History Being Made At The WSRA - A Look At 2026 So Far

As we reach the six-month milestone into 2026 it’s a great time to look back on the success of the year for the WSRA so far.

We started the speedway season in true style in March as we welcomed fans, sellers, riders and exhibitors to the Celebration of Speedway at Hertfordshire Zoo. It was a pleasure to have so many speedway lovers together to celebrate the sport in all its glory. Featuring some fantastic interviews with some of the riders in attendance including the new British Under 21 Champion Cooper Rushen, fan favourite Jason Edwards and legends Scott Nicholls and Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris, fans in attendance were truly treated to a magnificent day.

In May we held our annual Spring Lunch and Memorial Service for friends no longer with us. This year we paid our respects to former riders, Graham Miles, who was also a past WSRA President, Colin Smith, who rode for Coventry and stayed in the sport as the Bees’ machine examiner, and ‘Gentleman’ George Barclay who played a massive part in getting the National Speedway Museum up and running. It was truly an honour be able to pay our respects to friends in the presence of some of their loved ones.

Our 2026 Spring Lunch was filled with stars of yesteryear in attendance, including Terry Betts and Rob Hollingworth, as well as the WSRA’s very own Bert Harkins, Barney Kennett, Peter Schroeck and Peter Sampson. It was a lovely day reminiscing over fond memories, while enjoying some good food too!

Our AGM this year saw a history-making decision when Barney Kennett was given the news he would be invited to run a second term as WSRA President. Barney has been doing a fantastic job raising awareness of the WSRA and encouraging new members to join our community in his first year of presidency, and we’re all looking forward to seeing what he achieves in his second term, and how many more selfies he’ll get in that time!

This year The WSRA are sponsoring the National Development League once again and we’re thrilled to be able to support the growth of the young, up and coming talent. Our support means the young riders have more opportunities to develop within the sport and hopefully one day take their careers all the way to the Grands Prix series to compete against the world’s best. For anyone who hasn’t yet seen any National Development League racing, it’s definitely worth going to your local track to support the riders and to see some fantastic racing!

We’d like to extend our congratulations to WSRA member Cooper Rushen and his team after his recent British Under 21 Final win. Cooper took home the ‘Newcomer of The Year’ award at our 2025 WSRA Awards Gala Night and he’s started this season in fantastic form across both the Premiership and the Championship. He became, at 16, the youngest winner of the British Under 21 Final. We’re looking forward to seeing his progression over the rest of this season and beyond.

It has been a fantastic start to the year at the WSRA are we’re all very keen to keep that going for the rest of the season. Thank you to our members who support us by coming to our events and re-joining the family every year, your support allows us as a charity to continue helping the riders of the past and present.

PHOTO: STEVE HONE