Benjamin John Barker (born 10 March 1988 in

Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

) is a British

speedway Speedway may refer to: Racing Race tracks *Daytona International Speedway, a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida. *Edmonton International Speedway, also known as Speedway Park, a former motor raceway in Edmonton, Alberta. *Indianapolis Motor Spe ...

rider. Barker earned six international caps for the

Great Britain national speedway team The Great Britain national speedway team (formerly the England speedway team) is one of the major teams in international motorcycle speedway. The team is managed by former Great Britain riders Oliver Allen and Simon Stead, and captained by th ...

Career summary

Barker signed for

Stoke Potters The Stoke Potters previously the Hanley Potters were a British speedway team. As Hanley Potters they raced at the Sun Street Stadium from 1929 to 1963 and as Stoke, the team raced at Loomer Road Stadium in Newcastle-under-Lyme from 1973 to ...

in December 2006 after impressing for the Stoke club's Conference League side, Stoke Spitfires, he was part of the Spitfires team that won the Conference League Four-Team Championship, held on 24 June 2006 at

Loomer Road Stadium Loomer Road Stadium was a sports stadium situated in Chesterton, Staffordshire from c.1970 to 2019. The building had considerable parking facilities, covered terracing and a bar with a view of the track. The stadium opened in 1973 and hosted gr ...

. In October 2006, Barker finished in third place in the British Under-18 Championship. In April 2007, a month after his 19th birthday, he reached the final of the British Under-21 Championship, finishing fourth. Barker represented

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

at Under-21 level, at the 2006 Team Speedway Junior World Championship. 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 - Fi ...

finishing seventh in Qualifying Round B at

Goričan Goričan () is a municipalities of Croatia, 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 them ...

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

Daugavpils Daugavpils (see also other names) is a state city in southeastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city derives its name. The parts of the city to the north of the river belong to the historical Latvian region ...

, where he finished 14th. Barker returned to the

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees are a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon, Warwickshire, Brandon near Coventry, England. They are eight times champions of Britain. History Origins and 1920s The firs ...

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 the Bees as a full asset, and returned to them for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. He continued to ride in the top two tiers of British speedway riding for various clubs. In 2014 Barker rode for

Plymouth Devils The Plymouth Gladiators are a speedway team in the British SGB Championship. The team competed during various seasons from 1932 to 1969, before reforming after a gap of thirty-six years in 2006. In 2021, the club successfully applied to join t ...

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 were a British motorcycle speedway team based in Peterborough, England from 1970 to 2023. They were three times List of United Kingdom speedway league champions, champions of the United Kingdom, winning the highest lev ...

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

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. He rode for

Redcar Bears The Redcar Bears are a British motorcycle speedway team who compete in the SGB Championship (second tier of the British speedway leagues). The club was founded in 2006 and their major team honour to date is the SGB Championship Knockout Cup wi ...

in 2018. After ten years as a Coventry asset, 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 ...

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-yea ...

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

SGB Championship 2023 The 2023 SGB Championship season (sponsored by Cab Direct) was the 76th season of the second tier of Speedway in the United Kingdom, British Speedway and the 6th known as the SGB Championship. The British Speedway Network (BSN) streamed 35 match ...

following his return after a suspension. He later re-signed for Ipswich as well. His 2023 season culminated with a third place finish in the 2023 British Speedway Championship. He re-signed for the Plymouth Gladiators for the 2024 season.

Major results

World Championships

* Individual U-21 World Championship ** ''

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

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

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

- 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 Devils riders Plymouth Gladiators riders Redcar Bears riders Rye House Rockets riders Scunthorpe Scorpions riders Somerset Rebels riders Stoke Potters riders Trelawny Tigers riders