Speedway star Gary celebrates triple success

Nov 12 2009 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

GARY Beaton has proved he’s on his way to the top in speedway after winning the Heathersfield Golden Helmet, the Scottish Junior Championship and the George Beaton Memorial Trophy in his comeback season.

And the memorial trophy was a particularly sweet win since the competition is in honour of his uncle.

Gary (23, pictured left), originally from Blantyre but who currently lives in Lanark, took time out from the motorsport to achieve top grades in an HNC in Mechanical Engineering at the University of the West of Scotland at Hamilton, and has gone back to complete an HND in Engineering Management.

Gary, a paint robotics technician at Rosti Technical Plastics in Larkhall, said: “Speedway runs in my family as my grandfather – who used to run Beaton’s Coaches in Blantyre – and my uncles were all involved and that’s how I got started. It’s been 10 years since I first got on a bike and it’s been a slow progression but I did really well this season.

“As well as the other trophies I won Glasgow’s summer Snowball series.

“I’m unattached at the moment, which means I can race when I want, where I want, and I enjoy that. Everything was on hold for my studies, but I now want to go as far as I can and just enjoy myself.”