Meet the Riders Night - Shane Parker
(Posted 06/03/08)

Shane's preparation is well behind after his well publicised illness in the winter but he has been able to get to the gym in the last couple of weeks to work on his fitness.

The injuries he sustained last season in the Redcar meeting seem to have recovered okay although he was in a way lucky that he had the whole winter to let the ligament damage heal as otherwise he may have been tempted to come back too soon.

With regards to the pneumonia, he had felt ill for a few days and was struggling for breath so went to hospital. he happened to mention that he had recently flown in from the Uk and as a result they immediately assumed DVT which had moved to the lung. He was hospitalised for a couple of days on warfarin before a CAT scan revealed that it was in fact pneumonia. He was released on antibiotics but has had to have another two courses of antibiotics after it showed signs of returning.

Shane did not get much time for socialising back in Australia but was happy to spend the time at home with his family as he often misses out during the speedway season.

The first round of the Australian championships saw him mechanic for Joe Screen and it was far worse than riding, he was desperate to get back on a bike and as a result has more or less made up his mind that he is going to ride in the Australian Championship next winter (he did the mechanic role for Joe for another 2 rounds).

He is still very much enjoying speedway at Glasgow in the PL, its more fun and this is now his 19th season racing in the UK. Its also his 5th season racing for Glasgow equalling the 5 seasons he spent at Ipswich, something he thought he would never equal although it is still a bit of a pain the traveling up the M6 every week. When he is talking to himself on the journey though he is never wrong!

This year is a new challenge for Shane in the pits. he has told the boys that he will be there for them when they need advice as it will be a very big learning curve for them.

An average of 10 points is still very much a target for the Messiah although he is concerned that his fitness is not at the standard he would like for the start of the season. It will also be made tougher by the riders who have now dropped down from the Elite league but it is a challenge to rise to.

Shane loves the Ashfield track as much as ever and riding at number 1 this year he is convinced he can once again break the track record. He is quite happy to ride at number 1, it doesn't really matter to him what number he rides at, he just can't wait to get back in the saddle as its 5 months since he last rode.