Freddy’s ready to fly

There’s a definite buzz about our new teenage reserve.

Indeed, truth be told if we hadn’t got Freddy Hodder’s signature on a Bandits’ contract early in the winter rebuilding then he would undoubtedly have been tormenting us in opposition colours. For it’s fair to say that, as he has been throughout his fledgling career, Freddy is hot stuff when it comes to speedway potential.

So along with fans of Belle Vue Colts and Torun we will get to follow the next chapter in a career which took its first tentative steps during an experience day at the National Speedway Stadium in 2021.

Grandad Fred had speedway pedigree, mostly in the second-half at Coventry and other Midlands tracks in the 1960s but when it came to racing bikes in his formative years Rugby-born Freddy chose to join the junior moto-x ranks.

As with so many before the call of the ovals was strong and after those tentative training day steps he made his racing debut in the 2021 British Youth Championships. Freddy was also part of the ATPI Great Britain Academy where he caught the eye of coach Rory Schlein, among others.

Belle Vue boss Mark Lemon was another one who kept tabs on his progress and as the calendar clicked around to Freddy’s 16^th birthday it was the World-famous Colts who secured his name on a professional contract and just five days after he blew out the candles, Freddy making his bow at Plymouth.

Progress was both steady and assured, a first race win came in the return fixture against the Centurions, his third meeting saw a solid six on Shielfield debut, plus 11 points hauls at Mildenhall and against the strong Leicester side.

Ending with a solid average of 4.52 made re-signing with the Manchester club a no-brainer, a season which began with a bang against the Bullets on Good Friday and reached new highs in the return fixture at Shielfield on September 23 – the Bullets’ NDL swansong and the last action of the season in these parts.

For much of the evening it looked as if the Bullets would have a fairytale ending to what had been a season plagued by injury and last-heat heartbreak. Unfortunately, Freddy and James Pearson had other ideas.

After a couple of solid second places Freddy really took the meeting by the scruff of the neck and was unbeaten by a home rider for the remainder of that night. He and Pearson, snapped up by Glasgow for this year’s Cab Direct Championship, inflicted the first defeat of the night on Danny Phillips in heat 13 and repeated the punishment in 15, collecting a second 5-1 as the Colts sneaked home by two points.

It wasn’t just the points – a career-high 15+1 – but the way they were collected. Sharp from the gate, fast, not afraid to use the high, wide, and handsome lines around Shielfield and a maturity in the pits which belied his lack of experience and tender years.

More than enough to mark him down as a key player in the 2024 Bandits’ revolution.

It’s a year when the Championship sees a number of young British talent being handed the opportunity to shine and while expectations must be tempered by realism, there is a real buzz that our early swoop for Fast Freddie will be the one that pays big dividends.