Ben Barker (speedway rider)

Ben Barker
Born (1988-03-10) 10 March 1988 (age 36)
Truro, England
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
Great Britain
2003Trelawny Pitbulls
2003–2005Oxford Cheetahs
2004, 2008–2010Coventry Bees
2005Exeter Falcons
2006, 2020Somerset Rebels
2006–2008Stoke Potters
2011–2014Birmingham Brummies
2011–2012, 2014, 2022–2024Plymouth
2013, 2016, 2022–2023Ipswich Witches
2015Berwick Bandits
2015, 2019Peterborough Panthers
2016Glasgow Tigers
2017–2019Redcar Bears
2017Rye House Rockets
2019Scunthorpe Scorpions
2021Newcastle Diamonds
2021King's Lynn Stars
Poland
2021Wrocław
Team honours
2006Conference League Fours
2008Craven Shield winner

Benjamin John Barker (born 10 March 1988 in Truro, Cornwall)[1] is a British speedway rider.[2][3] Barker earned six international caps for the Great Britain national speedway team/[4]

Career summary

Barker riding for Oxford in 2004

Barker signed for Stoke Potters in December 2006 after impressing for the Stoke club's Conference League side, Stoke Spitfires, he was part of the Spitfires team that won the Conference League Four-Team Championship, held on 24 June 2006 at Loomer Road Stadium.[5][6] In October 2006, Barker finished in third place in the British Under-18 Championship.[7] In April 2007, a month after his 19th birthday, he reached the final of the British Under-21 Championship, finishing fourth.[8]

Barker represented Great Britain at Under-21 level,[9] at the 2006 Team Speedway Junior World Championship. He also competed in the 2007 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship finishing seventh in Qualifying Round B at Goričan on 12 May 2007, before going out of the competition on 17 June in Semi Final B at Daugavpils, where he finished 14th.

Barker returned to the Coventry Bees in the 2008 Elite League, after riding for the Coventry Cougars in the Conference Trophy during the 2004 season. In July 2008, he agreed a permanent move to the Bees as a full asset, and returned to them for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He continued to ride in the top two tiers of British speedway riding for various clubs.[2] In 2014 Barker rode for Plymouth Devils then in 2015 he signed for Berwick Bandits but a back injury at the British Final at Wolverhampton looked set to end his season but he returned to ride for Peterborough Panthers at the end of the 2015 season. In 2016 Ben signed for Glasgow Tigers in the Premier League.[10] He rode for Redcar Bears in 2018.[11] After ten years as a Coventry asset, Barker was awarded a testimonial meeting to be held at his current club Redcar on 23 March 2019.[12]

In 2022, he rode for the Ipswich in the SGB Premiership 2022 and for Plymouth in the SGB Championship 2022.[13] His 2022 season was curtailed after he failed a random drug test before a race meeting. Although the Speedway Control Bureau have not released the details, his club Plymouth stated that the test showed positive for a strong dosage of co-codamol and Zapain.[14][15] In 2023, he re-signed for Plymouth for the SGB Championship 2023 following his return after a suspension. He later re-signed for Ipswich as well.[16] His 2023 season culminated with a third place finish in the 2023 British Speedway Championship.[17]

He re-signed for the Plymouth Gladiators for the 2024 season.[18]

Major results

World Championships

References

  1. ^ Bamford, Robert (1 March 2007). Tempus Speedway Yearbook 2007. NPI Media Group. ISBN 978-0-7524-4250-1.
  2. ^ a b "Ben Barker". WWOS backup. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  3. ^ "2008 Rider index" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  4. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  5. ^ "2006 fixtures and results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Bens the boy for Stoke". British Speedway Promoters' Association. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
  7. ^ "Bridger's the boy". British Speedway Promoters' Association. 3 October 2006. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
  8. ^ "Kennett takes U21 crown". British Speedway Promoters' Association. 29 April 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
  9. ^ "Oakes names test match squad". British Speedway Promoters' Association. 14 February 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
  10. ^ "Double delight for Coventry Bees". BBC Sport. 24 December 2008. Archived from the original on 26 December 2008. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  11. ^ "Barker delighted to return to the Bears". Redcar Speedway. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  12. ^ "BEN BARKER TESTIMONIAL". FIM. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  13. ^ "British Speedway rider profile". British Speedway. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Back on Track". Speedway Star. 19 November 2022. p. 4.
  15. ^ "Witches star 'suspended' ahead of Ipswich's derby clash with Lynn". East Anglian Times. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  16. ^ "Barker back for Gladiators". British Speedway. Retrieved 11 December 2022.
  17. ^ "BIG RESULT FOR BEN". British Speedway. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Covatti in to complete Gladiators". British Speedway. Retrieved 15 December 2023.