Our hearts go out to everyone affected by last night's tragic events in Manchester. All of us in British Speedway are saddened and shocked.
(SPEEDWAY 1)
WOLVERHAMPTON secured their seventh successive SGB Premiership victory against Swindon on Monday – although a battling Robins effort saw them leave with a point.
Alun Rossiter’s side fought back from a 14-point deficit with five heats to go, eventually going down 49-43 largely thanks to 5-1s in Heats 13 and 15 from in-form Australian duo Jason Doyle and Nick Morris.
The first of those maximums saw the end of home skipper Fredrik Lindgren’s long unbeaten home record, which stretched to 24 races. The Swede also tweaked his knee whilst chasing his opponents and missed Heat 15.
Lindgren and Sam Masters both won their first three rides for the hosts with Rory Schlein top-scoring on 10+1, whilst Doyle (15) and Morris (11+2) dominated the Robins’ card as they again scored on the road.
Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “I certainly don't begrudge Swindon the point that they got and it certainly wasn't a surprise to me.
“Their results have been very consistent on the road and they've been very competitive wherever they've been.
“I personally felt it was refreshing to meet an opposition who gave us a match, which hasn't been the case for our last three home meetings.
"Whether you win 46-44 or whether you score 50 plus, you can only get three league points for a home win. But it was actually nice in some ways to be run a little bit closer.
“All that matters though is that we've stretched our lead at the top of the league again and we've kept the ball rolling with another win to our streak.”
Morris said: “Wolverhampton are probably the best team in the league at the moment. Not many teams will come here and salvage anything.
“We looked down and out in the middle of the meeting but managed to pull it back.
“The team has been doing well away from home wherever we have been. Everyone expected us to get beaten by a fair bit but we came here with an open mind and managed to get something.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
STOKE boss Malcom Vasey couldn’t hide his disappointment to miss out on at least a point at Kent on Monday.
The Kings made it three successive home wins in the Travel Plus National League, but in contrast to their early encounters where they scored 60+, they were held to a 45-38 victory over the Potters.
The meeting was curtailed one race early due to the curfew, with Stoke No.1 Mitchell Davey on a 12-point maximum, whilst reserve David Wallinger supported well on 9+1.
Jack Thomas top-scored for the Kings with 9+2 whilst Luke Clifton was ruled out with suspected broken ribs and collarbone in a Heat 8 incident.
Vasey said: “I am devastated that we did not get at least a point from this meeting tonight, a match we should have won and deserved to win.
“No disrespect to Kent, it was not their fault - we were just unlucky, and we wasted a few opportunities where we should have got an extra point or two and didn’t.
“But the team tried so hard and we are all really disappointed that we have not got anything from the meeting. We felt having fallen behind we could engineer ourselves back into a winning position, and things just did not go our way in the end.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
BUXTON have announced the signing of reigning National League Riders’ Champion Max Clegg as part of a double move at Hi-Edge.
The Peak District club had been under-strength in the early weeks of the season with planned signing Ellis Perks not competing in the third tier, but Clegg now joins along with Ben Basford, with Lee Dicken also making way in the new team declaration.
Manager Jason Pipe said: “Once it was established that Max could come back into the NL we began talks, did a deal in no time at all and I'm so looking forward to welcoming him into our side from Wednesday, when we travel to Birmingham.
“This will certainly now make us more competitive and hopefully stop those big, heavy defeats we've been on the receiving end of.
“By bringing Max into the side we also needed to bring in a three-pointer or someone up to a 4.08 average. I spoke to Ben about coming in and helping us out and he will initially do four meetings, starting at Birmingham, and we will review the situation after that.”
(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY MAY 24:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: King’s Lynn v Rye House 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Buxton 7.30
THURSDAY MAY 25:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Redcar v Scunthorpe 7.30, Sheffield v Glasgow 7.30
NATIONAL TROPHY: Swindon v Isle of Wight 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 26:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Peterborough 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Stoke 7.30
NATIONAL TROPHY: Plymouth v Swindon 7.15
Results Monday May 22, 2017;
SGB PREMIERSHIP
Wolverhampton 49 (Rory Schlein 10+1)
Swindon 43 (Jason Doyle 15)
Premiership points: Wolverhampton 3 Swindon 1
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE
Kent 45 (Jack Thomas 9+2)
Stoke 38 (Mitchell Davey 12)
Abandoned after fourteen heats due to curfew – Result STANDS
National League points: Kent 3 Stoke 0
