(SPEEDWAY 1)
TROY Batchelor secured a vital second place in Heat 15 to clinch a dramatic 47-46 away win for King’s Lynn at Coventry in Monday’s televised Elite League clash.The Stars raced into a 16-point lead after five races and looked set for a huge win, but were nearly stunned by a remarkable Bees comeback.The home side needed a 5-1 from the last race to complete the turnaround and their hopes were further raised when King’s Lynn No.1 Niels-Kristian Iversen crashed out.But Batchelor hit the front in the re-run, and although Krzysztof Kasprzak stormed past on the last lap, team-mate Chris Harris was unable to follow him through.Batchelor said: “I knew the pressure was on me after Niels crashed and I made a good start. I made a decision to stay on the inside line and that was a mistake late in the race but we did enough for the win which is great."It's a team effort and we're all delighted to take the win. It's an important result for our season and we'll just try and keep it going from here and see where we end up."Coventry promoter Mick Horton said: “It was a fantastic meeting, right out of the top drawer and credit to both teams for giving it 100 per cent.“We started terribly, absolutely appallingly, but what a recovery from our team, and we were just unlucky in the end. The riders gave it 100 per cent, as they do every week for the Bees, and there are some positives to take from it.”Meanwhile captain Ludvig Lindgren scored a six-ride paid maximum as Newcastle swept into the Knockout Cup quarter-finals with a 57-32 home win over Scunthorpe.The Diamonds overturned their ten-point deficit from the first leg with Lindgren’s 15+3 backed up by Victor Palovaara on 14+1 and Steve Worrall with 12+2, whilst Lewis Kerr and Michael Palm Toft dominated the Scorpions’ scoring with 11 apiece.Carl Wilkinson crashed out of the meeting with a whiplash-type injury to his shoulder in a Heat 8 crash, although he hopes to be fit for the trip to Peterborough on Tuesday.Newcastle boss George English said: “With the late change in having to use rider replacement to cover the injured Robert Lambert it certainly weakened us against a handy Scunthorpe side holding a good 10-point lead, but the lads knuckled down and produced a performance we could only have dreamed about. “Our skipper was severely beaten up after a couple of heavy falls last week and to produce the best performance he ever has for us with a paid 18-point maximum shows the commitment the riders have shown tonight, and they thoroughly deserve another Cup round to battle.”Scorpions manager Dave Peet said: “It was quite a disappointing performance after the high of beating Glasgow a day earlier.“It was a typical performance from us at Newcastle. We have a few riders who don’t like this track, but they’ve got to put that out of their heads, because we’re a beaten team before the start when we come here.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
CRADLEY produced another solid team performance to maintain their unbeaten home record with a 52-38 win over Mildenhall.The result moved the Heathens up to second place in the Travel Plus National League, leaving them just one point behind Midland rivals Birmingham.Max Clegg and Ashley Morris both continued their dominance as they went unbeaten by the opposition, whilst recent signing Richard Andrews contributed 10+1. Connor Coles led the way for the Fen Tigers with 13.Cradley boss Will Pottinger said: “We're very pleased with the result tonight; there's room for a few improvements but the main thing is we continued our recent momentum.“We provided 10 of the 15 race winners and we secured a good number of important second and third places as well to back them up.“We look a lot more comfortable and balanced since we've added a link between the heat-leaders and reserves and there's definitely plenty to build on.”Meanwhile Rye House boss Peter Schroeck praised his side after they secured a point from a 45-39 defeat at Kent in a meeting abandoned one race short to the curfew.Raiders heat-leaders Ben Morley, Robert Branford and Luke Priest were in dominant form at Central Park as they dropped just one point between them, but George Hunter crashed out with a hand injury.Schroeck said: “Rob and Ben were absolutely fantastic tonight. You could clearly see they really didn’t want to be beaten, which set up some great battles. And Luke was close behind as back-up.“I’m a little disappointed that we couldn’t get to Heat 15, because I’m confident we would have taken a 5-1 with Rob and Ben and then lost by just two points on the night. But to come here and take away a match point against a team that is right up there challenging for the title is a superb achievement.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
PETERBOROUGH promoter Ged Rathbone has warned his riders to under-estimate basement boys Scunthorpe at their peril tonight.The Panthers return to Premier League action for the first time in three weeks when entertaining the Scorpions at the East of England Showground in the first of two home matches in four days as they look to go back to the top of the table.Ashley Morris makes his debut for the home side as a short-term replacement for Simon Lambert, whilst Tom Stokes covers for Zdenek Holub at reserve.Rathbone said: “Anyone who thinks it will be a doddle against Scunthorpe is very much mistaken. They are improving all the time and have picked up a couple of very good home wins against Ipswich and Glasgow lately.“They have riders coming into form and in Michael Palm Toft, they possess a reserve capable of doing a lot of damage. We all know what he can do around the Showground.“We will need all seven of our men to be on their game and contributing points. The team has a different look to it due to injuries, but we’ve got to ensure we kick on again now.”Scunthorpe boss Dave Peet said: “I’m expecting a much better performance at Peterborough, more in line with our other recent performances over the last couple of weeks. We’ll put the display at Newcastle behind us and move on.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
MILDENHALL have announced a new team sponsorship deal with locally-based Manchetts Ltd which extends into the next two seasons.The team have been re-branded as the KJM/Manchetts Fen Tigers thanks to the support of the automotive company, who first sponsored a meeting at West Row earlier in the season, and will also enable a new air-fence installation at the circuit.Promoter Kevin Jolly said: “This is very positive news for Mildenhall Speedway as we look to move the club forward and I would like to thank husband and wife team Sean and Mandy Manchett for supporting the club and for being so positive about the club in all our discussions. “They have been impressed by the club ethos of looking to produce home grown youngsters through our Fen Tiger Cubs set up and are fully supportive of the clubs three year plan being put into place to reach the top of the National League with a team using local riders.”
(FIXTURES)
TUESDAY JULY 12:PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Scunthorpe 7.30
WEDNESDAY JULY 13:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Lakeside 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Coventry 7.30
THURSDAY JULY 14:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Leicester 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Berwick 7.30, Redcar v Edinburgh 7.30, Sheffield v Plymouth 7.30PAIRS: Isle of Wight 7pm
