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Swindon Robins' Alun Rossiter to manage Team GB at 2017 Speedway World Cup

Alun Rossiter, boss of the Swindon Robins Speedway team, will head the Team GB side at the 2017 World Cup, it has been confirmed.

It will be the fourth successive World Cup that Alun Rossiter will go to as Team GB's coach and last year he led them to a silver medal.

“The only negative it ever has from a Swindon perspective is that British boys always try to prove a point to me in the build-up to the world cup, but that’s part of the job,” Rossiter said.

“If a team with one of the British riders under consideration comes to Swindon then you can be sure that rider will be putting in the hard yards to make me take note.

“But I’m very proud and honoured to have the role and I think it’s something for the people of Swindon to be proud of too, to have the national team manager in the town.

“I would like to thank the promoters for putting their faith in me once again,” he said.

“I’m very pleased to get confirmation of this and I will be doing everything I can to help make us a success.

“I certainly think we can make the race-off in Poland. It’s nice to be back at King’s Lynn on July 1, although the silver medal we won at Belle Vue last summer was a very special moment.”

GB will face Australia, USA and Czech Republic in Event 1 on Saturday July 1 next year – but they will be without double world champion Tai Woffinden who has stood down from the national team.

“Without Tai we have to move on,” said Rossiter. “We will have a group of riders who want to wear the race jacket with pride and it will be a true team effort, just like it was at Belle Vue.

“It gives somebody else the chance to step forward and represent their country.”