World champion, British champion and sixth best speedway rider in the world. Most 23-year-olds with that much success could be forgiven for wanting a break from the high-speed sport.
But Dan Bewley isn’t like most 23-year-olds. And having proven himself on the international stage his focus is on success much closer to home – clinching his first premiership title.
The Belle Vue Aces, who hold the record of having won the top-tier League championship 13 times, won their first British Speedway Premiership since 1993 last year putting almost three decades of disappointment behind them. Bewley was racing in the Swedish league at the time but now he’s back at the club a premiership title seems more achievable than ever.
“I was watching the final last year in Poland and it was pretty cool to see it happen,” he said. “This will be my sixth year riding for Belle Vue so hopefully I can finally be part of the team that does it.”
Speedway is on the rise again, insisted one Manchester fan turned team caterer at the Belle Vue Aces press day, and Bewley is just one of the youngsters gunning for international glory.
The secret to his success? Loving the risk.
“It’s no risk, no reward,” he said. “We all know the risks and it wouldn’t be the same really if it didn’t have them. It’s just part of it.”
And risk it he does.
There’s no denying speedway can be dangerous, after all it’s a high-speed sport in which the riders race on motorcycles with no brakes reaching 70 mph in seconds, and Bewley knows all too well. In 2018, just 19 years old, he was involved in a horror crash in Workington breaking his wrist, shoulder and his thigh in five places. It took him two years to climb back to the position he was in and, at 22, win Britain the title at 2021’s Speedway of Nations after replacing speedway superstar Tai Woffindon on the second leg.
The Aces are an incredibly young team but Bewley started younger than most in his hometown of Maryport, Cumbria. His dad raced motocross and he was encouraged to take part in events from the age of six years old.
From then to now his journey has been inspired by his family the whole way. It was his dad’s close friend and former speedway rider Steve Lawson who gave him his first 125cc practice bike and introduced him to the world of speedway at 15.
“My dad did a lot of driving me around when I was younger and now he comes along to pretty much every meeting in England,” he said. “I always wanted to ride after seeing him do it.”
The passion of the sport is escalating. At the National Speedway Stadium in Manchester crowds are reaching 2,500 and are still rising. Fans spoke fervidly about the teams, the facilities and the one thing on everyone’s lips – Belle Vue Aces’ historic win last year.
After nearly three decades of losses and near-misses, the top-tier team finally claimed victory in 2022 against the Sheffield Tigers. Fans feared the day would never come despite the team being the most successful and oldest speedway club in the country. The day did come. And the fans were thrilled.
One life-long fan of the team took his passion a step further and got a job as one of the club’s caterers. “It was an incredible day,” he said. “Well deserved.”
The fans and the players believe speedway will soon return to its glory days. Bewley, not old enough to remember the 29 year struggle but very aware of the pain, is looking ahead.
With four individual honours, back-to-back speedway grand prix (SGP) wins and a world champion title under his belt, the 23-year-old thinks his career is going “pretty good.” But, he can’t afford to lose focus. Individually, he is currently sixth in the SGP World Championships and he hopes 2023 will be his most successful year yet. And with this year’s season now underway the pressure is on.
“I think everyone wants to win but it’s one thing saying that and another thing actually doing it,” he said. “I’m going to try and go for that and have fun along the way.
Main image credit: Ian Charles
