(SPEEDWAY 1)
BELLE VUE kept up their stunning away run with a fourth successive victory on the road at Poole on Monday.
Aces skipper Craig Cook secured the visitors’ 47-43 success in a re-run Heat 15 to move his side five points clear at the top of the SGB Premiership table.
Cook’s team-mate Max Fricke had been disqualified in the first staging of the race to increase the Pirates’ hopes of snatching a draw, but the Great Britain captain got the better of Australian young guns Brady Kurtz and Jack Holder.
Belle Vue had earlier raced into an eight-point lead only to be pegged back by consecutive Poole 5-1s in Heats 10 and 11 – but Fricke and Dan Bewley responded in the next for the Aces.
Cook scored 14, dropping just one point from five rides, whilst Holder (12+2) and Kurtz (10+2) both collected double figures for the Pirates, whose captain Hans Andersen visited hospital after the meeting for checks on a neck injury sustained in a Heat 4 crash.
Belle Vue boss Mark Lemon said: “The track was a little bit bumpy in places, but when you’ve raced motorbikes for as long as these guys have you learn to adapt to different conditions and focus on riding your bike accordingly.
“From early in the meeting, I was pretty confident the boys would deliver. We've travelled really well lately and I think the Pirates were aware of that, but for us we just went about our business in usual fashion.
“We’re in a fantastic position with the World Cup break imminent. We've still got a lot of work to do yet. We know how well other clubs travel to our place so we’re not about to back off the throttle.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
WOLVERHAMPTON are safely through to the Knockout Cup semi-finals despite a spirited second leg show from King’s Lynn at Monmore.
The Stars faced a mountainous task as they trailed by 18-points from their home leg, but they did race into a 27-21 lead on the night after eight races in a much-improved performance compared to their previous visit.
The home side turned the tables in the second half of the meeting, with two 4-2s and two 5-1s between Heats 12 and 13 turning that deficit into a six-point lead, which they maintained for a 48-42 win (102-78 on aggregate).
Sam Masters scored 13 from five rides for Wolves with Fredrik Lindgren recovering from a rare Heat 1 blank to collect 9+2.
Stand-in captain Troy Batchelor led the way for the Stars with 13, who were without Robert Lambert due to a broken wrist – although he has vowed to return as soon as possible. Reserve Lewis Rose added 9+1.
Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “You could see that with King’s Lynn having strengthened up since the first leg they’re a totally different proposition, and it was a good match in the end.
“One or two of our riders took a bit of time to get going tonight, but in the end as has so often been the case here at Monmore we managed to turn the heat up after the interval and King’s Lynn couldn’t respond.
“I’m obviously pleased we managed to preserve our unbeaten home record, and we need to keep that going now,”
King’s Lynn manger Dale Allitt said: “It’s not nice to lose. It was always going to be hard, especially without Robert, but the boys really rallied around tonight.
“We’ve taken a lot of criticism after the home defeat in the first leg, and rightly so, but had tonight been a league meeting we’d have come away with a point.
“We were right in it all night, so it bodes well moving forward and I’m proud of the effort shown by the boys.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
THE USA Dream Team made it two wins in two nights with an impressive showing at Kent on Monday.
The tourists collected 40 of a possible 48 points at Central Park, with Luke Becker (11), Dillon Ruml (11) and Gino Manzares (10) all in double figures in the Four Team Tournament.
The hosts were 14 points adrift on 26, Jack Thomas winning his first three rides on his way to a 10-point score, whilst Lakeside and Kent Kestrels trailed on 15 and 14 points respectively.
(SPEEDWAY 4)
JOSH Bailey is set to resume his team place with Scunthorpe in Sunday’s SGB Championship clash with Redcar.
Bailey elected to take time out of the sport at the end of May having struggled to regain full fitness following a collarbone injury last year, but he is now ready to return.
Scorpions promoter Rob Godfrey said: “I’m delighted that Josh is coming back. We’ve really missed him over the last month. A suitable replacement rider simply wasn’t there to bring in during his absence, while he’s been almost impossible to replace with guest riders.
“Before Josh decided he needed time out to let his collarbone fully recover, he was doing the job in Heat 2 of our home meetings and scoring some valuable points, and learning all the time on the away tracks.
“But, at the same time, you could see that Josh was struggling with his shoulder and that it was affecting him and hampering his progress. He tells me the break of a few weeks has done its job, and he’s now got full movement in his arm.”
(FIXTURES)
TUESDAY JUNE 27:
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Cradley OFF
WEDNESDAY JUNE 28:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v King’s Lynn 7.30
NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Birmingham v Plymouth 7.30
THURSDAY JUNE 29:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Swindon v Wolverhampton 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield v Redcar 7.30
NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Plymouth v Birmingham 7.15
Results Monday June 26, 2017
SGB PREMIERSHIP
Poole 43 (Jack Holder 12+2)
Belle Vue 47 (Craig Cook 14)
SGB Premiership points: Poole 0 Belle Vue 3
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg
Wolverhampton 48 (Sam Masters 13)
King’s Lynn 42 (Troy Batchelor 13)
Wolverhampton win 102-78 on aggregate
FOUR TEAM TOURNAMENT
USA Dream Team 40 (Luke Becker 11/Dillon Ruml 11)
Kent Kings 26 (Jack Thomas 10)
Lakeside 15 (Ben Morley 6)
Kent Kestrels 14 (Bradley Andrews 5/William O’Keefe 5)
