RICHIE Worrall is aiming to catch the eye of Team GB boss Alun Rossiter when he faces his “biggest meeting yet” tonight – the British Final.
Worrall and Richard Lawson are the two Glasgow representatives in the meeting, which takes place at the National Speedway Stadium in Manchester.
That’s Worrall’s home track in the Elite League, where he rides for Belle Vue – which will be the venue for the World Cup Final in July.
Great Britain are seeded straight to the final but with just four men able to make the final cut, it’s going to be hugely competitive between the men vying to join the almost certain selection of World Champion Tai Woffinden in the side.
Worrall – who’s scored paid 40 points in the last three meetings for Glasgow in the lead-up to the event – said: “It’s my biggest meeting so far I reckon.
“I didn’t make it last year – one race let me down in the qualifier – but I’m really happy it’s at Belle Vue. It’s more of a level playing field for everybody and it’s such a good racetrack.
“At Wolverhampton you had your track specialists and they had an advantage. I even thought about signing for Wolverhampton for a year and mastering the track just for that.
“I’ve had three matches on the National Speedway Stadium and a couple of practices but sometimes I get there and scratch my head. I’m going into it and I don’t know who’s going to win – anybody could win – it’s that kind of track. It’s going to be good.
“Rosco’s going to be looking at it closely because at the end of the day, the final is at Belle Vue – so it doesn’t matter if you go and throw one point at Glasgow and then get a maximum at Belle Vue – he’s looking at the Belle Vue round.
“If I was coming into the final at Wolverhampton, I might be a bit unsure about it. But there are none of those thoughts and it’s so open as to who could win. I’m just going to go into every race and see what happens.”
Lawson, meanwhile, has been at the track just once with Lakeside. He’s hoping that luck is on his side – after he was disqualified from last season’s event when challenging for the title.
He said: “It’s a really good track and impressive facilities.
“I feel good – I’m excited for it. It’s one of those meetings where you need a bit of luck on your side and we’ll see what happens.
“I think there are four of them who ride there week in, week out, so they’ve got an advantage of course – but it is what it is and the rest of us will get on with it.
“It’s on the day – you need a bit of luck on your side – and hopefully we can get the set-ups right, give it a go and see what happens.”
Among the favourites will be Scott Nicholls – who qualified from the semi-final at the Peugeot Ashfield Stadium last year – former Edinburgh No 1 Craig Cook and Richie’s twin brother Steve, all of whom are racing on their home track.
Grand Prix star Chris Harris will be another favourite, while many eyes will be on Robert Lambert – the 18-year-old who’s already challenging as one of the country’s top riders.
The highest-placed non-GP finisher in the meeting will be awarded the wild card place at the British Grand Prix in Cardiff next month, with the two below him likely to be the meeting’s reserves.
Tonight’s final gets under way at 7.30pm and is live on Sky Sports.