We catch up with Ricky Wells in the latter stages of the 2009 season to see how he has enjoyed the year, his first in British Speedway, and his third on the USA’s Division one roster.

Summer 2007 and, just a stone’s throw away from the newly renovated ‘Stadium Nasional’ in Kuala Lumpur central, work is underway.  Within two months of the official launch of Speedway Malaysia by the national Minister of Youth and Sports, local project leaders, along with former World Individual Speedway Champion Ivan Mauger, a 290 metre circuit was nearing completion in the country’s capital city.  But celebrating Malaysia’s 50^th anniversary of independence, the country’s first international, FIM sanctioned Speedway Championship did not go to plan for the local riders, their most successful finishing in fifth position, one place shy of the Final.  Instead, it was Ricky Wells who took advantage of the meeting to burst onto the international scene as the first Malaysia International Speedway Champion.

The increased exposure undeniably did little harm to his career, and an impressive 2008 season saw him net victories in multiple high-level USA events.  Capped for the first time for his country, as we saw on USA National Speedway 2008 and competing individually in the World Under 21 Championships, Wells enjoyed a fruitful season.  But almost in a different world to the Family Park circuit in Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Jalil, and far from the tight, elbow banging tracks of the USA, Wells has spent 2009 combining duties in the British Elite League, the highest level of competition in the country, with racing in his home nation.  He wasn’t born there; his nickname ‘The Kiwi Kid’ is testament to his birthplace in Auckland, New Zealand, but he has become one of the wonderkids of USA Speedway, and the enthusiasm he generates is similar to that of the Hamill/Hancock generation. 

In fact, Wells marks the famous H+H pairing, who combined successfully in the World Championships as ‘Team Exide’, taking back-to-back individual successes in 1996 and 1997, and then in team Speedway for Coventry and Oxford, as his early inspirations.  “They’ve been pretty good friends of mine since I was about 12 or 13, so I’m known them for a few years now, and they’re good people, they definitely help out a lot”, Wells remarks.  He marks them out singularly as remaining some of the biggest competitors the country has to offer: Hamill, now retired, competed successfully in the 2008 USA season, while Hancock still races regularly on the continent and in the upper echelons of the World Championship.

Hancock, from Whittier in California, joined British Speedway back in 1989 as a fresh-faced eighteen year old for the Cradley Heath Heathens, long term friend Hamill joining just one year later.  And Wells, who harbours ambitions of achieving a similar feat to the long term World Championship competitors and his early mentors, knew he had to make a similar move some 20 years later to boost his career.  For while the exciting racing that USA Speedway circuits is remarkable, tight competition with plenty of overtaking, and with tracks that have produced legends such as Sam Ermolenko, all of the country’s greats have made a move to the European circuits in pursuit of better knowledge of larger circuits.  Which brings us back to Family Park in the National Sports complex: the circuit, which Ivan Maguer based on the FIM World Championship model, measures 290 metres, while the USA’s best known track at Costa Mesa measures just 170 metres.  The difference is reflective of the track sizes in the World Championships so, whatever the merits of the respective differences, to make it to the very top a move to Britain was the only way.  It had been a move touted for 2008, Wells highlighted for a possible move to multiple clubs, including Eastbourne, for whom he was a long-term target, but finally he elected to stay in the USA for the season.  Fans of USA National Speedway 2008 got to see multiple of his appearances in the country, including his debut for his country, in a successful season that saw him make multiple Championship finals and take victories at several tracks.  But that made it no harder to make the move to the UK, as Ricky explains: “Of course, my first year back home I won some main events and got some points.  It’s just, it costs a lot of money to race back there: you don’t get paid as much and I only make decent money by winning everything.  It shouldn’t be like that but it’s just the way it goes.”

So, with possible improved financial possibilities within the sport, and the target of World Championship glory set firmly in his mind, Wells made the jump straight to the Elite League, Britain’s top Speedway League.  1997 World Champion Greg Hancock finished his first British League season with an average of over five and a half points per match, while Wells has managed just under three.  So exactly why has the change been so different for the USA star?  “It’s a totally different story, it’s like night and day”, Wells explains.  “Everthing.  The size (of the tracks), the dirt, the competition, even the bikes and motors and stuff too.  My starting’s horrible too but it’s getting better now, I cut a few gates, think I’ve learnt things.  But it’s everything, starting and everything else.  It is totally different, it’s a lot harder.  I need to do what I did over there over here!  I wish it could’ve gone a lot better, but it’s starting to look up now, end of the year, so we can keep on looking up.  It’s good news here, but I’ll probably go back home now and I won’t be able to ride the tracks!”

As for whether Wells was successful on his return visits to the USA, you will have to wait for USA National Speedway 2009 to find out, but the youngster certainly shows his capabilities on track.  There remains, however, little doubt that the adaptation between larger circuits and smaller ones can cause plenty of problems, even for top line riders, with Billy Janniro for example returning to the USA to be beaten on multiple occasions by local track experts.  So, separate challenges, but ones not to be underestimated, as Wells predicts difficulties upon his return to the USA.  “It’s hard, you’ve got Greg, Janniro in there and Hamill up until last year.  It’s definitely harder going back to the smaller tracks, but it’s a lot of fun, seeing my family and friends.”  And, of course, I suggest Shawn McConnell and Bobby Schwartz as further examples of tough competitors, both of whom have beaten Ricky around different circuits, but most notably at their home track at the world famous Costa Mesa Speedway.  And Ricky replies quickly, “Yeah definitely, they’ve been riding it for long enough!  It’s their home track and they do good around it, so good for them”.  But we imagine not so good for Ricky, when he goes to tapes against the 42 year-old former World Cup rider who, for a long time captained the USA, and who last year beat him to first place in the Final of the prestigious Jack Milne Cup!

How Wells will fare in the long-term and on the World Championship circuit remains to be seen: Greg Hancock has raced every Grand Prix since 1995, remains the country’s biggest name, but at 39 would be expected to be shortly approaching retirement.  Perhaps Ricky will be the USA’s replacement, the much-needed representative of a country which truly should appear at the highest level.  For now, though, Ricky appears to have the right attitude: he refuses to name a famous circuit, suggesting an equal enjoyment for all, and is looking forward to racing back home in the USA again.  And as for criticism of USA track sizes, Wells is fiercely defensive: “They’re good tracks, just a lot smaller”.  While we await his final step towards the Championships, then, we return our gaze to USA Speedway – perhaps a major title is exactly what he needs to make the step up.

USA National Speedway 2009 sees Ricky Wells join rivals Greg Hancock, Billy Janniro, Shawn McConnell and Bobby Schwartz, amongst other former British League and USA local stars, in a quest for national-level glory.  Exclusive on Motors TV.