Broadwater speedway demon aged nine
AT barely more than a metre tall, Harry Mason is already taking on the big boys on the racing track.
The nine-year-old, who rides on his own specially-made 125 CC motorbike, is quickly establishing himself as a hot prospect in the world of speedway.
Harry, from Congreve Road, Broadwater, was recently talent-spotted for the prestigious position of mascot for the Elite League Speedway team, the Lakeside Hammers, after he impressed one of the team’s racers at a racing training day attended by adults.
Dad Gary Mason said his son loves speedway, including the mechanics of the sport.
Gary, 33, said: “He loves speedway. It’s all he talks about from the moment he gets up to when he goes to bed.
“He was spotted by Paul Hurry at a training day, and he thinks he’s really good and has got what it takes to go all the way – he just needs to keep practising.”
Because Harry is still too small for a full-size bike, Gary had to specially make one for him by reducing the size of the parts with the help of a welder.
But despite its reduce size, the bike still reaches impressive speeds of up to 60 miles per hour.
But if those speeds might sound scary to many adults, they are all in a day’s work for the Downsbrook Middle School pupil, who has been riding speedway bikes for more than a year and has been riding quadbikes and motorbikes since he was five.
Gary added: “When I was younger I used to ride bikes on the field at my mum’s farm, and since he was young he’s been doing the same.”
At the moment Harry is not competing, but Gary said they were thinking about entering him into the British Championship next year, which racers as young as eight can enter.
And if Harry’s future as a racer is already shaping up to be a promising one, he is not the only one in the family.
His younger brother, Finley, five, has just started riding motorbikes and, according to Gary, is just as keen as his brother to compete in the sport.
“He already loves it,” added Gary.
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Monday 28 May 2012
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