By Paul Baker - Dorset Echo

Weymouth fans may not have seen the last of Dan Giffard despite his move into the Premier League. The Great Britain under 21 international who helped the Wildcats to the Conference Fours and Knockout Cup double last season has signed for newcomers, Redcar Bears.

The former Stoke man joins ex-Poole favourite and world champion Gary Havelock on Teeside although he's not ruled out a return to the Wessex Stadium if racing continues in the resort next term. Giffard said: "A Premier League place is what I wanted and I'm delighted to have got one. Redcar might seem a long way from my home in Sussex, but I didn't hesitate once the opportunity arose to sign for them. It's a new club with a new track and that's exciting in itself. It's a bit like Weymouth in that way and it's nice to be there from the outset. Riding alongside guys like Gary Havelock will be fantastic. He's been there and done it at every level of the sport and if you can't learn from him you might as well give up. Obviously Redcar now has to be my priority but I've not ruled out riding in the Conference League as well. The Bears will operate on a Thursday night and so that frees me up for a place at the lower level. Hopefully that will be with Weymouth but we'll have to wait and see. Things are still unclear down at the Wessex Stadium and so it's just a case of waiting to see what happens. I've really enjoyed my two years with Weymouth and am grateful to Brian White for giving me my chance. My career was going the wrong way until I joined the Wildcats and so it will always be a special club to me."

With Giffard on his way to Redcar and Lewis Bridger having already joined Eastbourne, any new promoter at the Wessex Stadium is likely to have to start again from scratch when it comes to team building.

"With everything being up in the air," added Giffard, "it's been a worrying time for the riders who rode for Weymouth last season. "Most of us have had to get our names circulated to make sure we get a ride for 2006 and so I'm not sure how many of the boys will be available should the Wildcats keep going. That's one of the problems in speedway - you never quite know what's going to happen next. But hopefully things will be sorted down at Weymouth and if I can ride for them I will. Whether the same goes for people like David Mason and Tom Brown - I'm not sure. But there's plenty of riders out there looking for clubs at the moment and so I'm sure everything will work out fine."