(SPEEDWAY 1)
BELLE Vue regained top spot in the Elite League table with a comfortable 59-34 win over weakened Coventry at the National Speedway Stadium.Already without Krzysztof Kasprzak due to the GP Challenge and with Josh Bates having pulled out due to injury, the Bees then lost skipper Chris Harris with rib damage after a Heat 11 clash with Steve Worrall.It was a night to remember for Aces reserve Joe Jacobs with 12+2, whilst Matej Zagar added 11. Danny King (14) and Jason Garrity (11) dominated the scoring for the visitors.Belle Vue skipper Scott Nicholls said: “From our side, everybody performed well. Joe Jacobs was just exceptional. I tried a couple of new things tonight and though I’m still a bit frustrated I didn’t win a race, it’s a massive improvement.“The goal for us now is to finish No.1 in the table. It’s not the end of the world if we don’t as we’re safely in the top four, but it would be nice to have that all-important choice at the end.”Coventry boss Gary Havelock said: “It’s a difficult place to come even when you’re at full strength, because you look at their pairings and there isn’t a weak link. Joe Jacobs is flying, and I think they’ve got to be favourites for the league at this moment in time.“The boys tried really hard and there was some fantastic racing. Some of the rides from Jason and Danny were exceptional, and great to watch, but overall it was a bit of a mirror of our season as a whole.”Meanwhile Lakeside capped off an excellent two days with a vital 60-32 win over King’s Lynn at the Arena-Essex Raceway. Just 24 hours after keeping their Elite League play-off hopes alive with a consolation point at the Adrian Flux Arena, the Hammers avoided any slip-ups with a comprehensive home win.Edward Kennett roared to a faultless, four-ride paid maximum for the hosts whilst Andreas Jonsson, Lewis Bridger, Lewis Kerr and Ben Morley also suffered just one defeat apiece. Niels-Kristian Iversen scored 12+2 for the Stars.Lakeside coach Kelvin Tatum said: “King’s Lynn were depleted, and they were second best this evening but we had a job to do and we went about it very professionally.“It was a good performance, and we’ve managed to put the pressure back on Swindon over the last two days.“It’s all looking very tight and Swindon still have a chance to get a point at Belle Vue. We just have to hope that the Aces win by seven points or more and we’ll be all set up for a showdown with Swindon here at Lakeside in a fortnight’s time.”King’s Lynn boss Rob Lyon said: “The bottom line is that the boys gave it their best, they tried hard but ultimately we weren’t good enough.“Troy (Batchelor) was much better and chipped in with a good score. Him and Niels basically held the team together and both rode very well, but we were beaten by a Lakeside team who were just much better than us.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
EDINBURGH returned to the top three of the Premier League with six points out of six from their Friday double-header at Armadale.The Monarchs demolished Redcar 62-28 before getting the better of Plymouth 39-30 in a meeting cut short four races early due to the curfew.The results came despite the loss of both home reserves in the first match, with guest Rob Shuttleworth suffering a shoulder injury in Heat 2 against the Bears.Max Clegg took seven rides and recorded his highest-ever Premier League score of 14+1, but his night ended when he was accidentally brought down by team-mate Mark Riss in Heat 14.Edinburgh boss Ales Harkess said: “It was a long night but we got the two wins we wanted, although at the cost of losing Max Clegg and Rob Shuttleworth who we hope won’t be too badly injured. “All of our riders did well and we had a great guest in Ludvig Lindgren, a double maximum!”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
RYE House host Scunthorpe in a Premier League basement battle at Hoddesdon on Saturday.The Scorpions are currently two points behind the hosts with the same number of fixtures raced, with the two sides also due to meet in Lincolnshire on Friday.The visitors have called up Birmingham’s Jack Smith to guest for injured reserve Josh Bailey, who is ruled out for the remainder of the season with a broken collarbone.Rockets boss Peter Schroeck said: “It’s a real must-win match to push us up the League table. “We need to brush ourselves off after our result at Sheffield and start again, but after the all-out display we produced in the Cup on Monday, we’re confident we can get the right result.”Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “The place where no-one wants to finish is last place in the league. It was looking a bit bleak a couple of weeks ago, when we were seven points adrift. But the wins over Workington and Newcastle have allowed us to close right in on Rye House, Redcar and Plymouth above us.“Four of our remaining six meetings are against those teams, and that gives us a real chance to climb the table before the end of the season, especially as we now seem to be riding better than at any point in the year.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
STOKE boss Malcolm Vasey knows his side face a stern test when second-placed Kent visit Loomer Road in the Travel Plus National League on Saturday.Vasey is able to call upon a full-strength line-up as the Potters look to improve on their current eleventh place in the table.The visitors operate rider replacement for David Mason, with Nathan Stoneman guesting for Jack Thomas.Vasey said: “Kent will be a difficult proposition and have been going well this season, and they are not second in the league table for nothing. “They have a solid guest in Nathan Stoneman who top scored for the Isle of Wight at Birmingham on Wednesday night. Wwe will be at full strength ourselves for the meeting and we will be doing our level best to get back to winning ways.”Meanwhile third-placed Eastbourne host Coventry at Arlington with the Eagles looking to complete a positive week on a high.The Storm operate rider replacement for the injured Dan Greenwood, with Jamie Halder moving up into the top five.Eastbourne boss Connor Dugard said: “Birmingham are confirmed in the play-offs, Kent are looking good in second place and we must make sure we don’t fall from our third place into the clutches of the chasing pack.“We should be able to see off Coventry, which will take us one step closer to our aim. Once the play-offs start, all four teams are on a level playing field.”Coventry boss Laurence Rogers said: “Hopefully the move to reserve will enable Conor (Dwyer) to get some confidence back, and he’s capable of scoring plenty of points in the home matches we’ve got coming up.“I don’t think moving up to No.2 will phase Jamie at all, he’s come back well from injury and he was superb at Rye House a couple of weeks ago.”
(FIXTURES)
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3:PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Scunthorpe 7pm, Workington v Somerset OFFTRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Coventry 7.30, Stoke v Kent OFF
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 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Somerset 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
