FRIDAY FEATURE: OLIVER GREENWOOD

Friday September 19, 2014

MARK PLUMMER catches up with a new British champion for his latest ‘Friday Feature’ . . . it’s Under 19 king Ollie Greenwood . . .

Anyone who has ever had a conversation with Ollie Greenwood will know he is not your typical teenager.

The newly-crowned British Under 19 champion is as modest as they come. There’s not a hint of cockiness or arrogance and absolutely no chance of hearing him utter the sort of big, bold statements that plenty of his peers choose to air.

“I just enjoy riding my bike,” says Greenwood in typically under-stated fashion.

That is sure to have been the case on Monday when he scorched to a 15-point maximum to lift the national crown on offer at Kent. The Central Park circuit is clearly one that suits him as he also went through the card when guesting for the Kings in a National League fixture earlier in the season.

“I like it down there,” added Greenwood, who succeeded his Coventry Storm team-mate Stefan Nielsen – the Under 19 winner for the past two years - as champion. “And it was my last chance to race in the Under 19s.

“You don’t win a British title every day and I’m very proud to have done it.

“It is the biggest meeting I have ridden in so far after missing the British Under 21 Final for the past two years.

“I pulled out this year because Peterborough were riding on the same night and last year I was out injured after breaking my collar-bone.”

Greenwood’s triumph earlier this week could prove to be part of a major individual double as he lines up in the National League Riders’ Championship next Sunday (September 28).

The Walsall-based teenager will have the benefit of home advantage at Rye House – the club where he has spent the second half of the Premier League season after a broken collarbone led to his release from fellow second-tier side Peterborough.

He added: “It is all about making starts at Rye and it is all about being consistent in an event like the NLRC.

“When you have a meeting full of riders of very similar standard and speed, the starts and first corners tend to be where races are decided.

“I’ve got on quite well there since joining Rye House in the summer. I’ve probably scored better round there than I did at Peterborough.

“They could hardly be more different as home tracks, but it is something that will only help my development.

“It was a shame I couldn’t get back into the Peterborough team after my injury. They tried to re-declare but it got rejected and Trevor (Panthers co-promoter Swales) couldn’t have been better about me going somewhere else.”

And while Rye House look set to land the wooden spoon in the second tier, Greenwood does still have hopes of team honours with Coventry Storm.

They face Kent in the National League play-off semi-finals with all previous form pointing towards a mouthwatering all-Midlands final showdown against table-topping reigning champions Cradley.

Greenwood has risen to the top of the Storm averages - something he 'did not expect' to happen in the current campaign but despite his fine form he insists he has no regrets about snubbing the chance to be part of the inaugural Fast-Track Draft in the Elite League for financial reasons.

“I’m not making any money out of speedway at the moment,” he continued. “So there is no way I could consider giving up my job and trying to race full-time.

“I wouldn’t be in a position to keep my machinery up to scratch and there is no way it would work out for me.

“Anyway I believe the Premier League is currently much more competitive than the Elite League for a rider like myself. Every ride is a tough one and that’s what you need to keep improving.

“I’ve done a few guest bookings in the Elite and all team managers ask is that you try to beat the other reserves and in most cases that is other people from the National League.

“I won’t really give my future too much thought until the close season but I definitely want to be racing in the Premier League again next year.

“The obvious next step is to get up into the main body of a team at that level. I will just need to evaluate the other options.”

And he is likely to have plenty . . .

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