MAJOR EVENTS LATEST…
BRITISH Speedway vice chairman Rob Godfrey is hoping the feel-good factor continues into the Fours Festival weekend.Godfrey said: “The Premier League Pairs was one of the most successful in the history of the competition and the crowd was up there with one of the biggest the event has pulled."My congratulations to Somerset on winning the event and all eyes are now focussed on the PL Fours Festival, it's going to be something special and I'm certain the fans will have a great weekend.“Peterborough is a great venue for this event and I'm sure the entertainment will be from the top drawer.“There's a feel-good factor after a big weekend with the Pairs and Cardiff, with both events being so successful, now let's keep the ball rolling with the Fours Festival.”
SEMI-FINALS - 12 heats each.INDIVIDUAL - standard 20 heats, top scorer wins, run-off if necessary.FINAL - 16 heats.
Tickets are priced at £20 per day for adults, or £30 for a two-day pass. Rates for children aged 12-16 are £7.50 and £10 respectively. Children under the age of 12 gain free entry. Tickets can be bought through http://www.speedwaygb.co/plfours .
PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS ITINERARYFRIDAY, JULY 225pm to 9pm - East of England Showground gates open from 5pm to 9pm for the arrival of campers.Camping fee is £10 per night, payable on the gate.
SATURDAY, JULY 239am - East of England Showground gates open.11am – Inter-club supporters’ football tournament.Noon to 1.30pm – Riders’ village with representatives from all competing clubs.4pm – Premier League Fours semi-finals.8pm to midnight – Evening entertainment (tickets £5 to be purchased on the day. Maximum capacity 600).
SUNDAY, JULY 249am – East of England Showground gates open.Noon – Individual meeting featuring two riders from all teams who fail to qualify for the Premier League Fours final.4pm – Premier League Fours final.
Also available: Fairground rides, speedway shopping market, junior motorcycle stunt team, vintage bike exhibition, British Speedway Under-16 Youth team display, Pop Idol’s Jamie Tinkler, Ex-rider ‘talk-in.’ BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAJOR EVENTS 2016BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: JOSH BATESBRITISH FINAL: DANNY KINGPREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: SOMERSETPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS WEEKEND: Peterborough, July 23/24PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, September 11ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Coventry, Date TBC
NATIONAL LEAGUE MAJOR EVENTS 2016NATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Coventry, August 14NATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: King’s Lynn, August 27NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Leicester, September 17
BRITISH SPEEDWAY FIM EVENTS 2016:WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER: FREDRIK LINDGRENWORLD UNDER-21 QUALIFIER: DIMITRI BERGEWORLD UNDER-21 FINAL Round 1: KRYSTIAN PIESZCZEK
ELITE LEAGUE LATEST…
BELLE VUE star Richie Worrall is looking for the Aces to keep their momentum going in their matches prior to the World Cup break.Worrall said: “Belle Vue is a great club to be part of. There’s nothing more I could ask for with their situation in the new stadium, not to mention the success we’re all enjoying as a team.“Our priority is to ensure we’re in that top four come the close of the season, and that’s where the really hard work will begin. Our game plan in the build up to that is to claim as many league points as possible. We’ve got three meetings yet, and matches in hand, before the World Cup and we have to make the most of them.”COVENTRY promoter Mick Horton was in philosophical mood after a remarkable comeback from his side saw them fall a single point short with a 46-47 home defeat to King’s Lynn.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.”KING’S LYNN boss Rob Lyon says two more wins against Leicester this week are essential if the Stars are to build on their dramatic victory at Coventry.Lyon said: “We’d gone there looking for three points, hopefully four, and we got three so now we can move on and look for more positive results against Leicester. “If we can do that then who knows, we can maybe have a chance to claw ourselves back into the top four. We do have some hope for the rest of the season with a reasonably solid looking line-up.”LAKESIDE coach Kelvin Tatum wants the Hammers to take note of a wake-up call from their shock home defeat against Poole earlier this month.Tatum said: “It really shouldn’t have happened. We should have won that meeting on paper, but there is no doubt about it, but that’s why Poole have won so many championships.“Hopefully it’s a shock to the system which will have a positive effect and will make the team more determined to get it right.”LEICESTER boss Norrie Allan has praised the impact made by recent signing Ludvig Lindgren who has been a consistently high scorer at reserve for the Lions.Allan said: “The nice thing is I think Ludvig will stay at reserve for a while because he has to do four home and four away before gets an average, so if he does move up it will only be for one or two meetings.“He does miss the next two away matches because of other commitments which is something you have to cope with when you have doubling-up riders, so I’ll need to look for guests there.”POOLE promoter Matt Ford says the Pirates’ recent win at Lakeside will make the Hammers serious opponents when the sides meet again at Wimborne Road this week.Ford said: “They will arrive here still smarting from that defeat. We hurt them that night and dented their pride but if I know my counterpart Jon Cook then he will have his side more than fired up for this visit. “A wounded animal is a dangerous animal and so we will respect that and go about our business with no preconceived ideas.”SWINDON gained further ground on league leaders Wolverhampton with a 50-41 win over the Monmore club at the Abbey Stadium last Thursday.Boss Alun Rossiter said: “It was a bit slicker than what we're used to early on and it took the boys a bit longer than normal to get into it. But it was a good all-round team effort, especially covering for Stefan (Nielsen) from Heat 2.“We've got time now to take stock, get engines and equipment sorted and then try and establish our strong position in a busy period for the team.”WOLVERHAMPTON completed a run of four matches in six days with five points to add to their total, with Swindon being the only venue where they failed to score over that period.Skipper Fredrik Lindgren said: “It's been a really frustrating night (at Swindon); to come here with so many of our usual team missing and to just miss out on another league point in the final race was a good effort from us.“We're pretty satisfied with how this busy week has gone. Don't get me wrong, we would have ideally liked more, but I think we have to look at five points from four meetings as a decent period and something to build on.”
PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…
BERWICK stage their 'Stars of Tomorrow' individual event at Shielfield this Saturday.Co-promoter Dennis McCleary told the Speedway Star: "It's the one date available to us; July is a bit of a nightmare fixture wise."Being a Saturday track we always clash with the Grand Prix and this year there is also the Premier League Fours and the World Cup."EDINBURGH star Ryan Fisher is looking to continue his recent run of form in back-to-back meetings against Redcar and Glasgow later this week.The American has top-scored for the Monarchs in their last two team meetings.He told the Speedway Star: "I'm happy with how things are going; I've put quite a lot into my engines."I'm confident that I can score well for the remainder of the season."GLASGOW let a four point lead slip as they suffered a surprise 51-39 defeat away at struggling Scunthorpe on Sunday.Tigers team manager Stewart Dickson said: "People will look at it and say it’s a shock result, because they were bottom and we were top, and I think they’re right."If we haven’t realised already, we need to realise that when we go to these places, these teams are gunning for us; we’re classed as favourites, we are big scalps, and unfortunately this is what we’re getting."IPSWICH promoter Chris Louis has challenged his side to be more ruthless in finishing off their opponents earlier in meetings.Said Louis: "It's been a bit of a trend this season where we have built up a lead and then thrown it away with a mid-meeting collapse."We need to push the opposition to the point of no return and we haven't been able to do that this season."NEWCASTLE team manager George English was full of praise for his side as they overturned a ten point first leg deficit to progress in the Knockout Cup with a 57-32 home victory over Scunthorpe.Said English: "The lads knuckled down and produced a performance we could only have dreamed about. "Our skipper Ludvig Lindgen 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 and thoroughly deserve another Cup round to battle."PETERBOROUGH are set to hand Ashley Morris his debut against Scunthorpe tonight (Tuesday) after signing the British youngster on a 28 day deal.Panthers Promoter Ged Rathbone said: "Ashley might only be 22 but he boasts considerably more experience than many older riders. "He has raced at all three levels of British speedway and I’m confident he will make the most of this opportunity.”PLYMOUTH team manager Lee Trigger says his side need to get their season back on track, starting at high-flying Sheffield this Thursday.Said Trigger: "We need to get back to the form that we are capable of producing. "If we do that we can start winning matches again, which is important because we need to start putting some points on the board.”REDCAR were victorious for the first time in over two months when they beat Scunthorpe 48-41 at home last Thursday.The result ended a nightmare run of 12 meetings without a win.The Bears host Edinburgh this Thursday.RYE HOUSE team manager Peter Schroeck admits he is concerned that regular Premier League fixtures won't be completed in time.The Rockets have raced just two away fixtures this season following a whole host of rain-offs.Schroeck told the Speedway Star: "I really think they're going to have to change the cut-off date because I don't see how everyone is going to get their meetings in - the weather has just been awful!" SCUNTHORPE crashed out of the Knockout Cup on Monday losing 97-82 on aggregate to Newcastle.The exit came just 24-hours after the struggling Scorpions picked up a shock victory over league leaders Glasgow.Team manager Dave Peet said: "It was quite a disappointing performance after the high of beating Glasgow a day earlier."We’ll put the display at Newcastle behind us and move on, although we do need to do better when we return to Brough Park later in the season for the Premier League clash.”SHEFFIELD racer Kyle Howarth admits he is looking forward to returning to Premier League action when the Tigers host Plymouth on Thursday.Howarth told the Sheffield Star: "It’s been a busy chunk of the season and although plenty of time on the bike can do you good it can be tiring and every now and again a break can do you good."I need things to get back on track personally to help make life a bit easier for the team as well. Hopefully I can do that with Sheffield as well now we are back at home."SOMERSET team manager Garry May believes his side will be buoyed by recent performances when they host Newcastle on Friday.Said May: "The boys have all been riding exceptionally well in recent weeks, as our record-breaking away win at Plymouth and our aggregate Knockout Cup Quarter-Final win over Peterborough has proved, so it looks as if the fans will be in for another night of top quality Oaktree Arena action."WORKINGTON stage their first home action for five weeks when they go head-to-head with Rye House on Saturday.Team manager Tony Jackson said: "The break has not been good for the riders, the supporters, the management or the club as a whole as it feels as if the early season momentum has been lost."We have to start building it up once again, so hopefully we can start off on a winning note against a solid-looking Rye House side.”
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE LATEST…
BELLE VUE are faced with an uphill task to keep their Knockout Cup dreams alive after a 54-36 first leg defeat at Birmingham last week.Colts manager Graham Goodwin said: “When you’re up against that kind of firepower it’s difficult to keep on level terms with, but we can’t complain because all the boys gave it everything they had and we can’t ask for more than that.“We were only twelve points down after ten heats, which is a fairly manageable margin, but that unfortunately grew into an 18-point loss by Heat 15, so we’ve got our work cut out for us in Leg 2.“The Brummies are tough on home turf, after all they’re not the league leaders for nothing. But if they can beat us by eighteen points at their track there’s no reason we can’t do the same at ours.“It is a tall order but we’ve shown more than once that we are strong at the National Speedway Stadium and we’ll be going into the second leg of this match no less confident than we always do.”BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury was delighted with the strength in depth shown by his side as they seized control of their Knockout Cup tie with Belle Vue.Drury said: "Everyone's points were important but when your two reserves (Jack Smith and Jack Parkinson-Blackburn) and your No. 2 (Tom Bacon) perform how they did it just shows our strength in depth this year.“I made some pretty bold reserve substitutions in the latter stages but they paid off overall and it was only done to benefit the team's advantage at the time.“It was another impressive performance with plenty of positives and we've given ourselves a great chance of defending our lead in the second leg next month.” BUXTON have been dealt another major blow with No.1 Ollie Greenwood opting to take a break from the sport.Greenwood explained: “Throughout the season I haven’t felt the way I used to on the bike. It's taken the fun out of what I used to love doing - riding my bike.“I'm going to take some time out and time off the bike and see how I feel and what I want to do. I'd like to thank everyone at Buxton and fans and riders. They've been great and I'll still be out and about at meetings to help out where I can.” COVENTRY Storm boss Laurence Rogers hopes a change of equipment will see skipper Dan Greenwood re-discover top form after a tough recent run.Rogers said: “Dan has changed back to last year’s frames – he hasn’t had chance to test them before Birmingham away (Wednesday), but hopefully that will get him going again.“It would have been nice if he could have had a run-out somewhere before, but hopefully he’ll be used to it, and we’ve just got to get him back firing - that would be good to see.”CRADLEY produced another solid team performance to maintain their unbeaten home record with a 52-38 win over Mildenhall.Team 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.“We're ticking along nicely of late and hopefully we can go to Stoke on Saturday and get another result.”EASTBOURNE skipper Jake Knight has backed young gun Tom Brennan to come back stronger after his debut disappointment.The 15-year-old suffered a broken collarbone on his Eagles debut – but Knight told Speedway Star: “Hats off to the little fella. He is brilliant and he will come back stronger than ever.“It was a little bit upsetting. You could see in his eyes he was hurt. He was brave. I give him all credit for getting up from that and walking back to the changing room.” ISLE OF WIGHT have brought in Benji Compton after Joe Jacobs completed a short-term spell with the club.Warriors co-promoter Barry Bishop said: “Joe was a great No.1 for the Warriors who fitted in with the team perfectly, and was an instant hit with the fans. “However we always knew that his stay with us was temporary and that Joe's ambition was to gain a Premier League berth that he's now got with Ipswich.“He's also riding for Belle Vue in the Elite League, and riding in all three leagues was something he felt was too much. All here at the club wish Joe well and we thank him for all he did for us.”KENT man Danny Ayres admits he is still wondering what could have been after their recent National Trophy Final defeat against Birmingham.Ayres told Speedway Star: “I’m still devastated about the Birmingham match. We lost our captain and that meant we lost the meeting, it’s as simple as that.“It wasn’t Luke’s (Bowen) fault, it was a freak accident and he hurt himself, but with him in the team I’m convinced we would have got our first silverware.“We have to move on and we just have to concentrate on the league now.” KING'S Lynn Young Stars pulled off a dramatic victory with a 46-44 home win in a last heat decider over Kent last Wednesday.Boss Dale Allitt said: “What a meeting and thankfully what a result in the end for the Young Stars!“Kent were leading from heat five right up until the final few laps of the final race of the night and what an effort it was from our boys!“Danny Ayres and James Shanes are two of the fastest riders in the league and to get past both of them deserves a lot of credit which Nathan (Greaves) and Josh (Bailey) will get for sure.“This is a huge win for us; it's a massive three league points and we've shown again that we're capable of beating anybody in this league.”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.”RYE HOUSE manager Peter Schroeck was delighted to emerge with a well-deserved National League point following a 45-39 away defeat against league leaders Kent on Monday.Schroeck stated: “Rob (Branford) and Ben (Morley) were absolutely fantastic tonight. You could clearly see they really didn’t want to be beaten, which set up some great battles. And Luke (Priest) 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.“If we can take a few more points here and there away, and start to pick up form at home, we really can start to move up the table.” STOKE number one Ben Wilson feels he’s finally finding his form after a slow start to the 2016 season. Said Wilson: “I’d been off the bike for nearly a year due to injury and I found getting back into things a little hard getting shoved about and pushed around and I wasn’t feeling fit on the bike. “I just generally didn’t feel right, but there were glimpses of what I knew I could do and it was a case of gritting my teeth and getting on with it because I knew I could do it. “I felt I needed more meetings and the more matches came along the better I started to feel and the confidence started to come back. I really feel that I’m now getting back to my best.“I’m enjoying riding for Stoke and enjoying racing my motorcycle and I’m just looking to perform at my best for the club and to win as many matches as we possibly can between now and the end of the season.”
FIXTURE PICTURE…
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
FRIDAY JULY 15:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Leicester 7.30, Coventry v Poole 7.30, Lakeside v Wolverhampton 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Berwick 7.30, Somerset v Newcastle 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30
SATURDAY JULY 16:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v King’s Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Workington v Rye House 7pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Cradley 7pmSTARS OF TOMORROW + BRITISH 125cc FINAL: Berwick 6.45
SUNDAY JULY 17:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Rye House 3pm, Scunthorpe v Edinburgh 6.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Newcastle v Sheffield 6.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Belle Vue 3pm, Mildenhall v Isle of Wight 3.30
MONDAY JULY 18:ELITE LEAGUE: Wolverhampton v Swindon 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Birmingham 6.30
WEDNESDAY JULY 20:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Swindon 7.30, Poole v Coventry 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Stoke 7.30
THURSDAY JULY 21:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Belle Vue 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Peterborough 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Sheffield v Newcastle 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Coventry 7pmJULIE LEWIS MEMORIAL: Redcar 7.30
FRIDAY JULY 22:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Belle Vue 7.30, Lakeside v Swindon 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Scunthorpe 7.30, Plymouth v Redcar 7.15, Somerset v Workington 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: King’s Lynn v Eastbourne 7.30
SATURDAY JULY 23: PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS WEEKEND: Peterborough 4pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Kent 7.30, Stoke v Birmingham 7pm
SUNDAY JULY 24:PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS WEEKEND: Peterborough 12pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Mildenhall 3pm
MONDAY JULY 25:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Buxton 7.30, Kent v Stoke 6.30
TUESDAY JULY 26:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Kent 7pm
