The first half of Kent Kings’ team building for 2015 has been completed a week before the National League Chairmen’s meeting, with the very welcome news that three of the Central Park-based club’s Play-Off qualifying side from last season are back in the red, white and Invicta race jackets for next year.

For the enduring fans favourite, Ben Morley this will be a third season out of three starring in the heat-leader berths for the team who race in Speedway’s National League based at the Sittingbourne Dog Racing circuit in Murston.  2014 was a breakthrough year for the 20-year-old from Southend having a spell as holder of the Bronze Helmet Match Race Championship title and finishing on the rostrum in the National League Riders Championship.

Essex boy Ben also gained massive experience spending the entire campaign doubling up under the Fast Track scheme with his home county side, the Lakeside Hammers racing in the Elite League: hugely impressing observers of the top tier of British Speedway.  That spell under Fast Track at the Arena Essex Raceway in Thurrock may have come to an end, but not so Ben’s tenure as the darling of the Central Park faithful who will be delighted to see still more of Morley in 2015!

Co-promoter Len Silver welcomes the news that it’s a third year for Ben at the Kent club, he said: “Ben has been with us right from the beginning – just about the first rider we recruited when the Kings were first coming to track in 2013.  And he is extremely popular around the place and especially with the fans.  His scoring has been high and consistent.

“Ben will not be in the Fast Track scheme with Lakeside so is looking forward to devoting all his energies to Kent. Last year he had a spell at number one – the first time in his NL career he’d reached the top spot in a team – and is poised to start 2014 in the number one race jacket for the Kings again.  That’s a big responsibility but we’re sure Ben is ready to step up to the plate and continue in his role as our team talisman”.

Continuity has been an important watch-word for the management at Kent Speedway and is something the fans (a large number of whom at Britain’s newest Speedway track are also new to the sport) appreciate.  So it’s welcome news that two other members of the Kings team who finished third in the NL table last year and missed out on the Championship Grand Final by a whisker, are confirmed as back in the side for 2015.

Aaron Baseby hails from Sevenoaks and began his league racing career at nearby Iwade, riding for the Crusaders then based there, so is a real local boy wearing the Kent colours.  A championship and cup double winner with Bournemouth over five years ago now, Aaron’s made a huge impression and really stepped up his points scoring back to that title-winning level when – after a brief break from the sport – he stepped into the Kent Kings’ side back in June.

His enthusiasm for the shale sport restored and becoming an integral part of the close-knit Kings’ riding set-up, it was always basically a given that Aaron would be back again for 2015 and the club are happy to confirm that, at this early stage of the close season.
Len Silver welcomes the news, he added: “Aaron did a great job for us when he joined the side a couple of months into the last campaign.  The fact that he scored more bonus points than anyone else in our side shows what a consistent and unselfish team rider Aaron is.  He made great improvement towards the end of last season and thoroughly deserves this re-call to action!”

Completing the hat-trick of popular retentions from 2014 is the man who in just a few short months went from complete rookie to total racing hero: the man the Kent fans voted as their Rider of the Year, Danny Ayres.

A Kent asset (building a rider asset base being a major priority for the ambitious club) Danny made it very clear on the occasion of the presentation to him of the Rider of the Year award that he would be back in 2015 and that’s happily a signed, sealed and delivered done-deal now.

No rider at Kent more embodies the fantastic spirit between the fans and the riders or enjoys a better relationship with the crowd than Danny, with banners like ‘Who DAyres Wins’ regularly unfurled in support of a great trier who is surely likely to be right up there as Newcomer of the Season when the sport’s magazine the Speedway Star dishes out its End of Year Awards.

Len Silver is delighted to confirm the news that Ayres will be back thrilling the fans in the Kings’ race jacket in the forthcoming campaign, he said: “There was never going be any doubt when we announced our side for 2015 that Danny Ayres would be there! He is a rider our fans really took to their hearts with his “Never Say Die” attitude and the winner of their Rider of the Year 2014, of course. Danny has already declared his intent on heading for the Kings top spot in the future and if he continues his amazing improvement which could really be seen meeting by meeting last year anything is possible”.

With four riders now named, the Kings’ management cannot look at how to complete their septet until the National League club chairman have their meeting next week (9 December) as Mr. Silver added: “It’s all about what points limit is going to be set now and this will be the key decision coming out of the NL meeting next week.

“The size of the division looks like it will be a little larger than last year and that may influence thinking regarding the point’s limit which some people think might be reduced.  But we’ll need to wait and see now. We’re delighted though to be so far down the road already of building another successful Kings’ side, with the naming of four talented and all very popular riders this week getting us ahead of the game before we do have that Chairman’s meeting”.