Benjamin Richard Powell (born 28 November 1984 in

Helensvale Helensvale is a suburb of the City of Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia. In the , Helensvale had a population of 16,862 people. Geography Helensvale is bounded by the Pacific Motorway to the west, by the Coomera River to the north, by S ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

) is a former Australian

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that use only ...

rider.

Career

Club

Powell signed for

Sheffield Tigers The Sheffield 'Tru Plant' Tigers are a motorcycle speedway team based in Sheffield, England. They currently race in the British SGB Premiership, and their home meetings take place at Owlerton Stadium. The Tigers traditionally hold their race ...

's Conference League side, Sheffield Prowlers in 2002. He then spent two seasons with Carmarthen Dragons before they folded and he moved to Rye House where he rode for

Rye House Raiders The Rye House Rockets were a speedway team based at Rye House Stadium, Hoddesdon, England. They competed in various British speedway leagues from 1954 to 2018. History Rye House began life in 1934 hosting open meetings. Whilst at Hackney in 1 ...

in the Conference League with the number one race jacket. He was also given several outings in the Rye House Rockets

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side in 2006. His performances improved and he was signed by

Birmingham Brummies Birmingham Brummies are a British speedway team founded in 1928. They were inaugural members of the Southern League in 1929. The team have twice finished runner-up in the highest tier of British speedway, during the 1952 Speedway National Le ...

for his first full Premier League season. He

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

d close to six points a meeting with the Brummies in 2007. Another move, this time to

Newcastle Diamonds Newcastle Diamonds were a motorcycle speedway team that raced in the SGB Championship, every Sunday night during the season (March–October) from their home at the Newcastle Stadium on the Fossway, Byker. The Stadium, previously known as Broug ...

in 2008, didn't work out and

Scunthorpe Scorpions The Scunthorpe Scorpions are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. They have raced at various times since 1972, at three different venues. History 1972–1978 The original Scunthorpe side were known as Scunthorpe Saints from 19 ...

signed him at the beginning of June 2008. Powell was sacked by Scunthorpe after he launched his motorcycle at Newcastle rider

Kenni Larsen Kenni Arendt Larsen (born 14 June 1988), known as both Kenni Arendt and Kenni Larsen, is a Danish speedway rider. Born in Odense, Denmark, Larsen began his British speedway career in 2008 with Newcastle Diamonds, the first of three seasons that ...

during a meeting at his former club in October. Powell announced he was retiring from British speedway after he was later banned for 12 months by the Speedway Control Bureau.

International

Powell previously represented

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

in the World Long Track Championship and World Under-21 Championship.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Ben 1984 births Living people Australian speedway riders Sportspeople from the Gold Coast, Queensland Sheffield Tigers riders Coventry Bees riders Mildenhall Fen Tigers riders Rye House Rockets riders Birmingham Brummies riders Newcastle Diamonds riders Scunthorpe Scorpions riders