FELTON, Dean Graham
DATE OF BIRTH: 18 August 1969, Wolverhampton, West Midlands.
BRITISH CAREER: (1994) Buxton, Oxford, Ipswich; (1995-96) Buxton; (1997) Buxton, Stoke, Edinburgh, Skegness, Long Eaton, Shuttle Cubs; (1998) Stoke; (1999) Berwick, Glasgow; (2000) Buxton, Berwick; (2001) Stoke, Buxton; (2002-03) Carmarthen; (2004) Carmarthen, King’s Lynn II; (2005) Buxton; (2006-08) Sittingbourne; (2009) Mildenhall, Isle of Wight; (2010) Isle of Wight; (2011) Buxton.
RIDER LINKS: Nephew of Dave Harvey (born: 13 October 1950, Birmingham, West Midlands).
2011 STARTING AVERAGE: 5.01 (NL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: Felton first rode in the Reserve League for his hometown track, Wolverhampton, in 1993. He is a vastly experienced competitor, particularly in British speedway’s third tier of operations. Although linked with Buxton more than anyone else, the West Midlander has also ridden for a variety of clubs on his way to being the highest all-time appearance-maker at Conference/National League level, with well over 200 matches under his belt.

In 2009, he joined Mildenhall after being identified with Sittingbourne for the previous three seasons, but lost his place in the Fen Tigers’ line-up towards the end of August, when Taylor Poole was drafted into the side. Almost immediately, though, Felton was signed by the Isle of Wight following the injuries suffered by Brendan Johnson in a frightening track crash at Smallbrook Stadium.

In January, the Islanders’ management announced that the veteran campaigner would again be a member of their 2010 line-up. He was in the wars shortly after the start of the season, however, when Newport’s Tom Young collected him in heat eight of the Isle of Wight’s visit to Queensway Meadows for a National League fixture on 24 April.

The accident saw Felton go head first into the air safety barrier and he was fortunate to escape with only facial injuries and a knock to an elbow. Then, on 4 May, the Wolverhampton-born rider crashed on the first lap of heat ten as the Islanders entertained Weymouth in a Knock-Out Cup tie, sustaining further damage to the elbow he had injured at Newport. Subsequent X-rays, taken at his local hospital, revealed that he hadn’t suffered any broken bones, although there was some muscle/ligament damage.

He quickly returned to action and went on to make twenty-seven appearances for the club – missing only one official meeting all season – from which he yielded 149 points and a 6.20 average. And the popular rider who had never let anyone down was desperate to further elongate his career in 2011 although, initially, there appeared to be no takers for his services.

However, continuing shoulder injury problems meant that Jonathan Bethell reluctantly had to drop out of Buxton’s team planning on the eve of the campaign and this paved the way for Felton’s return to the Hitmen’s line-up once again.

† FERJAN, Matej
DATE OF BIRTH: 5 January 1977, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
BRITISH CAREER: (1998) Belle Vue; (1999) Poole; (2000) Ipswich; (2001) Peterborough, Belle Vue; (2002) Belle Vue; (2003) Oxford; (2004-05) Poole; (2011) Newcastle.
MAJOR HONOURS: Slovenian Champion: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001; Continental Champion: 2000; Hungarian Champion: 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
CLUB HONOURS: League Championship winner: 2004 [Poole]; Knock-Out Cup winner: 2004 [Poole].
RIDER LINKS: Son of Vili Ferjan.
2011 STARTING AVERAGE: 7.00 (PL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: Ferjan's father, Vili, was a speedway competitor from 1973 to 1976. Matej subsequently took his initial practice skids in August 1994, prior to first riding officially the following year. He made his debut on the UK scene with Belle Vue in 1998 - making only a handful of appearances for the Aces - before linking with Poole in 1999.

He was to attain a 6-point average with the Pirates and replicated that figure the following term in the colours of Ipswich. Ferjan enjoyed only a brief spell with Peterborough in 2001, before re-joining his parent club, Belle Vue, and again registering a 6-point average over the remainder of the season.

Ferjan was again identified with Belle Vue in 2002, but his average slumped by one-and-a-half points per meeting in what was a curtailed stint for the Manchester club. In 2003, he rode on an Australian licence after a dispute with the Slovenian powers-that-be, but later switched to a Hungarian licence. And, having previously taken the Slovenian Championship on five successive occasions, he won the Hungarian title for the first time.

The year also saw him ride briefly for Oxford and he was able to increase his average back over the 5-point mark with the Silver Machine outfit. In 2004, he signed for Premier League Newcastle to fill the No. 1 berth, but a miscalculation in his starting average was to prevent him from riding for the Diamonds.

The BSPA ruled that the rider's average from 2001 with Belle Vue, 6.26, had to be applied and, when doubled, that equated to an ineligible 12.52 figure. Newcastle had been working on an EL average of 5.79 which, although it would have given Ferjan a high starting figure of 11.58, would have been acceptable.
Eventually, he did return to the UK in June that year, when both he and Krzysztof Kasprzak were introduced to the Poole side, the move representing Ferjan's second spell with the Dorset team. He went on to post an Elite League best average in excess of 7 points per match as the Pirates claimed a brilliant Elite League and Knock-Out Cup double.

His average slipped back a point with Poole in 2005, doubtless caused by the fact that he was kept extremely busy by also competing in league racing in Germany, Sweden, Poland, Italy and Hungary. Although he played his part as the Pirates won through the semi-final stage of the Craven Shield, he refused to race in the final after claiming he was suffering from exhaustion as the Pirates were beaten into third place by victors Oxford and runners-up Eastbourne.

That looked like being the end of his British career but, following Newcastle's home league match against Leicester on 17 April 2011, it was announced that the Diamonds had signed the Ljubljana-born rider as a replacement for the injured René Bach. So the Geordie club had finally landed the top European star some seven years after they had initially hoped to see him in their colours!

Tragically, on 22 May, the 34-year-old Slovenian was reportedly discovered dead in his van at the apartment block where he lived in Gorzów, Poland. After being made aware of the sad news, his British club issued the following statement: ‘Everyone at Newcastle Speedway is shocked at this tragic news and we are struggling to understand the nature of what is being reported in the Polish media.

‘The official cause of death is, as yet, unknown and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment on the rumours or speculation at this time. Since joining the Newcastle Sapphire Engineering Diamonds, Matej was jovial and seemingly happy, which makes this even harder to comprehend. Newcastle Speedway sends its sincerest condolences to Matej's family and friends at this extremely difficult and tragic time.'

Ferjan had made five appearances for the Diamonds and had really shown his capabilities in what turned out to be his final meeting for the club on 15 May, when he tallied 11+1 points from five rides in a Knock-Out Cup tie against Rye House at Brough Park and helped the Geordie team to an aggregate success over the Rockets.

That outing for Newcastle was also the 948th career appearance and last of this truly globetrotting star, who had been due to represent Rzeszów in a Polish Ekstrliga fixture against Tarnów just hours after he had been found slumped in his vehicle.

FIM Speedway Grand Prix Record:
Grand Prix ridden: 17 – 45th on SGP all-time list
Grand Prix points: 46 – 59th on SGP all-time list
Grand Prix races: 52 – 53rd on SGP all-time list
Grand Prix race wins: 6 – 57th on SGP all-time list
Grand Prix wins: 0 – n/a
Grand Prix finals: 0 – n/a

FIM Speedway World Cup Record:
SWC tournaments: 2 (1 Slovenia 2001, 1 Hungary 2008)
Events: 2 – 7th on Slovenia’s list, 8th on Hungary’s list; 109th on SWC all-time list
Points: 12 – 5th on Slovenia’s list (3), 3rd on Hungary’s list (9); 93rd on SWC all-time list
Finals: 0
Gold medals: 0

FISHER, Ryan Scott
DATE OF BIRTH: 7 September 1983, Riverside, California, USA.
BRITISH CAREER: (2002-03) Coventry; (2004) Oxford; (2007) Belle Vue; (2008) Edinburgh; (2009) Edinburgh, Swindon; (2010) Edinburgh; (2011) Coventry.
CLUB HONOURS: Premier Trophy winner: 2008 [Edinburgh]; League Championship winner: 2008, 2010 [both Edinburgh]; Play-Off winner: 2008, 2009 [both Edinburgh].
RIDER LINKS: Son-in-law of Gene Woods (born: 27 March 1958, Long Beach, California, USA).
2011 STARTING AVERAGE: 5.81 (EL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: The uncle of Fisher’s wife, Daelyn, is former rider Rick Woods (born: 11 June 1948, Newport Beach, California, USA). In another speedway tie-up, her step-father is Mike Faria (born: 4 March 1957, Richmond, California, USA) who, like Fisher, served Edinburgh with distinction during his time in the UK.

The hugely talented American rider began his British career at Coventry in 2002 and was to spend two terms with the Brandon-based club, before a switch to Oxford in 2004. Following that, he didn’t return to these shores until 2007, when he linked with Belle Vue for what turned into a frustrating spell for both rider and club, being eventually dropped in June and subsequently replaced by Billy Forsberg.

The Californian was offered a lifeline by Premier League Edinburgh in 2008 and he grabbed it with both hands to play a leading role in the Monarchs’ League Championship and Premier Trophy double success. His tenacious and energetic brand of racing guaranteed ‘Fish’ a return to Edinburgh in 2009, when he also joined Swindon as a ‘doubling-up’ rider alongside Cory Gathercole and, in the latter part of the campaign, Mark Lemon.

Such was his form with the Robins that he did consider a switch back into the top-flight for 2010; however, in November, the Scottish outfit was delighted to announce that the remarkable, up and at ‘em American, who possesses the ultimate in determination, had agreed terms for a third successive season in their distinctive colours.

He was to power the Monarchs to their second League Championship success in three years, courtesy of an average that hovered around 10 points per match throughout the entire campaign. Indeed, it was his race win in heat thirteen of Edinburgh’s away match at Stoke on 4 September that clinched the league title.

Although Edinburgh finally ran out of steam, losing in the Play-Off semi-final to Sheffield and the Knock-Out Cup final to Newcastle, Fisher still managed to end the season at the pinnacle of the entire Premier League’s statistical run-down, marginally ahead of the Diamonds’ top gun Kenni Larsen, who averaged exactly 10.00; the Californian’s final figure being 10.01, courtesy of 495 points from forty-three official matches.

Fisher was rightly described as one of the greatest-ever Monarchs in his 3-season spell with the club, but had expressed his wish to go Elite League. ‘Doubling-up’ remained a possibility, but with no Elite berth organised as the close season wore on, the club decided that they needed to go in a different direction and when they announced the signing of Craig Cook on 17 December, it meant the American wouldn’t be back with them in 2011.

It looked certain then that Fisher would return to his parent club, Coventry, but it appeared the Bees’ wouldn’t come to the starting tapes following a winter-long dispute with the BSPA. As such, the American was initially left without a club after staying loyal to the Brandon-based outfit and turning down a team place at Birmingham.

He still made the journey over to the UK in the hope of landing a place somewhere and certainly made a case for himself by appearing in Newport’s season-opening Prince Of Wales Trophy on 19 March, when he joint top-scored with 12 points prior to winning the final ahead of Niels-Kristain Iversen, Leigh Lanham and Daniel Nermark. Thankfully, matters were subsequently resolved between Coventry and the BSPA, with Fisher able to take his place in their line-up.

The American was to average around 6.5 points a match over the first half of the Elite League campaign and, on 26 June, he again showed a liking for the Newport circuit by taking victory in the Welsh Open Championship, defeating the previously unbeaten Kevin Doolan, plus Ilya Bondarenko and Sam Masters in the all-important final.

Fisher took over as the Bees’ skipper in August, following an SCB decision to charge Edward Kennett with non-compliance of the 2011 Speedway Regulations and suspended him for a period of 7 days after his silencer was found to have been tampered with and therefore used illegally in an away match at Lakeside.

FIM Speedway World Cup Record:      
SWC tournaments: 2
Events: 3 – 7th on USA’s list; 86th on SWC all-time list
Points: 20 – 7th on USA’s list; 78th on SWC all-time list
Finals: 0
Gold medals: 0

FRAMPTON, Jordan John
DATE OF BIRTH: 8 March 1985, Poole, Dorset.
BRITISH CAREER: (2004) Swindon II, King’s Lynn II, Sheffield II; (2005) Sittingbourne; (2006) Plymouth, Mildenhall, Weymouth II; (2007) Somerset, Oxford II; (2008) Somerset, Poole; (2009) Newport, Coventry; (2010) Rye House, Swindon; (2011) Rye House, Belle Vue.
CLUB HONOUR: Knock-Out Cup winner: 2008 [Somerset]
2011 STARTING AVERAGE: 7.71 (PL), 4.63 (EL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: Since initially representing Swindon Sprockets at Conference-level in 2004, the talented youngster made solid progress in the ensuing seasons and established himself as a consistent performer in Premier League circles.

He assumed a ‘doubling-up’ position with Coventry in 2009 and, at the beginning of May, the club announced that they had completed the signing of Frampton as a full asset after a series of eye-catching early displays in the Elite League. The Poole-born rider was purchased from the former Somerset promotion and continued to race for Premier League Newport, whilst also ‘doubling-up’ with the Bees.

However, following Coventry’s decision to sign Scott Nicholls as an interim replacement for the injured Olly Allen and negotiations with the BSPA over the re-declaration of their team line-up, the Bees agreed that Frampton would stand down from the side until Allen was fit to return to the saddle.

His place in the squad was therefore filled in the interim period by Robert Ksiezak. When Allen was fit to resume in the Coventry side in July, this saw the release of Nicholls and meant that Frampton was permitted to return to his ‘doubling-up’ role alongside Josh Auty.

Unluckily, the rider from Dorset crashed in his first ride (heat three) for the Bees at Wolverhampton in an Elite League fixture on 20 July, sustaining a broken scaphoid and medial bone in his wrist. As a result, Coventry temporarily dispensed with using the ‘doubling-up’ facility and this meant an extended run in the side for Filip Šitera, who had previously been covering for the injured Ben Barker. Both Frampton and Auty were recalled to the ‘doubling-up’ position with Coventry at the end of August, though, upon the release of Šitera.

Frampton went on to complete fifty-seven official meetings between his two clubs, representing Newport thirty-seven times and scoring 305 points for a real-time 7.36 average. For the Bees, meanwhile, he made twenty appearances and yielded 91 points for a 4.72 average.

Just after the calendar had clicked into January, Rye House announced that they had acquired Frampton’s services on loan for 2010 and, shortly afterwards, Swindon unveiled him as their second ‘doubling-up’ rider, alongside Cory Gathercole.

He was to produce great form for the Rockets, which saw him maintain an average of over 8.5 points per match before an injury stopped him in his tracks. This occurred when the Hoddesdon-based club visited Berwick for a league match on 31 July when, in heat thirteen, Frampton took a heavy tumble after being involved in a collision with team-mate Linus Sundström.

There was bad news for Rye House the following morning when the extent of his injury was partially revealed; the 25-year-old was diagnosed with a dislocated left knee cap. Regrettably, the rider was to learn from subsequent hospital X-rays that he had also fractured the knee cap, which meant a prolonged spell out of action for the 2010 British finalist.

Frampton was given the all-clear by his doctor on 6 September and participated in a ‘closed doors’ practice session two days later. That delivered a positive outcome as he came through the session with flying colours and, although not surprisingly a little off full match fitness, reported no side effects to his injury after a gruelling one hour-plus trial.

In the final reckoning for the season, he had a solid 8.26 average to his name for the Rockets after weighing in with 331 points from thirty-eight meetings, statistics that would have been higher but for the knee injury that saw him sidelined for seven weeks. For Swindon, he made half-a-dozen appearances, which yielded just 9 points and a 2.00 average.

On 22 November, following the conclusion of the BSPA AGM, Rye House named their entire team for the 2011 campaign and, with Linus Sundström departing for Elite League pastures, Frampton was given the nod to take on the starting No. 1 mantle for his second season at Hoddesdon. And, on 19 February, he was named by Belle Vue as a ‘doubling-up’ rider alongside Charlie Gjedde.

But, before turning a wheel for the Aces, the Manchester club announced on 24 March that they had made an amendment to their ‘doubling-up’ department, with Newcastle’s Mark Lemon replacing Frampton. This came about because Aces’ Polish recruit Tomasz Piszcz had his starting average re-assessed at 3.49, giving the team an extra 1.4 points and, with that in mind, the club moved to make last minute changes.

However, when Piszcz quit Belle Vue after half-a-dozen leagues matches and was replaced by Dawid Stachyra, it meant a recall for Frampton in place of Lemon in a ‘doubling-up’ capacity alongside Gjedde. Meanwhile, at PL level, he was to average over 8.5 points a match for Rye House over the first sector of the campaign until coming a cropper in the original running of heat seven in a domestic fixture at Berwick on 2 July.

Thankfully, though, hospital X-rays fortunately confirmed no breakages to either his shoulder or collarbone. The Rockets’ No. 1 did, however, suffer soft tissue damage and underwent physiotherapy to squeeze out the bruising and prevent his shoulder muscles from stiffening up in a racing situation.  

FRANC, Josef (Pepe)
DATE OF BIRTH: 18 January 1979, Caslav, Czech Republic.
BRITISH CAREER: (2001) Berwick; (2003-04) Berwick; (2005-08) Newcastle; (2009) Berwick; (2010) Sheffield; (2011) Berwick.
MAJOR HONOURS: Czech Republic Under-21 Champion: 1998, 1999, 2000.
2011 STARTING AVERAGE: 6.81 (PL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: Franc first rode at the famous Marketa Stadium in Prague – home of the Czech Republic Grand Prix – in 1994, when aged fifteen. Prior to journeying to the UK, he brilliantly posted three successive wins in his country’s Under-21 Championship, taking victory in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

He was signed by Berwick in 2001 and his cheerful demeanour made him an instant hit with the Bandits’ supporters. The Czech star didn’t reappear on these shores the following year, but resumed with the Borders club for a two-year stint starting in 2003.

He travelled down the A1 to link with Newcastle in 2005 and enjoyed four seasons with the Geordies, with whom he was renowned for his electric starts and prolific scoring ability. In a move that was very well received by the fans, the small-in-stature rider made a return to the ranks at Berwick in 2009 and again held down a heat-leader berth as he continued his long-term association with the North-East.

Capped by his country on a number of occasions since making his international debut in 2003, ‘Pepe’ was a member of the Czech team that contested Event One of the Speedway World Cup at Vojens, Denmark, on 11 July 2009.

Franc joined Sheffield in a loan deal from Berwick for the 2010 campaign but, after making a promising start in their colours, he had to withdraw from the Tigers’ league meeting at Somerset on 14 May. This came after he had been forced off his machine by Rebels’ star Cory Gathercole in heat seven.

As the tapes rose on the race, the fast-gating Czech led from the home side’s Aussie duo of James Holder and Gathercole. The latter closed on Franc and challenged on the fourth turn but, as he delivered what appeared to be a telling pass, he caught some grip and his bike straightened, clipping the Sheffield rider’s steed in the process.

As a result, the diminutive racer took an almighty tumble into the safety fence and was down for some time. Despite sustaining ligament and muscle damage to his left arm, he rode on in the Tigers’ next couple of matches at Rye House the following day and at home to Berwick on 20 May. But he came a cropper again in heat nine of the latter meeting, aggravating the damage to his arm. This led to a spell on the sidelines, before he was declared fit to return a little under a month later.

On 23 July, Franc was a surprise winner of the prestigious Scottish Open Championship at Edinburgh – after only been invited to participate on the day before the meeting! The diminutive rider finished well clear in the grand final, having picked up his gating later in the meeting after starting off with three third places. The Czech was joined on the rostrum by runner-up Olly Allen, with Andrew Tully the best home rider in third spot.

That was undoubtedly the highlight of his campaign, but a low point occurred when he missed Sheffield’s Premier League Play-Off semi-final against Edinburgh at Owlerton on 30 September after a clash of fixtures in the Czech Republic.

Having been deemed to be withholding his services, he received the statutory 28-day ban. With his season at a premature end, he had a real-time average of 7.29 to his name courtesy of 237 points from thirty-one appearances for the South Yorkshire outfit.

There was great news for Berwick supporters on 24 November, when the club revealed that Franc was returning to them for the 2011 season, having taken his British bow with the Borders outfit ten years previously in 2001.

FIM Speedway Grand Prix Record:
Grand Prix ridden: 2 – 94th on SGP all-time list
Grand Prix points: 4 – 108th on SGP all-time list
Grand Prix races: 4 – 114th on SGP all-time list
Grand Prix race wins: 0 – n/a
Grand Prix wins: 0 – n/a      
Grand Prix finals: 0 – n/a

FIM Speedway World Cup Record:
SWC: 4
Events: 5 – 5th on Czech Republic’s list; 56th on SWC all-time list
Points: 11 – 8th on Czech Republic’s list; 96th on SWC all-time list
Finals: 0
Gold medals: 0

FRANCHETTI, Guglielmo (Gino)
DATE OF BIRTH: 5 October 1985, Terenzano, Italy.
BRITISH CAREER: (2008-09) Berwick; (2011) Plymouth.
MAJOR HONOUR: Italian Champion: 2009.
2011 STARTING AVERAGE: 3.74 (PL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: Prior to appearing in British speedway, Franchetti represented his country in the Speedway World Cup qualifying rounds of both 2006 and 2007. He was subsequently signed by then-Berwick promoter Peter Waite for the start of the 2008 campaign. However, after colliding with team-mate Adrian Rymel, the Italian sustained a broken collarbone on the first corner of heat one in Berwick’s Premier Trophy match at Edinburgh on 21 March.

Unluckily, ‘Gino’ re-broke the collarbone on his return to action, ironically again at Edinburgh, in a Knock-Out Cup fixture a little over a month later on 25 April. That occurred in heat fourteen, when Monarchs’ guest Lee Dicken spun on the first corner of heat fourteen, collecting the unlucky Franchetti as he fell.

Despite his injury problems, he went on to make twenty-one official appearances for the club and his thrilling style made him popular with the Bandits’ supporters.

The year also saw him drafted into the Italian Grand Prix as the wildcard rider at Santa Marina Stadium, Lonigo, on 27 September. Although he failed to score in a meeting that was won by Denmark’s Hans Andersen, clearly the experience of competing against the cream of the world’s riders was invaluable.

Franchetti again lined-up with Berwick in 2009, but was sidelined for a spell after sustaining burns to his left arm in a frightening heat fourteen crash with Newcastle’s Adam McKinna in a Premier League fixture at Brough Park on 12 July.

Prior to the injury, he had again ridden for Italy in the World Cup qualifying event. Mega-popular with the Bandits’ supporters, Franchetti went on to seal his first Italian Championship success at Lonigo on 10 October, finishing on top of the pile with 111 points from the five-round series.

He was unable to claim a UK berth in 2010 but returned to Blighty on 16 July 2011, when he was drafted into the Plymouth side as a replacement for Jaimie Pickard.  

FRANKLIN, Richard (Ritchie)
DATE OF BIRTH: 30 October 1992, Coventry, Warwickshire.
BRITISH CAREER: (2008) Rye House II; (2009) Scunthorpe II; (2010-11) Dudley.
CLUB HONOURS: National Shield winner: 2011 [Dudley]; Four-Team Championship winner: 2011 [Dudley].
2011 STARTING AVERAGE: 5.39 (NL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: Franklin, a former Coventry mascot, regrettably sustained injuries to his back and pelvis whilst representing Great Britain in an Under-21 Test match versus Australasia at King’s Lynn on 11 July 2009.

The accident, in heat four, saw him catapult over his handlebars and into the fence after opposing rider Shelby Rutherford had locked-up on the fourth corner of the initial lap. The injury meant a spell on the sidelines and he was replaced in Scunthorpe’s National League team by Sean Stoddart.

Franklin returned to the Scorpions’ declared line-up near the end of the same month, when he took the place of John MacPhail. The youngster was subsequently forced to miss another sector of the season in August, when he had to have an operation to remove his appendix. In early-February 2010, he was named as a member of the new Dudley side – who had entered the National League – riding their home fixtures out of Birmingham and Wolverhampton.  

Franklin was injured during the Heathens’ away league match at King’s Lynn on 18 July and necessitated an overnight stay in hospital. He sustained a throat injury after his windpipe had taken a hefty knock and struggled to talk properly as a result.

The Coventry-born racer also had difficulty in swallowing solid food; however, his recuperation proved quick and he returned to action for Dudley in a league encounter versus Scunthorpe at Wolverhampton’s Monmore Green racing strip just nine days after the accident.

The former Cradley club lost key reserve Franklin with concussion after a crash in the second race during their league fixture at the Isle of Wight on 2 September but, six days later, he happily received the all-clear from his doctor to resume riding. And he marked his return to the side that evening by top-scoring with an excellent haul of 10+3 points, as the Heathens defeated Plymouth in a National League fixture at Birmingham’s Perry Barr raceway.

By the season’s end, he had made twenty-one appearances for Dudley, scoring 110 points for an average of 6.52. And, on 25 February 2011, the Heathens revealed that the Coventry-based rider would be returning to the club for their second season in the National League after he had shown increased glimpses of potential the previous term.

Franklin was to again average in excess of 6 points a match for Dudley over the first half of the campaign, but was told to sit out at least a month with a torn ligament in his knee after aggravating it in his opening ride for the Heathens in a league fixture at King’s Lynn on 29 June. As a result, it was announced the following day that he had been replaced by Brendan Johnson.

Remarkably, Franklin was fit and ready to return to competitive racing – less than three weeks after undergoing knee surgery! As a result, the Heathens allowed Johnson to switch to Newport after the Welsh club came in with an offer of a team place.

On 30 July, he was a member of the Dudley side that came through the semi-final stage of the National League Four-Team Championship at Stoke’s Loomer Road raceway, prior to taking victory in the final ahead of Belle Vue, the Potters and Mildenhall, as the Heathens added to their early-season National Shield success.

However, Franklin was ruled out for the remainder of Dudley’s season after suffering a broken shoulder in the Heathens’ home defeat by Stoke on 23 August. He crashed out in heat two of the National League fixture and received the news after visiting his local hospital in Coventry.

FREEMANTLE, Brandon Luke
DATE OF BIRTH: 12 October 1995, Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex.
BRITISH CAREER: (2011) Hackney.
MAJOR HONOURS: British Under-15 Champion: 2009 (250cc), 2010 (500cc).
2011 STARTING AVERAGE: 3.00 (NL).
ADDITIONAL INFO: Freemantle first rode at the Eastbourne junior track at the age of eleven in 2007, prior to moving on to the main circuit at Arlington Stadium for second-half outings. Just two years after his first skids, he took the British Under-15 Championship at 250cc level, finishing ahead of Robert Lambert and Nathan Stoneman.

Then, in 2010, he collected his second British Under-15 title – this time on 500cc equipment – finishing ahead of Adam Kirby and Adam Portwood. On 14 February 2011, the highly-rated Eastbourne prospect was named in the line-up of the resurgent Hackney Hawks’, who would race in the National League. The Eagles had arranged a ‘training agreement’ for the youngster to represent the former London side, whose home meetings would jointly be staged at both Lakeside and Rye House.

Understandably, Freemantle was to find points hard to come by initially, but he enjoyed a personal night to remember on 8 July in a league fixture against the Isle of Wight at Lakeside. Indeed, in what was the best night of his fledgling National League career, he notched an excellent 9+1 points from five rides.