(SPEEDWAY 1)
PETERBOROUGH have turned to Richard Hall to fill their injury void.
The Panthers have agreed a short-term deal with the 32 year-old racer to step in at reserve, replacing Simon Lambert who faces surgery on a broken wrist.
Promoter Ged Rathbone said: “It's really cruel for Simon to have suffered another bad break. He's had more than his fair share of injury problems in the last few years.
“We're in a situation where we have to bring in a new rider with so many meetings coming up in quick succession.
“Richard loves the club, he loves the track and he loves the supporters at Peterborough. He jumped at the chance to help us out in our hour of need - even though he could have taken a permanent deal at another club.
“Richard has considerably more experience and vastly superior equipment compared to other riders on a three-point average and that's why we opted to bring him in.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
NEWCASTLE have made a change at reserve by signing Dan Greenwood to take the place of Connor Coles.
Greenwood, who rides for Cradley in the National League, will be going into his second spell with the Diamonds after a stint in the North-East in 2014, and he makes his seasonal debut in the SGB Championship trip to Redcar on Thursday.
A Newcastle spokesperson said: “We're sorry to see Connor go, and we thank him for all his efforts this season and wish him well in the future.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
BIRMINGHAM closed in on the National League play-off places with a 53-37 win at the Isle of Wight on Tuesday.
The Brummies had suffered a bruising night at Kent 24 hours earlier but were boosted on the day of the Smallbrook trip when Liam Carr declared himself fit.
And their opponents were hit by a major setback with the withdrawal of Tyler Govier due to contractual issues – leaving the Warriors short-handed at reserve.
Carr showed no ill effects from his crashes at Kent to score 15 points from six rides for the Brummies, with Tom Bacon adding 11+1 and guest Zach Wajtknecht 10+1.
Connor Coles made a successful debut for the Warriors with 11, but the visitors comfortably took maximum points from the meeting.
Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “We had a few riders carrying knocks after the meeting on Monday, so to come away with a win was a great result in the circumstances.
“The Isle of Wight can be a tough place to go, but we had good contributions throughout the side and rode very well.
“I’ve got nothing but praise for the promotion at the Isle of Wight, we enjoyed our trip there as we always do and it’s nice to be coming back with four points.”
Isle of Wight co-promoter Barry Bishop said: “We really believed that our new-look side would be able to match and better the Brummies, but things turned sour when we failed to agree on a contractual matter with Tyler and his representative.
“With no time to organise a replacement, this thrust unacceptable pressure on to the lads and Jamie Sealey in particular.
“I know the result is not entirely down to this one incident but it did unsettle our guys needlessly and that reflected in some of our riding tonight. On a positive note, we ended the meeting with a super heat of speedway – a building block with which to move forward.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
RYE House boss Peter Schroeck believes tonight’s (Wednesday) SGB Premiership clash with Belle Vue promises to be a “huge battle.”
The sides are level on 18 points in the table with the Rockets, who are just outside the play-off places, having ridden one more fixture than their visitors.
Both sides bring in one guest due to tomorrow’s GP qualifier in Germany, with Danny King replacing Chris Harris for the Rockets whilst the Aces have booked Brady Kurtz for Kenneth Bjerre.
Schroeck said: “It will be another huge battle, the same as our match against Poole. The Aces are very consistent this year, and I am sure they are going to come here trying to get one over us.
“It goes without saying that the boys are all up for it. They all know what it’s all about: we want to get into the play-offs, and most importantly win our home matches – and that’s what we aim to do.
“We’ll be missing Bomber, but that’s the sort of price you pay when you box at this level. Chris is doing his stuff for his club, country and himself, and you can’t ask for more than that. But we’ve got Danny King as cover; he’s the British Champion so you can’t get much better, and I’m sure he will do well for us.”
Aces star Steve Worrall said: “They’ve got a really strong team with some very experienced boys leading the way and they ride their home track well. I don’t think we can expect an easy night but it’s not beyond us to win.
“Even without Kenneth, we’ve got a superior guest in Brady. He’s already been to Rye House once already this season with Poole where he put in a great performance and bagged a load of points.
“A good result would really get our momentum flowing again. We are a strong team who deserve to be in the top four and I’m confident that once the ball gets rolling we’ll be right back in the mix.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
NICKLAS Porsing has been ruled out of King’s Lynn’s KO Cup clash with Wolverhampton tonight (Wednesday).
The Dane crashed in Sweden on Tuesday and is awaiting news on the extent of a leg injury, although reports suggest it is not broken.
The Stars operate rider replacement for the first leg of the Cup-tie but are also forced into two changes at reserve as they are without Kai Huckenbeck (GP qualifier) and Simon Lambert (injury).
Former Lynn man Carl Wilkinson and ex-Young Stars rider Jake Knight step in as the hosts face a full-strength Wolves side.
King’s Lynn boss Dale Allitt said: “It’s always difficult against Wolverhampton, but particularly difficult this week with Kai away and now both Simon and Nicklas out injured.
“It should be a really good meeting and if our boys ride to their capabilities then we can look to take the kind of advantage down there at the end of the month that will see us progress.”
Wolves star Rory Schlein returns to his old home track, and said: “It is my first time back there which is pretty exciting but once the action kicks in it will be just another meeting.
“I think the point has been proved already, I am a Wolves rider now and am doing the business for them. That will be my only focus.
“We are all going there with level heads after coming off a good win against Leicester. We just want to keep the ball rolling.”
(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY JUNE 14:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Rye House v Belle Vue 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: King’s Lynn v Wolverhampton 7.30
THURSDAY JUNE 15:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Swindon v Rye House 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Ipswich v Berwick 7.30, Redcar v Newcastle 7.30, Sheffield v Scunthorpe 7.30
FRIDAY JUNE 16:
SGB PREMIERSHIP: Somerset v King’s Lynn 7.30
SGB CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Ipswich 7.30
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP 1st leg: Peterborough v Scunthorpe 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Isle of Wight 7.30
DEVON BEST PAIRS: Plymouth 7.15
Results Tuesday June 13, 2017PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE
Isle of Wight 37 (Connor Coles 11)
Birmingham 53 (Liam Carr 15)
National League points: Isle of Wight 0 Birmingham 4
