Cook still believes team can serve up some success

There have been some bright spots among all the gloom at Panthers as the club still search for a replacement number one and one of those has been the form of topflight newcomer BEN COOK.

The 25-year-old Australian looks at the early days of his top-flight career in this country as the Class of 2023 take us behind the scenes in our exclusive HOLESHOT MEDIA column.

"I didn’t really know what to expect when I stepped up into the Premiership after two seasons racing in the Championship at Poole.

“I wanted to make the move this year and when the offer came through from Peterborough, I didn’t think too much about it.

“It’s going good so far. Obviously, I haven’t had too high expectations but so far so good. Every meeting is a learning curve. There are new tracks to learn as well and that includes the East of England Showground.

“I’d been to Leicester before because they were in the Championship, but I hadn’t been to Belle Vue and I hadn’t really been to Wolverhampton either. I rode in Rory Schlein’s Farewell meeting in 2021, but it was raining and the track was like a mud pit so it wasn’t a good gauge.

“Racing in the Premiership is definitely more difficult than the Championship and obviously I have more to learn so I am just taking each meeting as it goes.

"The level of competition in the Premiership is a bit higher than racing in the Championship as everyone is good, especially on their home track.

“Hopefully, I haven’t had my best moments yet but I have been getting a few heat wins which is always good.

“What I want now is a good one at home! Our season has been going for around five weeks and I’ve still only had two meetings at Peterborough.

“I’d only been to Peterborough once before and that wasn’t to ride. I went with Chris Holder to watch his younger brother Jack racing for Sheffield and, even though we had our Press and Practice Day before the first meeting this season, we didn’t even get to start the bike up because of the weather.

"It’s a bit more difficult when you are going to everyone else’s track and the riders know their home circuit, but you don’t have the experience on your own home track.

"You want to hit the ground running and that’s difficult when you don’t have that home track knowledge.

“We haven’t had the best of starts and no-one wants to lose five meetings in a row, but considering our circumstances, not having had a full or consistent one to seven, it hasn’t been easy for any of us.

“Once we sort out a number one and everyone settles in I feel like we have got a lot to give.

"I think we can be a strong team and if we had had a number one we could have won our home match against Ipswich, but that wasn’t to be.

“We went close at Leicester and even on Monday at Wolverhampton we were close again. Once we all start firing and get a full team, things should change.

“I’ve been a reserve so far, but I’d like to make it into the top five, get into the main body of the team, and just to be as consistent as I can be and score good points.”

Ben Cook.