Billy Hamill returns to the United Kingdom tomorrow in preparation for his Wolverhampton debut - unscathed after an injury scare in California.

Hamill was racing his SuperMoto bike in the SuperTT series at Apple Valley, his third appearance in the event, but suffered a high-speed fall which resulted in him sustaining burns after skidding across the ground.

Fortunately, the following competitors avoided him and there were no broken bones - a rare slice of good fortune for a man who has had to overcome numerous injury problems in his career.

Last year, he missed the first three months of the season after suffering a broken vertebra in an horrific crash at Swindon in only his second Elite League fixture for Oxford. After his comeback, he had to endure a number of other accidents which resulted in less serious injuries.

Hamill intends to base himself in the UK for the first few weeks of the season before the Swedish campaign starts. He still owns property in Tamworth and will be joined by his compatriot, rising star Chris Kerr, who will be making his debut this season in the Premier League for Redcar - owned by Wolves promoter Chris Van Straaten.

Hamill's racing for the year begins on Sunday when he takes his place in an all-star field at Sheffield for Sean Wilson's 20-year benefit meeting.

He said: "I fly over to the UK on Tuesday and that will give me plenty of time to be ready for the new season. I'm raring to go and I'm really excited by the prospect of riding for Wolverhampton."

Van Straaten, along with team manager Peter Adams and new German signing Christian Hefenbrock, will be taking questions from Wolves fans at the club's annual Talk-In tonight.

The event takes place at the Chillington Working Mens Club, with doors open at 7.30pm for an 8pm start.

Regular Monmore announcer Nigel Pearson will host procedings, with his colleague Shaun Leigh on roving microphone duty to enable supporters to have their say.

The Wolves management will be expecting a somewhat easier evening than last year, when their team-building strategy was questioned by many. This winter, they have taken a different direction which has been generally well received.

Press and practice sessions take place at Monmore Green next Monday evening before the season-opener against Poole - but before the first home meeting, Wolves have matches at Poole and Peterborough.

Coventry stage their press and practice on Friday at 6pm, with supporters invited to join the riders in the under-stand bar at Brandon after the track activity.

Track work is taking place at the home of the reigning Elite League champions, whose circuit length is being slightly reduced in an attempt to provide some alternative racing lines.

The Bees have rarely had a blemish-free home record and lost four league matches on their own patch last season despite managing to lift the title, mainly thanks to their superb away success.