(SPEEDWAY 1)

POOLE were convincing winners of their top-four SGB Premiership clash with Rye House at Wimborne Road on Wednesday.
The Pirates moved up to second place with a 56-33 victory in an entertaining meeting, from which they provided twelve of the fifteen race wins.
There were three successes apiece for Brady Kurtz (12), Jack Holder (11) and Hans Andersen (10) whilst Chris Harris led the Rockets’ resistance with 12+1.
But the visitors suffered an early blow when Ellis Perks tangled with James Shanes in Heat 2 and was withdrawn with possible broken ribs.
Holder said: “I think I have now found the best set-ups for around here and I am
happy with how it went tonight. I dropped off a bit towards the end but
it is difficult to get by riders like Chris Harris.”
Rye House boss Peter Schroeck said: “We were effectively wounded before we even started, although we had our moments.
“Bomber was tremendous, and Eddie (Kennett) deserved more than he got for his efforts from the back. Scott (Nicholls), though, accepted that he had chosen the wrong engine for tonight. Those things happen
“The racing was awesome, and not really captured in the score-line, but we just couldn’t get off the starts and left ourselves too much to do after the first bend.”
Meanwhile King’s Lynn staged a remarkable comeback to pull off a 48-42 win over Leicester at the Adrian Flux Arena.
The visitors led by eight points with five heats to go, but the Stars turned things around with a run of three 5-1s in the next four races.
Robert Lambert led the way for the home side with 13+1 from five rides, whilst Chris Holder returned to form on 10+2, with a solid Lions scorechart headed by Danny King on 9+1 as the visitors went away with a league point.
Holder said: “We were happy to get the win in the end. Being eight points down at the interval was a bit of a shock but we got it together.
“The outside gate was pretty unbeatable towards the end of the night and we had the right guys off that at the right times to drag it back.”
King said: “It is great to come to places like this and get a point but it almost feels like a win lost rather than a point gained.
“We have been leading and by good amounts, eight or ten points, in away meetings where people might not have expected much but late on, we just seem to lose it and we need to look at that.
“Maybe we need to tweak the riding order because we need to be stronger once we get into these good positions.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

BELLE Vue Colts hit the 60-point mark for the second successive home fixture – and in the process moved clear at the top of the Travel Plus National League.
The home side avenged their defeat at Lakeside last Friday with a 60-30 success over the Hammers at the National Speedway Stadium.
Teenage ace Dan Bewley was again in strong form as he collected 14 with reserve Kyle Bickey adding 11+2 and skipper Lee Payne 10, whilst Zach Wajtknecht dominated the visitors’ scoring with 14 from six rides.
Belle Vue co-boss Steve Williams said: “When we first started the season, I’ll be honest, I thought the guys towards the lower end of the team might take a little bit of time to settle in but they’ve really hit the ground running.
“All of our riders are so dialled into the circuit here at the National Speedway Stadium it’s just unbelievable really and to have put in another big result in as many meetings here is fantastic.”
Lakeside boss Kelvin Tatum said: “It was always going to be a tough meeting, and so it proved unfortunately. They're a strong side who are all dialled in around there, and they just had too much for us in the end.
“They were a better team, although we never threw in the towel and we kept battling until the end which was encouraging.”
Reigning champions Birmingham are up to second thanks to a 56-34 win over King’s Lynn – with new signing Liam Carr making a dream debut.
Carr reeled off five wins for a 15-point maximum on his first appearance since replacing long-term injury victim Danyon Hume.
Jack Parkinson-Blackburn added 11 with skipper Darryl Ritchings on 10+4, dropping their only points to Young Stars guest Luke Priest who scored 10.
Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “We had a few mechanical mishaps early on, but credit to King's Lynn - they gave it a good go in the early stages of the meeting.
“While I applaud the whole team for sticking at it and coming good in the end, I of course have to give a special mention to Liam Carr. All eyes were on him on his debut and what a first impression to make.
“He didn't just win his five rides, he won very comfortably and recorded some very fast times in the process.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

SWINDON have moved for Austrian star Dany Gappmaier in a team change for the club’s SGB Premiership line-up.
Gappmaier, who rides for Berwick in the Championship, joins the Robins in place of Emil Grondal who has been released.
Boss Alun Rossiter said: “We are sorry to see Emil leave and we thank him for his efforts this season and wish him well for the future.
“I just felt he didn’t quite do enough, I needed him to dominate Heat 2 and that didn’t happen for us, but he’s a decent rider and I hope he gets fixed up elsewhere.
“It’s a warm welcome to Dany, I’ve heard good reports about him, he’s a determined rider who the fans will take to I’m sure.
“We’ve got to go to some big tracks in the coming weeks and I’m hoping Dany can help us with that by picking up some useful points lower down the order.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

IPSWICH are looking to close in on the SGB Championship leaders in their home clash with Scunthorpe tonight (Thursday).
The Witches would move level on points with Edinburgh with a victory, in a meeting which is set to see new signing Nathan Greaves make his first appearance at reserve.
The Scorpions, meanwhile, operate rider replacement for Carl Wilkinson who is ruled out after his crash in the British semi-final last week – although he is hoping to return on Sunday.
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We have got to carry on our winning run but it is going to be a really tough one again.
“Scunthorpe have a really good team around our place and we will need to be right on our game to take all three points.
“It will be the first time this season we have started with a full one-to-seven of full-time Witches riders. That will be nice despite it not being the side we planned at the start of the year.”
Meanwhile fourth-placed Redcar travel to Sheffield, who have matches in hand on all of the teams currently above them.
Home chief Damien Bates expects a tough encounter as recent Tigers heat-leader Jason Garrity leads the Bears, who also include another Owlerton track specialist in Richard Hall.
Bates said: “It could be a banana skin but I’m sure the boys will be up for it and they’ll need to be on top of their game.
“Don’t for a minute think we’re getting over-confident because we know how tough the meeting will be.
“The Bears are looking a much stronger side this year and Jason and Richard in particular will be desperate to do well and prove a point on their former track. These are the types of meetings that will test our mettle as silverware contenders.”

(SPEEDWAY 5)

THE Isle of Wight host Lakeside in their opening Travel Plus National League fixture of the campaign tonight (Thursday).
The Warriors have been rocked by the departure of Nathan Greaves, who has joined Championship club Ipswich, but have called on new Birmingham signing Liam Carr to guest.
The home side operate rider replacement for Tyler Govier, who has a shoulder injury, whilst Alex Spooner comes in at reserve for Rik Mullins who is taking time out. The Hammers will be at full-strength as David Mason returns after missing the trip to Belle Vue on Wednesday.
Lakeside boss Kelvin Tatum said: “In some ways it's ideal to have another meeting straight away after the tough night at Belle Vue.
“We've got a chance to put that one behind us and get back on track at the Isle of Wight, and I certainly think we're capable of doing that.
“We'll be looking to come back with something and put in a good performance, so hopefully it turns out to be an improved evening.”
Meanwhile Swindon Sprockets race at home for the first time as they face Plymouth in the National Trophy.
Swindon have drafted in showman Danny Ayres and Belle Vue racer Rob Shuttleworth to replace Zach Wajtknecht and David Mason, whose NL fixture for Lakeside takes priority.
Boss Lee Kilby said: “It was a terrific team display last week (at the IOW). All the riders did their job and it was a great way to start the competition.
“It’s great to have our second fixture so close after this win. It will enable us to build up some momentum and as we’ve had no Robins fixture for a while, the meeting will hopefully capture the imagination of the Swindon supporters.
“In Steve Boxall and Lee Smart, the Plymouth team have riders who are very capable of racing the Abbey so we know it will be a tough, close contest for us.”
Plymouth boss Laurence Rogers said: “All credit to Lee Kilby and his use of the available riders. He has put together a very solid side and I know our boys face a hard encounter.
“We both want to finish top of the table and reach the Final so our two clashes are highly important to us. We need to be firing on all cylinders for sure.”

(FIXTURES)

THURSDAY MAY 11:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Ipswich v Scunthorpe 7.30, Sheffield v Redcar 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Lakeside 7pm
NATIONAL TROPHY: Swindon v Plymouth 7.30

FRIDAY MAY 12:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Plymouth v Birmingham 7.15

SATURDAY MAY 13:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Redcar 7pm, Peterborough v Newcastle 7pm, Workington v Berwick 7pm
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Stoke 7.30

SUNDAY MAY 14:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Newcastle v Edinburgh 6.30, Scunthorpe v Sheffield 5.30
NATIONAL TROPHY: Mildenhall v Kent 3pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 3: Rye House 2pm

Results 

Thursday May 11, 2017

Wednesday May 10, 2017

SGB PREMIERSHIP
Poole 56 (Brady Kurtz 12)
Rye House 33 (Chris Harris 12+1)
SGB Premiership points: Poole 3 Rye House 0

King’s Lynn 48 (Robert Lambert 13+1)
Leicester 42 (Danny King 9+1)
SGB Premiership points: King’s Lynn 3 Leicester 1

TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE
Belle Vue 60 (Dan Bewley 14)
Lakeside 30 (Zach Wajtknecht 14)
National League points: Belle Vue 3 Lakeside 0

Birmingham 56 (Liam Carr 15)
King’s Lynn 34 (Luke Priest 10)
National League points: Birmingham 3 King’s Lynn 0