Sam Taylor, 26, also from New Zealand but competing under the
Australian flag won 2 heats and scored 12 points in the preliminary
heats, tried hard to beat Wells in the grand final race but had to
settle for second.

Competing for Britain after a long layoff from speedway, Linden
Warner beat Japan's Hideaki Ota to third to grab the last podium spot.

Five young Malaysians who had never ridden a 500cc speedway bike
before 5 weeks ago could not match the winners over four laps but
they won the crowd's and the foreign riders respect as they were able
to race them for the initial laps.

Eighteen year old Mohd Helmey Hamzah eventually won the consolation
final to win the coveted "best Malaysian" trophy from 21 year old
reserve rider Mohd Ariff Mohd Ali. Ariff replaced Rody Sofian Buang
after Rody had to retire from a recurring collar bone problem after a
fall in heat 4.

The glittering prize presentation ceremony complete with the raising
of the national flags and the winner's national anthem and confetti
was officiated by the Deputy Minister of Youth & Sports Malaysia,
Dato' Liow Tiong Lai.

At the post event press conference after his win, a jubilant Wells
praised the Malaysian organisers and the Malaysian rookies for
putting up a very good show saying, "This is my first international
and I'm very happy to be on the record as the first ever winner of a
first winner of an Asia Speedway Cup. The organising was very slick
and the Malaysian boys amazed me with their performance as they had
so little time on a proper speedway bike before this as compared to
my 8 years in the sport. The sport can go very far in Malaysia."

"It was not an easy win . Sam was very fast as well and always
pushing me from behind and I had to stay focused and push all the way
throughout the race," added Wells, whose achievement list included
the 2007 US under-21 overall champion and the US Youth National
Champion titles in 2005 and 2004.

Taylor had similar praises for the Malaysians, "I was here in July to
demo the 500cc speedway bike in Malaysia's first ever speedway event
when not a single Malaysian has ever ridden in speedway before. They
had then just started on the 115cc small bikes. In a little over 3
months and a bit, they suddenly have a dozen Malaysian capable of
racing with riders with 8 and more years experience. The Malaysians
will definitely be giving us a big hurry up in next year's Malaysian
International Speedway Cup."

"Looking at the event, I feel that the prospect of the sports
progressing further is very good. The cost of having the speedway
tracks and organizing the races are quite low as compared to many
other events," said Deputy Minister of Youth & Sports Dato' Liow, who
also proposed that speedway tracks be built in all the states to
popularize the sport further.

"Speedway racing has proven to be a popular sport among our youths
especially among our rempits (illegal road racers).There is
definitely a huge market for the sport and I hope more parties will
come forward and play their part in promoting this sport," he added.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Best rider, 18 year old Muhammad Helmy Hamzah
thanked his family and friends for his achievement. "Speedway has
changed me from a former rempit (illegal road racer) to a
professional rider. This sport has taught me to be a disciplined and
a better person. It's the best thing that has happened to me," he
said.

Representing Speedway Malaysia, Hanifah Yoong said the good progress
of this new sport of speedway in Malaysia owes it's success to many
people and organisations, "Without the foresight of the Minister of
Youth & Sports Malaysia, Dato' Seri Azalina to support the
implementation of the speedway project, the invaluable advice of Ivan
Mauger, the support of the FIM and AAM, the training of key officials
by Matthias Rohde and the coaching of Linden Warner as well as the
dedication of the scores of officials and riders, we will not be here
tonight celebrating the year's efforts in this prestigious and
historical event which Malaysia made her mark."

Speedway Malaysia also announced that next season's 2008 calendar
will be released shortly before the end of November.