(SPEEDWAY 1)
SWINDON kept their winning roll going with a solid 57-35 result over Somerset at the Abbey on Thursday.
The result was a 14th successive victory for the Robins, who continue to lead the SGB Premiership table with five matches to go before the play-offs.
Nick Morris scored 14 points and was beaten only by Rebels guest Aaron Summers in Heat 15, whilst David Bellego added 11+1 in a strong all-round Swindon display. Reserve Kevin Doolan picked up 12+1 from seven rides in a successful guest appearance for the patched-up Rebels.
Swindon boss Alun Rossiter said: “I think the score does flatter us a little, because they were a bit unlucky when they lost points from scoring positions.
“But I still think we would have won comfortably enough, it just wouldn’t have been by quite as many.
“Adam’s (Ellis) ride in Heat 10 was a good one, and he’s not very well at the moment, he’s got some kind of virus and he can barely speak, but that was good to see him pull off that ride.”
Somerset boss Garry May said: “I cannot fault the lads who came into the side and guest for us tonight, and I would like to publicly thank them for the efforts they put in.
“It was always going to be a tall order to upset the Swindon apple-cart, but the boys kept plugging away, but with Patrick (Hougaard) feeling the effects of rushing back from Denmark, where he was racing last night, to ride for us tonight, we really needed some luck to go our way to help us along.
“But even that deserted us tonight, with mechanical gremlins hitting when we had riders in good points-scoring positions.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
SHEFFIELD star Josh Grajczonek made it back-to-back maximums as Sheffield soared to an 11th straight SGB Championship victory by beating Scunthorpe 54-39 at Owlerton.
The Aussie ace, a second-tier title winner with Somerset last year, racked up a perfect 12 on his return against Edinburgh on Sunday and was unbeaten by a Scorpion in this one (11+1).
Sheffield’s strong opening was partially negated by a Scorpions 7-2 in Heat 8 as Josh Auty passed Jan Graversen to bank maximum points.
But the Tigers still ran out comfortable winners with Lasse Bjerre top-scoring on 13+1 and Kyle Howarth (12+2) whilst reserve Georgie Wood claimed his first race win for the club. Auty top-scored for the Scorpions on 13.
Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “It was another really solid meeting from all of the boys and I cannot ask for any more than that. If one of them is having an off night, the rest pull together to make sure we keep winning and that is the main thing.
“It was great to see Georgie get a heat win, I know he has invested heavily in his machinery in the past week or so in particular. We were all really pleased to see that pay off and for him to gain some return on that investment.”
Scunthorpe boss Dave Peet said: “It was the 5-1s in the first two races that did the damage. You always know that Sheffield have very good heat-leaders and are going to come on strong at the end, so you’ve got to stop them from going ahead before that.
“It was a cracking ride from Josh as the tactical ride in Heat 8. It wasn’t off a favourable gate (gate 4), but he told me he reckoned he could do something with it, and he didn’t disappoint with a great ride to move from last to first.
“That got us closer again, but you always felt they were stronger in the final few races and so it proved.”
Ipswich remain four points behind Sheffield after a 52-41 win over local rivals Peterborough at Foxhall.
Rory Schlein scored a 12-point maximum for the Witches despite suffering an early knock, whilst guest Mason Campton collected 12+1 and Danny King scored 11. Cameron Heeps (6+2) was also in the wars and was taken to hospital after a Heat 12 spill.
The Panthers’ scoring was led by top two Chris Harris (12+1) and Jack Holder (12) but the visitors were unable to secure a league point.
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “The scoreline seemed pretty comfortable throughout the meeting really and we didn’t feel in any danger of letting it slip.
“It was a tough night in many ways though, using r/r already and then Rory and Cam picked up injuries as well. It was tough but it was a good three points.
“Cameron we will know more about in the coming days but the early signs are quite positive as there is nothing broken so it is probably muscle or ligament damage and we do not know how long that will take yet.”
Peterborough manager Carl Johnson said: “We didn’t manage to get the win, but we were competitive and I couldn’t have asked for a lot more considering we again had riders missing.
“We lost the meeting early on with a poor start. It got away from us and it is very hard to play catch-up against a team going so well and with such a big home advantage.
“But it was a vast improvement on the performance we produced at Ipswich back in April when losing so heavily.”
Meanwhile Redcar kept their play-off hopes alive with a 52-41 win over fourth-placed Edinburgh at the Media Prima Arena.
The Bears made an explosive start with 5-1s in each of the first three races with Ricky Wells coming to grief in the third before remaining unbeaten in his last four outings.
Wells said: “It was a bad start for myself and the boys, I hit a hole and got excluded, I haven’t done that in a while but I was happy with four straight wins after that.
“There are plenty of lines, it is a great race track but it can be a tough place to come, the Bears have some hard chargers and (Jason) Garrity and (Ben) Barker always put you under pressure.
“I’m a little disappointed in the result as I thought we could have come here and got something but I thought we did ok after losing three 5-1’s to start the match. We just need to move on bounce back and everyone needs to start scoring points.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
BELLE Vue host bottom club Leicester in the SGB Premiership tonight (Friday) as they look to close back in on leaders Swindon.
The Aces are five points behind the Robins and a win from the National Speedway Stadium clash would secure their place in the play-offs.
Both sides operate rider-replacement for injured team members – Max Fricke for the Aces and Pawel Przedpelski for the Lions, whilst Tero Aarnio guests for the home side in place of Dan Bewley, who is competing in the European Under-21 Championship in Latvia this weekend.
Belle Vue star Steve Worrall said: “We had an interesting home meeting with Leicester earlier this year where they really kept us honest and, to be frank, proved their potential as a team.
“We’re already quite comfortably in the top four but there remains that desire to finish top of the table.
“We’ve got a busy Bank Holiday yet to come and after that, there’s only a couple more meetings for us before it’s crunch time so we need to knuckle down and show we mean business.”
Leicester boss Jim Lynch said: “On the road we’re always going to find it tough. We’re not bottom by chance and the first half of the season was almost laughable in terms of what we had to put up with.
“We have to be able to track our best side at home and when we do, I think we can beat anybody. As for away trips like this one, it is about letting the riders off the leash to go out and entertain.
“We always want to be as competitive as possible in all of our meetings but with circumstances as they are, our first target is to put on a show and what a race track for the boys to try to do that on.”
Meanwhile the battle for the top four sees Rye House travel to Somerset in a vital match at the Oaktree Arena.
The Rebels’ chances have faded after a four-match winless run, but the Rockets are chasing Poole as they are five points behind with two matches in hand.
Somerset use rider-replacement for Patrick Hougaard, who is racing in Denmark, whilst Adam Ellis guests for the injured Jake Allen.
Rebels boss Garry May said: “The boys were, to say the least, disappointed with the defeat in our last home match, so will be keen to put the record straight and get back to winning ways on home shale.
“In Adam Ellis, we have booked a rider who served us well as a guest replacement earlier in the season, in addition to which he scored 11 points, including a win over our own Josh Grajczonek, when here last Friday with Swindon.”
Rockets star Ricky Wells said: “It was always tough to go there in the Premier League (now SGB Championship), although I don’t think it’s quite as tough, dare I say that, in the Premiership.
“It’s a super-fast track, and some of their boys have been there a few years, but there’s no reason we can’t go there and get a result.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
LAKESIDE host Mildenhall in a vital National League clash of play-off chasers at Purfleet tonight (Friday).
It’s the penultimate home match for the Hammers, who currently hold fourth place, whilst the Fen Tigers trail by eight points but have four matches in hand on the hosts.
Lakeside are without the injured Zach Wajtknecht whilst Ben Morley is racing for his Premiership club Rye House, so Steve Boxall and Tom Bacon come in to guest. Alex Spooner stands in at reserve, whilst the Fen Tigers hand a first appearance to recent signing for 2018 Drew Kemp.
Lakeside star Alfie Bowtell said: “Nothing’s guaranteed at all and there’s still a lot of hard work to be done if we want to get into the play-offs.
"We know this is a big meeting because things are getting tighter than ever at the top. I want another big one against Mildenhall and hopefully I can have a good one against them and while it won’t be easy, hopefully we can smash them in the end.”
Mildenhall promoter Kevin Jolly said: “Lakeside is a difficult place to go without doubt, but if we can get a fast start with our top boys all on their game there is no telling what we can achieve.
“They are powerful at the top of their order but have to bring in replacements for the absent Morley and Wajtknecht, and I feel there is some weakness in their lower order we hope to be able to exploit.
“I have to be reasonably confident following Sunday’s performance and now is the time to make a real push into the top four.”
Meanwhile Edinburgh stage the re-arranged Caledonian Riders’ Championship at Armadale.
Monarchs reserve Mitchell Davey is joined by SGB Championship regulars Mason Campton, James Sarjeant and Tom Perry, and the line-up also includes Scottish youngsters Ryan MacDonald, Kev Whelan, Dale Lamb and Kieran Douglas.
Event organiser Scott Frame said: “We have to make sure we are giving the young Scottish guys a chance to show what they can do. The guys don’t get the track time they need these days and we need to try and rectify that.
“However the meeting is not just about that. There are a lot of riders in the field who will be thinking they can win and the fans are in for an exciting meeting, that’s for sure.”
(FIXTURES)
FRIDAY AUGUST 25:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v Leicester 7.30, Somerset v Rye House 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Lakeside v Mildenhall 8pm
CALEDONIAN RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh 7.30
SATURDAY AUGUST 26:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Leicester v Somerset 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Workington 7pm, Glasgow v Newcastle 7pm
NATIONAL TROPHY: Eastbourne v Kent 7.30
SUNDAY AUGUST 27:
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Newcastle v Scunthorpe 6.30, Workington v Berwick 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Stoke 3pm
Results Thursday August 24, 2017;
SGB PREMIERSHIP
Swindon 57 (Nick Morris 14)
Somerset 35 (Kevin Doolan 12+1)
SGB Premiership points: Swindon 3 Somerset 0
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP
Ipswich 52 (Mason Campton 12+1)
Peterborough 41 (Chris Harris 12+1)
SGB Championship points: Ipswich 3 Peterborough 0
Redcar 52 (Ben Barker 11)
Edinburgh 39 (Ricky Wells 15)
SGB Championship points: Redcar 3 Edinburgh 0
Sheffield 54 (Lasse Bjerre 13+1)
Scunthorpe 39 (Josh Auty 13)
SGB Championship points: Sheffield 3, Edinburgh 0
