Benjamin (Ben) John Barker (born 10 March 1988 in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro c ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

) is a British

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta *Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a motor raceway in Speedway, Indiana Types of races and race cours ...

rider.

Career summary

Barker signed for

Stoke Potters The Stoke Potters previously the Hanley Potters were a British speedway team competing in the National League. As Stoke, the team raced at Loomer Road Stadium in Newcastle-under-Lyme. As Hanley Potters they raced from 1929 to 1963. History ...

in December 2006 after impressing for the Stoke club's Conference League side,

Stoke Spitfires The Stoke Spitfires were a British speedway team competing in the Conference League. The Spitfires were the junior team of the Stoke Potters. The Spifires won the Conference League Four-Team Championship The Conference League Four-Team Champi ...

. In October 2006, Barker finished in third place in the British Under-18 Championship behind winner

Lewis Bridger Lewis Alan Bridger (born 4 November 1989, in Hastings, Sussex) is a motorcycle speedway rider from England. Career Bridger stepped straight into Elite League racing from the Conference League after one season with the Weymouth Wildcats. His ...

and second placed

Tai Woffinden Tai Woffinden (born 10 August 1990) is a British speedway rider. He is a three-time World Champion (2013, 2015 and 2018). Early life Woffinden was born in Scunthorpe, the son of former speedway rider Rob Woffinden. Although born in the United ...

. In April 2007, a month after his 19th birthday, he reached the final of the British Under-21 Championship, finishing fourth. Barker has represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

at Under-21 level. He rode for Great Britain in the

2006 Team Speedway Junior World Championship The 2006 Team Speedway Junior World Championship was the second of the FIM Team Speedway Junior World Championship season. The final took place in Germany, Sweden and Poland in June and September 2006. World Championship was won by Poland team. ...

. He also competed in the

2007 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship The 2007 Individual Speedway Junior World Championship was the 31st edition of the World motorcycle speedway Under-21 Championships. The title was won by Emil Sajfutdinov of Russia. Calendar - Quarter-finals - Semi-finals - Final ...

finishing seventh in Qualifying Round B at

Goričan Goričan ( hu, Muracsány) is a municipality in Međimurje County, Croatia. Goričan is the only village belonging to the municipality. Its population in the 2011 census was 2,823. Of the entire population, 2,763 people identified themselves as Cr ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

on 12 May 2007, before going out of the competition on 17 June in Semi Final B at

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

, where he finished 14th. Barker returned to the

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees were a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon near Coventry, England. History A Coventry team was first formed in 1928 and competed in the inaugural season of the Souther ...

in the 2008 Elite League, after riding for the Coventry Cougars in the Conference Trophy during the 2004 season. In July 2008, he agreed a permanent move to Coventry Bees as a full asset, and returned to Coventry for the 2009 season. Ben splits his time with Birmingham with riding for the

Ipswich Witches The Ipswich Witches are a British speedway club based at Foxhall Stadium near Ipswich, Suffolk. They compete in the British SGB Premiership. Meetings are staged on most Thursdays from March until October, normally commencing at 7.30pm (first ...

in the

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 ...

. In 2014 Barker rode for

Plymouth Devils The Plymouth Gladiators are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. Under several names Plymouth have competed during various seasons from 1932. The club was reformed after a gap of thirty-six years in 2006 by former St Austell Gulls ...

then in 2015 he signed for

Berwick Bandits The Berwick Bandits are a British speedway club, based in Berwick-upon-Tweed. They currently compete in the SGB Championship, racing at Shielfield Park, with home matches usually taking place on Saturday evenings. They also run a second team ...

but a back injury at the British Final at Wolverhampton looked set to end his season but he returned to ride for

Peterborough Panthers The Peterborough Panthers are a British speedway team based in Peterborough, England. They are three times champions of the United Kingdom, winning the highest level league in 1999, 2006 and 2021. History 1970–1994 The Panthers inaugural se ...

at the end of the 2015 season. In 2016 Ben signed for Glasgow Tigers in the

. He rode for

Redcar Bears The Redcar Bears are a British speedway team who currently compete in the SGB Championship (middle tier of the British speedway leagues). Their major team honour to date is the SGB Championship KO Cup win in 2019 against rivals Newcastle Diamo ...

in 2018. After ten years as a Coventry asset, Ben Barker was awarded a testimonial meeting to be held at his current club Redcar on 23 March 2019. In 2022, he rode for the Ipswich in the

SGB Premiership 2022 The 2022 SGB Premiership was the 87th season of the top tier of British Speedway and the 5th known as the SGB Premiership. Sheffield Tigers topped the regular season table and met Belle Vue Aces in the play off final but Belle Vue ran out the win ...

and for Plymouth in the

SGB Championship 2022 The 2022 SGB Championship season is the 75th season of the second tier of British Speedway and the 5th known as the SGB Championship. Summary Eleven clubs competed in the Championship in 2022, with Oxford returning to the sport after a 15 year ab ...

. His 2022 season was curtailed after he failed a random drug test before a race meeting. Although the Speedway Control Bureau have not released the details, his club Plymouth stated that the test showed positive for a strong dosage of

co-codamol Codeine/paracetamol, also known as codeine/acetaminophen and co-codamol, is a compound analgesic consisting of a combination of codeine phosphate and paracetamol (acetaminophen). Codeine/paracetamol is used for the relief of mild to moderate p ...

and Zapain. In 2023, he re-signed for Plymouth for the

SGB Championship 2023 The 2023 SGB Cab Direct Championship season will be the 76th season of the second tier of British Speedway and the 6th known as the SGB Championship. The British Speedway Network (BSN) would stream 35 matches live for the second year running. S ...

following his return after a suspension.

Career details

World Championships

* Individual U-21 World Championship ** ''

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ...

- 14th place in Semi-final 2'' ** ''

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing ...

- 10th place in Qualifying Round 5'' ** ''

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

- injury in Qualifying Round 1 and was replaced in Semi-Final 1'' * Team U-21 World Championship (Under-21 Speedway World Cup) ** '' 2006 - 3rd place in Qualifying Round 1'' ** ''

- started in Qualifying Round 2 only'' ** ''

- 3rd place in Qualifying Round 1''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barker, Ben 1988 births Living people English motorcycle racers Sportspeople from Truro British speedway riders Berwick Bandits riders Birmingham Brummies riders Coventry Bees riders Exeter Falcons riders Ipswich Witches riders King's Lynn Stars riders Newcastle Diamonds riders Oxford Cheetahs riders Peterborough Panthers riders Plymouth Gladiators speedway riders Redcar Bears riders Rye House Rockets riders Scunthorpe Scorpions riders Somerset Rebels riders Stoke Potters riders Trelawny Tigers riders