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Edward Kennett
Born	28 August 1986 (age 38); Hastings, England
Nationality	British (English)
Career history
2001–2003	Rye House Raiders
2001	Mildenhall Fen Tigers
2002–2003, 2005–2006, 2014–2018	Rye House Rockets
2003–2004, 2006, 2008, 2019–	Eastbourne Eagles
2005, 2007, 2017	Poole Pirates
2009–2012	Coventry Bees
2013	Swindon Robins
2013	Berwick Bandits
2014	Birmingham Brummies
2015–2016	Lakeside Hammers
2019	Ipswich Witches
2022–	Plymouth Gladiators
Speedway Grand Prix statistics
Starts	3
Podiums	0 (0-0-0)
Finalist	0 times
Winner	0 times
Individual honours
2005, 2007	British Under 21 Champion
Team honours
2008	Elite League Knockout Cup
2005	Premier League Champion
2005	Premier Trophy Winner

Edward David Kennett (born 28 August 1986 in Hastings, England) is a motorcycle speedway rider.^[1] He was the British Under-21 Champion in 2005 and has appeared in two Speedway Grand Prix as a wild card.^[2]^[3]^[4] He has recently retired from the sport due to injury.

Family

Kennett's father Dave, was a motorcycle speedway rider who rode for the Eastbourne Eagles, Hackney Hawks, Newport Wasps and the White City Rebels. His uncle Gordon Kennett represented Great Britain, and rode for many clubs. Another uncle, Brian (Barney) Kennett, rode mainly in the British League Division Two/National League for the Canterbury Crusaders during the 1970s and 1980s.

Career

Kennett started his racing career in the Conference League with the Rye House Raiders in 2001. He had his first permanent team place with the Raiders in 2002. The same season he made his Premier League debut for the Rye House Rockets. In 2004, he joined his local club the Eastbourne Eagles in the Elite League. Kennett joined Valsarna speedway, his first team in Sweden 2004. He struggled in his first season and in 2005 he returned to Rye House Rockets in the Premier League.

The 2005 season saw Kennett become the British Under-21 Champion. He also qualified for the World Under-21 final where he finished in eighth place. The Rockets won the Premier League and the Premier Trophy. The Poole Pirates declared Eddie as their 'Number Eight' (first reserve) in the Elite League. He finished fifth in the British Speedway Championship Final and was also selected as a meeting reserve for the British Speedway Grand Prix held at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Kennett decided to stay with Rye House for the 2006 season ^[5] in the Premier League with promoter Len Silver who had signed his father for Hackney in 1971.^[6]

In 2007, Kennett chose to go back to the Elite League and signed for the Poole Pirates.^[7] He also finished fourth in the British Speedway Championship which ensured he would be a track reserve again for the British Speedway Grand Prix. In September 2007, Kennett was selected to represent Great Britain for the 2007 Under 21-World Cup Final.

Kennett returned to the Eastbourne Eagles in 2008 and won the Elite League Knockout Cup.^[8] He also finished as runner-up in the British Speedway Championship to Scott Nicholls and appeared in the British Grand Prix as a wild card.

He was signed by Coventry in 2010,^[9] but resigned from Coventry in 2011 because his silencer was deemed 'illegal' when racing against Lakeside on 6 August.^[10] Kennett said this was caused by 'a member of his team' who had 'tampered with it'. Kennett was banned from racing for 7 days by the SCB^[11] and appeared in front of a disciplinary hearing on 16 August where he received a 6-month worldwide ban.^[12]

In 2013 he signed for Premier League Berwick Bandits as a replacement for the injured Ricky Ashworth. He has also been named in the Team Great Britain world cup squad along with Chris Harris, Tai Woffinden and Craig Cook.

In 2022, he rode for the Plymouth Gladiators in the SGB Championship 2022.^[13]

Speedway Grand Prix results

2005 Speedway Grand Prix Final Championship standings
(Riding No 18)
Race no.	Grand Prix	Pos.	Pts.	Heats	Draw No
4 /9	British SGP	17	1	(0,1)	18

2006 Speedway Grand Prix Final Championship standings
(Riding No 17)
Race no.	Grand Prix	Pos.	Pts.	Heats	Draw No
4 /10	British SGP	17	-	-	17

2007 Speedway Grand Prix Final Championship standings
(Riding No 17)
Race no.	Grand Prix	Pos.	Pts.	Heats	Draw No
5 /11	British SGP	17	-	-	17

2008 Speedway Grand Prix Final Championship standings
(Riding No 16)
Race no.	Grand Prix	Pos.	Pts.	Heats	Draw No
5 /11	British SGP	13	4	(1,0,0,1,2)	9

	permanent speedway rider
	wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve
	rider not classified (track reserve who did not start)

World Final appearances

World U-21 Championship

2005 - AUT Wiener Neustadt - 8th - 4pts
2007 - POL Ostrów Wlkp. - 11th - 5pts

World Cup

2007 - 4th - 0pts

U-21 World Cup

2005 - 10th place (4 pts in Semi-Final A)

European Grasstrack Championship

2017 Hertingen (Third) 13pts

References

^ Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-81-6
^ "2008 Rider index" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
^ "Edward David Kennett". Grasstrack GB. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
^ Bamford, R.(2007). Speedway Yearbook 2007. Stroud: Tempus Publishing ISBN 978-0-7524-4250-1
^ Fenn, C.(2003). Hackney Speedway, Friday at Eight. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2737-7
^ Bamford, Robert (2008). Methanol Press Speedway Yearbook 2008. Methanol Press. ISBN 978-0-9553103-5-5.
^ "Eagles seal KO Cup shock". Skysports. 27 October 2008. Retrieved 28 October 2008.
^ "Coventry Bees net Edward Kennett & Christian Hefenbrock". BBC. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
^ "Coventry Bees skipper Edward Kennett resigns from club". BBC Sport. BBC. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
^ "Coventry Bees skipper Edward Kennett banned for a week". BBC Sport. BBC. 8 August 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
^ "Ex-Coventry captain Edward Kennett gets six-month ban". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 21 September 2011.
^ "British Speedway rider profile". British Speedway. Retrieved 1 October 2022.