DAN BEWLEY says he is fitter than ever before as he bids for more glory with Belle Vue.
The ATPI Aces season begins tonight, live on BSN, with the star-studded Peter Craven Memorial individual at the National Speedway Stadium.
The British champ appears alongside the likes of Jason Doyle, Fredrik Lindgren, Maciej Janowski, Robert Lambert, Brady Kurtz, Max Fricke, Niels-Kristian Iversen and Chris Harris.
Bewley, 24, had an operation during the winter to remove the metalwork from his right leg after a horror crash in Workington six years ago.
But he revealed: “It’s all spot on really. It now seems a long time ago that I had the op done.
“There were two months where I couldn’t do a lot. Because I couldn’t do anything I lost all the strength. As soon as the pain went, I could more and I got stronger. Before I knew it, it was awesome.
“Then the last two weeks it just came back pretty quick then I was back to 100 per cent. I actually feel like I’m better than I ever was.
“To be honest it’s the best I have felt since I was about 15. I’ve been back riding a lot of motocross.
“Just things I didn’t really notice before, I now feel like my recovery is a lot better.
“I don’t really know whether that has anything to do with having the metalwork out. I feel like I sleep better now and things I noticed weren’t very good before have improved a great deal.
“The day after riding I’m not as sore. I was always sore but never really thought anything of it.
“Especially last year, my recovery wasn’t very good. After four or five meetings, it really took it out of me.
“Whereas now I’ve been doing six days in a row on a motocross bike which is a lot harder than speedway, and I feel like the body can take it a bit more.”
His first appearance on home shale is at the NSS tonight with a world class field.
He added: “It’s at that point of the year where you are just trying to get back into the swing of it.
“It’s a cool meeting and something a bit different with the extra riders in the semi-final and the final. I’m ready for it.”
Peter Craven Memorial: Fredrik Lindgren, Max Fricke, Dan Bewley, Brady Kurtz, Jaimon Lidsey, Jason Doyle, Celina Liebmann, Connor Mountain, Norick Blodorn, Robert Lambert, Maciej Janowski. Connor Bailey, Ben Cook, Chris Harris, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Patryk Wojdyło.
Words by Holeshot Media.
Images by Taylor Lanning.