Hammers complete their line-up

LAKESIDE Hammers are now in a position to announce the names of the riders who will represent the Essex based Club in the 2010 Sky Sports Elite League.

The Club had previously named two new signings in Polish star Krzysztof Kasprzak, and Swede Daniel Davidsson, the brother of Jonas Davidsson. Kasprzak comes on loan from Poole whereas Davidsson comes on a full contact.

In addition to these two riders the Club are now pleased to announce the return for the 2010 season of Hammers assets Jonas Davidsson from Sweden, Adam Shields from Australia, Kauko Nieminen from Finland and British rider Stuart Robson.

The final place in the septet goes to a former Hammer, Paul Hurry, who as a 16 year old started his career at the Arena-Essex Raceway.

The Club are also announcing their official No.8 to complete their squad. This position goes to Jerran Hart, who is already a Hammers full asset. 18 year old Hart will come into the side as and when required but will continue to gain experience by racing for Scunthorpe in the Premier League and Mildenhall in the National League.

The Hammers Team Manager and Co-Promoter Jon Cook is delighted with the 2010 Hammers squad and explaining the selections states: "Once we took the Cup win at the end of last season it was Stuart and my aim to keep the nucleus of that team together as we felt that we had a good thing developing and with another season together we could bring more silverware back to Essex.

“Once the points limit, surprisingly for us, was set at 40.95 and not 42 we planned to keep those riders who had the greatest potential improvement in their averages and to fill the gaps left with riders we know will slot into the team. Everyone of this year's team has at least half a point they can add to add to their average and some can improve by a lot more than that. The targets we have set them individually will guarantee us success if reached.

Jonas, Adam, Kauko and Robbo are all a pleasure to deal with and each of them genuinely enjoys riding at this Club. Adam even puts up with his dislike of our track to do so, and in Krzysztof we have possibly the very best rider around our Raceway back to lead the team, although both Jonas and Adam want his No.1 spot.

2Bringing Daniel to the Club was something we tried for last summer but in many ways we gain from the fact it didn't happen then as I am sure his average would have increased and may have counted him out this year. I don't expect him to get to the heights of his brother's form overnight but I believe we can work together to get him back to where he was in 2008 pretty quickly.

“Bringing Paul back to fill the No.7 berth is sure to raise a few eyebrows but it's a no brainer on our part. The only decision to make was whether Paul also doubled up and that's a major reason why we have waited until today to name the side. We had several offers for Paul to fill this role but the only rider we would have considered to share with Paul was Robert Mear and unfortunately he is without a Premier League ride and therefore he cannot double up. The nature of Speedway and its averages means that planning for the future at the cost of the present is not a good idea and this year's League at reserve is no place for riders to make a debut move into the Elite League thus Paul's experience will be absolutely crucial and if he is only half as effective for us as he was against us last year then we will be in for a great year.We will be purchasing his contract from the BSPA and Paul has set himself a target of being out of the reserve berth by the time the first averages come out ,which, judging by his current level of fitness, I think he has got a real chance of achieving.

“Having Jerran continue his Speedway education at No.8 is also a great bonus and when called upon I am sure he will prove a worthy member of the squad, such has been his improvement over the second half of last year.

“Our goal is clear this year and that is to finish in the top four. The winter changes mean that's all we need to achieve. Once there we have no points handicap to make up or defend and at that point there will be very few teams in the Elite League who will fancy their chances against us over two legs. The best team on paper for me is Poole, who benefit, quite rightly, from our points average system that helps the previous year's lower table teams, and I think that they are the team to judge us against. Over two legs I think a result would be too close to call and that is our plan, although getting into the top four is obviously the first task."

For full profiles of all of the Hammers 2010 squad please visit the Club's website.