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Cruel Blow For Swindon Robins Who Lose Dakota North
Swindon Robins have been dealt a blow ahead of the new season with the news Dakota North will not be riding in Europe in 2016.
The Australian racer was snapped up by the Robins in early December to complete their side, but he has informed the club he will be staying in his homeland when the Elite League campaign gets underway.
North, 24, was ruled out of the second leg of Poole’s Elite League semi-final with Coventry last year after his father suffered an unfortunate work accident.
After he suffered a setback in his recovery, the North has now made the difficult decision to remain with his family in 2016 rather than travelling back to Europe.
Team manager Alun Rossiter admits the news is a blow with just a few weeks until the tapes rise on the new season – but he says they are already closing in on a replacement.
“Dak was looking forward to coming to ride for us, and he’d obviously done a deal to ride in Poland as well,” Rossiter said.
“Unfortunately his Dad is still not in a good way after the accident he had towards the end of last year and he’s decided to cancel all his contracts in Europe.
“I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was that his Dad went into work on his crutches, had a fall and did himself quite a bit of damage.
“After that I think Dak just thought it would be too difficult to come across to Europe, and even though his Dad told him he should go he just didn’t feel he’d be in the right frame of mind.
“I understand his decision, and whilst it’s a little bit frustrating because we were looking forward to bringing Dak back to Swindon we wish him and his family all the best.
“It’s a blow for us given how close we are to the start of the season, but we are already close to sorting out a replacement and hopefully that will be announced in the next couple of days."
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