again sit out the event as he is currently living in Poland.

The meeting has been approved as a government pilot event to reintroduce spectators to sporting stadia and tickets are on sale now at speedwaygb.co.uk/ britishfinal and a sellout of the limited numbers is widely expected, particularly as it won’t be on TV.

Eurosport’s new five year deal with the sport has been put back a year to 2021 following the scrapping of the entire 2020 league season.

Schlein said: “It’s a massive meeting but my preparation won’t be ideal. My fitness level won’t be where it needs to be, I’ve had no track time, I’m not race fit, but whatever, let’s go racing!

“I’d be delighted to see some Wolverhampton supports across there to support me, of course.

“It’s great for the sport to have this pilot event to prove we can safely bring crowds back to the sport and there will be no problems for next season.”

British Speedway chairman Rob Godfrey said: “We see this as a vital part of the restart for British Speedway and we must ensure it is a safe and successful event for the supporters.

“It took a lot of hard work by representatives of the sport to get government recognition and this is something we should all feel proud of.

“I’m looking forward to the event and it’s so good to see clubs up and down the country making every effort to stage racing. We’ve all missed it.”