PREMIERSHIP RISING STARS CRITERIA

BRITISH Speedway can confirm the maximum age for eligibility as a Rising Star in the Sports Insure Premiership has been reduced by one year.

All seven top-flight clubs have now named their Rising Stars for next season, where the rider must be of British nationality and aged 23 or under on January 1, 2024.

This is a drop of one year from 2023 and continues the sport’s policy of offering increased opportunities to young, developing riders.

These criteria also exist throughout the racing season when clubs are required to track a guest in the Rising Star position, or should they wish to make a change of Rising Star in their team declaration.

A rider achieving a final Premiership average at the end of the season in excess of 4.00 will no longer be eligible for a Rising Star berth, but instead will receive a 25 per cent discount on his average for the following season only, rather than the normal 2.5 per cent for British riders.

This discount was applied for Tom Brennan (Belle Vue) this year and will apply to Jordan Jenkins (Ipswich) and Drew Kemp (Leicester) in 2024, both of whom have moved out of the Rising Star scheme with averages in excess of 4.00.

Clubs are automatically permitted to retain their existing Rising Star for the following season should they meet the criteria, with the remaining clubs selecting from the other available riders in a Draft system with the lowest-ranked club having first choice.

This applies firstly to new entrants to the league, followed by any remaining clubs from the previous season in reverse order of finishing position.

Therefore for the 2024 season Birmingham took first choice, followed by fellow Premiership newcomers Oxford, and then Leicester.

Should a team require a Rising Star guest next season, the eligible riders will again be those of GB nationality who are aged 23 or under (on January 1, 2024) and who have not achieved a final Premiership average in excess of 4.00, and who are not declared in a Premiership line-up elsewhere.

Premiership CEO Phil Morris said: “We now have five riders racing outside the Rising Stars programme in Tom Brennan, Connor Mountain, Jordan Jenkins, Drew Kemp and Jason Edwards, and this shows the system is doing the job it was brought in for.

“There have been occasions in the past where age limits have actually been raised to help in some way, but that’s not the purpose of the Rising Stars scheme, and I do feel it was right to start the reduction of the age limit going forward.

“We are very keen on helping the high-level Under-23 riders have an introduction into Premiership racing, and overwhelmingly so far we’ve seen them holding their own and beating far more experienced riders.

“It’s great to see several of them moving up, and of course we would like this to continue over the years to come.”

2024 RISING STARS
Belle Vue: Connor Bailey

Birmingham: Leon Flint

Ipswich: Dan Thompson

King’s Lynn: Anders Rowe

Leicester: Joe Thompson

Oxford: Ashton Boughen

Sheffield: Dan Gilkes