Ricky Wells

Ricky Wells
Born (1991-07-27) 27 July 1991 (age 33)
Auckland, New Zealand
NationalityNew Zealander, American
Career history
Great Britain
2009Coventry Bees
2010Stoke Potters
2011–2013, 2015Wolverhampton Wolves
2011Plymouth Devils
2012–2013Sheffield Tigers
2014–2016Workington Comets
2017Rye House Rockets
2017–2019Edinburgh Monarchs
2018Leicester Lions
2019Belle Vue Aces
2019Poole Pirates
2020–2021Glasgow Tigers
2022Berwick Bandits
Denmark
2016Holstebro
Individual honours
2009USA National Champion
2007, 2008Under 21 National Champion
2004, 2005Youth National Champion
2003, 2004, 2006Gumball Rally Champion
2003, 2005California Youth Champion
2007Fair Derby Champion
2008Victorville Track Champion
Team honours
2007, 2008High Desert Pairs Champion

Ricky Wells (born 27 July 1991 in Auckland, New Zealand), is an American international motorcycle speedway rider. He was the 2009 USA National Champion and a two time U.S. Under 21 National Champion.[1] He has been an international rider for the USA in the Speedway World Cup.[2]

Career

Wells made his first appearance in the World Under 21 Championships in 2008 by winning the 2007 U.S. Under 21 National Championship. He scored 9 points in Qualifying Round 1 held in Norden, Germany[3] which qualified him to move onto Semi-Final Round 1 held in Rye House. Only scoring 6 points which did not qualify him to move onto The Final Round.[4]

Wells came home and won the 2008 U.S. Under 21 National Championship also which placed him in the 2009 World Under 21 Championships. Scoring 9, and beating off Pawel Zmarzlik and Kozza Smith in a race-off, in Qualifying Round 3 held in Rye House Stadium moved him into Semi-Final 2 held in Kumla. In Kumla, Ricky scored 5 and again was in a race-off situation, in which he beat Justin Sedgmen and Patrik Pawlaszczyk to securing a reserve spot in the Final held in Goričan. Through the injury off Przemyslaw Pawlicki, Wells was awarded a place in the main line-up of the Final, where he scored 2 points, finishing in 16th place, ahead of Ludvig Lindgren.

On 19 September 2009, Wells won the United States Individual Speedway Championship, winning all of his heat races and the main event. The same season Wells rode for Elite League team Coventry Bees[5] and for the Stoke Potters in the Premier League in 2010 on loan from Coventry.[6] In 2011 he rode for the Elite Shield-winning Wolverhampton Wolves team in the Elite League and Plymouth Devils in the Premier. He has remained with Wolves until the end of 2013, while also riding for Sheffield Tigers in the Premier League. In 2018 he signed for Leicester Lions.[7]

In 2020, when the speedway season was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic he worked at Amazon.[8]

In 2022, he rode for the Berwick Bandits in the SGB Championship 2022.[9]

Honours

World Championships

References

  1. ^ Speedwaybikes.com profile
  2. ^ "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  3. ^ SportoweFakty.pl
  4. ^ Ciężka przeprawa Polaków w Rye House
  5. ^ "2008 Rider index" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
  6. ^ Coventrymotorspeedway.com - Bees Move For Wells
  7. ^ "Magnificent Wells stars on debut". Edinburgh Reporter. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  8. ^ "Former Sheffield Tigers speedway star Ricky Wells swaps wheels for warehouse job at Amazon during lockdown". The Star. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  9. ^ "British Speedway rider profile". British Speedway. Retrieved 30 September 2022.