(SPEEDWAY 1)
KING’S Lynn have announced wholesale changes as they head into the second half of their SGB Premiership campaign.
The Stars have axed Australian duo Chris Holder and Troy Batchelor, and replaced them with former Grand Prix rider Tomas H Jonasson of Sweden, and Michael Palm Toft who recently impressed in a guest appearance.
A re-structure of the side at reserve now sees Josh Auty included alongside Nicklas Porsing, although the latter is currently ruled out after a crash in Poland on Sunday.
Promoter Keith Chapman said: “I felt our season was heading towards a brick wall and had to do something.
“I would like to place on record my thanks to Chris Holder and Troy Batchelor for riding for the club and I’m sad it hasn’t worked out with them this season.
“Having said that, I feel we now have an environment within the King’s Lynn team where everyone has the right attitude and they want to get out there and do their best for the club.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
BELLE Vue produced their most powerful performance of the season to defeat Poole 59-31 at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday.
The SGB Premiership leaders limited the Pirates to just one race winner throughout the meeting, as both Max Fricke and Kenneth Bjerre raced to full 15-point maximums.
Craig Cook, Dan Bewley and Rohan Tungate all racked up paid-12 scores with Hans Andersen (8) providing the Pirates’ sole success.
The home side operated rider-replacement for Steve Worrall who was absent on paternity leave, but were still clear winners as they went four points clear at the top.
Cook said: “One of my top priorities this year is to help make this team Premiership Champions. There’s no way I or any of the other boys want to come second again.
“We’re all focused on the job at hand. We gained another vital home win and three crucial league points to boot but we’re still not as comfortable in the top four as we’d like. Things are so close.
“Poole have a lot of experienced riders in their team and to be honest, I was expecting a little more from them than what we got, but their current form is something we had to take full advantage of.”
Meanwhile Wolverhampton had three unbeaten riders in their convincing 56-34 win over Somerset at Monmore Green as they ended a run of three successive reverses.
Jacob Thorssell (13+2) and Kyle Howarth (12+3) both scored five-ride paid maximums, whilst captain Fredrik Lindgren (10+2) was unbeaten from four outings.
Patrick Hougaard top-scored for the Rebels on 8+1, with the visitors improving on their 28-62 defeat at the same venue in May largely thanks to back-to-back consolation 5-1s in Heats 11 and 12.
Lindgren said: “It was very important for us to hit back with a win, and it was an impressive full team performance.
“We were particularly pleased to see Kyle come back how he did tonight and it shows how much we missed him after he crashed out in the home defeat to Poole.
“He showed great mental strength and determination to come back here and put that behind him and it shows how much of a key player he has been for us this year.
“We've faded a little bit in recent weeks but hopefully tonight was where we turned things around again as we come to the business end of the season.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
CRADLEY boss Will Pottinger was left fuming after a 34-56 defeat at Kent in the National League on Monday.
The Kings conclusively had the upper hand in the battle of two sides vying to make the play-offs, with the Heathens totally reliant on two riders.
Every race which featured neither Tom Perry (14+1) nor Danny Ayres (12) resulted in a 5-1 to the home side, who had four riders on the 11-point mark.
Reserves Anders Rowe and George Hunter starred with 11+3 and 11+2 respectively, whilst Ben Hopwood and guest Ben Morley both hit that double-figure score too.
Pottinger said: “To say we were too long in the tail is an understatement. In the races without Tom and Danny we didn't look very competitive at all and it's simply not good enough.
“We're a team aiming for the play-offs and to get rolled over so easily is unacceptable really. Tom and Danny got us back into the meeting after Heat 6, but we collapsed after that really.
“Our supporters deserve so much better and while options may be limited at this stage, we certainly need to look at what else is out there.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
MILDENHALL host Stoke tonight (Tuesday) in what has become the first leg of their Knockout Cup replay.
The planned clash at Loomer Road on Sunday was postponed due to rain so the Fen Tigers now stage the opener at West Row, with a date to be confirmed for the return.
Both teams name full-strength line-ups with Lee Dicken making his first appearance for the Potters after replacing the injured David Wallinger, whilst Luke Ruddick and Sam Woods return from injury for the hosts.
Stoke boss Malcolm Vasey said: “We will be looking to keep things as close as possible for the second leg at Loomer Road.
“Mildenhall are a very strong side at home and most certainly proved that in the final heats of the corresponding fixture which resulted in this replay, and we will hopefully be able to stop that happening this time.
“We are going there in good spirits and desperately want to gain a place in the semi-finals as it is a good chance for us to get some silverware this season, and we will be doing our best to make it happen.”
(FIXTURES)
TUESDAY AUGUST 1:
NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP REPLAY 1st leg: Mildenhall v Stoke 7.30
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 2:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: King’s Lynn v Swindon 7.30, Poole v Belle Vue 7.30, Rye House v Leicester 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Belle Vue 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 3:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Swindon v Leicester 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Ipswich v Glasgow 7.30, Redcar v Berwick 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Buxton 7pm
CHALLENGE: Sheffield Tiger Cubs v Belle Vue Colts v Coventry Junior Select v Scunthorpe Stags 7.30
FRIDAY AUGUST 4:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Somerset v Belle Vue 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Sheffield 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Plymouth v Buxton 7.15
Results Monday July 31, 2017
SGB PREMIERSHIP
Belle Vue 59 (Kenneth Bjerre 15/Max Fricke 15)
Poole 31 (Hans Andersen 8)
SGB Premiership points: Belle Vue 3 Poole 0
Wolverhampton 56 (Jacob Thorssell 13+2)
Somerset 34 (Patrick Hougaard 8+1)
SGB Premiership points: Wolverhampton 3 Somerset 0
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE
Kent 56 (Anders Rowe 11+3)
Cradley 34 (Tom Perry 14+1)
National League points: Kent 3 Cradley 0
