Thursday 27th October 2011, 09:19

Emil Sayfutdinov’s manager Tomasz Suskiewicz says the Russian racer is keen to stay at Coventry next year.

The Salavat-born man, who celebrated his 22^nd birthday yesterday, caused a huge stir when he was announced as the Bees’ new No.1 halfway through the season.

He joined on an 8.00 assessed average and could sign on this figure next year. This means his place wouldn’t be threatened if Elite League clubs vote to maintain the current rule limiting teams to just one rider with an average of 8.01 or more.

Coventry have already recruited British star Chris Harris on a 7.97 figure and there is no doubt he would form a powerful spearhead with his SGP rival at Brandon.

Sayfutdinov hinted last month that he wasn’t sure whether he could take on a full fixture list in Britain in 2012. But Suskiewicz says the Bydgoszcz man is keen to add Coventry’s meetings to his diary.

He said: “Emil really wants to ride in Britain again. We really want to be back at Coventry. When I spoke with Rosco (team manager Alun Rossiter), he said he sees a place for Emil in the team for next year, and Emil wants to come back.”

If Sayfutdinov does put pen to paper, Coventry fans will be concerned about the number of meetings the former world No.3 missed this term due to his Russian club and individual commitments.

Suskiewicz admits there will be some clashes, but feels these could be minimised with some forward planning. He added: “We haven’t seen the British calendar yet and we don’t know the calendar in Russia either.

“As far as I know, he will probably miss a few meetings, or Coventry will have to make the calendar to fit their meetings in with the Russian ones. Then that wouldn’t affect the club much.”

Asked whether sitting out the Russian meetings was an option, Suskiewicz replied: “Because he’s the best Russian rider, he can’t miss that league. He has some good back-up from his club in Balakovo and some sponsors there as well.

“He needs to be there. To promote the Russian speedway scene, he needs to ride in Russia and do all the meetings.”

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