MAJOR EVENTS LATEST…THE draw has been made for the Premier League Riders’ Championship at Sheffield on Sunday September 11.Former winner Craig Cook, who triumphed in 2012, will appear in a blockbuster opening race, where he faces Newcastle’s Steve Worrall, Jack Holder of Plymouth and Edward Kennett of Rye House.And Sam Masters, who took the title in 2011, launches his campaign in Heat 2 up against home favourite Jason Garrity, British Champion Danny King of Ipswich and Glasgow star Aaron Summers.The other GB World Cup rider in the field, Robert Lambert, goes into action in Heat 3 whilst Tigers skipper Simon Stead – champion in 2014 - appears for the first time in Heat 4.All 13 Premier League clubs are represented in the event with Sheffield, Newcastle and Glasgow having two riders in the field.DRAW: 1. Steve Worrall (Newcastle), 2. Craig Cook (Peterborough), 3. Jack Holder (Plymouth), 4. Edward Kennett (Rye House), 5. Sam Masters (Edinburgh), 6. Jason Garrity (Sheffield), 7. Danny King (Ipswich), 8. Aaron Summers (Glasgow), 9. David Bellego (Redcar), 10. Richard Lawson (Glasgow), 11. Robert Lambert (Newcastle), 12. Josh Auty (Scunthorpe), 13. Kevin Doolan (Berwick), 14. Simon Stead (Sheffield), 15. Josh Grajczonek (Somerset), 16. Ricky Wells (Workington).*THE line-up for the British Under-19 Final at Birmingham on Wednesday, September 14 has been confirmed.Tripling-up star Max Clegg and Plymouth and Eastbourne racer Ellis Perks will both have the opportunity to build on their second and fourth places respectively from last year’s event at Berwick.Dan Bewley, Nathan Greaves, Josh Bailey and James Shanes will also be strongly fancied for the title whilst Birmingham supporters will have three of their own favourites to cheer on in Zach Wajtknecht, Jack Parkinson-Blackburn and Jack Smith.LINE-UP Josh Bailey (Scunthorpe/King’s Lynn Young Stars), Dan Bewley (Edinburgh/Belle Vue Colts), Alfie Bowtell (Mildenhall), Max Clegg (Wolverhampton/Edinburgh/Cradley), Kelsey Dugard (Isle of Wight), Nathan Greaves (Sheffield/King’s Lynn Young Stars), Jamie Halder (Coventry Storm), Luke Harris (Eastbourne), Ryan Kinsley (King’s Lynn Young Stars), Jack Parkinson-Blackburn (Birmingham), Ellis Perks (Plymouth/Eastbourne), Luke Ruddick (Mildenhall), James Shanes (Kent), Jack Smith (Birmingham), Jack Thomas (Kent), Zach Wajtknecht (Somerset/Birmingham), RESERVE: Ben Basford (Cradley).Young Lions boss Neil Vatcher said: “This is one of the prestigious individual events on the calendar and it is always a highly competitive and entertaining meeting.“Birmingham has some fantastic facilities and I’m sure it will be a really enjoyable evening for everyone involved.”Tyre sponsorship for all 16 riders is available. Anyone who is interested or would like to receive more information should email younglionsspeedway@hotmail.co.uk 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: RYE HOUSENATIONAL 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 CEO David Gordon admitted the postponement of the Aces’ home clash with Swindon after extensive track work following heavy rain was a bitter blow for all concerned.Gordon said: “Working with the information given to us we truly believed that we could get this meeting on. As a club the last thing we want to do is to postpone a fixture, especially one as exciting as this.“On this occasion the damage to the track was more extensive than first thought and though we tried our best to make it fit for racing, we have to concede that the correct decision was made.”COVENTRY star Danny King is targeting a strong end to the season although the Bees are set to miss out on the play-offs after top-four finishes in the last two years.King said: “We need to put on a show for the fans because they’ve given us fantastic support home and away all season.“It’s not been an easy year, and for one reason or another things just haven’t quite gone our way. We’ve been a bit unlucky, we’ve had some injuries and unfortunately we just didn’t click at the start of the season.”KING’S LYNN boss Rob Lyon admits the Stars’ play-off chances have all but slipped away following a disappointing home defeat against Swindon last week.Lyon said: “It just wasn’t good enough, and we need to be a lot, lot better than that. Our fans deserve better than that, but it’s hard to put your finger on why we were consistently out trapped on our home track again.“We’re very unlikely to make the play-offs now, but we just have to keep trying to win some meetings to get some confidence and pride back into this team.”LAKESIDE co-promoter Jon Cook says the Hammers will still be battling for vital points on the road when they visit Coventry in a re-arranged fixture on Friday.Cook said: “Frankly we don't want to go short handed but such is world speedway nowadays that we had no dates open that allowed us a full team. Friday is the best of a bad lot. “The added complication of both me and Kelvin (Tatum) being unavailable has seen the promotion of Paul Hurry to join us as part of the team management. I'm sure Scott (Nicholls) and our five regulars will bring something back for us, a point might be enough in the play-off race as things stand.”LEICESTER have quickly re-arranged their home clash with Poole for Bank Holiday Monday with the first race starting at 7.45pm.The Lions had taken an early decision to postpone the match over 24 hours in advance due to poor weather last weekend, and now expect two full-strength teams to be in action for their penultimate league match at Beaumont Park this year.POOLE will stage a Celebration of Speedway when they host Leicester on Wednesday with admission prices dropped to £10 – and promoter Matt Ford says the idea could be repeated in future.Ford said: “It is my intention to make this an annual event. We are reaching out to all persons of Poole to come and experience speedway, and we know from past meetings that the bigger the crowd the better the atmosphere, and hopefully Wednesday night will be something very special indeed.“I still feel that there are many people in the area who have never been to speedway and hopefully we may attract some of those on Wednesday. We are keen to make this an entertaining and fun evening, and it would be fantastic to see some new faces taking in the action for the first time.”SWINDON gave their play-off hopes a major boost by taking all four points from last week’s trip to King’s Lynn, followed by a home win over Poole.Robins boss Alun Rossiter said: “Poole are such a good side they keep coming back at you and you can never relax against them, that’s why they are a top team.“It’s a good night for us because we’ve now added seven-points to our league total from King’s Lynn on Thursday and now this, so we are in with a good chance of a play-off place and I know the boys are up for the challenge.”WOLVERHAMPTON boss Peter Adams was delighted to see World Champion Tai Woffinden return to the Elite League with a 13-point haul in a 51-41 win over Lakeside at Monmore.Adams said: “It took Tai a race or two just to find his way around the place again, but he looked pretty invincible by the end of the night and he’s going to be an important rider for us over the rest of this season“It was important that Lakeside gained no advantage here tonight, and when Swindon come here next Monday we’re going to have to try and do the same again.”PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…
BERWICK round off their Premier League away campaign at Workington this weekend.They will also be looking to get their hands on the Border Trophy against the Comets on Saturday.Bandits boss Scott Courtney said: "We need to claw back those 15 points -but if our performance on Sky Sports against the Comets is anything to go by we are capable of achieving that, and getting our hands on the Trophy!""We head over to Derwent Park on Sunday to a track on which we have always been competitive and mustn't feel a final win is out of reach.EDINBURGH's Ryan Fisher is hopeful he can take his place in the Monarchs line-up against Glasgow this Friday - just nine days after breaking his foot!The American crashed heavily at Somerset last Wednesday but is keen to take on Edinburgh's Scottish rivals in the Knockout Cup.Said Fisher: "I knew that something was broken after the crash because my foot was aching and that's always a sure sign. "I don't really have any pain now and with the plaster cut off I think I can race on; I'm improving every day."GLASGOW boss Stewart Dickson admitted he was frustrated with their 46-44 home defeat against Somerset on Sunday.The Tigers let a six point lead slip as they fell to their first home defeat of the season.Said Dickson: "It's a big blow - I'm not going to kid on that it's not. It's a big dent to our hopes of getting into the top two."It's disappointing but it's one defeat at home, our first for a long time, and I'm certainly not going to criticise the riders."IPSWICH Director of Speedway Chris Louis believes his side need an away win at Redcar to boost their play-off hopes.The Witches are just one point off the top six and have lost just three of their last 11 meetings.Said Louis: "We know realistically we've got to get four points and it's a track we've got a good record at although they (Redcar) have in the last few months picked up their home form."I think we've got a team more than capable of grabbing all the points from it and they know they have to."NEWCASTLE manager George English has praised his side's strength in depth following their 59-34 crushing win over Peterborough.Said English: "It was an excellent and solid display of our quality as Peterborough's away record is excellent so our win and our sixth place in the league is well deserved."It's all down to the team's perfect unity at the moment; if one lad has an off night the rest can pick up their game and we can still win as we proved."PETERBOROUGH boss Carl Johnson slammed his side's performance after they were well beaten 59-34 at Newcastle on Sunday.Said Johnson: "It was embarrassing; there was nowhere near enough effort or heart from the majority of the riders."We got exactly what we deserved from the meeting . . . absolutely nothing!"PLYMOUTH team manager Lee Trigger is hoping his side can build on their 48-45 home win over Rye House when they host Premier League leaders Somerset on Friday.Said Trigger: "Somerset are very strong opponents and they will be up for the meetings against us after we did the double on them last year.“We will have our full team of seven riders on duty and they should be full of confidence after the home win over Rye House last Friday.”REDCAR boss Jitendra Duffill admits he is worried about reserve pairing Lee Payne and new boy Jye Etheridge.Duffill told the Speedway Star: "Lee has showed that he can do it; no-one is in any doubt that there is a good speedway rider in there, he's just giving everyone a head start at the moment."As for Jye I'm sure he'll get better as he goes on - he has been out of action for a while."RYE HOUSE team manager Peter Schroeck admitted to feeling mixed emotions following their 48-45 defeat at Plymouth last Friday.Said Schroeck: "I initially felt gutted afterwards, but then I realised that the boys had given everything in what was proper racing, with so many blanket situations."I am proud of the boys for all their efforts. Robbo (Stuart Robson) is on fire at the moment and he was absolutely flying."SCUNTHORPE are hoping to end a disappointing campaign on a high - by hitting a run of form and climbing off the foot of the Premier League table.Scorpions promoter Rob Godfrey said: "We had an excellent win over Workington, and we plan to build on that. "Newcastle will come here looking for points to consolidate their challenge for a place in the play-offs, and I predict another humdinger of a meeting."We’re out to finish our season on a flourish, and part of that involves going unbeaten at home for our remaining meetings."SHEFFIELD joint team manager Eric Boocock has challenged reserve duo Arthur Sississ and Nathan Greaves to put in a match winning performance when they host Scunthorpe on Thursday.Boocock told the Sheffield Star: "They’ve got to see this meeting as a chance to get back on track otherwise maybe we will have to look at making a change."Their scores and performances have been a concern, but that’s just the nature of the game when you’ve got riders who aren’t racing to their potential."SOMERSET boss Garry May is expecting their rivalry to continue against Plymouth when they go head-to-head twice in two days.Said May: "It goes without saying that we will be looking to get maximum points from these two matches."But although Plymouth’s hopes of reaching the play-offs seem to be fading away, there is nothing they would like more than to get one over us, and so I think the fans will have two cracking matches to enjoy!”WORKINGTON boss Tony Jackson admits he is baffled by his side's away form - and concedes that alone could prove costly in their bid for a play-off place.Said Jackson: "We had the same problem last season, and are as surprised as anyone that it has continued in the same vein this season. "It is just a few days over two years since our last home league defeat, yet it is more than two years and a month since our last away league victory - it just doesn’t make any sense whatsoever!"
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE LATEST…
BELLE VUE boosted their play-off hopes with a 50-40 win over the Isle of Wight at the National Speedway Stadium last Wednesday.Team boss Steve Williams said: “The boys put in every effort tonight, a fantastic performance. The Isle of Wight are big track specialists. We knew they weren’t going to come here and roll over.“We knew we needed to be on it and that Heat 15 from both Matt [Williamson] and Lee [Payne] was astounding. I personally couldn’t believe it when the latter trapped the way he did!“Every point is vital for us right now. We went to Kent, which is a tough place to go, and managed to take a point from there so really there were no excuses for us not getting all three at home.”BIRMINGHAM continued their sensational run of form with a comprehensive 58-32 home win over Buxton last Wednesday.Brummies boss Graham Drury said: “I have to give Buxton plenty of credit despite us picking up another routine win in the end.“They've had no luck whatsoever this year but they came and gave it a real good go and I wish them all the best for the rest of the season.“As for our lads, they pulled together superbly once again when they heard that Jack Smith was going to be missing and the bond they have got between them is tremendous.”BUXTON No.1 Lee Dicken is confident he is moving in the right direction following his return to the sport.The 38-year-old said: “I now know that I have the bigger scores in there and I'm only fractions away from competing with the top boys at this level. “I know I need to lose some weight, I’m giving 5 stone to some of these guys but I am gaining more strength as more meetings pass and who knows I may well have another couple of years left in me yet!”COVENTRY Storm suffered last-gasp heartache as they slipped to a 49-41 defeat at Rye House on Saturday afternoon.“We’re very disappointed,” said team manager Laurence Rogers. “We thought we were on our way to another victory to make it three on the trot, but credit to Rye House. “We had plenty of bad luck, twice with JPB (Jack Parkinson-Blackburn) including a puncture when he was winning his last ride, and things just didn’t go our way in the end. “We’ll take plenty of positives out of it, particularly Jamie (Halder) and Callum (Walker) at reserve.”CRADLEY saw their National League play-off hopes dealt another severe blow with a heavy 60-29 defeat at Mildenhall on Sunday.Team boss Will Pottinger said: “We’ve come to expect not getting hammered like that away from home, so personally I was very disappointed with that result. “That performance just wasn’t good enough, we should be doing much better and we’ll certainly be looking for a big improvement over the rest of the season.“We still have a number of matches, but if we’re going to make the play-offs we certainly need to up our game.“I’d like to thank the supporters who made the journey, because they still supported is throughout and we really appreciate their efforts.” EASTBOURNE boss Connor Dugard has spoken of their frustration after last-heat heartache for Adam Ellis cost them victory in the recent National League Fours.Dugard told Speedway Star: “I think you would have taken that situation – going into the final race needing the best rider in the league to win you the meeting.“I would have put my house on Adam winning that race because he didn’t put a wheel out of place all day. I’ve never seen anyone as disappointed as Adam was then.” ISLE OF WIGHT boss Neil Vatcher was delighted to roar to their biggest win of the season as they trashed Rye House 61-29 at Smallbrook last Thursday.“It was a pleasing home performance again from all seven Warriors,” said Vatcher. “We had a chat before the meeting and we knew how strong the Rye House top three could be, so we knew we had to be on our game right from the off.“It was a truly great performance from the whole team, and even though the score was a massive margin, there was still some great racing and overtakes from our two new reserves and also some breathtaking moves from the exciting Mark Baseby.”KENT reserve Jack Thomas has revealed he is willing to ride through the pain barrier for the Kings entering the business end of the season.Thomas told Speedway Star: “It’s been a rollercoaster couple of weeks. I picked myself up from that massive crash against King’s Lynn and really operated on adrenaline to get through that meeting.“A hospital visit the next day was the worst possible news when they thought I had a broken arm and leg.“Then misery turned to relief at the fracture clinic on Thursday when I got the go-ahead to ride on after swelling had reduced and the x-rays gave a more accurate picture of my injuries.“I got through one whole lot of ibuprofen to ease my pain, but it’s worth it riding for this club and in front of these supporters.” KING’S Lynn Young Stars saw their play-off hopes dealt a bitter blow with a 47-43 defeat against Coventry Storm at the Adrian Flux Arena.Disappointed boss Dale Allitt said: “It was very disappointing, and obviously not the result we wanted.“After losing Shane (Hazelden) we needed the top five all to fire, but we didn’t do that for various reasons and we paid the price.“Fair play to Coventry, they won fair and square on the night to continue their winning record against us.” MILDENHALL chairman Kevin Jolly hailed a “special” display from his side after they trashed arch rivals Cradley 60-29 at West Row on Sunday.“This was a little bit special today,” said Jolly. “All six lads gave their all, riding with passion and no little skill for what was probably just about a perfect afternoon for our fans.“It would, I guess, be unfair to single anyone out today, but I must make mention of Jon (Armstrong). His influence in the pits with the youngsters is massive and on the track he took me back to a different era with some wonderful team riding. If our lads don’t listen and learn from Jon they are missing out on a marvellous opportunity.“I am sure our supporters have headed home with big smiles on their faces and today was for them, they have stuck with the lads this season and backed me personally and I would like to thank them for that.”RYE HOUSE Raiders completed a memorable comeback to snatch a 49-41 win over Coventry at Hoddesdon on Saturday.Team boss Peter Schroeck said: “To come from eight points down to win by eight points; I’m really pleased for the guys, especially on the back of what we also achieved on Sunday. Coventry are a pretty strong side too, and although they had a little bit of bad luck, so have we in the past.“We always seem to go into matches as the underdog, and it’s nice to see the young kids bringing something to the party as well today – and what a difference that makes. It wasn’t just Branny (Rob Branford), Ben (Morley) and Luke (Priest).”STOKE have received a late call-up to Saturday’s National League Pairs at the Adrian Flux Arena.Manager Malcolm Vasey said: “We are delighted to have been entered into the meeting and hopefully Ben (Wilson) and Danny (Phillips) can go out and do what Rye House did in the National League Fours last weekend. “It is a very competitive field, but on their day both riders can beat anyone and when we have had representatives in big meetings like this we have a good record in them and we will be hoping Ben and Danny will be in the mix at the end of the meeting.”
FIXTURE PICTURE…
TUESDAY AUGUST 23:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Birmingham 7pm
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v King’s Lynn 7.30, Poole v Leicester 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 25:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Wolverhampton 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Ipswich 7.30, Sheffield v Scunthorpe 7.30
FRIDAY AUGUST 26:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Newcastle 7.30, Somerset v Plymouth 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Kent 7.30, Coventry v Mildenhall (follows EL fixture)
SATURDAY AUGUST 27:PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Somerset 7.15NATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: King’s Lynn 7pmBORDER TROPHY 2nd leg: Berwick v Workington 7pmBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 8: Redcar 2pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 28:PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Edinburgh 6.30, Workington v Berwick 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Birmingham 3pm, Mildenhall v Rye House 3.30
MONDAY AUGUST 29:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Poole 12pm, Leicester v Poole 7.30, Wolverhampton v King’s Lynn 6.30, Wolverhampton v Swindon (follows previous fixture)PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Redcar 7pm, Rye House v Berwick 3pm, Scunthorpe v Newcastle 3pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Eastbourne 3pm, Rye House v Buxton 5pmMIDLAND DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Scunthorpe 4.30
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Isle of Wight 7.30
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Lakeside 7.30, Poole v Belle Vue 7.30, Swindon v Leicester 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Rye House 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Eastbourne 7pm
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Coventry 7.30, Lakeside v King’s Lynn 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Redcar 7pm, Edinburgh v Plymouth (follows previous fixture)
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3:PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Scunthorpe 7pm, Workington v Somerset 7pmTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Coventry 7.30, Stoke v Kent 7pm
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Sheffield 3pm, Newcastle v Somerset 6.30, Peterborough v Rye House 2.30, Peterborough v Workington 5pm, Scunthorpe v Redcar 6.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v King’s Lynn 3pm, Mildenhall v Eastbourne 3.30
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5: ELITE LEAGUE: Wolverhampton v Poole 7.30TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Cradley 6.30
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6:TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Stoke 7.30, Isle of Wight v King’s Lynn 7pm
