READING Racers travel to Plymouth tonight to take on the Exeter Falcons, and include a new face in what is likely to be a one-off for the club.

With top riders Dan Gilkes and Nick Laurence both unavailable, Racers have drafted in Corban Pavitt, the highly-rated 15-year-old from Maryport in Cumbria for this Southern Development League match.

Corban was racing in the 125cc class of the British Youth series just last year, but attracted a lot of attention with his performances and was quickly snapped up to race in the National League with Buxton this season.

With Buxton racing at Plymouth on the same night as the Racers, it’s probably the only time the young Cumbrian will be seen in the Southern section of the Youth Development Leagues.

The rest of the Racers line-up remains unchanged as team captain Stephen Whitehouse (19), the tenacious Jamie Bursill (17) and improving Kent youngster Rhys Laker (17) all enjoy an extended run in the team, each of them being ever-presents for the Reading club in 2018.

Exeter are led by NL rider Macauley Leek, and include former Reading fan Adam Sheppard, from Surrey.

It’s a tough away match for the Racers quartet, but with an average age of just 17, the management are confident that their faith in young riders will pay dividends as they look to stay in the hunt for a second successive league title.

A win by four points or more would see them leapfrog Exeter into second place and leave them two points behind leaders Kent Kestrels.

Racers suffered their first SDL loss to the Kestrels last month, but have still to face them in their home match at Eastbourne.

Friday’s teams:

Exeter Falcons: 1. Adam Sheppard 2. Max Pankhurst 3. Macauley Leek 4. Mick Sutton.

Reading Racers: 1. Corban Pavitt 2. Rhys Laker 3. Jamie Bursill 4. Stephen Whitehouse.