It's over to you, Bruv

9:09am Tuesday 24th June 2008

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WEYMOUTH Doonan Wildcats' new boy Lee Herne has revealed that he would rather see his little brother do well than himself.

The former Arena Essex rider, who made his debut for the Radipole Lane outfit in Saturday's 47-45 first-leg victory over the Plymouth Devils in the Knockout Cup, has been drafted in to replace Jon Armstrong who is recovering from a broken leg.

Losing the Mighty Midget to injury in the Conference League Pairs on May 31 was a huge blow but thanks to the foresight of chairman Phil Bartlett and the talents of the Herne family the club managed to plug the gap in double quick fashion.

All it took was one call from Wildcat Jay Herne to his older sibling in Australia and the Wessex Stadium outfit had another top-quality rider in their ranks.

Lee Herne said: "Jay got in touch with me on Phil's behalf. I was coming over on holiday anyway so when he asked me to ride for the team and help them out I was delighted.

"The last time I was over here was five years ago and before Saturday the last time I sat on a bike was at the start of January so it is very much like starting over again.

"I always had it in the back of my mind to come over here again and hopefully I will experience some good meetings.

"To start with I am here for a month so we will just see how it goes. The support down here is fantastic and I am just looking forward to helping the team do well."

Lee Herne scored seven points at the Wessex Stadium on Saturday in a stop-start meeting that was hugely affected by the wet weather.

The Aussie ace added: "I had not ridden in wet conditions like that for a long time and it took a bit of getting used to. There is not a great deal of overtaking on nights like that and it is all about getting a good start. You can also expect a few spills.

"I had a bit of a slow start, touching the tapes in heat one, but I then had a couple of half-decent rides.

"It was just unfortunate what happened in the last heat with Jay coming off and the race having to be re-run. I was in front at the time and had the race gone on and I held on we would now have a four-point lead instead of two, but that is just speedway.

"We now face a tricky trip to their place in the second leg but we have got some good young guys here and there is no reason why we cannot go there and get the result we need.

"Teams have gone to tracks and won when they were not expected to on countless occasions so we have got to be optimistic and go there full of confidence."

When asked about his relationship with his brother, Lee Herne said: "We get on well. We have never had a falling out between us and at the moment I am actually riding his spare bike.

"The thing is I would rather see Jay do well than myself because he is the one now trying to make a career out of it while I have had my go at it and am now just doing it for fun.

"There has never really been any brotherly rivalry either. When Jay started riding I had been doing it for a while and at the moment all I want is to see him do well."