(SPEEDWAY 1)

ZACH Wajtknecht was crowned British Under-19 Champion with a flawless 15-point maximum at Plymouth on Thursday.
The Swindon and Lakeside star had missed the 2016 event due to injury but underlined his current run of form with an unbeaten performance at the St Boniface Arena.
The remaining rostrum places were decided by a run-off after three riders finished level on 13 points.
Second spot overall was taken by Dan Bewley of Belle Vue and Glasgow, with his Colts team-mate Kyle Bickley in third, just ahead of Birmingham captain Jack Parkinson-Blackburn.

(SPEEDWAY 2)

IPSWICH had three unbeaten riders in their 60-32 demolition of Scunthorpe at Foxhall on Thursday.
Skipper Danny King (14+1), Cameron Heeps (13+2) and Rory Schlein (11+1) all scored paid maximums in a dominant home performance which keeps the Witches in touch with table-toppers Edinburgh.
The Scorpions’ sole race win came courtesy of reserve Josh Bailey in Heat 2, with fit-again Tero Aarnio top-scoring with 10.
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “I’m happy to pick up the three points and it was a convincing performance. We got into them early and built up a nice lead and three maximums from the three riders in heat leader positions showed our dominance.
“Our home form has been near-on perfect so far this season so we need to tie up some points away from home to keep us in the play-off positions.”
Scorpions boss Dave Peet said: “Three of our riders had a decent night - Tero, Josh Auty and Josh Bailey.
“But otherwise the rest of the team were inconsistent and struggling with machinery problems. They need to sort those out, because otherwise they are not scoring many, and when you’re not scoring, you’re not earning.
“We’ve also got a concern over Michael (Palm Toft). The coccyx injury looked a painful one; he had to pull out of the meeting because he couldn’t sit on the bike.”
Meanwhile Peterborough continued their push towards the play-off spots with a vital 52-40 win at fourth-placed Redcar.
The Panthers made a flying start at the Media Prima Arena to lead 21-9 after five races, despite being without skipper Ulrich Ostergaard due to illness.
The home side’s problems increased when Charles Wright and Danny Ayres were both withdrawn with concussion and an arm injury respectively after a Heat 7 crash.
Stand-in skipper Paul Starke piled up 14 points for the Panthers with Jack Holder on 11 and guest Richie Worrall 10+3, whilst Jonas B Andersen totalled 12+3 for the Bears.
Peterborough boss Carl Johnson said: “We've been too slow to get going in away meetings this season, but last night was completely the opposite.
“We gated superbly, we were hard in the first corner when we had to be, and we took control of the meeting with four advantages in the first five races.
“We never looked like letting the lead slip and I feel sure we would have won even more convincingly had Ulrich been part of the team. It was a terrific team performance that shows we are serious contenders for the play-offs.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

EDINBURGH have booked former favourites Rory Schlein and Justin Sedgmen to stand in for their World Cup riders in tonight’s (Friday) clash with Berwick at Armadale.
The Championship leaders are without Sam Masters and Ricky Wells who are racing for Australia and the USA respectively, with Schlein and Sedgmen – both former title winners with the Monarchs – coming in as guests.
Bottom club Berwick bring in Aaron Summers to guest for Nick Morris, who is currently on the injury list, whilst Rob Shuttleworth deputises for Lee Payne at reserve.
Edinburgh boss Alex Harkess said: “We are without Ricky and Sam this week and that will make things tricky; however, our thanks go to Rory and Justin for stepping in.
“We are now focusing on the play-offs and at the moment we are well placed but we must win our home matches and I will be looking for that to continue this week.”
Meanwhile Scunthorpe are looking to bounce back from a heavy defeat at Ipswich on Thursday when they host Newcastle at the Eddie Wright Raceway.
The visitors bring in Richie Worrall and Kyle Howarth to guest for their World Cup duo Robert Lambert and Steve Worrall as they look to gain ground on the play-off chasers with matches in hand over several clubs.
Scorpions boss Dave Peet said: “We need to get some confidence back in the camp, and the way we can do that is by beating Newcastle at the Eddie Wright Raceway tonight.
“We’ve got to come out firing on all cylinders, and get the right result. One good meeting and the confidence soon floods back – and that’s what we need right now.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

SOMERSET take a break from Premiership action during World Cup week with a Rebels Select side hosting the Isle of Wight at the Oaktree Arena tonight (Friday).
British U19 Champion Zach Wajtknecht, who rode for the club in the Premier League last season, lines up at No.1 for the home side, and they also include former mascot Henry Atkins.
The Isle of Wight intend to bring their full line-up bolstered by the inclusion of Ben Morley as a guest, albeit with a question mark over the fitness of Ben Wilson after a crash at Kent on Monday.
Somerset boss Garry May said: “With the main team unable to ride due to it being World Cup week, we have taken the opportunity to put on something a bit different for the fans.
“We ran a similar type of meeting to this last season, which was well received by those who attended it, and I am sure Friday night’s encounter will be another enjoyable evening of speedway, especially with some of the bright new talent coming through the ranks taking part.”

(SPEEDWAY 5)

GREAT Britain left for Poland yesterday to prepare for the World Cup Final – with boss Alun Rossiter urging a continuation of their positive mindset.
Rossiter’s side finished nine points clear of Australia in Event 1 at King’s Lynn last weekend and now face a huge test in Leszno against the hosts, Sweden and the winners of tomorrow’s Race-Off.
That meeting features Australia, Russia, Latvia and the USA with former champions Denmark having been dumped out of the tournament on Tuesday.
Rossiter said: “We all know that racing in Poland is going to be a totally different ball game compared to King’s Lynn last weekend. But we’re always having to justify ourselves, which I find quite sad.
“Last year at Belle Vue we were down for stone-last, and whilst Tai Woffinden got the bulk of the points, with four races to go we were only two points behind the Poles.
“This year, everyone had the Australians down to win at King’s Lynn, and look what a performance our boys came up with.
“I accept that whatever we do, we’re never going to please everybody, and everybody has an opinion.
“But I’m glad that our boys are keeping away from social media and just getting on with the job, because if we’d listened to the negativity prior to that meeting it could have had an adverse effect.”

(SPEEDWAY 6)

BIRMINGHAM claimed West Midlands derby honours with a crushing 57-31 win over Cradley at Perry Barr.
The result moved the defending National League champions above their rivals and into the play-off places, with the Heathens never recovering from a nightmare start in which they went 14-4 down.
And the final three heats saw Birmingham pile on the misery with a 5-0 and two 5-1s as both of the Cradley top two, Tom Perry and Danny Ayres, hit trouble.
Liam Carr top-scored for the hosts with 13+1 whilst Jack Parkinson-Blackburn added 12+2 and reserve Taylor Hampshire chipped in with 12+1. Perry won his first three rides for the visitors to finish with 10.
Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “A lot rides on this meeting, we all know it does,” said Drury. “I’ve gone on record as saying that although it’s just three league points, it means a hell of a lot more than that to our supporters.
“It’s about putting one over on the local rivals, and I do try to fire the riders up prior to a Cradley meeting because of what it means to the fans.
“I know Cradley came here expecting a close meeting, and I’ve got to say I thought it would go down to the wire. It was an incredible result, and in no way did I think it would be such a runaway success like it was.”
Angry Heathens boss Will Pottinger said: “I’m very disappointed, and even embarrassed with the final scoreline. We didn’t start the meeting well and we were playing catch-up from then onwards.
“It’s very disappointing and we’ve got to take stock of things, because the way things are going we’re going to fall short of the play-offs.
“We need to pick our game up. The riders we’ve got in the team are much more capable than what they’ve shown tonight, but that performance just wasn’t good enough.”
Meanwhile Belle Vue closed in on league leaders Eastbourne with a 53-37 win over Kent at the National Speedway Stadium.
The Kings remained in contention for longer than previous visitors to Manchester but were eventually seen off in the closing stages of the meeting.
Jack Smith (14+1) and Dan Bewley (14) led the way for the Colts with guest Mitchell Davey picking up 11 for the visitors.
Bewley said: “With most of the meetings we’ve had lately, we’ve been putting in at least 60 points or more so I feel that, compared to other teams, we’ve been having it quite easy at home.
“That’s not taking anything away from our achievements so far but Kent came here and pushed us harder than we’ve ever been pushed on our home track, and so we had to adapt and adjust.
“Their reserves were probably as strong as their top five and that really made a difference to how we had to approach this meeting, and I personally was making changes more often than usual.
“There were a few points where they edged in front but everyone responded well to pull the scores back in our favour, and we got the win on the night which was our primary objective.”

(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY JULY 7:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30, Scunthorpe v Newcastle 7.30
CHALLENGE: Somerset Select v Isle of Wight 7.30

SATURDAY JULY 8:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Ipswich 7pm, Glasgow v Peterborough 7pm, Workington v Sheffield 7pm
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Plymouth 7pm

SUNDAY JULY 9:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Newcastle v Ipswich 6.30
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Leicester 3pm
Results Thursday

SGB CHAMPIONSHIP

Ipswich 60 (Danny King 14+1)
Scunthorpe 32 (Tero Aarnio 10)
Championship points: Ipswich 3 Scunthorpe 0

Redcar 40 (Jonas B Andersen 12+3)
Peterborough 52 (Paul Starke 14)
Championship points: Redcar 0 Peterborough 4

BRITISH UNDER-19 CHAMPIONSHIP, at Plymouth

1. Zach Wajtknecht (Swindon / Lakeside) 15
2. Dan Bewley (Belle Vue / Glasgow) 13 After a run off
3. Kyle Bickley (Belle Vue) 13
4. Jack Parkinson-Blackburn (Birmingham) 13

THE VINCENT’S MOTORCYCLES AND ANTIQUES INDIVIDUAL, at Isle of Wight

1. James Cockle (Isle of Wight)
2. Connor Coles (Isle of Wight)
3. Alfie Bowtell (Newcastle / Lakeside)
4. Georgie Wood (Eastbourne)

Results Wednesday July 5, 2017

TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE
Belle Vue 53 (Jack Smith 14+1)
Kent 37 (Mitchell Davey 11)
National League points: Belle Vue 3 Kent 0

Birmingham 57 (Liam Carr 13+1)
Cradley 31 (Tom Perry 10)
National League points: Birmingham 3 Cradley 0