LOVESPEEDWAY24 is delighted to announce an initiative to help prospective British junior riders, with the launch of our 2010 awareness scheme.

The scheme aims to get the sports youngsters as much media exposure as possible as they fulfil their speedway dreams, and kicks off with the season long promotion of Rye House Cobra’s rider Shane Hazelden.

Recently signed as a Lakeside asset, 16 year old Shane is competing in his first full season in the National league, riding at reserve for the Cobras. He will be keeping the Lovespeedway site up to date on his progress and the ins and outs of being a National league rider through a series of blogs and reports on the lovespeedway24 site.

The last few years have been a speedway baptism of fire for Shane as he fought back first from a broken thigh caused by a practise spill at Sittingbourne, followed by a badly broken ankle during an academy match at Foxhall in 2008.

Last season was a year of consolidation for Shane as he successfully regained his fitness, before ending the season with a short, but successful stint at reserve for the Newport Hornets.

Shane commented: “it’s brilliant that Lovespeedway24 has taken an interest in my career for this season. Speedway is an expensive sport so all exposure is really valuable and I hope to be able to keep the Lovespeedway24 readers up to date with how it goes this year riding for the Cobras”

Expense is the operative word in speedway for those at the beginning of their careers.

Shane’s mechanic and mentor, his father Garry who used to spanner for Arena Essex star Alan Mogridge knows this only too well.

“I spent over a week in the workshop rebuilding two blown engines prior to Shanes’ competitive debut for the Cobras against the touring American dream team, just to get him out on track” Garry said

“This is a fantastic offer from lovespeedway24. Speedway is a tough sport to both break into and to remain competitive in due to the costs involved. It isn’t just about the costs of the bikes, all the boys need track time, which also means a lot of travelling, so any extra help from anyone, no matter how small is always really appreciated.”

The awareness scheme was instigated with Mike Bacon of Lovespeedway24 and Lovespeedway 24 blogger and Lakeside Hammers marketing manager Ian Smalley who commented “I think this is a really fantastic initiative. It’s great that Lovespeedway 24 is spreading the word and raising the profile of up and coming riders.

When I first met Shane a few years ago he was hobbling around on crutches after he’d badly smashed his thigh, so I think his determination to get back to fitness twice, and get back up to race speed to follow his speedway dream is deserving of any extra awareness or sponsorship that I hope he gets.

Full information on Shane can be found on his website: http://www.shanehazelden.co.uk