Wednesday News
(SPEEDWAY 1)
PETERBOROUGH swept back to the summit of the Premier League with a 55-34 win over Plymouth last night.The Panthers secured their sixth successive victory with a surge of heat advantages in the final five races.Reserve star Simon Lambert, number one Craig Cook, captain Ulrich Ostergaard and the back-on-song Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen delivered double-figures scores while every Peterborough man was paid for at least one race victory. The Devils were hampered by the withdrawal of Kyle Newman with a suspected collarbone injury after a Heat 7 crash.Peterborough co-promoter Ged Rathbone said: “Plymouth didn’t let us get away for a lot of the meeting, but we showed what we’re all about during the final few races.“We wanted another convincing result at home to continue sending out a message that we are a force to be reckoned with.“We’re here to win things and it is great to be back on top of the table. We will take some beating if we can continue in our current form.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
KING'S Lynn boss Rob Lyon knows a win is crucial as they look to kick-start their play-off push against Coventry in Wednesday’s televised clash at the Adrian Flux Arena.The Stars and the Bees are level on 16 points in the Elite League table and both are keen to make ground on the top four.Lyon has elected to track in-form Simon Lambert at reserve in preference to Carl Wilkinson, whilst the Bees have a major doubt over Jason Garrity due to an arm injury he aggravated at Leicester last weekend.Lyon said: “We have to keep winning at home. I’m sure it will be another tough one as it was close last time Coventry were here, and their boys get around our place pretty well."Three more league points is pretty vital to keeping us in with a shout of the play-offs, and hopefully it will be an entertaining meeting for the fans and TV viewers.”Coventry boss Gary Havelock said: “We do need to win away, and I guess King’s Lynn coming up gives us a chance – we went close there last time, so that’s a possibility.“This season we have quite a few riders who tend to ride better on the bigger tracks, KK (Krzysztof Kasprzak) for one and his 15-point maximum there in April was a sensational performance.“We certainly go into the meeting as always with the optimism that we can get something out of it.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
BIRMINGHAM have drafted in Perry Barr track specialist Matt Williamson for their National Trophy Final first leg at home to Kent on Wednesday.The Belle Vue Colts and Workington racer spent the 2015 campaign with former co-tenants Cradley at Perry Barr and scored 13+1 when he guested for Eastbourne last time out. He will replace Tom Perry while rider replacement will operate for Tom Bacon.Birmingham and Kent remain the only two unbeaten clubs in British Speedway and are yet to taste defeat in 28 meetings between them.Brummies boss Graham Drury said: “Our draw at home to Kent earlier in the year was one of the meetings of the season and this could be even better!“Two strong teams, who are both on top-form, full of riders who will give it their all for the cause.“Nothing will be won or lost in the first leg regardless of what the final score is. Whether we were to win by double figures or even if Kent snatched a last gasp narrow victory, anything could happen in Monday's return leg.“In an ideal world, we could take a healthy lead to Central Park - that would enable us to ride more sensibly and would be a big confidence boost for the lads.”
Tuesday News Round Up
(SPEEDWAY 1)
WOLVERHAMPTON skipper Freddie Lindgren praised the Monmore Green track staff following a 46-43 home win over Belle Vue on Monday.The victory sent the hosts back to the top of the Elite League as they maintained their 100 per cent record on their own track.Wolves led for much of the meeting and moved into a seven-point lead, which was trimmed in the later stages as Matej Zagar and Scott Nicholls secured a league point for the visitors in Heat 15.In-form Sam Masters collected 13 points for Wolves, with Nicholls leading the way for the Aces on ten, despite a heavy Heat 4 crash with Kyle Howarth.Lindgren said: “The local area has had so much rain in the last couple of days and the downpour at lunchtime could have put the meeting in doubt.“We're very lucky at Wolverhampton to have one of the best track teams in the country and they deserve a lot of good words for all of their hard work just to get the meeting on.“They didn't just get the meeting on, the created a surface that gave us some great racing and it was a really good meeting as we expected.”Nicholls said: “Wolverhampton are a strong side and are doing very well this year, so to come to their home where they have such an advantage and come away with a point is quite an achievement.“We can be pretty pleased with ourselves for that, after all it's our first visit here this season. The track rode very well considering the amount of rain that they had down here earlier in the day.”Meanwhile Kent eased through to the KO Cup semi-finals with a 56-34 win over Coventry – although the Central Park track record still eludes the Kings riders.A cash incentive had been put up for any home man to break Storm skipper Dan Greenwood’s existing record – but it was Greenwood himself who lowered his own mark in Heat 1!Greenwood (11) and Liam Carr (11+1) dominated the visitors’ scoring and they lost Conor Dwyer mid-meeting with a leg injury after a post-Heat 8 crash, whilst Luke Bowen (13+1) and Danny Ayes (11) hit double-figures for the Kings.Coventry boss Laurence Rogers said: “I did ask if Dan could have half of the prize money! He’s just so good around here, he loves it.“We were only eight points down at halfway before they banged in a couple of 5-1s and 4-2s, but it was a much better performance than last time.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
PETERBOROUGH team boss Jason Attwood has given his riders a double-mission in Tuesday’s Premier League clash with Plymouth.Not only does the Panthers chief want to extend the club’s winning run to six meetings with victory to return to the top of the table, but Attwood is also determined to avenge the only blot on his Peterborough copybook to date – a 52-40 loss in the reverse fixture at Plymouth back in May.Attwood said: “We all want to be on top of the table and we have the opportunity to get back there again by beating Plymouth. But you only have to take a quick look at the Devils’ one-to-seven to realise that is going to be no easy task.“They are full of riders who can excel at our track and showed their liking for it with their performances here last season.“They had a couple of narrow defeats before picking up a win in their third visit so there is absolutely no way we can afford to take them lightly.”Devils boss Lee Trigger said: “If all seven ride to their full potential, we will be optimistic of coming away with something from Peterborough and start getting some points on the board away from home.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
SCUNTHORPE are to offer ticket holders from Sunday’s abandoned clash with Rye House free admission to a future single-header meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway.Two heats were completed in the match against the Rockets, but promoter Rob Godfrey says in these circumstances it would be inappropriate to apply standard re-admission policy based on the number of races remaining before Heat 10.Godfrey said: “I believe it's about looking after the fans, and I hope they will appreciate this gesture.“We were a bit embarrassed at Sunday's events. The rain arrived slightly before we expected, and the supporters only got to see two rain-affected heats. I don't feel I can charge them anything for that.“We did incur a number of costs by getting as far as we did. But Scunthorpe Speedway never have and never will be about ripping off the fans.”
(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY JUNE 22:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30NATIONAL TROPHY FINAL 1st leg: Birmingham v Kent 7.30
THURSDAY JUNE 23:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Newcastle 7.30, Sheffield v Redcar 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Kent 7pm
FRIDAY JUNE 24:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30, Plymouth v Ipswich 7.15, Redcar v Sheffield 7.30, Somerset v Rye House 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Stoke 7.30
