(SPEEDWAY 1)
GLASGOW inflicted a first SGB Championship defeat of the season on local rivals Edinburgh at Ashfield on Saturday.
The Tigers moved level on 16 league points with the Monarchs after a 57-34 victory with two riders scoring paid maximums.
Richie Worrall and youngster Dan Bewley both collected 13+2 from five rides, Bewley taking an extra outing after Nike Lunna had been withdrawn with a hand injury.
Richard Lawson scored 14, whilst reserve Mark Riss dominated the visitors’ scoring with 14+2 from seven rides.
Bewley said: “It's one of the best meetings I've ever done. It's a bit different because I was winning races and it felt like I deserved to win them.
“I'm really happy with how tonight has gone and it's really pleasing to get everything going right here for a change. This is my first maximum in this league and hopefully I can get another soon.
“Over the last couple of weeks I was starting to ride better but my starts seemed to be getting worse - but I've pulled it all together tonight.”
Edinburgh boss Alex Harkess said: “We had a reasonable start but the wheels came off with the crash with Josh (Pickering) and Sam (Masters).
“We were not competitive out of the starts and we only had Mark who seemed capable of winning a race and on the night we just weren’t competitive despite the boys putting their heart into it we could not get going at all.”
Meanwhile Ipswich moved up to third place with a commanding 50-40 win at bottom club Berwick.
Australian duo Rory Schlein (15) and Cameron Heeps (13+1) were both in fine form for the Witches, who collected all four points from the meeting.
Lewis Bridger top-scored for the Bandits with 12+1, but they are left with no points from their first seven matches.
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “I’m really proud and happy with the performance tonight. We battled really hard and the boys showed their class in tough conditions.
“Four points away from home is just what we needed after a strong start at home and it boosts our tally up and we will go into Thursday with confidence.
“Every rider contributed and beat opposition riders, and that is a massive bonus and needed when you are running R/R. Jack Parkinson-Blackburn came in and did a great job and his ride in heat 14 was superb, we thank him for his efforts.”
Berwick boss Gary Havelock said: “I'm really not sure about tonight. There were positives to take with Lewis on his GM bikes now looking brilliant, he was sensational and got the points he deserved.
“Ipswich who took the win they deserved but Cameron Heeps really shocked us with his 13 points. He only got two last time! So that and Dany's (Gappmaier) enforced absence didn't help.
“When your reserve gets paid for 17 the week before and then gets taken away you've got trouble, and when you're down life just kicks sand in your face.”
Workington were held to a 45-45 draw by Redcar in a tight contest at Derwent Park.
Home No.1 Craig Cook won Heat 15, but the race was shared as visiting duo Jason Garrity and Charles Wright ensured the Bears would take two league points from the meeting.
Comets boss Tony Jackson said: “For the second home meeting in a row we are left wishing that we had picked up just one more point than we did to give us the result that we wanted.
“While we are obviously disappointed to drop points it was a terrific speedway meeting and was every bit as tough as we expected beforehand so fair play to Redcar. But, yet again the odd little mistake and a bit of bad luck proved costly for us in the end.
“We need everyone to be firing on the same night and that’s not quite happening yet and then we can overcome the odd thing going wrong and still get the result we wanted. Right now we feel quite deflated to have dropped some home points but there’s still a long way to go in the season yet!”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
EASTBOURNE made a good start to their home Travel Plus National League campaign with a 51-36 win over Cradley.
The Eagles started with two 5-1 maximums and although the Heathens remained in contention, a further hat-trick of 5-1s later in the meeting secured the result.
Teenage reserve Tom Brennan piled up 15+1 for the home side, who lost Kelsey Dugard with a possible broken thumb and further scaphoid damage in a Heat 8 crash – whilst Danny Ayres raced to a 15-point maximum for the visitors.
Eagles boss Connor Dugard said: “I thought we would win by 12 and we won by 15, which was close to my prediction. I think we are all starting to gel now, which helps a lot.
“We bounced back and I hope we have given the fans something back after that slaughtering at Midlenhall. I think it shows how open the league is this year because Mildenhall were completely ruined at Belle Vue on Friday night.”
Cradley boss Will Pottinger said: “Obviously we can’t fault Danny Ayres, who was absolutely superb tonight, but it’s frustrating not to get anything.
“On another day we could have left Eastbourne with a result, but those three 5-1s towards the end killed us. We just had too many last places in the end, and there were a lot of bike problems that we’ll need to sort out.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
NEWCASTLE promoter George English expects a fierce fight for British Final qualifying places at Brough Park tonight (Sunday).
The Diamonds host the first semi-final with eight places available for Belle Vue in June, and the line-up includes reigning champion Danny King.
Four of the home club’s regulars – Robert Lambert, Steve Worrall, Lewis Rose and Ashley Morris – will also be looking to secure qualification for the National Speedway Stadium showpiece.
English said: “When you look at the fact that Lewis is the 11th qualified rider for this meeting and only the top eight go through, then you can see just what a titanic battle it is going to be.
“Picking the eight that will go through will not be easy, indeed Steve was looking at the provisional field and he thought it was going to be a very tough night indeed.”
Worrall added: “It’s great to see Newcastle hosting such an important event and hopefully with my prior knowledge of the track I can have myself a successful meeting.
“It would mean a lot to me to have another shot at the British title. I came fourth last year so I’d love to go one better, but before I make any plans for the Final my focus is on qualifying on Sunday.”
Normal Newcastle admission and programme prices apply for the meeting, which starts at 6.30pm.
LINE-UP: 1. Jason Garrity (Redcar), 2. Joe Jacobs (Unattached), 3. Rory Schlein (Wolverhampton/Ipswich), 4. Ashley Morris (Newcastle), 5. James Sarjeant (Ipswich), 6. Robert Lambert (King’s Lynn/Newcastle), 7. Steve Worrall (Belle Vue/Newcastle), 8. Danny King (Leicester/Ipswich), 9. Richard Lawson (Glasgow), 10. Ben Barker (Redcar), 11. Lewis Rose (King’s Lynn/Newcastle), 12. Kyle Newman (Ipswich), 13. Richie Worrall (Glasgow), 14. Steve Boxall (Plymouth), 15. Max Clegg (Edinburgh), 16. Paul Starke (Somerset/Peterborough).
(SPEEDWAY 4)
SCUNTHORPE hand a debut to new signing Stefan Nielsen in their SGB Championship clash with Berwick today (Sunday).
The Scorpions have brought their start time forward to 3pm to follow on from the midday football match for Scunthorpe Utd, and a 40-race programme also features the British Youth Championship 125cc/150cc class.
Nielsen’s first appearance is added to returns from injury for Josh Auty, Lewis Kerr and Josh Bailey as the home side expect to line up at full strength.
Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “The signing of Stefan Nielsen adds considerable strength to our team. I don’t really see him as a reserve, although that’s where he will start off racing for us, and while he is down there, I would argue that he is the strongest reserve in the league.
“I’m very much hoping that the fixture with Berwick will mark the turning point of the season for us.
“Like us, Berwick have not enjoyed the best of starts to the season. But we won’t be under-estimating them; we may have won at their place last week (48-42), but they’ve now got three new riders, including an old friend of ours, Nick Morris. It gives the Bandits a very potent spearhead, with Nick alongside Lewis Bridger, and there’s almost a guarantee of some thrilling action.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
BUXTON stage their opening meeting of the season today (Sunday) with a KO Cup clash against near neighbours Stoke.
Hitmen boss Jason Pipe is keen to make a good start to the campaign and to end a barren personal record in the competition at various levels.
Pipe said: “Our riders are really up for this Cup tie and it's hoped we can take some sort of lead to Stoke to defend in the second leg in early June.
“I'm not going to say what sort of lead I'd like to see us achieve, but in my own head I know what I'll be happy with! I won't be putting that pressure on my riders though. “In the past, I've not really had much success with the KOC at this level of racing. Even going back to my Redcar days with the Cleveland Bays and the Redcar Cubs, I've never progressed beyond the first round. It would be a great feeling to progress past Stoke and be the first to earn the bragging rights this season.”
Stoke boss Malcolm Vasey said: “We will need to make the gate up at Hi-Edge which is a tight little circuit and it can sometimes be difficult to pass on.
“We will give them the respect any team would get on their home track and they have some good riders in Matt Williamson and Ellis Perks who have proven they can ride Buxton well. We have a couple of ex-Hitmen riders in our side and we are looking to get a result there on Sunday.”
(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY APRIL 30:
BRITISH SEMI-FINAL: Newcastle 6.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Scunthorpe v Berwick 3pm
NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Buxton v Stoke 3pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 2 (150cc/125cc): Scunthorpe (follows SGBC fixture)
MONDAY MAY 1:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v Somerset 12pm, Poole v Swindon 6pm, Rye House v Leicester 2pm, Wolverhampton v King’s Lynn 6pm
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Stoke 3pm, Cradley v Lakeside (follows Wolves meeting), Kent v Buxton 3pm
WEDNESDAY MAY 3:
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Eastbourne 7.30
Results April 29, 2017
FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP Round 1
Slovenian Grand Prix, Krsko
1 Martin Vaculik (Slo) 16
2 Fredrik Lindgren (Swe) 16
3 Patryk Dudek (Pol) 13
4 Jason Doyle (Aus) 12
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP
Berwick 40 – Lewis Bridger 12+1
Ipswich 50 – Rory Schlein 15
Championship points: Berwick 0 Ipswich 4
Glasgow 57 – Richard Lawson 14
Edinburgh 34 – Mark Riss 14+2
Championship points: Glasgow 3 Edinburgh 0
Workington 45 – Craig Cook 14
Redcar 45 – Jason Garrity 12
Championship points: Workington 1 Redcar 2
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE
Eastbourne 51 – Tom Brennan 15+1
Cradley 36 – Danny Ayres 15
National League points: Eastbourne 3 Cradley 0
