The British Speedway Under-21 Championship (also known as the British Junior Speedway Championship) is an annual speedway competition open to riders of British nationality aged at least fifteen on the date of the first meeting, and under twenty-one on 1 January in the year of the competition.[1] Sixteen riders plus three reserves take part in 20 heats with each rider facing each other once. The two riders which accumulate the highest number of points over the heats go straight to the final. The next four highest point scorers take part in a race-off, with first and second place riders also progressing to the final. The winner of the final is declared British Under-21 Champion. Previous winners include former World Champions Mark Loram and Gary Havelock. The 2009 championship was won by Lewis Bridger who defeated defending champion Tai Woffinden in the final. Joe Haines was third and Ben Barker finished fourth.[2]
Qualification
Seven riders are seeded straight to the final round while nine other riders qualify through three qualifying rounds held on a regional basis which use the same format as the final round. The first, second and third placed riders from each qualifier ride in the final round and fourth place riders take part as reserves. In the final round the reserves may take the rides of any incapacitated rider, replace any rider excluded for a starting infringement, or replace any rider excluded for exceeding the two minute time allowance except in the semi-final or final.
The top three riders go through to the British Speedway Championship final and the winner qualifies for the World Junior Championship semi-final round. The next five finishers qualify for the World Junior Championship qualifying rounds.
British Under-21 Champions
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Third |
| 1969 | Graham Plant | Geoff Ambrose | Mick Bell |
| 1970 | Barry Thomas | Dave Jessup | Mick Bell |
| 1971 | Ian Turner | Dave Jessup | Peter Ingham |
| 1972 | Allen Emmett | Gordon Kennett | Tony Davey |
| 1973 | Peter Collins | Barney Kennett | David Gagen |
| 1974 | Chris Morton | Steve Bastable | Neil Middleditch |
| 1975 | Neil Middleditch | Steve Weatherley | Joe Owen |
| 1976 | Michael Lee | Steve Weatherley | Colin Richardson |
| 1977 | Les Collins | Phil Collins | Colin Richardson |
| 1978 | Phil Collins | Ian Gledhill | Bob Garrad |
| 1979 | Kenny Carter | Nigel Flatman | Mel Taylor |
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Third |
| 1980 | Mark Courtney | Kevin Smith | John Barker |
| 1981 | Rob Lightfoot | Peter Carr | Neil Evitts |
| 1982 | Peter Carr | Martin Hagon | Simon Cross |
| 1983 | Keith Millard | Simon Cross | Kenny McKinna |
| 1984 | Marvyn Cox | Simon Cross | Andy Smith |
| 1985 | Carl Blackbird | David Mullett | Andy Smith |
| 1986 | Gary Havelock | Andrew Silver | Darren Sumner |
| 1987 | Darren Sumner | David Biles | Mark Loram |
| 1988 | Mark Loram | Andy Phillips | Martin Dugard |
| 1989 | Martin Dugard | Chris Louis | Dean Barker |
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Third |
| 1990 | Joe Screen | Mark Loram | Chris Louis |
| Championship not held 1991 | |||
| 1992 | Scott Smith | Joe Screen | Mark Loram |
| 1993 | Carl Stonehewer | Joe Screen | David Norris |
| 1994 | Paul Hurry | Ben Howe | James Grieves |
| 1995 | Ben Howe | Paul Hurry | Savalas Clouting |
| 1996 | Savalas Clouting | Scott Nicholls | Paul Hurry |
| 1997 | Leigh Lanham | Lee Richardson | Scott Nicholls |
| 1998 | Scott Nicholls | Lee Richardson | Paul Lee |
| 1999 | Scott Nicholls | Lee Richardson | David Howe |
| Year | Winner | Runner-up | Third |
| 2000 | David Howe | Lee Richardson | Paul Lee |
| 2001 | Simon Stead | David Howe | Paul Lee |
| 2002 | Simon Stead | Ross Brady | Oliver Allen |
| 2003 | Simon Stead | Oliver Allen | Edward Kennett |
| 2004 | Ritchie Hawkins | Steve Boxall | Edward Kennett |
| 2005 | Edward Kennett | Chris Schramm | Richard Hall |
| 2006 | Ben Wilson | Daniel King | Lewis Bridger |
| 2007[3] | Edward Kennett | William Lawson | Tai Woffinden |
| 2008 | Tai Woffinden | Adam Roynon | Ben Barker |
| 2009 | Lewis Bridger | Tai Woffinden | Joe Haines |
| 2010 | Joe Haines | Tai Woffinden | Lewis Bridger |
| 2011 | Tai Woffinden | Steven Worrall | Joe Haines |
| 2012 | Joe Haines | Tom Perry | Kyle Howarth |
| 2013[4] | Robert Branford (.svg.png){kind=small} ) | Kyle Howarth | Jason Garrity |
| 2014 | Josh Bates | Adam Ellis | Jason Garrity |
| 2015[5] | Kyle Howarth | Robert Lambert | Stefan Nielsen |
| 2016 | Josh Bates | Robert Lambert | Adam Ellis |
| 2017[6] | Robert Lambert | Adam Ellis | Josh Bates |
| 2018[7] | Robert Lambert | Connor Mountain | Nathan Greaves |
| 2019[8] | Robert Lambert | Zach Wajtknecht | Jack Thomas |
| 2020[9] | Daniel Bewley | Leon Flint | Anders Rowe |
See also
References
- ^ Oakes, P.(2006). 2005 British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN 0-948882-30-1
- ^ "U21 glory for Bridger". BSPA. 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-25.
- ^ Bamford, R.(2007). Speedway Yearbook 2007. ISBN 978-0-7524-4250-1
- ^ "RESULTS: TUESDAY APRIL 23", speedwaygb.co, 23 April 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013
- ^ "RESULTS: TUESDAY APRIL 14", speedwaygb.co, 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015
- ^ "Lambert Crowned U21 Champion", speedwaygb.co, 26 April 2017. Retrieved 27 April 2017
- ^ "Lambert Retains U21 Title", speedwaygb.co, 01 May 2018. Retrieved 01 May 2018
- ^ http://www.speedwaygb.co.uk/news.php?extend.36340%7Ctitle=Fast Lambo Hits Brits Hat-trick|date= 28 April 2019 |publisher= Speedway GB
- ^ https://bellevue-speedway.com/news/bewleyisu21champion |publisher= bellevue-speedway.com