2023
Text
2022
Drew enjoyed his most successful domestic season in the Championship with Poole Pirates. Poole won a league and cup double lifting the Knockout Cup with a 100-79 aggregate win over Redcar Bears in October before they completed the double with a 101-79 win in the Play-off final in a month later. Drew again suffered with inconsistency during the season but nevertheless increased his Green Sheet average with Poole by 1.75 points from 3.58 to 5.33.
2021
On the surface, the highlight of Drew’s 2021 season was regaining his British Under-19 Championship title - the hat-trick of wins in the competition making speedway history, but he learnt much from his domestic season and riding in Poland that he will take forward into 2022. His debut year with hometown club Ipswich in the Premiership didn’t follow the script and he struggled to master the Foxhall track, add to that a sporadic season with Eastbourne Eagles which ended prematurely when the club pulled out of the league and there were many lessons learnt. He had an equally challenging time in Poland, with only limited opportunities to show what he could do with Gdansk, but again it was a positive experience to witness Polish league racing at close quarters. He had successful meetings on the continent, winning bronze medals at the European Under-19 Pairs Championship and the World Team Under-21 Championship. He came third in the European Under-19 Championship before just missing out on a podium place in the final. After his year with Ipswich and Eastbourne was over, he was given a lifeline by Edinburgh Monarchs in the Championship who Drew admits ‘saved his season’. He ended the season with consistent scores of 9 points in his last three meetings to take forward into 2022. In 2022 he will be riding for two of the most iconic teams in British Speedway, Wolverhampton Wolves (Premiership) and Poole Pirates (Championship).
2020
When Drew Kemp woke up on New Year’s Day 2020 he was in Perth in the middle of his 7 week tour racing for the first time in Australia. He rode in four solo championships over that time coming 2nd to Tai Woffinden in the John Day Classic and the Rob Woffinden Classic, 4th in the Jeff Gittus Memorial and winning the Late Model Championship on 11th January. He was then part of the Great Britain team for two test matches at Pinjar Park on January 17th and 18th. Riding at No.2 alongside Tai Woffinden in the No.1 spot he scored 9+2 and 8+1 in the meetings that saw Great Britain victorious over an Australian team which included three times world champion Jason Crump. A month later on 18th February Drew and Jason were announced as the final two riders in the Ipswich Witches 2020 Premiership team. On 21st July, as the Eastbourne team finally got together for an official practice session at King’s Lynn, it was announced that professional league speedway in the UK had been cancelled for 2020. Drew now has the European Under-19 Championship in Pardubice, Czech Republic to prepare for and hopefully some other invitation meetings at home and abroad later in the year.
2019
Drew Kemp continued his good form from 2018 when the 2019 season began. Riding in the Championship league for Sheffield Tigers, he started his account with 14 points against Scunthorpe in their opening meeting of the season. He was also riding in the National League for Kent Kings and Drew was top scorer with 13 in their first match against Belle Vue. At the end of April Drew rode in the British Under-21 Championship and made a massive improvement on his 2018 position by coming a creditable 5th on 11 points. During May and June Drew continued to pile on the points, particularly for Kent with a faultless 15 point maximum against Plymouth a highlight of his domestic season. As July began Drew went one better with an 18 point maximum in a challenge match against Swindon, but the month was about to get a whole lot more exciting as he had the honour of being chosen to represent his country in the World Under-21 Team Championship at Belle Vue. He may have only scored 2 points in the meeting, but those 2 points was the difference between a second and third place for the Great Britain team and Drew came away with a deserved silver medal as the Lions came runners-up to Poland. If July seemed like a great month in his year, August was about to eclipse that and catapult the name of Drew Kemp to the top of the ‘Hot Young British Prospects’ list! Drew made the 12 hour journey from his Great Blakenham home to Güstrow, Germany for the European Under-19 Speedway Cup. It turned out to be worth every one of the 600+ miles as Drew was invicible in the semi-final on the fast Güstrow track. A sensational 15 point maximum put him through to the final in Pardubice, Czech Republic on Sunday 11th August - a brilliant way to spend his 17th Birthday. He made a slow start in the final but dropped just one point in his last 3 races to end on 8 points and 6th place. Drew was high on confidence and just four days after his return from Europe he enjoyed an amazing night at Redcar as he won the British Under-19 Championship with a stunning 15 point maximum - his biggest achievement to date and a massive high for his 2019 season. A season of highs ended with Drew being chosen to make his senior debut for Great Britain in a challenge match against Denmark at King’s Lynn.
2018
Few could have predicted the immediate impact Drew Kemp would make during his first full season in British Speedway. Riding in the National League (third tier) of speedway for Mildenhall Fen Tigers, his first meeting for the club was at Isle of Wight. It couldn’t have gone any better for the 15-year-old as he was unbeaten in five rides to score an impressive 15 point maximum. Drew continued to produce numerous double figure scores for the Fen Tigers and in May against Eastbourne, he became only the third rider in Mildenhall history to score 21 - a 7 ride maximum. From the end of May through to early June, Drew combined his remarkable on track feats with the more sedate activity of sitting his GCSE exams at Claydon HIgh School where his studies included Business Studies, Design & Technology, Geography and PE. With Drew continuing to score consistently, by August he had made a mockery of his assessed 3 point average by topping the Mildenhall averages on over 9 points to become the Tigers’ number one rider. Riding at the number one position did nothing to halt his winning ways and he celebrated by scoring 13 points at Belle Vue in the number one race jacket. When Drew reached his 16th Birthday on 11th August 2018 - and with the race wins still flowing, he realised a childhood dream to race for his hometown club of Ipswich Witches in the higher Championship (second tier) league. This was a massive step for the youngster but it didn’t take him long to find his feet and in just his third match in Witches colours he scored a remarkable 14 points against Scunthorpe Scorpions. Drew continued to pile on the points for Mildenhall and the Fen Tigers won the National Trophy final in September. He finished his first National League season top of the Mildenhall averages on 9.15. Drew‘s season was topped off with more plaudits and trophies as he was named Youth Rider of the Year by the World Speedway Riders’ Association and Young Sports Personality of the Year at the Suffolk Sports Awards. It was a debut season that he could only have dreamed of and Drew Kemp was soon being talked of as an exceptional talent in speedway. Drew documented the whole of his 2018 season in the book ‘Diary of a Speedway Kid’ available from his online store www.shoponeoneeight.co.uk.
2017
With the experience of a year riding in the 250cc class behind him, Drew Kemp moved up to a 500cc and set himself the target of lifting the British Youth Championship at that level. His challenge started at Peterborough and although mechanical problems left him on just 6 points, he won the final. Drew continued to make great progress winning rounds at Scunthorpe, Redcar and Glasgow where he secured the Championship title with one round still to go. In August of 2017 as Drew turned 15 he was able to start racing in the National League and joined Mildenhall Fen Tigers for the last three months of the season. His debut for the Fen Tigers team was at the Arena Essex Raceway against Lakeside Hammers and Drew lined up at number 7. He won his first National League race in Heat 2 of the meeting - an achievement he remains extremely proud of, and in his final ride and following two last places, Drew was eager to impress once more. But he missed the gate and - desperate to make up ground, caught the rear wheel of the rider in front and flew into the airfence. Drew did a complete demolition job on the airfence and the meeting had to be abandoned. To say that Drew had made an impact on his National League debut is something of an understatement! Drew continued to make a name for himself in his meetings for Mildenhall along with several as a guest rider for Eastbourne. In the colours of Eastbourne a highlight came when he rode for the Eagles against Kent in a National League match at their Central Park Stadium. In Heat 6 he had the audacity to go around Kings’ number one rider Luke Bowen on the first bend and win the race - the Kent fans shocked into cheering for the prodigious teenager themselves. For Mildenhall, Drew’s highest achievement was to score an amazing 16 points for the Fen Tigers in the National League Knockout Cup Final. It was his last match of the season but his performance proved he was a force in league racing and whet the appetite of everyone following the youngster’s progress. There were a host of clubs looking to sign him but he stuck with Mildenhall for 2018 - his first full season in league racing.
2015 - 2016
Drew had been an occasional spectator at Ipswich Speedway since the age of five, so in October 2015 when he was given the opportunity to try the sport himself, he jumped at the chance. At the age of just thirteen, Drew took to it like a duck to water and was immediately seduced by the speed of the 500cc machine. He practiced whenever he had the chance and once his commitments in the 2015 motocross season were over he decided that speedway was the sport for him and put everything into preparing for the Young Lions 250cc British Youth Speedway Championship the following years. His first competitive speedway meeting was on 10th April 2016 at Glasgow and he scored 3 points from two starts. There was a massive difference from practicing to racing three other riders but he learnt quickly and won his first race in the next round at Scunthorpe, scoring 7 points. He finished third overall in his first year of racing but with the experience gained he took the decision to move up to a 500cc bike for the British Youth Championship in 2017.
2002 - 2014
Drew Kemp was born on Sunday 11th August 2002 in Osnabrück, Germany where his dad was in the services and based at the Münster barracks. His parents moved back to the UK soon after and Drew now lives with his family in Great Blakenham near Ipswich. He was four-years-old when his grandad surprised him with the gift of a Yamaha PW50. Drew’s grandad, James Grant rode scrambling in the 1960s and wanted his grandson to enjoy the same thrill on two wheels as he had and Drew soon caught the bug riding his bike in a local field. At five, Drew was on a KTM50 and in March 2009 at six-years-old he raced for the first time at the Norfolk and Suffolk Junior Motorcycle Club. He finished 5th if his first race but found his winning ways and won his first motocross race at the age of 8. In 2013 Drew had moved on to a KTM65 and he became Eastern Centre Champion, Norfolk and Suffolk Champion and was 5th overall in the British Youth Nationals. He was on a KTM85 for the 2014 season where he was once again Norfolk and Suffolk Champion and 8th overall in the British Youth Nationals.