BRANDS Hatch-based motor-cycling trainer and one-time Sittingbourne Crusaders skipper Peter Boast is fast proving that life really can begin in one's 40s.

The 41-year-old speedway rider was in upbeat mood about Short Track UK dirt-track racing, his project of the past two years, at the organisation's 2006 launch event.

The assembled press and public were treated to a myriad of dirt-track machines and more than 40 of the pioneering riders in this new discipline. Boast looked back at a successful first British championship series in 2005, which included a meeting at Tonbridge's Collier St circuit.

He said: "Short Track derives really from the power-sliding form of dirt track racing I’ve encountered in the US. But there is also a thriving continental scene with a European Championship; and this season for the first time, the Americans are recognising this with a cross-Atlantic international proposed.

"I’ve been really pleased here by the fantastic support we’ve had from the motor-cycling ruling bodies, who’ve encouraged us to be innovative while giving us official status, too.

"My vision for the future is to develop a club scene in partnership with speedway tracks across the UK. This year we’ve meetings planned on seven different tracks. I’m also talking to the Auto Cycle Union about developing a youth academy and I hope to have an indoor series in the winter."

Though busy organising the series, Boast still hankers after conventional speedway action, too.

He added: "I rode on former World Campion Jason Crump's machine up at Scunthorpe and I'd love to have some more.

"However, because of my age I’d be a top-graded rider in the Conference division and I know that this will adversely affect my chances of a team slot."