MAJOR EVENTS LATEST…

PREMIER League Fours winners Plymouth are set for an automatic place in the 2017 Final.British Speedway vice-chairman Rob Godfrey has confirmed the Devils, who won a thrilling victory at Peterborough last month as they edged out Workington and the hosts, will go straight through to the decider next year assuming the current PL structure of 13 clubs remains in place.This year’s seeded place in the Final went to Peterborough as hosts of the first-ever two-day Fours Festival.Godfrey told Speedway Star: “That was the rule we set, that’s the deal, the winners would be seeded in to the Final next year, and that’s the way to do it. It adds a lot more credence to it.“The other point I must make is that under our old format for the Fours, Plymouth would not even have been in it this time.“So it just showed that it isn’t always the best eight averaged teams that would win the Fours. Plymouth bucked that trend and were deserving winners.”Godfrey says lessons have been learnt from what was a completely new initiative for the sport, featuring a bumper 73-race weekend programme as well as additional off-track activities.He says tweaks could be made to the format but the overall verdict of all in attendance was that the event was successful, with racing at the Showground of the highest-possible standard.Godfrey said: “For next year, we have to take on board some of the concerns the riders brought to us, and we have already looked at the format.“We think maybe having three semi-finals on one day was just a little bit too much, maybe we could have spaced it out a bit more and had a bit more entertainment, so we need to look at that but we also want to keep everyone involved for the whole weekend.“What a great idea it would be if it wasn’t just a Premier League weekend but a British Speedway weekend involving the Elite League clubs too.“We’re throwing ideas around now before we forget about the problems and put them to bed. They weren’t great problems. We will learn the lessons and make things even better but for a first attempt, overall I think it was a good 9.5 out of 10.”The next Major Event sees all 13 clubs represented again at the Premier League Rider’ Championship at Sheffield on Sunday September 11. Three clubs will also have a second rider competing in the Owlerton showpiece.BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAJOR EVENTS 2016BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: JOSH BATESBRITISH FINAL: DANNY KINGPREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: SOMERSETPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS WEEKEND: PLYMOUTHPREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, September 11ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Coventry, October 8

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 laid down a major statement of intent with their 51-39 win at Wolverhampton on Monday to go ten points clear at the top of the table.Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “There’s a strong spirit within this team. I don’t think there was a specific turning point on the night to be honest. The boys kept their heads down, pushed hard and worked toward the goal we set.“Sometimes you need some luck but tonight the boys earned their victory. It’s a great feeling but we can’t rest on our laurels. We've got to keep pushing in order to keep this good feeling going.”COVENTRY boss Gary Havelock admitted the Bees’ display in their 56-34 win over Swindon on Monday showed what might have been for his side this season.Havelock said: “We didn’t just win, we gave them a proper hiding, and I couldn’t have asked for any more from the team. They were all magnificent, and it’s just a crying shame that we’re probably going to miss out on the play-offs when we can show this sort of form.“Josh (Bates) was phenomenal, he had a great night, and to be fair to Bomber (Chris Harris) he took a massive hit and could hardly walk, he was virtually carried onto his bike for Heat 13, but you know what Bomber is likeKING’S LYNN co-promoter Dale Allitt admitted a 38-52 defeat at Swindon was a disappointment after the Stars had been eight points up in the early stages.Allitt said: “The Swindon track was very different in the opening four races and I think it caught their riders out. We were there to capitalise on that though and we opened up a good early lead.“We're obviously disappointed to lose by the amount we did in the end but we always knew Swindon were going to come back at us stronger.“We've got a really busy period coming up during the rest of August and with meetings in hand we just need to keep fighting and pick up as many points as we possibly can.”LAKESIDE remain on course for the play-offs after defeating Belle Vue 48-45 at Purfleet to add another three points to their total.Hammers coach Kelvin Tatum said: ““It’s very important for us to make sure we keep winning, and we could easily have slipped up tonight. We got over Wednesday’s disappointment quickly, and although Belle Vue will be pleased to get a point, from our perspective it was just about getting the three league points. “We’ve had a tough test but we came through and got the result we needed, so I’m very proud of the team.”LEICESTER boss Norrie Allan praised the spirit within his team as they gained a local derby win at home to Coventry to continue a good run at Beaumont Park.Allan said: “All of my riders delivered what was expected of them and I was very pleased with their application. “Of course Coventry were missing KK (Krzysztof Kasprzak) and without him they battled hard. Their 8-1 in Heat 8 caused us a bit of a flutter but we rode through that setback and pushed on to finish comfortable winners in the end.”POOLE promoter Matt Ford says his side need to react to the current form being shown by Belle Vue as they look to establish themselves in the play-off places.Ford said: “It is clear that with so few home fixtures remaining and a very tough away programme still to fulfil we need to claim all three home points (against King’s Lynn) and try and pick up something on Thursday. “It is a very tough league this year and Belle Vue certainly signalled their intent on Monday with that massive win at Wolves. We want that fourth straight title but to get it will certainly require us to continually raise our game.”SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter says he is concerned by recent form, with a 34-56 defeat at Coventry on Monday dealing a blow to the Robins’ play-off hopes.Rossiter said: “When you look at individuals I’m worried about Nick Morris and Justin Sedgmen in particular, they aren’t doing their job for the team and it’s very worrying.“The alarm bells are certainly ringing for me. Nick and Justin have always been great to work with, but they need to improve and get out of this worrying run.“A month ago I was worried about Rohan (Tungate), but at Coventry he did a job for the team, even though he messed up on the tactical ride. Now I’m worried about Nick and Sedgy, plus we are missing Stefan (Nielsen) so we have to look at how we can improve.”WOLVERHAMPTON star Sam Masters accepted his side could have no real complaints after their first home defeat of the season as Belle Vue took the honours at Monmore.Masters said: “It’s disappointing to lose our unbeaten home record, but we got beaten by a better team tonight.“It’s hard to take, but I guess it might be a good thing because it’ll probably give us a kick up the backside. We now know what we like and what we don’t like so hopefully we can get the track dialled in for us for the rest of the season and we won’t have any more problems.”

PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…

BERWICK boosted their chances of progressing to the semi-finals of the Premier League Knockout Cup with a 53-37 first leg victory over Rye House.Bandits team manager Scott Courtney said: “While we cannot count anything for granted, the 16-point lead will set us up nicely for the second leg at the end of the month.“That Berwick team spirit was back to full power with the guys hitting some good scores.”EDINBURGH continued their charge up the Premier League table with an impressive 52-39 win at Peterborough on Sunday.The result saw the Monarchs leapfrog their opponents into third place as they made six league wins on the spin.Team boss John Campbell said: “I hadn’t expected that!“I’d hoped that if Sam (Masters) scored 15 we might have had enough riders going to get a point out of it but everyone was sparking all over the place!”GLASGOW favourite Richard Lawson believes the Tigers are hitting form at the right time as they begin to look towards the end of season play-offs.The Scottish outfit continued their dominant home form by inflicting a heavy 59-31 victory over Workington on Sunday. Said Lawson: “It is a great time to come good; everyone is riding well right through the team and we just need to keep it going!”IPSWICH have handed club asset Danyon Hume a reserve position for the remainder of the season.Hume, who is in just his second season in the sport, is delighted to have been given the opportunity in the second tier.He said: “This year has been a massive improvement compared to last year and this is the next step up.“It's going to be hard but I'm looking forward to it; the boys are a good group of lads to get along with and the fact I've ridden a few times already will help me.”NEWCASTLE team manager George English says his side’s strength in depth was highlighted once again with another big home win over Rye House.While he admits the scoreline didn’t necessarily reflect the racing, English was thrilled with the Diamonds 57-36 victory.He said: “A good solid team effort delivered the goods for us with three more well earned league points going into the pot. “Rye certainly gave us a decent run for our money, but our strength in depth rang out well for the victory."PETERBOROUGH promoter Ged Rathbone has urged the club’s supporters to stick by their team after they lost 52-39 at home to Edinburgh on Sunday.Said Rathbone: “Hopefully they can trust myself, my management team and the many good people at the club to find the right solution for our current problems.“I didn't let them down when making sure the club continued to race, I didn't let them down when building a side which reached the play-off semi-finals last season, and I won't let them down now.”PLYMOUTH are targeting a third straight home win when they host Glasgow on Friday.The Devils dug deep last week to fend off Berwick in a narrow 47-43 victory and team manager Lee Trigger is expecting another close contest against the Tigers this time around.Said Trigger: “Glasgow will provide us with a stiff test and we will have to be on our mettle, but hopefully we can collect another three league points.”REDCAR are looking for a hat-trick of home victories when they go head-to-head with Workington on Thursday.The Bears will be looking to build on their recent confidence boosting wins over Glasgow and Berwick as they aim to avoid the wooden spoon this season.RYE HOUSE’s tough run of results continued as they fell to three consecutive defeats in three days.The Rockets were beaten by both Edinburgh and Newcastle in the league either side of their Knockout Cup first leg loss at Berwick – although they did take a point from their narrow defeat at Armadale.The Hoddesdon outfit are now without a win since June 25.SCUNTHORPE have signed Austrian racer Fritz Wallner as a replacement for injured Australian Alex Davies, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season.The 30-year-old scored three paid four during his debut in the 47-43 home defeat to league leaders Somerset on Sunday.Scorpions team manager Dave Peet said: “Fritz put in a very encouraging performance; he rode much harder than his score suggests. “Once he’s had a couple of more meetings I think he’ll be a real asset.”SHEFFIELD co-promoter Damien Bates has warned reserves Arthur Sissis and Nathan Greaves they could face the axe if their performances don’t improve.Bates told the Sheffield Star: “It’s clear where we are falling short at the moment, and the two reserves both know they have to improve.“We know they are capable of it, but they both need to pull their finger out and start scoring some more points.”SOMERSET go into a run of three matches in four days this week as they look to continue their push for Premier League honours.The Rebels have won all thirteen of their league matches so far and take on Scunthorpe in a re-arranged fixture at the Oaktree Arena on Tuesday, before facing back-to-back clashes with Sheffield.Somerset boss Garry May said: “It’s definitely a busy period for the team, but one that they are looking forward to as we hit the ‘business end’ of the regular league season before heading into the Championship-deciding play-offs.”WORKINGTON can continue their push for a play-off place with two meetings in the space of three days.The Comets travel to Redcar on Thursday before hosting fellow play-off challengers Ipswich on Saturday.The Derwent Park outfit currently sit just two points out of the second tier’s top six.

TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE LATEST…

BELLE VUE bowed out of the National League Knockout Cup with a 102-77 aggregate defeat against Birmingham.The Colts suffered a 48-41 defeat in the second leg at the National Speedway Stadium on Saturday as they failed to overhaul an 18-point first leg deficit.Team manager Graham Goodwin said: “We can’t fault the efforts of any of the lads tonight. They always put 100% into what they do and that’s all we can ask. Birmingham are a very tough side.“Realistically we knew 18 points was a steep deficit to recover. It would’ve been nice to get a win but the Brummies have a great away record and have enjoyed a lot of success away from home.“It’s disappointing to lose at home but we’d rather it be a cup match than a league match. We’ve had a meeting back on the track now and we’ve got two more coming up in rapid succession.”BIRMINGHAM have slammed Knockout Cup semi-final rivals against Kent after the scheduled first leg on August 22 was postponed.Brummies boss Graham Drury said: “I am absolutely flabbergasted with this decision and Kent have made themselves look really amateurish once again.“There have been several communications, led by Kent may I add, pushing that we agreed the date for their home leg of Monday, August 22.“For an agreement to be cancelled and a meeting postponed because a rider is on holiday is ludicrous and I have done my utmost to get this overruled.BUXTON boss Jason Pipe admitted he was left “speechless” by their 46-42 defeat against Coventry at the D&P Raceway on Sunday.“I’m pretty much speechless after that,” Pipe said. “There were injuries and thrown away points but I thought we had done it. “All credit to Laurence (Rogers) and his team, they needed an away win as much as we needed a home one so well done to them. “I’m already thinking about our next meeting later this week on the Isle of Wight.” COVENTRY Storm boss Laurence Rogers was once again lamenting their injury misfortunate after Dan Greenwood broke his collarbone in their 46-42 win at Buxton on Sunday.Said Rogers: “It was a very good result, but once again we’ve got a mix of good news and bad news with Dan breaking his collarbone.“It was still nice to get a win away from home, and the boys showed a lot of spirit to come out on top.“Liam Carr was tremendous, scoring a 15-point maximum, and Jamie Halder also did a great job on his first meeting back from injury.”CRADLEY kept their play-off hopes alive with a dramatic 45-44 win at the Isle of Wight last Thursday.Boss Will Pottinger said: “You never know how important those three points will be. It was our second straight away win and we needed it, it was most welcome.“We could easily have lost it but we saved our best until last and it was a huge relief to come away with three precious points.”EASTBOURNE remain on course for the play-offs after a 50-40 weekend win at Stoke.The Sussex side’s top four of Adam Ellis, Jake Knight, Ellis Perks and Georgie Wood scored the lion’s share of the points to move the Eagles up a place to third in the table.Team manager Connor Dugard said: “Before the match I said our top four would have to put a big shift in for us to win.“They did just what I hoped they would do and I am obviously delighted with the result.“Our two guest reserves also chipped in with some vital points. It was a good night all round and just what we wanted.“Adam Ellis and Jake Knight again lived up to their nickname of the new turbo twins as we powered clear in the closing stages.”ISLE OF WIGHT reserve Tyler Govier is facing a short spell on the sidelines after two heavy crashes in the space of a week.“I’m pretty bashed about really,” said Govier. I’ve suffered with light concussion, so I’ve been ruled out for nine days.“I’m already looking forward to coming back, and I’m quite fortunate it wasn’t something more serious I suppose. “I’ll be trying to really push on when I’m back from this concussion, and hopefully I can end the season with some more good meetings.”KENT have withdrawn from the National League Fours at Coventry on Sunday due to their injury crisis.Team manager Chris Hunt said: “It is with huge regret that we’ve had to withdraw but, frankly, being left with only three riders there is actually no choice. “It’s especially gutting, as all of us at the club and I’m sure the speedway world more generally, would have looked at the quartet we should have been able to field at Brandon Stadium and regard that as a side extremely likely to win the title. “Now with both Luke Bowen and Luke Clifton ruled out with injury, we are not just weakened, we actually can’t raise a full ‘four’ to compete and so we have had no choice than to inform the League co-ordinator that we can’t take up our place in the event.“We feel particularly for our fans who’ve organised a coach to the event and trust that some arrangement can be made to avoid even more disappointment at what is a really sad state of affairs for all involved”.KING’S LYNN Young Stars claimed a consolation point from their 44-39 defeat at Kent – but the meeting was overshadowed by an injury to Shane Hazelden.He suffered a broken tibia and fibula in a nasty heat 14 crash – and team boss Dale Allitt admitted it “took the shine off a good result”. “It's bad news for Shane, and as a club we all wish him all the very best,” Allitt said.“It's a nasty injury which is a real shame for him, and it took the shine off what was a good result for us in the end.“At the moment our focus is on helping him get the best treatment he can, and then when he's on the mend we'll start looking at our options.”MILDENHALL pulled off a dramatic 45-44 win over Kent at West Row on Sunday.But it came at a cost as Kyle Hughes suffered injury and fans were kept waiting due to a lack of medical cover.Chairman Kevin Jolly said: “I would like to apologise to everyone who visited Mildenhall today for the delay which was unfortunately out of our hands.“The ambulance broke down on route to the track and we had no option but to wait for a replacement, rider safety has to be paramount at all times.“The track was difficult to start with on what was a windy and hot day, but obviously an hour and a half delay didn’t help things and the track staff did their very best in the circumstances I felt. Once it settled it was fine and gave a meeting with everything.“I am so proud of our lads today who fought back so well in the second half of the meeting, although this is somewhat tempered by Kyle Hughes injury. Kyle has had no luck at all this season and hopefully his injury is not as bad as initially thought.”RYE HOUSE have been handed a call-up to Sunday’s National League Fours at Coventry following the withdrawal of injury-hit Kent.Team manager Peter Schroeck said: “We were disappointed not to be originally named to Sunday’s event after reaching the Final last season, but the boys are excited about getting a shot, and with three top hitters in the team they are really up for it.“We may have been a late call-up, but we are not going there to make up the numbers, I can assure you. It should be a really, really good meeting, and we’re looking forward to it.”STOKE suffered their fourth successive defeat with a 50-40 loss at the hands of Eastbourne at Loomer Road.Skipper Tony Atkin said: “I’m a bit disappointed with tonight if I’m honest, we should have won that match.“We have got to get on with things and start winning meetings - it’s just not good enough. We can’t make excuses when we are getting beaten every week.“They had a strong top end of the team, but when teams are like that they have riders, with no disrespect to them, that are weaker at the tail end and at the end of the day we all have to up our game.”

FIXTURE PICTURE…

TUESDAY AUGUST 9:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Scunthorpe 7.30FAST GOLDEN HAMMER: Cradley 7.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v King’s Lynn 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Coventry 7.30

THURSDAY AUGUST 11:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Poole 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Scunthorpe 7.30, Redcar v Workington 7.30, Sheffield v Somerset 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Buxton 7pm

FRIDAY AUGUST 12:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Peterborough 7.30, Plymouth v Glasgow 7.15, Somerset v Sheffield 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Rye House 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 13:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Peterborough 7pm, Rye House v Glasgow 7pm, Workington v Ipswich 7pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Stoke 7pm

SUNDAY AUGUST 14:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Ipswich 3pm, Newcastle v Sheffield 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Coventry 2.30BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 6: Belle Vue 1pm

MONDAY AUGUST 15:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Birmingham 7.30, Kent v Belle Vue 6.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Edinburgh 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Isle of Wight 7.30, Birmingham v Buxton 7.30, King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30

THURSDAY AUGUST 18:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Swindon 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Workington 7.30, Redcar v Newcastle 7.30, Sheffield v Edinburgh 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Rye House 7pm

FRIDAY AUGUST 19:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Swindon 7.30, Coventry v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Somerset 7.30, Plymouth v Rye House 7.15

SATURDAY AUGUST 20:ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Coventry 7.45, Leicester v Poole 8pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Somerset 7pm, Workington v Redcar 7pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Rye House v Coventry 2pm, Stoke v Mildenhall 7pmBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 7: Eastbourne 6pm

SUNDAY AUGUST 21:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Somerset 3pm, Newcastle v Peterborough 6.30, Scunthorpe v Workington 6.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Isle of Wight 3pm, Mildenhall v Cradley 3.30

MONDAY AUGUST 22:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Poole 7.30, Wolverhampton v Lakeside 7.30THE LAURELS: Kent 6.30

TUESDAY AUGUST 23:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Birmingham 7pm