PIRATES SIGN RATED DANE

Poole Pirates have filled the vacancy left by the complications in travel encountered by Czech rider Ondrej Smetana, by signing the promising young Dane Benjamin Basso.

The 20 year old (born 2nd July 2001) who was a member of the Danish national side that took on Team GB at King's Lynn in October 2019 follows in the footsteps of three former Danish riders who have had Pirates experience, as he was crowned the 2016 World Youth Speedway Champion, a title previously won by Leon Madsen (2000), Nicolai Klindt (2001) and Frederik Jakobsen (2013).

Poole owner Matt Ford said "I spoke to Nicolai about Benjamin and he thought he would be an ideal fit but he thought he had Polish commitments to fulfil which would have precluded him from joining us. I then had a conversation with Frederik who gave me the tip-off that Benjamin was so keen to come to the UK that he would give Poland a miss if there was a chance he could ride for us.
"But I have to say, it has not been an easy ride to get the signing completed as there has been a lot of additional hurdles in our way as a consequence of Brexit, including a spoken language test and a personal hearing before he was granted the necessary paperwork to allow him to get the clearance needed. Once again, we are hugely grateful to Nigel Leahy who helped steer us all through the process.
"As for Benjamin himself, he won't be eligible until Friday and that means something of a baptism of fire for the lad around the small Armadale circuit. We need to be sensible and not put any undue pressure on his young shoulders but I feel that working alongside the likes of Danny [King] and Rory [Schlein] we will be able to bring his career along and given that he currently holds a higher average for his Danish side Fjelsted than both Frederik and Peter Kildemand we are already starting from a reasonable foundation."

With his debut on Friday, Benjamin will face the busy schedule facing the Pirates for, after their SGB Championship meeting at Edinburgh on Friday, they go on to race at Berwick on Saturday and Newcastle on Sunday.