WOFFY LEADS LIONS INTO AUSSIE TEST

Double world champion Tai Woffinden is set for another appearance on British shale next month when he leads Great Britain into an international test match against Australia in Glasgow on August 4.

The Lions take on a Roos team led by reigning world champion Jason Doyle, and Woffy is delighted to see the GB team back on track so soon after their Monster Energy FIM Speedway of Nations silver medal success in Wroclaw last month.

The World Championship leader rarely competes in the UK, racing for Wroclaw in Poland. He has also signed for Indianerna in Sweden after terminating his contract with struggling Masarna.

But Woffinden can’t wait to race in front of his home fans and is keen to see test matches become a more regular occurrence for the Lions.

He said: “It will be awesome to lead the team out at Glasgow. I think it’s vital that Great Britain have more meetings. To have another chance to race in the UK will also be sweet. I’ve only raced here twice this season and the support I get in the UK is unreal.

“I’ve just signed for Kumla in Sweden and now I feel very settled for the second half of the season. I needed more race time and I’ve got that now. It’s just the setup I needed.

“When Rob Painter came in at Great Britain we discussed how vital it was to have more meetings for all the British boys to get more experience.

“This is exactly the sort of thing we need. In the 1970s and 1980s there were so many test matches and they were pretty awesome I’m told. I think the Aussie test matches stopped in the 90s but we need them back.

“We had a decent Speedway of Nations and we want to keep that feel good factor going and keep winning.

“There’s no doubt this will be a fierce test match. Australia will want to win but so will we being going all-out for the victory.”

Woffinden is looking forward to making a Glasgow return, having not competed at Ashfield since he raced for Rye House in the old British Premier League in 2008.

He said: “I raced at Glasgow a long, long time ago in my Premier League days, but I haven’t been since they made all the changes and improvements to the track so I’m excited to go and check it out.

“I’ve heard a lot about how good the place is now and what a good job the owners have done so it’ll be cool to head up there and see it all for myself.

“We’ve just had the British Grand Prix in Cardiff where I got so much support, so it will be awesome to race for my country at home again and to go to a part of Britain I haven’t been to in so long."