Sheffield speedway ace is pushing himself to the limit

And Shanes has revealed how he is pushing himself to the limit in the gruelling World Long Track Championship on the continent.

It means the Dorset racer is one of the busiest riders on the scene as he packs his diary.

He said: “We ride on different types of tracks in the series, the first round at Herxheim was a shale track, then the next one at La Réole was grass track and then the round we’ve just done at Roden was a sandy shale.

“We then go to Eenrum which is a clay track and we finish the series at Mühldorf which is a silver sand track.

“The bike will react quite a lot differently depending what track you are on. When you go to a clay track it can either be really slick or grippy depending on the weather leading up to the meeting. You could go there and be spinning your nuts off or it will be pulling the arms off.

“And then you go to a thousand metre track where you have to learn not to slide a bike. Then moving to a grass track like La Réole, you have to ride the fence because it can get quite deep on the outside.

“Each track we go to there is a completely different riding style, so to win the series you have to adapt well to each of the tracks.

“I am good on the smaller grass tracks but I am still trying to master the thousand metre style that works.”

He’s also looking forward to being back on home shale for tonight’s Plumco invitation meeting.

“It’s a good test for me and I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “It should be a good night and I’m confident I can be the top gun!

“I’m enjoying my time at Sheffield and coming here has helped me immensely. The fans have been great so it would be great to win in front of them.”

Admission has been slashed for tomorrow. Adults are £13, £11 concessions and kids go free.

LINE-UP: Simon Lambert, Jamie Halder, Danny Phillips, Georgie Wood, James Shanes, Danny Ayres, Tom Woolley, Cooper Rirodan, Josh Coyne, Max Ruml, Gino Manzares, Josh McDonald, Kye Thomsen, Kyle Bickley, Joe Lawlor, Zaine Kennedy.