Sheffield Speedway rider's joy at reaching World Under-21 final

The talented Barnsley teenager reeled off three straight wins in Germany at the weekend to book his place in the three legs of the final.

And he says the achievement matches his two British titles after working hard to secure his spot.

“I still can’t believe it now and I want to thank everyone who has sent me messages,” said Bates. “It feels as good as winning the British Under-21 title, which I’ve done twice, but to get through to the World Final is like taking my career up a level.

“I’m proud to be representing Great Britain in the final and loved the meeting in Germany, then to get back to Scunthorpe on Sunday and help Sheffield win there was a real bonus.”

Tigers are back at Owlerton for the first time in three weeks tomorrow when Berwick are the visitors in Premier League action.

Said Bates: “It’s great for us to have some away points on the board but we need to build up our home form now and hopefully we can do that against Berwick.

“It will be a tough meeting but I’m sure we can beat them and it will be nice to get back racing at Owlerton after a few weeks off.

“There’s a great spirit in the team right now, we are all sticking together and helping each other out and that’s one of the keys to any successful team.

“We’ve already won at Berwick so there’s no reason why we can’t do the double over them before we go to Workington on Saturday.”

Tigers are awaiting an update from Jason Garrity who took a knock when riding for Elite League Coventry last week and was forced to sit out the trip to Scunthorpe.

If he fails to make it they will again use the rider-replacement facility.