Post by Deleted on Dec 6, 2010 21:46:32 GMT
Leicester broke new ground in September with the signing of Sergey Darkin and today promoter David Hemsley announced that he had reached agreement with a second Russian rider, Ilya Bondarenko to ride for the Lions.
The twenty-eight year old who hails from Rosja joins fellow countryman Sergey Darkin in the Lions team for next season. Bondarenko was first capped by his country four years ago and made a dream debut on the international stage by winning his opening race at senior level for Russia in a Speedway World Cup qualifying round in Latvia. In last season’s competition of the European Speedway Club Champions Cup, Ilya scored 11 points in the semi-final which helped secure a place in the final for his Ukrainian club side, Kaskad Rivne.
Apart from brief spells with Lokomotiv Daugavpils (Latvia), Vostok Vladivostok (Russia) and Kaskad Rivne (Ukraine) Ilya has spent the majority of his career riding for Togliatti in what has been a long and distinguished association with the club that began when he was just fifteen years old.
In 2010 he spent the season contracted to two clubs, Kolejarz Opole in the Polish League and SK Oktyabrsky, where he was the second highest scorer for the team in the Russian League.
The Leicester promoter said: “I have been following with interest Ilya’s performances for some time now and have received good reports about him through my contacts in Russia. Knowing his capabilities I am confident that he will adjust very quickly to the demands of British speedway and provide an exciting spearhead with Sergey Darkin”.
Whilst all tracks in the British Premier League will be unfamiliar to Ilya, he will be fitted into the Leicester team on an assessed average of seven points which will give the Lions a potential match winner in their midst.
From the BSPA
The twenty-eight year old who hails from Rosja joins fellow countryman Sergey Darkin in the Lions team for next season. Bondarenko was first capped by his country four years ago and made a dream debut on the international stage by winning his opening race at senior level for Russia in a Speedway World Cup qualifying round in Latvia. In last season’s competition of the European Speedway Club Champions Cup, Ilya scored 11 points in the semi-final which helped secure a place in the final for his Ukrainian club side, Kaskad Rivne.
Apart from brief spells with Lokomotiv Daugavpils (Latvia), Vostok Vladivostok (Russia) and Kaskad Rivne (Ukraine) Ilya has spent the majority of his career riding for Togliatti in what has been a long and distinguished association with the club that began when he was just fifteen years old.
In 2010 he spent the season contracted to two clubs, Kolejarz Opole in the Polish League and SK Oktyabrsky, where he was the second highest scorer for the team in the Russian League.
The Leicester promoter said: “I have been following with interest Ilya’s performances for some time now and have received good reports about him through my contacts in Russia. Knowing his capabilities I am confident that he will adjust very quickly to the demands of British speedway and provide an exciting spearhead with Sergey Darkin”.
Whilst all tracks in the British Premier League will be unfamiliar to Ilya, he will be fitted into the Leicester team on an assessed average of seven points which will give the Lions a potential match winner in their midst.
From the BSPA