DANNY Ford revealed he has struck an agreement with Wolverhampton Wolves to use some of their shale to improve the Poole Pirates track.

Five-time UK champions Wolves, who first began riding in 1928, have not come to tapes this year after the stadium owners at Monmore Green turned their back on speedway, with greyhound racing now taking precedence.

Pirates get their season underway this week, hosting their annual press and practice day tomorrow, before welcoming Oxford Cheetahs to Wimborne Road in the BSN Series opener on Friday (7.30pm).

And Ford hopes fans will see an improved race surface at Poole this year, after some help from long-serving Wolves promoter Chris van Straaten.

Pirates promoter Ford told the Daily Echo: “The thing that we’ve really been struggling with over the past few years, and I think the majority of clubs are to be honest, is finding some good material to add to the track.

“Obviously tracks come flying off, but we’ve been really, really fortunate and thank you to Chris van Straaten at Wolverhampton, who has allowed us to have some of their excess stuff, which obviously they haven’t got a use for at the minute, which we’ve added to the track.

“So we’ve put probably just over 30 tonnes on the track since the end of last season and the quality of the shale and the material we’re putting on is unlike anything you can find, in the UK certainly.

“It’s really taking to the track very well. I think it will add that extra little bit of bite, which perhaps I think we were missing at the end of last year.

“You can see riders really going for it and not making any strides forward. I think that could be the answer for us this season.

“I’m really excited. The track is looking absolutely fantastic, despite all the bad weather we’ve had over the past few months.

“We’re ready to go. Just hopefully it’s kind to us on the day.”

Experienced track man Terry Chrabaszcz used to work at Monmore Green, as well as his duties with the Pirates.

“Terry worked for Wolves for a long, long time, so he’s very familiar with how this new material works,” Ford explained.

“He’s very happy, we’re very excited and if you come down to the track at the minute, it looks absolutely perfect.

“The Cook boys (Ben and Zach) were down here last week, they’re excited and hopefully we can get some laps done on press day.”

Asked how excited he is for Pirates to return to action this week, more than five months after the 2023 campaign came to an end, Ford said: “Absolutely. It’s been a long old winter and we have a lot of fresh faces coming into the team, a lot of optimism.

“I think there’s a lot of positivity, not just around Poole at the minute, but around British speedway, it seems to be riding on a bit of a high.

“Obviously the top league has got the big riders and some big names coming back and I think in the Championship, we’re in for a very competitive year.

“Season ticket sales are up. There just seems to be a feelgood atmosphere around things at the minute.

“So fingers crossed the weather is kind and we can start off with some good momentum.”