SPEEDWAY POSTPONEMENT - FRIDAY JULY 28:
SGB PREMIERSHIP
Somerset v Wolverhampton - OFF
FOURS UPDATE : NEW FORMAT AGREED
BRITISH Speedway bosses have worked through the night to agree a new format which sees Berwick and Scunthorpe brought back into the Championship Fours.
The prestigious event, at Peterborough on Sunday August 6, will now feature all 10 clubs after management members responded to fans' feedback and representations from the two clubs who, under the standard format, failed to make the cut.
The meeting, part of the SGB major events series, will now feature semi-finals with 10 heats each and a 12 race final.
It means fans are in for a bumper afternoon of racing, starting at 2pm, and the British Speedway Promoters' Association hope everyone enjoys the occasion.
The Association have worked hard with members of our media team to reach the solution and we would like to wish all 10 clubs the very best of luck for the day.
Meanwhile a further announcement will be made shortly regarding the line-ups and which group each club is in.
We would like to thank fans for their patience and understanding and for their continued support of British Speedway.
(SPEEDWAY 1)
GREAT Britain have called up Danny King to replace the injured Craig Cook for this Saturday’s World Games event in Poland.
Former British Champion King comes in to join Robert Lambert and Steve Worrall as Cook, the current national title holder, is out with a back injury and misses the Wroclaw showpiece.
GB boss Alun Rossiter said: “Danny was part of the original squad we had to declare for this event back in May, and he jumped at the chance to be involved and has worked hard to alter his arrangements for the weekend.
“It’s an event we’re very much looking forward to being involved in, and it’s going to give our boys more important experience on a big foreign track.
“They’re going to be racing in front of a sell-out crowd in a great stadium and we’ll be doing our best to finish as high as we possibly can.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
BRITISH Under-19 Champion Zach Wajtknecht’s season is over after suffering spleen damage in a crash at Swindon on Thursday.
Wajtknecht, who also races for Lakeside, sat second in a 5-1 in his final outing of the night for the Robins, before spinning and coming down on the pits turn.
He was taken to the Great Western Hospital as a precautionary measure. But checks and observations showed that he has damaged his spleen and will now be ruled out for the rest of the campaign.
Manager Alun Rossiter said: “It’s obviously a massive blow, both for Zach and for the team. Our first thoughts are to wish him all the very best – we are all behind him.
“I’m not quite sure what options we have from here, I will spend the day looking at it.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
SWINDON marched to an eighth successive SGB Premiership victory with an emphatic 56-34 win over rivals Poole on Thursday.
The Robins are now second in the league table as they continued their blistering run of form, effectively putting the match to bed inside the first six races.
They carded four 5-1s over that period, including in Heat 5 when Pirates skipper Hans Andersen was taking a tactical ride but could only finish third behind David Bellego and Bradley Wilson-Dean.
Bellego top-scored for the Robins with 13 points, with Nick Morris (11+1) and Jason Doyle (10+1) also in double-figures – although the win came at a cost with Zach Wajtknecht’s Heat 12 crash. Jack Holder top-scored for the Pirates with 8+1.
Swindon boss Alun Rossiter said: “I can’t ask for any more from the team, the boys are on fire at the moment and now we have to keep it going.
“I think Tobiasz (Musielak) has turned our season, and he’s given the whole team a lift since he arrived. The team is far more balanced now, and it’s really good to see.
“I feel with a couple more away wins we will be able to cement our place in the play-offs, and the way we’re riding at the moment we should be going anywhere with confidence.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
EDINBURGH produced a stunning comeback to wreck Ipswich’s unbeaten home record with a 47-46 win at Foxhall on Thursday.
The Monarchs trailed by 12 points with five heats to go but pulled back a 7-2 in Heat 11 with Sam Masters winning a tactical ride.
Ipswich still led by five with two races remaining and looked set to secure victory in Heat 14 – but race leader Justin Sedgmen fell to hand the Monarchs a 5-1 and set up a last-heat decider.
Masters took the flag once more with Erik Riss securing the vital third place between home duo Danny King and Cameron Heeps for a 4-2 to turn the match in Edinburgh’s favour.
Masters top-scored for the visitors with 14 points whilst King totalled 11+1 for the Witches.
Edinburgh boss John Campbell said: “You could see that coming as the meeting progressed and you could see the team pulling together as the night went on.
“Theo (Pijper) struggled but when Sam had his engine problem he was first out with his bike for the tactical ride, and again he was ready with his machine if it was needed in heat 13. Josh (Pickering) had perhaps his best away match of the season.
“It is all about scoring the right points at the right time and for Sam to go out and win his tactical ride on Theo’s bike is unbelievable. I think to come and win here the most difficult track in the league to win at is fantastic.”
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “Edinburgh got on a roll and the tactical ride won them the match. In fairness, they beat us fair and square but it is massively disappointing and we need to sort ourselves out quickly.
“Heat 15 is tough especially from gate four at Ipswich and they had the choice of gates in heat 15. Sedgy was winning heat 14 when he had the issue and without that we would have won the meeting.
“It was a number of things that happened, it was a one point defeat and we can’t dwell on it and think the world has ended but it is a kick up the backside.”
Meanwhile Sheffield consolidated fourth place in the SGB Championship with a thumping 60-33 win over Newcastle at Owlerton.
The Tigers suffered just two last places all evening en route to their tenth successive home victory.
Lasse Bjerre (12+1), Josh Grajczonek (12) and back-from-injury Kyle Howarth (10+1) all hit double figures for the hosts whilst recent signing Jan Graversen impressed with 9+2; whilst Robert Lambert scored 12 for the Diamonds.
Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “We genuinely expected Newcastle to come here and run us pretty close. But they couldn't get near us and that's definitely up there with one of the results of the season.
“They've got a decent team with riders who usually go well around Sheffield, but our riders were just way too good for them tonight.
“I know it's early days, but since bringing in Jan and Georgie (Wood) at reserve we suddenly look even more of a settled side.”
Newcastle boss George English said: “The racing may well have had moments of brilliance tonight, but it was far from our proudest moment at Sheffield who were, in the main, racing in a higher gear which left us desperately looking for points and unable to get them which was extremely disappointing for all concerned.”
Redcar remain fifth in the table after overcoming Workington 49-44 at the Media Prima Arena.
Jason Garrity headed up a strong Bears performance with three race wins on his way to a 10+1 score, whilst a late comeback from the Comets inspired by guest Chris Harris (16+1) helped them gain a league point – Harris combining with Ty Proctor (11) for a 5-1 in Heat 15.
(SPEEDWAY 5)
CONNOR Coles scored a 15-point maximum as the Isle of Wight gained a confidence-boosting 56-33 win over Stoke at Smallbrook.
The match was heavily delayed after the Potters’ David Wallinger came to grief in Heat 3 and was taken to hospital for attention to lower back injuries.
But the Warriors dominated with Ben Wilson (10+2) and captain James Cockle (10+1) also in double figures, whilst guest Ben Morley carded 10 for the visitors.
Cockle said: “That was a great team performance and promises more for the future. The team are working well together and everyone is trying to do their very best and help each other.
“As captain I expect nothing less than 100 per cent from my riders and that’s what we got tonight.
“It’s never nice to see riders get hurt and David’s crash tonight was horrible. On behalf of the Warriors, we hope David isn’t too bad and that he’s up and about very soon.”
Stoke boss Malcolm Vasey said: “It was a disappointing night for us where things just did not go right, and it was a massive blow to lose David in a nasty looking crash, and that really knocked the stuffing out of us.
“The team battled on bravely but we ran out of steam in the latter part of the meeting and we send our best wishes too David and wait to see what the verdict from the doctors is.”
(SPEEDWAY 6)
LAKESIDE go into a vital National League clash against Birmingham tonight (Friday) without the injured Zach Wajtknecht.
The Hammers currently sit one point behind their opponents in the league table and know another home win would be enough to move them back into the play-off positions – but they have to operate rider-replacement for Wajtknecht, who suffered spleen damage in a crash at Swindon on Thursday.
The Brummies have better injury news as Taylor Hampshire has been declared fit despite crashing out against the Isle of Wight on Wednesday – whilst David Mason makes his first return to Purfleet since being dropped by the Hammers earlier in the season. Lewis Whitmore guests for Kyle Roberts at reserve.
Lakeside No.1 Paul Hurry said: “Birmingham are a strong team and when you’ve won the league for the last two years, you get a winning mentality drilled into you.
“It’s certainly not going to be easy and they will do everything that they can to push us, but I feel like we’re growing as a team all the time and that’s important.”
Brummies boss Graham Drury said: “Lakeside have got a tremendous home record this season as you’d expect on such a tight and technical race track – but they’re not unbeatable.
“They haven’t been at home for a few weeks so it would be nice if we could go there and catch them out in the early stages and then who knows from there.
“Outsiders will fully expect Lakeside to continue their unbeaten home record – but that suits us just fine. The lads will be going there and giving it 100 per cent and if we could get something out of the meeting then great as every single point is crucial.”
Meanwhile Edinburgh stage an Intermediate Challenge at Armadale with Buxton providing the opposition.
Regular Monarchs star Max Clegg will race for his National League side whilst Josh Pickering and Mitchell Davey compete for the hosts, who are giving opportunities for several local youngsters who are hoping to move into the third tier in future.
Edinburgh co-promoter John Campbell said: “The chance to give the three Monarchs riders involved tonight the chance to win races at Armadale is important.
“We’ve reached a critical point in our Championship season and our minimum target is to win all our home matches, and to do that we need more than our top three to be winning races.”
(SPEEDWAY 7)
CRADLEY have moved to sign Sheffield asset Richard Hall to replace the injured Dan Greenwood.
Hall has been handed an average of 6.00 and will make his home debut at Birmingham against the Isle of Wight on August 9 after Greenwood was ruled out with shoulder damage.
Boss Will Pottinger said: “I'm delighted to welcome Richard to Cradley and I'm sure he can come in and score some big points to help us achieve our aim of a top four league finish.
“We didn't want to use rider replacement while Dan was out injured as you're vulnerable if other riders have an off-night or pick up an injury. Naturally we wish Dan a speedy recovery.”
(FIXTURES)
FRIDAY JULY 28:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Somerset v Wolverhampton OFF
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Lakeside v Birmingham 8pm
INTERMEDIATE CHALLENGE: Edinburgh v Buxton 7.30
SATURDAY JULY 29:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Sheffield 7pm, Workington v Glasgow 7pm
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Isle of Wight 7.30
CHALLENGE: Mildenhall v Poultec Select 7.30
SUMMER SPECTACULAR: Plymouth 7pm
SUNDAY JULY 30:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Ipswich 3pm, Newcastle v Edinburgh 6.30, Scunthorpe v Workington 5.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Plymouth 3pm
NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP REPLAY 1st leg: Stoke v Mildenhall 6pm
