(SPEEDWAY 1)

BELLE Vue extended their lead at the top of the Elite League table to five points with a thumping 63-29 win over Lakeside.The Aces dominated at the National Speedway Stadium with the Hammers hampered by the absence of No.1 Andreas Jonsson due to illness.Craig Cook headed the home scorechart with 12+2, with four other riders paid for double figures, whilst Edward Kennett collected nine for the visitors.Belle Vue captain Scott Nicholls said: “It’s always a great feeling to finish the night with a win and tonight was no different. It’s just a shame that Andreas wasn’t able to join us because we know he likes this track.“But a win is a win nonetheless however and it’s a result we’re delighted with. Our boys are on fire right now. Our spirits are high, we’re confident in ourselves and things are looking very positive.”Lakeside coach Kelvin Tatum said: “That result certainly stings a little. I do believe our riders gave it plenty of effort, but the top and bottom of it is that we were totally outclassed by the better team on the night.“Andreas has been in super form for us and we were desperately disappointed when we heard he couldn't travel. We already faced a stiff task and that just left us with an even bigger mountain to climb.”Meanwhile Poole climbed into third position with a 52-38 win at home to second-placed Wolverhampton.Chris Holder scored paid 14 for the home side, dropping his only point to Sam Masters with fellow countryman Darcy Ward in attendance at the meeting. Fredrik Lindgren led the way for Wolves on 11.Holder said: “I got the look from Darcy after that race and I just knew what he was thinking so I had to turn things around again after that.”Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “It’s always an uphill battle here at Poole, and you have to have the whole team firing if you’re going to get a result.“We certainly missed Joonas Kylmakorpi badly tonight, Rory (Schlein) tried his best but I think Joonas would have probably scored a few more points and the scoreline would have been closer.”Birmingham ran up their biggest Travel Plus National League win of the season with a 64-26 demolition of King’s Lynn at Perry Barr.The visitors were limited to one race win, Nathan Greaves in Heat 15, which ended the maximum aspirations of Danyon Hume and Jack Parkinson-Blackburn after a powerful Brummies display in which guest Dan Halsey was unbeaten from four rides.Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “We did have a deluge of rain before the meeting and whether that deterred the King’s Lynn riders I don’t know, because it wasn’t hype on my part before the meeting against what I felt was a good side.“The riders can only ride against the team that’s put out in front of them, and I don’t really know if we were particularly good or whether the King’s Lynn lads had an off-night.“But the situation now is that we have a nice healthy lead in the league, so we can put that to one side and go to Belle Vue on Saturday in the KO Cup to defend the lead we’ve got, and hopefully we can get into the semi-finals of that competition.”Greaves said: “Realistically, we always knew we were going to be up against it but we're disappointed not to have pushed them a lot harder.“Let's be honest, we're not the first team and we certainly won't be the last to come away from Birmingham after being well beaten. We need to forget about this one now and focus on what is another big home meeting against the Isle of Wight.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter knows his side need a win to keep their play-off hopes alive as they host King’s Lynn in a huge clash at the Abbey on Thursday.The Robins saw their top four ambitions dealt a major blow with three successive defeats before the Speedway World Cup break, and Rossiter says victory over the Stars is paramount.He said: “We’ve had a couple of weeks off because of the World Cup, and now it’s time to get going again and find some consistent form.“I really don’t like using the words ‘must-win’ but tonight’s match is very much one that we have to win, and the boys know how important the next few meetings are going to be.”The home side are still without Stefan Nielsen due to injury, whilst former King’s Lynn rider Lewis Kerr makes a guest appearance for the Stars in place of Simon Lambert.Lynn co-promoter Dale Allitt said: “It’s a strange one really because Swindon is a track where we seem to do very well or very poorly judging by our recent results there. “We’ve near enough got a full team, Lewis Kerr is a good guest for Simon Lambert and we think Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen should go well around Swindon. We’ve got a good balance to the team, so we’re going there hoping to come back with the points.”Meanwhile Poole have cut adult admission prices to £10 as they race at home for the second time in two nights.Leicester provide the opposition at Wimborne Road in a match hastily re-arranged after being rained-off on Monday.Bjarne Pedersen is still absent for the Pirates on compassionate grounds, whilst Leicester have confirmed the booking of former Poole rider Todd Kurtz to guest for the unavailable Ludvig Lindgren.

(SPEEDWAY 3)

SHEFFIELD are hoping to be at full strength for the first time in over a month when they host Ipswich at Owlerton on Thursday.Jason Garrity underwent a fitness test on Wednesday as he looks to return to the Tigers’ side after an arm injury.Skipper Simon Stead and in-form ace Dimitri Berge will also be back in action after missing last Friday’s trip to Edinburgh with minor knocks.Co-promoter Damien Bates said: ““It has been a tough few meetings, but we’ve had some bad luck and I think losing Steady in just his second ride was the only thing that stopped us winning last week.“We should have Jason back now which I think will give the whole team a lift because he brings a lot of enthusiasm and energy to the pits. “We’ve had a few riders who have been underperforming, but it’ll great to be back at full strength and we hope we can get back to the form we were showing before Jason’s injury.”The Witches include former Sheffield men Nico Covatti and Jake Knight, the latter stepping in as a guest at reserve.Boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We rode well there earlier in the year so if we can ride like we did that night we can get a result.“We've been doing a lot better and we're in the best form we've been in all season and we've got to look to get a win. We need to win a couple of away meetings to get into the play-offs, the momentum is with us and we need to perform.”Meanwhile Redcar look to build on last week’s exciting 48-44 win over Glasgow when they host Berwick at the Media Prime Arena.David Bellego takes over at No.1 for the Bears in an opening pairing with Tobias Busch, with the Bandits also naming a full-strength line-up.Redcar boss Jitendra Duffill said: “Last week was a huge win for us, I don't think many people would have expected us to beat such a strong Glasgow side who have plenty of experience riding our circuit. Our boys battled hard all night and deserved the three points..“Berwick are not as strong on paper but you can never underestimate your opponents. They have done pretty well so far this year and have some very capable riders in their 1 to 7. “We go into this fixture with a lot of confidence after beating Glasgow as we know the opposition will not come any stronger than them. That result will not have gone unnoticed and it should stop teams coming here and expecting an easy ride.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

CRADLEY head to the Isle of Wight on Thursday looking to make it five National League wins on the spin.The Heathens have boosted their play-off chances with a solid run of results over recent weeks.Heat-leader Luke Chessell insists every league point is going to be crucial and wants to win by seven or more at the Smallbrook Stadium.“We've got ourselves into a strong position, but with other teams having meetings in hand on us, we have to get as many points as we can," said Chessell.“Since Richard (Andrews) came in we've certainly seemed a lot more solid and we've started to click again as a team.“We desperately want to reach the play-offs, that's always been our goal from day one, and as long as we get there then anything can happen in those final few meetings.”

(FIXTURES)

THURSDAY AUGUST 4:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Leicester 7.30, Swindon v King’s Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Berwick 7.30, Sheffield v Ipswich 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Cradley 7pm

FRIDAY AUGUST 5:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Leicester 7.30, Lakeside v Belle Vue 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Rye House 7.30, Plymouth v Berwick 7.15, Somerset v Peterborough 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Isle of Wight 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 6:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v Coventry 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Workington v Newcastle 7pmPREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd round 1st leg: Berwick v Rye House 7pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Eastbourne 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Belle Vue v Birmingham 7.30

SUNDAY AUGUST 7:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Workington 3pm, Newcastle v Rye House 6.30, Peterborough v Edinburgh 5pm, Scunthorpe v Somerset 6.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Coventry 3pm, Mildenhall v Kent 3.30