PIRATES reserve Kyle Newman admits his 2014 machinery has been greatly improved by financial backing from a variety of sponsors.

The Poole-born rider, who scored five points in last week's 48-42 challenge victory over Lakeside, revealed pressure had been taken off his shoulders by fresh funding.

He told the Daily Echo: “There are plenty of local companies that have come on board and I owe them all a massive thanks.

“I’ve been trying to build four new chassis and the simple fact is that without the sponsors, I wouldn’t have been able to do that.

“It would have been a lot harder and I would have been under a lot more pressure going into the season.”

Evolution Skateparks provided Newman with a four-figure sum and director and projects manager David Trickey, himself a former rider, said the 22-year-old had been a deserving recipient.

Trickey said: “We were looking for an up and coming British rider who would benefit from having more sponsors on board.

“Kyle seemed switched on and a genuine guy to work with and we’ve given him a sum of money to go towards his bikes.

“I’ve got a lot of contacts in speedway so we’re going to try and give him as much help as we can throughout the season.”