Career

Early Years

Dan started out racing motocross competing in events across the U.K. from the age of six years old. He enjoyed success progressing through the age groups winning multiple races in the British Youth Motocross Championship, finishing 4th overall in the Championship in 2015.

Looking back at those formative years Dan says “I had a great time racing motocross and still love to ride, but 2015 was my last year in the 85cc class and I knew I was too small to race at the level I wanted to move up to. I was looking for the next thing, and that is where I came across speedway. I regularly watched speedway with my dad at Workington and on TV but never had any real interest in riding in it until then.”

Dan was fortunate to have some great people around him who facilitated his introduction to the world of speedway. His great friend, Steve Lawson loaned him a 125cc practice bike and then a 500cc bike from a Workington rider (Rusty Harrison). Dan raced in several amateur events over the 2015/16 winter and was all set to ride for Belle Vue colts the following season.

2016

In March 2016 Dan headed across the Scottish border to get some practice at the Edinburgh Monarch’s Armadale track. After impressing Monarch’s observers, he was selected as their reserve rider for the season.

After a steady start, Dan grew in confidence, amassing almost 30 points from three meetings, virtually clinching Monarch’s place in the end-of-season play-offs. At the time and in typical style Dan said, “It’s probably just down to the fact that as the season has gone on I’ve just got better and have gained more experience and time on the bike.” Looking back on those early days now he recalls “Starting the 2016 season I could ride the bike pretty well considering, but I had next to no experience racing speedway or of the different tracks. I was racing way out of my depth to be honest but with that I think it made my progression a lot faster.”

2017

In 2017 Dan returned to the Belle Vue Colts winning the National League Riders’ Championship before being promoted to the Senior side. He also won the National League Riders’ Championship. Dan finished the year strongly helping the Aces win the SGB Premiership Knockout Cup.

2018

In 2018, Dan finished runner-up in the British Speedway Championship, won the British Under-19 Final and claimed a third place in the second round of the World Under 21 Championship series in Poland.

Dan recalls “2018 is where I think I really started to progress, I had grown a little and got a little stronger in the winter and could ride the bike better, I progressed from the reserve position in the Aces team up to a heat leader and started racing in Poland at Rybnik in the 1st division.

Everything was going better and better and I felt like I was finally putting the pieces together to be a more complete rider, when on August 25th I was involved in a big pile up, breaking my wrist, shoulder and my femur in multiple places. It was a long recovery and although I started the season in 2019 I think it took me 2 years to get back to the position I was in.”

Dan is philosophical about the impact of that horrible crash “Although my results may not have been as good (upon returning from injury) and there were some tough moments, I feel like it really made me a better rider, it made me focus on how I was riding the bike and to understand everything more.”

2020

Having fully recovered from his injuries, Dan won the British Speedway Under 21 Championship and became a member of the British Speedway Team. He also signed for Wroclaw in the Ekstraliga of which he says “To be honest was a lot like when I signed in Edinburgh, I was good enough but lacked the experience to race at that level on the new tracks but once again I think it helped me progress, and at the end of the season I put in some good scores and started to show what I was capable of.”

2021

In 2021 Dan returned to the Belle Vue Aces becoming their leading rider and had a steady season in Wroclaw helping the team to win the league. He also competed in the European Championship for the first time finishing 5th overall. As part of Team GB, he finished the season off being crowned World Champions in the Speedway of Nations.

2022

Thinking back to the start of 2022 season Dan says “My goal was to try and qualify for the GPs in 2023. At the start of March because of some outside events, I was drafted into the series as reserve. It was funny looking back, it’s almost like when I first rode at Edinburgh or at Wroclaw, I showed in the qualifying I could ride the bike, but it took me a few rounds to feel like I belonged there!”

In August 2022, Dan won back-to-back SGP’s in Cardiff and Wroclaw ending the 2022 season with a sixth-place finish during the 2022 Speedway World Championship, after securing 102 points during the 2022 Speedway Grand Prix. The top six place finish automatically qualified him for the 2023 Speedway Grand Prix.

In September 2022, he became the British champion after winning the 2022 British Speedway Championship with a 15-point maximum from his five rides. After winning Dan said “It was great to be back at Belle Vue for this meeting. You always want to win meetings like this but it’s extra special to do it in front of my ‘home crowd’ in Manchester.”