SPEEDWAY POSTPONEMENT - WEDNESDAY APRIL 11:
NATIONAL TROPHY
Birmingham v Stoke - OFF
(SPEEDWAY 1)
BIRMINGHAM will host the second British Under-21 Semi-Final at Perry Barr next Wednesday (April 18).
The Brummies have been handed the event after the initially-planned staging at Newcastle last weekend was postponed, and the meeting will determine the remaining seven qualifiers for the Final at Berwick.
Brummies co-promoter David Mason said: “When we found out Newcastle were struggling to re-stage the second semi-final, we applied to have it at Perry Barr.
“A few other clubs had gone for it as well, but we were delighted when we received the call to say they wanted us to host it.
“It has lifted our spirits because it hasn’t been an easy few weeks with all the rain-offs.
“But to now be hosting such a great competition, with such an impressive line-up is great for Birmingham Speedway and fingers crossed we’ll see a good number of fans on the terraces cheering on their riders.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
RYE House boss Peter Schroeck says his side are still well prepared for tonight’s (Wednesday) Premiership opener against Leicester at Hoddesdon.
The Rockets are one of several clubs who have been forced to delay the start of their season due to poor weather, but Schroeck says racing elsewhere will have helped his riders.
He said: “All the boys have managed some racing and practice, so they are not totally cold, and I don’t believe it will take them long to get into the swing of things.
“KK (Krzysztof Kasprzak) hit a 15-point maximum for his Polish club Gorzow on Sunday, so he is already flying, and Max (Clegg) was in great form in his U21 semi-final at Eastbourne on Saturday.
“He also bagged the fastest time of the night at Edinburgh on Friday. We’re looking forward to working with him and putting in guys around him who will help to really bring him on.
“But it’s not just KK and Max. As I said last week, everybody is full of confidence, and they just want to get out there and race.”
Leicester have raced once this season, a narrow Challenge match win over Somerset, and hand a debut to Michael Palm Toft who has been signed as a short-term replacement for the injured Josh Bates.
Boss Simon Stead said: “We just need to get started. It’s obviously been a very frustrating start to the season for everybody, so fingers crossed we get some racing in over the next few days.
“We’ve got to go to two vastly different tracks in Rye House and Swindon, so it should be a good test for our boys to get the Premiership campaign started and we’ll hopefully get some points on the board.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
BELLE Vue reserve Dan Bewley says the Aces can overcome their early season injury problems when they visit Poole in their Premiership opener tonight (Wednesday).
The Aces had already brought in ex-Pirates rider Paul Starke as cover for Damian Drozdz following the Pole’s crash at Swindon last month, but then suffered the loss of captain Steve Worrall with a broken leg.
Richard Lawson comes in to guest at Wimborne Road, and the Aces have a second former Poole man in their middle-order in Rohan Tungate.
Bewley said: “It’s a big meeting for both teams. It’s one of the first Premiership fixtures this season and everyone wants to get off to a good start, so there’s no doubt Poole will be pulling some big punches.
“The advantage we have is that we’ve already got a couple of meetings under our belt. For us, it’s a case of getting ourselves dialled back in and picking up where we left off at Wimborne Road.
“Steve will be missed quite a lot. He was in tremendous form but Mark [Lemon] has brought in a great guest in Richard Lawson as cover so I think we’ve got a good shot at getting some points.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
ADAM Roynon has spoken of his pride at returning to Cradley to spearhead their National Trophy campaign.
Roynon rode for the Heathens in 2011 and 2012 but suffered a badly broken leg in their Grand Final decider against Mildenhall at the end of the latter campaign.
He said: “It feels great to be back and I want to thank everyone for the welcome, it means a lot.
“There’s obviously some unfinished business for me at this very special club and it was ironic they went on to win the league in two successive seasons after my crash.
“Now I’m back and I’ll be telling the young lads in the team what it means to ride for a club like this and the very special supporters.
“We also want to put the smile back on people’s faces because I understand they’ve had a couple of tough seasons and as far as I’m concerned this isn’t the end of league racing for Cradley, with the enthusiasm the fans have again I think they’ll be back.”
(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY APRIL 11:
PREMIERSHIP: King’s Lynn v Wolverhampton OFF, Poole v Belle Vue 7.30, Rye House v Leicester 7.30
NATIONAL TROPHY: Birmingham v Stoke OFF
THURSDAY APRIL 12:
PREMIERSHIP: Swindon v Leicester 7.30
CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield v Peterborough 7.30
CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD: Redcar v Scunthorpe 7.30
TRAVEL PLUS NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Belle Vue 7pm
FRIDAY APRIL 13:
CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD: Edinburgh v Workington 7.30, Glasgow v Berwick 7.30, Lakeside v Ipswich 8pm, Scunthorpe v Newcastle 7.30
NATIONAL TROPHY: Plymouth v Eastbourne 7.15
