FRIENDLY rivalry is the key as two friends off the track go head-to-head in the 400 metre sprint in Gateshead today.

Martyn Rooney and Michael Bingham were part of the 4x400m relay team that won silver in the World Championships in Berlin last year, but that close bond will count for nothing as they take on each other in the Aviva British Grand Prix.

The race will also feature fellow Brit Conrad Williams and Jamaican Ricardo Chambers, and it looks to be a strong British and international field.

Rooney, the fastest man around one lap this year, is looking forward to a good race and appreciates people that push him on.

He said: “I’m quite excited about it. Hopefully I get a good lane. If there’s a big crowd out it should be a great day.

“If Michael Bingham gets a good race we can push each other for good times.

“The pair of us get on really well, but we are competitors on the track. To have a British competitor is what the best British guys had.

“Like Roger Black, Ewan Thomas, Jamie Baulch, those guys competed regularly.

“So to have Michael there and people like Chris Clark and Conrad Williams pushing us on is certainly going to make us race faster.”

“We push each other, and give each other tips. It’s a good rivalry.

“But when the gun goes we are definitely out to beat each other.

“I think it only comes a negative rivalry if they defeat you, not in the race, but psychologically.”

When asked if he thought that the European Championships could be a shoot-out between two Brits, Bingham said it could possibly be three, including Williams.

Rooney has been working on his hamstrings over recent months and has sacrificed some of his training to help cure the problem.

He has been troubled by them for the past two years, but is now over the worst of it and is looking forward to getting back to winning races.

He said: “I’ve come out of it on the other side and want to get back amongst the medals.”

Bingham is managed by Michael Johnson, the fourtimes Olympic gold medallist and eight-times world champion, who holds the world records in the 400- metres and 4x400m relay.

He has been in constant contact ahead of today’s race.

Bingham said: “He sent me a big e-mail the other day telling me to be confident in my abilities, to run fast, train hard and just to calm down.

“To him winning is important. It’s good to have him in my corner.

“He tells me the truth in black and white.

!Sometimes I don’t want to hear it, but I still listen to it because it’s valued. We have a good relationship.”

The Olympics will be where the pair hope to be in two years time, but today’s race will be the only thing on their mind for now.