BERWICK Bandits have completed their septet for their charge on the Premier League title in 2012 this week with the signing of two very bright young prospects.
A week of frantic market-trading has seen Berwick’s management confirm the names of 18-year-old Brenton Barnfield, from Mildura, Australia, and the first Frenchman to race for the Bandits, 18-year-old David Bellego.
Bellego comes from Marmande in the deep south west of France.
He had already carved a reputation on the continental grass and long-tracks before appearing in eight matches for Glasgow Tigers at the end of last season. Barnfield travelled to the UK at his own expense in June this year to ride as an amateur for Berwick’s Northern Junior League team – winning every race he finished in four mini-matches to catch the promotion’s eye.
He also hauled his bike around several other British tracks to get as much practice as possible on different circuits.
“He was originally brought to our notice in Australia by one-time Bandit Troy Scott,” explained John Anderson.
“We should also mention the help of Mark Lemon – a near-neighbour of the Barnfield family in Mildura – who ensured we did not forget the lad when building our line-up.
“In addition to his prospective racing promise – and it is his potential we’re investing in with this signing -- Brenton is a polite, articulate young man, very much the kind of lad we want to have representing the A & J Scott Bandits off the track as well as scoring points on it when the tapes go up.
“David Bellego joins us as a reserve on an assessed average of just five points per match, but when I saw he was turning in higher scores for the Tigers such as his 13+3 points against Newport and 12+4 against Edinburgh, I’m confident he might not be a reserve too long!
“The other point in favour of his joining us is that David will be added to our roster of club assets, which is something we are anxious to encourage whenever possible.”
Bandits’ team manager Ian Rae is cock-a-hoop over the Frenchman’s agreement to join the black-and-gold cause. “I had been told he would be priced out of our market, but this definitely wasn’t the case,” he said.
“The club has arranged accommodation in Berwick, which is something we will always do for our riders who don’t have a base of their own in the UK.
“When we offered David a place to quarter himself up here, it allowed everything else to fall into place.
“We have our youngest team ever in a 44-year history. An average age of just 22, with skipper Lee Complin the ‘old man’ at 27.”
The duo of new faces will join captain Complin, track record holder Sebastian Alden, fellow Swede Alex Edberg, Filip Sitera of the Czech Republic and the ultra-popular Australian Kozza Smith.
