DOUGLAS IS FANS’ RIDER OF THE YEAR

LEICESTER No.1 Ryan Douglas has been voted by fans of British Speedway as their Rider of the Year in the 2026 ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.

Douglas increased his average above the nine-point mark as he stepped up in the Lions’ team and helped them retain the KO Cup and finish runners-up in the regular league table.

He polled 38 per cent of the vote which was conducted on British Speedway’s social media channels, ahead of a tie for second place between Belle Vue and Sheffield captains Brady Kurtz and Josh Pickering.

There was further success for Leicester in the Rising Star of the Season category, which was contested by all six regular riders in that category with Lions racer Joe Thompson coming out on top.

Thompson achieved the highest average of any Rising Star in 2026, and he took the fans’ vote ahead of Jody Scott and Luke Killeen.

Signing of the Season was taken by Jason Doyle, whose arrival at Belle Vue following the long-term injury to Dan Bewley helped the Aces to retain their strength and go on to claim the league title.

Meanwhile the Most Improved Rider was Kye Thomson of Northampton, who moved out of the reserve berth by mid-season and finished with an impressive Premiership average in excess of six.

Full results:

RIDER OF THE YEAR
Ryan Douglas 38%
Josh Pickering 23%
Brady Kurtz 23%
Jason Doyle 16%

RISING STAR OF THE SEASON
Joe Thompson 28%
Jody Scott 23%
Luke Killeen 22%
Will Cairns 17%
Luke Harrison 7%
Jason Edwards 3%

SIGNING OF THE SEASON
Jason Doyle 37%
Cooper Rushen 32%
Kye Thomson 21%
Tobiasz Musielak 10%

MOST IMPROVED RIDER
Kye Thomson 36%
Tate Zischke 32%
Joe Thompson 22%
Norick Blodorn 10%

Thanks to all supporters for their votes, and the nominations for Championship awards are coming next week!