STEVE Worrall has lived in the shadow of his twin brother Richie for most of his speedway career but, as the pair prepare to meet tonight, the Robins reserve is looking to emerge and make a name for himself.

The two brothers have been riding motorbikes since they were around three years old, with the racing beginning at the age of six or seven, and until now have always done everything together when it comes to sport.

The twins started off racing motocross before Steve switched to speedway following an accident with left him with burns at the age of 12 and, once Richie saw his brother was making small amounts of money from the shale sport, he decided to have a go himself.

From that point on Richie, the slightly older of the two brothers, has enjoyed a more profitable career which has seen him race in the Elite League as well as being in and around the Great Britain squad and making forays into Europe, while Steve has plied his trade in the Premier and National leagues. The brothers have spent most of their brief careers riding in the same teams, but that has all changed this year with Richie riding for Belle Vue and Ipswich and Steve competing for the Robins, Premier League Edinburgh and Cradley in the National League.

After making it to the Elite League for the first time through the draft, Steve is determined to take his chance and is ready to show the speedway world Richie isn’t the only Worrall twin destined for big things.

“I mentioned it to Rosco when I first spoke to him and I told him then that I wanted to go it alone,” he said. “I’ve always been around Richie in the same team because it always worked well for us being in the van going to the same track, meaning our family were always able to watch us both at the same time.

“This year we are going to be riding at opposite ends of the country some nights so it’s going to be really strange. I wanted to go my own way this time and not be in the same teams as Richie, to have my own teams, and to not be in his shadow.

“If someone turned up when we were younger and wanted to get involved in sponsorship or anything like that then Richie would be the one who gets it because he was always a little bit better than me.

“Now I can go off my own back a bit and do things my way and I’m really excited by that.”

While the two twins have been in opposition to each other on a handful of occasions in the past, the Robins’ Worrall also revealed he is looking forward to seeing his brother in the opposite pit for once, rather than sharing one with him like he has for most of his career.

“When I used to have a bad race, although he was only trying to help, there is nothing worse than having someone moaning at you and he was always the first to tell me what I did wrong,” he said. “I already knew. I would still be taking my helmet off and the last thing you want is your brother moaning at you.

“I’m really looking forward to racing Richie at Belle Vue and I haven’t been there for a long time. It should be a good meeting between two good sides and we have some bouncing back to do after losing out first two.

“I’m looking forward to him coming here to Swindon as well and the races between the two of us are going to be really competitive.”