GLASGOW star Ben Basso admits he is now called “Basho” by his team-mates after a track bust-up!
The Allied Vehicles Tigers take on Berwick in a BSN Series must-win showdown at Ashfield Stadium tonight (Friday).
But Basso, 21, was involved in a fight with Edinburgh’s Craig Cook earlier in the month and his pals have been giving him stick ever since.
He said: “Everywhere I go now, everyone is talking about the ruck I had on the track.
“It was out of character for me to be honest. I’m usually such a calm person. I’ve never done that before in my career, even in junior speedway.
“For just 10 seconds I lost my cool. This can happen I guess. I was knocked off, he also was chatting s***, so I got angry.
“It’s just funny now because it’s just not like me at all. That’s why they are calling me ‘Basho’ just to tease me!”
Tigers team boss Cami Brown admits he didn’t accept Basso’s apology for the incident.
He added: “Ben came straight to me after the bust-up with Craig and said sorry for his actions
“But I told him that I don’t need his apology. I felt he was right to be angry about being clearly knocked off his bike in that way. The referee excluded Craig Cook for causing the crash and rightly so.
“I would be more worried if Ben didn’t get angry in those situations. You have to stand up for yourself.
“Speedway is hard and dangerous. It’s a contact sport on bikes, with no brakes, going at up to 70 or 80mph. It’s tough and you simply can’t be taking any s*** from other riders.
“Glasgow have had many hardmen down the years. James Grieves would have knocked someone out if they produced dirty moves on him.
“If you are going to win trophies and succeed in this sport, you need to be tough.”
The winners of the clash between Glasgow and Berwick will top the Scottish group of the BSN Series and qualify for the semi-finals. Brown has issued a ‘beware of the Bandits’ message to his team.
Brown said: “I’ve warned the boys there cannot be any complacency. The Bandits are on a big high after two excellent wins over Edinburgh. They will arrive at Ashfield with their tails up.
“All their boys know Ashfield really well. We just cannot allow them any opportunities to get in front.
“We’ve obviously gone a week without racing at home which is not ideal but something we have to deal with more often it seems in the sport.
“All the team have been racing for their other teams, so they’ll still be sharp.
“These are the sort of meetings you want though. We like a bit of tension and pressure. This is the first trophy up for grabs and we want to get to the last four. It all comes down to 15 heats.”
Words by Holeshot Media.
Images by Taylor Lanning.