Sheffield Tigers: Being 'just good mates' helped Howarth and Wright to national title

Howarth and his close pal Charles Wright won the Championship Pairs at Somerset and will return to Owlerton tomorrow when Tigers face Lakeside.

Said Howarth: “We just chipped away with no last places and putting points on the board. When it came to the big heats we stepped our game up.

“Charles and I sussed out where we were riding all night and where we wanted to be. When it came to the semis and final we got it done.

“We kept calm and didn’t make drastic changes during the meeting.

“We are just good mates, we enjoy riding our bikes and we come from the same town Stalybridge and live just two minutes from each other.

“Charles and I go on holiday together skiing and we’re just two mates who won the Pairs.”

Howarth knows the size of the task ahead for Tigers when title hopefuls Lakeside arrive.

“They’ve got a really strong team,” he said. “This could be one of the matches of the season at Sheffield.

“When you have riders like Nick Morris and Richard Lawson in the side you know it’s going to be a tough test.

“But we have to keep winning our home meetings and that’s our main aim. I hope the fans come along and get right behind us.”