(SPEEDWAY 1)
BRITISH youngster Leon Flint has qualified for the Final of the World 250cc Championship in the Czech Republic on Thursday.
Flint recovered from a last place in his first ride in Tuesday’s semi-final at Prague to pick up 12 points and finish third on the day.
It maintains an impressive record of at least one British rider qualifying for the Final of each Under-21 event they have been involved in this season.
There was disappointment for the other British competitors as Kyle Bickley was eliminated on four points – whilst Jack Parkinson-Blackburn crashed in his first ride and was withdrawn from the meeting with a shoulder injury.
(SPEEDWAY 2)
RYE House ran up the biggest win in the top two leagues this season with a 65-26 demolition of King’s Lynn at Hoddesdon.
The Rockets have now moved to within one point of fourth-placed Poole in the race for the SGB Premiership play-offs, with both teams having more vital matches to come this week.
Chris Harris recorded a four-ride paid maximum (11+1) with Ben Barker (12+1) notching his highest score since joining the Rockets.
But the biggest accolades went to reserve Ben Morley (9+4), who was unbeaten from his first four rides and only missed out on a maximum when he finished third in Heat 15.
Stars skipper Robert Lambert (13) contributed half of his side’s total on a bad night for the Norfolk side.
Rye House star Stuart Robson said: “It was definitely ‘Mission Accomplished.’ It was a fantastic team result, and what can you say? Everyone performed tonight, and I was actually bottom scorer with 7+2, which wasn’t bad.
“Ben was brilliant; absolutely brilliant. He was a totally different rider to what he was yesterday. As it happened, he had a broken engine plate yesterday which snapped clean in half. He changed that, and the bike worked completely differently and he was so fast.
“Hopefully that is the sign of things to come from him for the rest of the season. He was outstandingly good tonight, and the rider of the night by a long shot.”
King’s Lynn promoter Keith Chapman said: “We were made to pay for being second best out of the gate all night long.
“They left us standing still at the starts and it's not the first meeting of late where that's been the problem.
“Once they're away from the start line, our riders chase so hard and they never give up, but it's time they started making lives a bit easier for themselves by getting out in front in the first place.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
GLASGOW’S Nike Lunna has been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign after a crash in Sweden on Tuesday.
The SGB Championship title-chasing Tigers will now have to use rider-replacement for the Finn, who had to withdraw from his play-off quarter-final match for Rospiggarna at Lejonen.
Lunna said: “I had a nasty crash in the Swedish play-offs. I am afraid to say that my season is finished.
"I have two broken bones in my back and a broken shoulder. Thank you for all get well messages, I will be back stronger next year.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
IPSWICH have confirmed Cameron Heeps has been ruled out with a broken shoulder-blade as they build up to the SGB Championship play-offs.
Heeps crashed at Foxhall last Thursday but was initially thought to have avoided serious damage, before weekend scans confirmed a fracture.
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “At the moment, the injury front is looking really bad for us. It is not an ideal time to have injuries and losing Cam is a big blow as he has been in such good form.
“What do you do, you can’t sit around feeling sorry for yourselves, you just have to do the best you can and that is what we will do.
“With both Cam and Justin (Sedgmen) time will tell whether they can make it back for the end of season or not, but I wouldn’t completely rule it out at this stage.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
RYE House and Poole are both in action tonight (Wednesday) as the race for the fourth SGB Premiership play-off place continues.
The Rockets, who are a point behind the Pirates but have a match in hand, visit Belle Vue who have lost their last three fixtures – although their top-four place is secure due to results elsewhere over recent days.
Aces skipper Craig Cook is calling on his side to make a big finish to the regular campaign, with another home match against King’s Lynn to come on Friday.
Cook said: “We’ve got to put the last few days to rest now. We can’t do anything about those results, and in turn those results have no bearing on our upcoming match against Rye House.
“It’s a brand new day with a totally new set of circumstances. Hopefully Max [Fricke] will be back with us soon but until then we’ve just got to keep digging and chipping away at our goal.
“At the end of the day, not one of us wants to screw up our chances of getting that league title this year. It’s something everyone wants, especially me.”
The hosts continue to operate rider-replacement for Fricke and bring in Lasse Bjerre to guest for Steve Worrall (SGBC commitment) whilst Rockets No.1 Chris Harris is also racing in the Championship with the visitors declaring R/R for the British star.
Rye House’s Stuart Robson said: “We’re going there to win. It’s going to be tough – there are no easy away matches – but that’s the target.
“We’re taking things one match at a time; that’s the only way you can approach things. So the focus is on Manchester, and then after that we’ll focus on King’s Lynn (away) on Thursday.”
Meanwhile Poole promoter Matt Ford says his side must look for three wins out of their remaining three matches in a bid to fend off Rye House’s charge.
The Pirates host struggling King’s Lynn at Wimborne Road before visiting the Stars tomorrow and rounding off at Somerset on Friday.
Ford said: “As I said about the Belle Vue match on Monday it is a must-win for us, and we really need to put the play-offs into our destiny by trying to maximise our points haul this week.
“All the while we can keep adding points, Rye House's task becomes much harder.
“Mathematically of course King's Lynn could still deny us but to be honest I wouldn't be looking forward to their run-in - that said, it is in our hands to stop Lynn and
that is what we must do.”
Stars promoter Keith Chapman said: “We've already won once at Poole this season and if our riders go there with the right attitude again and make some starts, then why wouldn't we be able to get something out of the meeting?
“The riders are so desperate to try and get another win under their belts and hopefully it comes sooner rather than later because before we know it the season will be over.”
(SPEEDWAY 6)
PETERBOROUGH race their first home match in over five weeks when Newcastle visit the East of England Arena tonight (Wednesday).
Both sides are forced into changes for the SGB Championship clash, with the Panthers calling on Rory Schlein and Ryan Douglas to step in, whilst rider-replacement is in operation for Ulrich Ostergaard who has a Danish fixture.
Danny King and Kyle Newman come in for the visitors, who took a long-awaited away win from their trip to Scunthorpe on Bank Holiday Monday.
Peterborough reserve Tom Bacon said: “It will be good for the team and fans to be back on our own track. It's not always ideal the way the fixtures pan out in speedway and we've found it tough on the road lately with injuries making things even harder for us.
“It would be a big boost for everyone to get a win against Newcastle and help us to start to build some momentum.
“We want to win every race in every meeting. Our mindset won't change regardless of where we are in the league table.”
(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 30:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v Rye House 7.30, Poole v King’s Lynn 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Peterborough v Newcastle 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 31:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: King’s Lynn v Poole 7.30, King’s Lynn v Rye House (follows previous fixture), Swindon v Wolverhampton 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Redcar v Ipswich 7.30, Sheffield v Glasgow 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Eastbourne 7pm
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 1:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v King’s Lynn 7.30, Leicester v Wolverhampton 7.30, Rye House v Swindon 7.30, Somerset v Poole 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Plymouth v Lakeside 7.15
CALEDONIAN RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh 7.30
Results Tuesday August 29, 2017;
SGB PREMIERSHIP
Rye House 65 (Ben Barker 12+1)
King’s Lynn 26 (Robert Lambert 13)
SGB Premiership points: Rye House 3 King’s Lynn 0
