ØSTERGAARD, Ulrich Reinhold
DATE OF BIRTH: 19 April 1981, Odense, Denmark.
BRITISH CAREER: (2003) Eastbourne; (2004) Eastbourne, Isle of Wight; (2005) Isle of Wight, Eastbourne, Swindon; (2006) Peterborough; (2007) Birmingham, Peterborough, Workington; (2008) Reading; (2009) Belle Vue; (2010) Peterborough, Belle Vue.
CLUB HONOUR: League Championship winner: 2006 [Peterborough].
2010 STARTING AVERAGE: 4.46 (EL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: Østergaard first began riding on 50cc machines in 1992, before progressing on to 80cc engines in 1996 and the full-blown 500cc steeds in 1999. He initially appeared on these shores with Eastbourne in 2003, when he was limited to just nine appearances in the British League Cup competition. In 2004, he began the season with the Eagles, before dropping into the Premier League with the Isle of Wight in mid-June. Despite the switch, the hard-charging Dane did continue his association with Eastbourne in a ‘doubling-up’ capacity.

The 2005 campaign saw Østergaard remain with the Islanders and he significantly increased his Premier League average to well over 8 points per match. He was also again part of Eastbourne’s back-up squad, but rode in only two official matches for the Eagles, before a September move took him to Swindon for several late-season appearances.

In 2006, the Odense-born speedster joined Peterborough and was part of the side that clinched the Elite League Championship after winning the Play-Off final in such dramatic fashion against Reading. The Panthers held on to Østergaard in a No. 8 capacity in 2007, allowing the Dane to join Birmingham in the Premier League, as the West Midlands side embarked on their first season of racing since 1986. He did well for the Brummies, too, posting a real-time average of 8.80 from twenty-seven matches.

However, the Dane was sensationally axed from the side in early August after a conflict of interests had seen him reluctant to commit himself to the club due to being nominated for a reserve position in a European Championship round in his homeland. He subsequently joined Workington as a replacement for the injured Carl Stonehewer and did well in a late-season stint to record 121 points from a dozen meetings for an average of 8.83.

Østergaard enjoyed a fabulous season with Reading in 2008, ending the campaign with a 10.29 average from forty official meetings in what proved to be the Racers’ final term of racing at Smallmead Stadium. The Dane returned to the Elite League with Belle Vue in 2009 and was hitting his best form when he sustained a broken right kneecap and severe ligament damage during the Aces’ Knock-Out Cup tie at Coventry on 21 August.

That occurred in heat ten of the meeting when, in mid-race, he hit the safety fence on the home straight. In October, he came through a meeting in Denmark without any ill-effects and declared himself 100 per cent fit for Belle Vue’s crucial Relegation Play-Offs, which ultimately saw them defeat Edinburgh to maintain their top-flight status.

With no takers during the close season, the popular rider appeared lost to the British scene, but he was re-signed by Peterborough after appearing in the club’s 40th Anniversary meeting at the East of England Showground on 15 March. This came after Pole Karol Ząbik had been ruled out of the Panthers’ squad on medical advice just days before tapes-up on the campaign.

Østergaard’s resumption at the club was to be short-lived, however, as he was released in May, when Aleš Dryml was revealed as his replacement. The Dane made a return to the Elite League late the following month, though, when he re-joined Belle Vue for a second spell as a replacement for Tobias Kroner. And the Dane showed great form on his return to the Aces’ pack, notching some eye-catching hauls such as 10+2 points versus Poole in a Knock-Out Cup tie at Kirkmanshulme Lane on 5 July, and 15 points from a league encounter at Lakeside eleven days later.

However, his season ended abruptly during a league fixture at Coventry on 30 August, when an horrific heat four, first bend smash left the popular Dane with a double leg fracture. The accident also saw team-mate Peter Karlsson sustain a shoulder injury, whilst Bees’ captain Chris Harris – who was also involved – was able to continue in the meeting.

Just after the season’s conclusion there came news that Østergaard had suffered a setback in his bid to be fit for the 2011 season; the rider having been told that he required further surgery to repair damage to his anterior cruciate ligament, which would take place after the pins had been removed from the fractures.

OWEN, Marc
DATE OF BIRTH: 20 August 1994, Haywards Heath, Sussex.
BRITISH CAREER: (2009) Newport II; (2010) Rye House II.
2010 STARTING AVERAGE: 3.00 (NL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: The teenage whiz-kid attracted considerable attention from a whole host of clubs but, having turned fifteen years-of-age, he chose to join Newport’s National League side, the Hornets, in August 2009. Owen had made a guest appearance for the Isle of Wight in the No. 8 position in a home National Trophy match against Mildenhall on his fifteenth birthday, scoring 2 points from a solitary outing; this being his comeback meeting after breaking a wrist. Afterwards, he reported that the wrist was fine and accepted Newport’s offer, joining the club as a replacement for Todd Kurtz.

In December, Rye House named Owen – a former Hoddesdon second-halfer – in the starting line-up of their National League side for 2010. A key factor in the youngster’s decision to sign for the Cobras was the availability of several experienced tutors at the Hertfordshire raceway, not least Alan Mogridge and former World Champion Michael Lee.

The Haywards Heath-born rider had a short spell out of action after crashing in heat twelve of Rye House’s Knock-Out Cup quarter-final tie at home to Buxton on 29 May. The race had seen him handed the responsibility of a double-points outing but, having missed the gate, he attempted to get back on terms with a big outside blast on the fourth bend. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in coming a cropper with a dramatic somersault that damaged his shoulder.

Owen was subsequently able to return to action wearing a special shoulder support and any concerns about how this might affect his form were swiftly answered, as he dropped just 1-point in six starts en route to a monster paid 17-point tally in a league fixture at Weymouth on 11 June. The performance was marred slightly, though, as he re-aggravated his shoulder injury late on in the meeting. Following another short spell of recuperation, he again demonstrated sensational form in a league match at Plymouth on 25 June when – still nearly two months shy of his 16th birthday – he made the transition from reserve to the main body of the team a seamless one with three wins and a top-scoring 13 points.

The rider from Haywards Heath was unfortunately in the wars again whilst representing the Cobras in a National League encounter at Scunthorpe on 4 July. A serious crash in heat seven saw him collected by home rider Benji Compton after the Saint had inadvertently clipped the kerb. That meant a trip to hospital where X-rays revealed a clean break to Owen’s collarbone, which necessitated a period of recovery on the sidelines. Just eight days after the accident, it was reported that the youngster was progressing much better than expected. Remarkably, he was said to be able to conduct normal affairs without having his arm in a sling and, although it was said that his resumption in the Rye House team would be sooner rather than later, this was subsequently revised and put on hold.

While he recuperated, Owen celebrated his sixteenth birthday in style by signing a full contract for Lakeside prior to the Hammers’ home league encounter with Wolverhampton. He had been a regular at the Arena-Essex Raceway practising before meetings and it was regarded a real coup for Lakeside to have gained the signature of one of the most promising British youngsters around at the time. And, he returned to the saddle with the Cobras shortly after, on 28 August, in a National League fixture versus Scunthorpe at Hoddesdon.

His return to the track proved short-lived as, on 11 September, the legacy of a frightening heat fourteen spill in a home league match against Newport was a broken ankle. This occurred when he tangled with Hornets’ James White-Williams and the pair headed through Hoddesdon’s first bend safety fence at high speed.