Second Russian joins Hammers.

The Arena-Essex Speedway Promoter, Ronnie Russell, announced to the crowd at Wednesday's home meeting that he has decided to make a change to the Husqvarna Hammers line-up.

Out goes Pole Piotr Swist and in comes Russian Sergey Darkin. The Pole, who joined the Husqvarna Hammers prior to the start of this season, has found it difficult to be consistent racing on tracks he had not previously seen. This was his first spell of racing in this Country despite being a very experienced rider in his homeland. Swist undoubtedly has the ability to perform well in this Country but he has struggled with this equipment.

Ronnie Russell stated: "Piotr is a very talented rider and he still is very much in my future plans for the Club. He knows that he now needs to go back home and spend his time building up suitable equipment to use over here. I fully understand that he keeps his best bikes in Poland as that is where his major sponsors are based. If we were a more affluent Club we perhaps could have helped him more with his engines and given him more time to get used to the rigors of racing over here but he was in the difficult position of attempting to establish himself here but at the same time get sponsorship."

"I felt that I needed to make the change now as I was allowed to do so under the new set of averages, which have now come out. The remaining members of the side are aware that I am prepared to make further changes if the right riders become available and I hope that this will prove to be a sufficient incentive to spur them all on to achieve better performances for the Club."

Russian, Sergey Darkin should immediately feel at home with the Essex based Club as his fellow countryman, Roman Povazhny, is already a member of the Husqvarna Hammers side. Darkin, who will be 32 on 18th June, first rode in this Country in 2001, when he signed for the Eastbourne Eagles. However, it wasn't until last season when he really established himself in this Country when he came over to ride for Coventry.

He rode in 15 League meetings for the Bees scoring a total of 111 point and averaged 6.08 (excluding bonus points). His home average was 5.94 and away from home he achieved 6.21. He appeared once at the Arena-Essex Raceway in 2004 but that was not for the Bees but as a guest for Belle Vue. He was the second top scorer for the Aces in that match (behind Jason Crump) scoring an impressive 11 points. In his spell with the Bees he quickly became very popular with their supporters mainly because of his exciting riding style and the effort he put into his racing.

Sergey appears to be a good signing for the Husqvarna Hammers (on a loan deal with Eastbourne) and hopefully he will add a little more scoring power to the team. His inclusion in the Husqvarna Hammers line-up means that Roman Povazhny will now more down to reserve alongside American Josh Larsen. This should also give additional strength at the lower end of the side, especially around the Arena-Essex Raceway.

Darkin expects to make his debut for Arena-Essex away at Wolverhampton on Bank Holiday Monday and he will then make his home debut in the Husqvarna Hammers colours on Wednesday (1st June) when his 2004 club, the Coventry Bees, will be the visitors at the Arena-Essex Raceway.