Young guns all set to pick up the baton

With 'inspirational' fathers Barrie Bennett and Eifion Hughes having hung up their Kevlars, sons Louis and Shaun are more than ready to take over the mantel.

Still both only aged 20, the younger riders have had a season to remember, winning races on the continent while also claiming numerous victories on home soil.

The elder statesmen have also signed off in style, qualifying for a European final for good measure.

Between the four racers, they have accumulated 9,960 miles, which has included travelling to 20 UK meetings – 18 grasstrack events and two speedway meetings – as well as one meeting in the Netherlands each, while Barrie and Eifion also headed to Germany in the seniors.

The year 2018 marked season number 33 for seasoned campaigner Barrie, who grew up in Brockton, Worthen, but now lives in Middletown, and the 14th for Eifion, of Llangurig, Powys, who have both decided the time is right to stepped away from racing.

Ready to step up are Shaun and Louis, despite a bad crash last year that caused muscle damage and broken shoulders for both, ending their campaign just weeks before their first foray into the British championships.

The young duo have since gone from strength to strength, under the guidance of their experienced fathers, who themselves competed in a European semi-final in Roden, Holland, qualifying for the final in Werlte, Germany, the following week.

The crew also received an invite to race at Annen, also in The Netherlands, in late September.

The one major difference between the family pairings is the roles are reserved out on the track, with Barrie driving and Eifion passenger, whereas Louis prefers being the passenger while Shaun drives.

“Overall, we have both had a really solid season," said Louis, who was born in Shrewsbury but grew up in Churchstoke and Newtown before moving to Telford.

"We have pulled some real eyebrow-raising results this year, especially after winning a national meeting, The Masters of Midshires, finishing unbeaten and also claiming rider of the day titles.

"We won four meetings on the bounce in July but there has still been two or three meetings where lady luck has not been on our side, and we have just fallen short in star-studded meetings.

"Our first ever British championships really didn’t go our way. We faced an obstacle without even getting to practice because we had to wait well over an hour for a random drug and alcohol test, which we obviously passed.

"But with all the time we wasted we only had one practice – and at British championship level you just want to make sure everything is right."

During the first heat, the pair snapped a drive belt, and the rest of the meeting did not go to plan either but they are already determined to return next year for another punt a British-level racing.

"There’s nothing we could do about it and we just dusted ourselves down for another punt next year – some days you just don’t have luck," said Louis.

Back on the domestic scene, the duo won the Western Centre Championship – securing a first and two seconds – which included a spectacular comeback in the final round.

"We then went to The Netherlands as two massively unknown kids from the UK, who no-one on the continent had heard of," said Louis.

"To then go out and win the first heat in front of 3,000 people was an unreal feeling. We eventually finished second to a European finalist team from Denmark.

"At Wimbourne, in October, we went into the final as second-highest point scorers behind the British champions, eventually finishing fourth.

"We’ve learned an awful lot this year and had barrels of laughs along the way.

"We can’t really thank our dads enough for always encouraging us, teaching us all we know and building us an unreal platform to race.

"Our dads have enjoyed pushing us on this year, as well as racing themselves and proving why they love the wet meetings.

"This class is ultra-competitive and we’ve both showed we can fight and challenge the big dogs.

"Dad was racing before I was even a thought and with him packing up it’s a real shock – dad racing is all I’ve ever known.

"But I’m so proud of all he has accomplished in his career and I regard Eifion as my uncle.

"I’ve known him for 14 years as 'dad’s best mate' and travelled so many miles with them.

"I’m sure Shaun, who I've known since he was six, feels the same way. We all get on so well with each other’s families and we are a big family unit. ”

Louis and Shaun are now looking for sponsorship for the 2019 season. For further information or to offer support email Louis-Bennett@hotmail.co.uk, call 07811 645617 or search for the Bennett Hughes Racing Facebook page.