Few riders make a successful switch between disciplines at the highest level of motorcycle sport – but Daniel Bewley isn’t most riders. A multiple British champion and third in the world in Speedway last season, Bewley has already established himself as one of the sport’s elite, claiming Grand Prix victories. Yet in a move that raised more than a few eyebrows, Bewley ended up racing the Arenacross Tour series and did so aboard an electric machine, with virtually no preparation.
For many, it would have been a steep learning curve. For Bewley, it was simply another challenge to embrace. From grabbing holeshots to battling seasoned Arenacross veterans and adapting to the dreaded whoops section, the Speedway ace showed impressive composure and raw ability in an unfamiliar environment.
We caught up with Bewley to discuss his Speedway résumé, why he decided to take on Arenacross, how he found the transition, and whether we might see him lining up on the gate again in the future – before he returns to his “real job” chasing a World Championship on the Speedway stage.
GateDrop: From Speedway to Arenacross, just before we touch on the Arenacross, just for the people that don’t know, can you tell me a little bit about your Speedway background? I believe you’re a multiple British champion and I think third in the world possibly, so pretty good.
Bewley: That’s it, third in the world last year, won a few GPs and three times British champion, senior champion, I think five times with Junior.
GateDrop: Not bad at all, and then obviously this year you decided to do Arenacross, just how, first of all, did that all come around? It’s not normal for someone from Speedway to come and do this?
Bewley: No, it’s been pretty cool. A lot of the guys came up to me tonight from the pro class and everything and said, they know what Speedway is but never really watched it and they said after seeing me they’re going to tune in, so it’s pretty cool. But no, I used to race Motocross up until the big wheel 85s. I raced the British and stuff like that and then when I was like 15, 16, that was when I finished Motocross and started Speedway.
GateDrop: Whenever you did race Motocross, did you ever do Arenacross or is this the first time for you?
Bewley: No, never. I raced at Desertmartin a couple of times but never done any Arenacross.
GateDrop: The first Arenacross you’ve done, which would have been Birmingham, I mean totally different to what you’re used to?
Bewley: 100%, just riding an electric bike too, the first time I ever went to the start, done a start on it or anything. I had no practice starts, nothing, that was the first race and I just blipped the throttle when the 10 second board came up, put it in the gate. But no, since then I’ve been getting the grips with it. I pulled nearly three or four holeshots, so no, it’s been good, it’s just been fun. I think it’s same for everyone here, whether it’s Speedway or Motocross for all the races. We’ve banged a few bars and it’s been a good life.
GateDrop: I don’t know if you know that much about Neville Bradshaw, but I mean, he’s a former GP guy, okay he’s 42 now, but I mean, you were able to run with him for a few laps, so not bad considering it’s something totally new for you…
Bewley: It’s cool to race with him, I did a Motocross team event, I was racing for Team Cumbria at the end of the summer and we had a little bit of a battle there. It’s cool to race with him again and I was saying to him before, I wish I was a little bit better in the whoops, so we could actually have a battle, but he’s got me covered. He’s on it and it’s awesome to see.
GateDrop: One thing I did notice about you, I mean, you look pretty smooth, you throw some guys in at Arenacross for the first time and they’re all over the place, but you’re actually quite in control and so from that side, were you happy with your riding?
Bewley: Thank you for that. I felt alright but just the whoops. I never really did any practice on them or anything like that. I wouldn’t mind doing a little bit more time on it and then just see if we get a little bit better. All in all, it’s been a fun couple of rounds and a nice little break before I get back to my real job in a few weeks time.
GateDrop: I mean, would you be open for doing this in the future, is that something you’ve thought about, will we see you here next year again?
Bewley: Maybe, we’ll see, but for now, it’s kind of one of them things, it’s been good. I haven’t rode any real Arenacross before, but riding Motocross in the winter and training so you’ve got this as a little bit of a goal. It kind of takes the mind off the Speedway season, so it’s been nice, but no, I said I’ll focus on this up until now and now it’s over, I’m going to focus on my real job, which is Speedway. We’ll see once the season finishes, I might get bored a couple of weeks into the off-season and we’ll see what we can do.
GateDrop: Well, I suppose the one good thing about it is you know what to expect now, so if you come back next year, you’ll know what to expect firstly and you might be able to prepare for it better as well.
Bewley: 100%. It’s my own fault to be honest, it’s down to me at the end of the day, just to do a little bit more practice on some whoops so I don’t feel like such a fish out of water there. They’re easy to hit if you watch Deano, you have just got to commit to them but them top boys are so good, fair play to them. It’s cool and nice to have something to kind of work towards. All in all, it’s been awesome and thanks to everyone on the team here, True Motocross kit, all my sponsors and also thanks to the Arenacross series for welcoming me in and making it happen.
GateDrop: Like you touched on earlier, I mean, you did race Motocross up until a certain age and I believe you still follow the sport, you watch AMA and you follow GPs from talking to you earlier, just how much do you appreciate what those top guys do and do you love the sport?
Bewley: I still watch it all the time, I never miss any of the racing in America, I try and tune in as much as I can to Europe and British Championships. It’s pretty cool watching the British Championship last year on YouTube, just real easy to watch it’s good. I check out a few of your interviews as well, the Marc de Reuver one – that was my favourite one. I try and keep up to date as much as possible.
GateDrop: I don’t know much about Speedway, can you just tell me a little bit about that, like you said your season starts in a couple of weeks, how long would your season last and do you do much traveling around the world with that… Where would you go to race mostly?
Bewley: For anyone that’s not familiar with Speedway, it’s a bit weird. We have the World Championship, which is 10 rounds and the rounds are in Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Czech Republic, Manchester and around Europe. Then I race in the League Racing, which is for a team in Poland, in Wroclaw, so, that’s kind of a bit like football. That’s sort of like a Man United sort of thing and then the other weird part of it is I also race for a team in England, Belle Vue Aces, which is in Manchester and that’s like the Man United of Speedway in England. It’s a bit weird in that sense, but in a season I could easy race maybe 60 or 70 times, that’s from mid-March up until October.
GateDrop: And those AMA riders complain about their schedule, they have it easy (laughs) and I mean, you get to travel all over Europe, is that something you enjoy, that comes with the job?
Bewley: 100%, you know, I feel like anyone that travels, you have them times where you’re not mega stoked on it, but at the end of the day, when you sit back, it is pretty cool. When I was racing Motocross, I never really travelled anywhere, I came to Desertmartin a couple of times and spent a week in Ireland, but other than that, I never went out of the UK. It’s been cool, I never thought I would travel this much. I remember doing French in school and I thought, this is a waste of time, I’ll never leave England, so it’s been good. It has took me to some cool places. Between Birmingham the first round and now I’ve been in California for two weeks, riding speedway.
GateDrop: Have you been to America before or was that the first time for you?
Bewley: I’ve raced there a couple of times, this last time I was just practicing, it’s nice to try and tie a trip in, go and watch some Supercross and it’s good.
GateDrop: I mean, what are your goals for speedway, third in the world, world champion, do you think, is that like a realistic goal for you. Is that something you want to try and achieve?
Bewley: Obviously, that’s the plan, everyone that’s racing wants to get there. It was third last year and just doing my best, try as hard as we can, as always and just have fun riding my bike. To be honest, what will be, will be.
