DIFFERENT APPROACH

GLADIATORS BOSS WANTS STRENGTH FROM ONE TO SEVEN

- STUART JAMES

PLYMOUTH Gladiators boss Garry May is taking a different approach to his team building for the new season after a disappointing 2023 in which his team finished bottom of the Championship table.

With three strong heat leaders in Simon Howarth, Richie Worrall and Ben Barker, hopes were high that the Gladiators could challenge for silverware last summer, but in-house personality clashes, injuries and inconsistent form led to a pretty disappointing campaign.

With that in mind, May has taken a different approach to constructing virtually a whole new team for next season. All seven riders are now confirmed for the new campaign with the first two set to be announced on Friday, but with Ben Trigger already confirmed as departing the club and Worrall serving a nine-month suspension after failing a drugs test – and unable to resume racing until June – wholesale changes are expected.

Championship clubs are having to fit their seven riders into a new 38-point limit for 2024, which means several top name riders that rode in the league in 2023 will not be returning. But after lessons were learnt from that campaign, May has built a side with more strength at reserve rather that top load at the front end.

“We suffered big time last year because we had three good heat leaders and you couldn’t knock those heat leaders, looking at their names,” May said. “But two of them would perform, or one of them would perform. There was never a time where all three of them would perform.