Sheffield Tigers Speedway: Adam Ellis gets 'wild card' pick for British Speedway Grand Prix

The Tru Plant Tigers’ star was handed the ‘wild card’ race jacket for the event when Monday’s British Final in Manchester was abandoned due to rain.

Riders unanimously voted to restage the national Championship at a later date – but with a spot at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium up for grabs for the event’s winner, discussions were held between all 16 competitors.

As reigning British Champion, and the fact there was no British GP on the calendar in last year’s Series, a good chunk of Ellis’ fellow riders put his name forward to race alongside fellow Sheffield team-mate Jack Holder and the other top 14 riders in the world in front of almost 40,000 fans on Saturday, August 13.

Said Ellis: “To be heading to Cardiff feels great and of course I’m really looking forward to it.

“We had a few meetings and one thing we all agreed on was that the track had become too dangerous to be out there racing on.

“The meeting that took the longest was when they had the problem of deciding the winner.

“Count back didn’t really work because Tom (Brennan) and Bomber (Chris Harris) hadn’t yet raced each other.

“So they were proposing the fastest race time – every rider also agreed that wasn’t the right way either.

“So a few of the boys started asking about a restaging – the majority of us felt that that was the only fair way of getting a worthy winner at a later date.

“After that there was another meeting involving all the riders about the wild card situation for Cardiff.

“Once we knew there was no way the meeting could be restaged in the next week and a half, 75 per cent of the riders voted and said they believed I should get the wild card based on the fact I won it last year.

“I didn’t really want to get it that way and I did feel bad for Bomber and Tom – but I’m not going to turn it down am I?”

In the meantime, Ellis is gearing up for a crucial period for Sheffield in the Premiership.

Thursday sees them host Wolverhampton at Owlerton (7.30) – their first of two home fixtures in the space of five days.