Barnsley schoolboy Reece Downes, or Reecie to his friends, started riding motor bikes at the age of 4 in his granddad’s back garden.  When he started school he made his intentions clear when his first piece of written work simply said “When I grow up I want to be a speedway rider!”.

Just before he was six Reece started speedway on the training track at Sheffield under the guidance of Roy Wilson.  However, when the training track closed he was left with nowhere to ride and spent a summer watching rather than riding.  Then in the autumn of 2006 Reece had his first visit to Scunthorpe and come rain or shine he was at the track throughout the winter.

Since the 2007 season Reece has been the Scorpions’ mascot and fans have been able to watch him progress in pre-meeting and second-half rides.  According to Reece ‘being Scunthorpe’s mascot is ‘the best thing that has ever happened’ but can’t wait for the day he hears the two minute warning siren and wears the Scunny race jacket for real.

During his time at Scunthorpe he has progressed from a Kawasaki KX 60 powered grasstrack/speedway bike to a Honda CR 85 powered grasstrack bike and a Swedish built yamaha 80 powered speedway bike.  Reece is also having his occasional run outs on his 250cc Jawa.

His current sponsors are Drury Engineering of Immingham, Alligator Signs of Barnsley, KBC racing helmets, Nu-trak, Champion spark plugs and TCX for his boots whilst Reece and his family (Dad Aidan, Mum Helen and big sister Annie) in turn helped raise close to £900 for the Garry Stead Fund with Reece’s lapathon in 2007.