British Speedway Weekly Bulletin

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KING'S Lynn promoter Keith Chapman says the forthcoming Elite League Pairs event at the Norfolk Arena on April 27 promises to provide a stunning night of racing.Chapman is delighted for the Stars to be staging the showpiece meeting as an Elite League track for the first time, enabling their own top two riders, Kenneth Bjerre and Niels-Kristian Iversen, to compete.The home pairing will be amongst the favourites, particularly bearing in mind the Stars' strong start to the season with several impressive results around their own circuit - but Chapman says the skill level amongst the top riders is so great that home advantage will count for little.He said: "It is obviously a great honour to be hosting this event and unlike the last time it was here, we actually have our own two riders, Kenneth and Niels, representing King's Lynn."They have some stiff competition though, with one of the strongest line ups in the competition I can remember."Obviously our own pairing does look strong and most fans would normally claim home advantage, but if we are successful then I would argue that this doesn't apply."The reason? It's a new home for both riders and they will be racing on one of the fairest tracks in the country."The Lynn duo will appear in Group A, which will mean they race against the partnerships of Wolverhampton, Peterborough, Birmingham and Swindon, with Bjerre's Grand Prix rival Fredrik Lindgren one half of the Wolves duo.Group B features defending champions Coventry, and although the Bees have a new combination this year in Hans Andersen and Edward Kennett, the Danish star is a twice former winner of the event - during his previous spell with the Bees in 2008, and with Poole in 2009.Last year's winning duo are both involved in the meeting, Krzysztof Kasprzak with Birmingham in Group A, and new Belle Vue skipper Chris Harris will face his former club in Group B along with the combinations of Lakeside, Eastbourne and Poole.The meeting format sees each pairing contest four qualifying heats, facing each of the other teams in their group, with the top two from each group then qualifying for the semi-finals, where the 4-3-2-0 scoring system could prove crucial.

GROUP A: Wolverhampton (Fredrik Lindgren/Tai Woffinden), Peterborough (Troy Batchelor/Linus Sundstrom), Birmingham (Krzysztof Kasprzak/Daniel King), King's Lynn (Kenneth Bjerre/Niels-Krisitian Iversen), Swindon (Scott Nicholls/Simon Stead).GROUP B: Coventry (Hans Andersen/Edward Kennett), Lakeside (Adam Shields/Lee Richardson), Belle Vue (Chris Harris/Rory Schlein), Eastbourne (Bjarne Pedersen/Joonas Kylmakorpi), Poole (Chris Holder, Davey Watt).

SUPER7EVEN SERIES SPEEDWAY GB EVENTSBRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENELITE LEAGUE PAIRS: King's Lynn, April 27 BRITISH FINAL: Wolverhampton, June 6 PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: Somerset, June 24 PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Leicester, August 7 PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, September 25 ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Swindon, October 15

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BELLE VUE have elected to switch their riding order for their Good Friday home clash with Wolverhampton, swapping Ricky Kling and Charlie Gjedde after Monday's defeat by Lakeside.Manager Jim Lynch said: "Gjedde was brilliant on Monday and was unbeaten by a Lakeside rider in his four programmed rides. He was making good starts and he showed what could be achieved. He will make us stronger in some races where we have been struggling if he goes at No.3."Also, I am hoping that Kling will benefit from being partnered with (Chris) Harris and that it will take the pressure off him a bit. We know he can do better and we need to do all we can to get his confidence up to the level where he can start to make a contribution."BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury has underlined the importance of the Brummies' Easter clashes with Swindon this week as they look to add to last week's home win over Lakeside.Drury said: "These are important meetings, it was nice to beat Lakeside at home last week, particularly after our heavy defeat at Eastbourne, but then we lost at Coventry."Hopefully we can continue to show some improvement and the two meetings against Swindon represent a good opportunity to do that."COVENTRY skipper Edward Kennett enjoyed the perfect start to the club's league campaign with a 15-point maximum against Birmingham, recording the five fastest times of the night.Kennett said: "We made a few changes to the set-up and even during the meeting I was making changes before every race when the track was changing, and I think over the last couple of years I haven't really done that."I'm enjoying being captain of the club and there is already a fantastic atmosphere in the pits with the boys who have come in. I always want to work with a winning team, and it's good that we're all talking with each other and getting on well, that really helps everyone."EASTBOURNE co-promoter Mike Bellerby says there is even more to come from the table-topping Eagles, who comfortably defeated Poole on Saturday before going close to an away win at Wolverhampton and taking a point from the match.Bellerby said: "There is such a buzz in the pits right now. Everybody from Bjarne (Pedersen) at number one, through to number seven is totally dialled in and determined to succeed."We honestly feel we can prove a match for anyone, be it home or away and with important matches to come over the Easter weekend we aim to show just what we can do - I believe we can get even better."KING'S LYNN boss Rob Lyon says the Stars are confident of maintaining their impressive home form on Good Friday when a Poole team containing plenty of track knowledge arrives at the Norfolk Arena.Lyon said: "I'm sure it will be a big test, and one of the things which will make it a good contest is the fact that Holder, Watt and Ward are no strangers to King's Lynn and, like a lot of the Aussies, they very much like the place and tend to score fairly freely here."That alone will make it a very interesting meeting I'm sure, but our boys are confident and they are 100 per cent committed to wanting to keep this winning run going."LAKESIDE boss Jon Cook said the Hammers' win at Belle Vue on Monday was just the tonic required after their away defeats at King's Lynn and Birmingham the previous week.Cook said: "Stuart (Douglas) and I were having serious concerns, as I am sure were our fans, as to whether the top five would ever all fire at the same time."But last night showed just what we are capable of when that happens, and the key now is to push forward and climb up the table in a season of very balanced teams."PETERBOROUGH Director of Speedway Peter Oakes says the club are expecting big things from major winter signing Linus Sundstrom, who will make his league debut for the club on Good Friday.Oakes said: "Linus is a super professional who worked hard throughout the winter despite the total uncertainty over what was happening."He has until this season spent all his British career on one of the smallest tracks in the country, but his performances against Coventry showed he is already getting dialled in to the bigger tracks."POOLE are looking forward to tracking a full-strength team for their Easter fixtures after the return from injury of Darcy Ward.Manager Neil Middleditch said: "It will be something of a novelty to have seven riders to look after. Hopefully we will see the collective effect of a full side, although to be honest we haven't done too badly so far have we?"It's great to have Darcy back and as he showed at the weekend he is really hungry for points and both Jason (Doyle) and Dennis (Andersson) have made terrific starts to the season. We need all three to maintain that form as we have a tough schedule ahead."SWINDON co-owner Gary Patchett says the Robins' new Danish signings Nicolai Klindt and Jesper B Monberg are both determined to be successful at Blunsdon.Patchett said: "Jesper is bringing his own equipment to the UK on Tuesday, driving over from Denmark, that's how important it is to him, he is desperate to do well for the club."And Nicolai realises he needs to be riding regularly to enhance his career. He is over the disappointment of losing his place with Wolves and just wants to focus on scoring points with us."WOLVERHAMPTON skipper Peter Karlsson pulled off a vital 5-1 with fellow Swede Freddie Lindgren for a last-heat 5-1 to give his side a narrow 46-44 win over top-of-the-table Eastbourne in a Monmore Green thriller.Karlsson said: "That must have been a great meeting to watch but it was very tense to ride in."There was a lot of pressure in the last race but thankfully Freddie and me were able to do the business. It's nice for the fans and we are really pleased with the result. Credit to Eastbourne, they are a great team."

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BERWICK boss Ian Rae felt a lack of heat winners had been the Bandits' downfall as they were unable to take any points from their first visit to the modified Glasgow circuit.Rae said: "For a while we managed to peg their scoring to a good level but we slightly lost our way later on and allowed them to get a few good heat wins under their belts, and with only five race wins to our name the win was always going to be a tough ask."EDINBURGH No.1 Kevin Wolbert showed he is right back to top form around his home circuit with a 15-point maximum, including a last-pass of Charlie Gjedde, in the Monarch's 49-44 win over Berwick.Wolbert said: "I got a new engine from Peter Carr at Birmingham and I don't even know what the cost of it is, but I don't care because it is worth it!"GLASGOW co-promoter Alan Dick was satisfied with the opening meeting on the new Ashfield circuit, with the Tigers securing a 50-39 win over Berwick for all three Premier League points.Dick said: "We have had a very good meeting in front of a very healthy crowd with the team getting all the points.  Although the track is not anywhere near at the quality we know it will produce in the next few weeks, there was plenty of exciting racing to keep everyone happy and enough to suggest that as the weeks go on, the racing will become top notch."IPSWICH skipper Kevin Doolan scored a paid maximum in the Witches' comfortable home win over Workington - and said relaxation was the key following their home defeat seven days earlier.Doolan said: "I think we were all too tense last week. We all came here much more relaxed tonight and proved again what happens when we all click. A great result and it should set us up for a good meeting against Sheffield on Good Friday."LEICESTER are waiting for news on the extent of a shoulder injury suffered by Russian rider Ilya Bondarenko, who was involved in a crash at Newcastle on Sunday.Promoter David Hemsley said: "We're awaiting the results of a CT scan on llya, and we're having a specialist look at him on Saturday, so we'll have to see where things go from there. It's really disappointing because his scores and his riding have been very encouraging."NEWCASTLE boss George English was pleased to see his side overcome Leicester at home to avenge a defeat at Beaumont Park the previous evening.English said: "We were a little slow early on, but with the likes of Mark (Lemon) and his perfect five ride maximum, backed up by Stuart (Robson) and Derek's (Sneddon) excellent returns we were onto a confident win which was well received by our supporters on a chilly night."NEWPORT turned around a disappointing start to the season with a stunning win at Rye House on Saturday - just 24 hours after being beaten by the same opposition on their own circuit. The Wasps are building up to an away trip to Redcar on Thursday, followed by a home clash with Edinburgh on Saturday.PLYMOUTH promoter Mike Bowden acknowledged Joe Screen had been the star of the night with a 15-point maximum on his guest appearance for the USA Touring Team in the first meeting of the season at the St Boniface Arena.Bowden said: "Joe Screen contributed to a very entertaining meeting. His performance was top class and I believe his form was typical of what we can expect to see from visiting number one riders this season."REDCAR boss Jitendra Duffill is expecting a tough battle against Newport on Thursday, with the South Wales side having turned around their early-season form with a shock win at Rye House.Duffill said: "Even with Matej Kus back from international duty for the Czech Republic we will not be complacent against a side that contains a wily top two in Leigh Lanham and Kyle Legault plus a rider in Kim Nilsson who has always shown a liking for our racetrack since his stunning British debut here in September 2009."RYE HOUSE experienced mixed emotions over the weekend, starting with an emphatic away win at Newport courtesy of four 5-1s in the last four races, with Jordan Frampton scoring a maximum - but the Wasps turned the tables the following night, condemning the Rockets to their second home defeat of the season.SCUNTHORPE have moved to sign 2010 British Under-21 Champion Joe Haines as a replacement for broken leg victim Carl Wilkinson.Manager Richard Hollingsworth said: "It is great news that we have signed Joe to cover for Carl. Joe will make his debut at Somerset on Friday, and then we have the double header on Easter Monday. We've got Somerset in the Premier League and then the Saints take on King's Lynn."SHEFFIELD star Josh Auty says there will be no panic buttons pressed at Owlerton following their home defeat at the hands of in-form Somerset last Thursday.Auty said: "Somerset had a rider missing and it seemed to make them stronger, but that's not an excuse it's just perhaps one of the reasons why they were able to beat us. It's a great result for them. But I don't think there's any need for us to panic at Sheffield, it's still very early days in the season and there is a long way to go."SOMERSET promoter Debbie Hancock is taking nothing for granted as the Rebels bid to continue their storming start to the season in their Good Friday home clash with Scunthorpe.She said: "We might be top of the league and holding an unbeaten record, but I can assure everyone that there is no way any complacency will be allowed to set in. We fought hard to attain away victories at Ipswich and Sheffield, two of the more fancied teams in the Premier League, plus our away win at Newport as well, and we are in no mood to let that good work go to waste."WORKINGTON promoter Keith Denham said his side had been given a real scare by a Redcar team inspired by Gary Havelock and ex-Comet Adam Roynon.Denham said: "There were some points during the night were I was getting frightened that we weren't going to get the three points. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake but it didn't work out that way. I am pleased, at the end of the day all you want is exciting racing and the right result, and I think we got both."

FIXTURE PICTURE...

TUESDAY APRIL 19:NATIONAL SHIELD 1st leg: Dudley v Buxton 7.30 PETE REDFERN MEMORIAL TROPHY: Isle of Wight v Sittingbourne Select 7.30

WEDNESDAY APRIL 20:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Swindon 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: King's Lynn v Mildenhall 7.30

THURSDAY APRIL 21:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Birmingham 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Newport 7.30, Sheffield v Ipswich 7.45

FRIDAY APRIL 22:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 1pm, Birmingham v Swindon 7.30, Coventry v Peterborough 8pm, Eastbourne v Lakeside 7.45, King's Lynn v Poole 7pm, Lakeside v Eastbourne 1pm, Peterborough v Coventry 11am PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Leicester 7.30, Ipswich v Sheffield 2.30, Somerset v Scunthorpe 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Hackney v Stoke (at Lakeside) (follows EL fixture)

SATURDAY APRIL 23:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Workington 7pm, Leicester v Rye House 7.30, Newport v Edinburgh 7pm

SUNDAY APRIL 24:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Eastbourne 3pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Newcastle 4pm NATIONAL SHIELD 2nd leg: Buxton v Dudley 3pm

MONDAY APRIL 25:PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Glasgow 7.30, Rye House v Leicester 2pm, Scunthorpe v Somerset 5.30, Workington v Berwick 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Scunthorpe v King's Lynn (follows PL fixture)

TUESDAY APRIL 26:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Wolverhampton v Belle Vue 7.30CHALLENGE: Isle of Wight v Birmingham Bulls 7.30

WEDNESDAY APRIL 27:ELITE LEAGUE PAIRS: King's Lynn 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Isle of Wight 7.30

THURSDAY APRIL 28:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Peterborough v Eastbourne 7.30, Swindon v Poole 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Redcar 7.30, Sheffield v Glasgow 7.45

FRIDAY APRIL 29:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Swindon 7.45, Lakeside v Birmingham 8pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Scunthorpe 7.30, Newport v Workington 7pm, Plymouth v Sheffield 7.30, Redcar v Ipswich 7.30, Somerset v Newcastle 7.30

SATURDAY APRIL 30:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Plymouth 7pm, Leicester v Somerset 7.30, Workington v Newport 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Hackney v Belle Vue (at Rye House) 7pm

SUNDAY MAY 1:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Plymouth 4pm, Newcastle v Sheffield 6.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Buxton v Stoke 3pmCHALLENGE: Birmingham Bulls v Dudley 6.30

MONDAY MAY 2:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Birmingham 3pm, Swindon v Eastbourne 8pm, Wolverhampton v Lakeside 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Rye House 2.15, Rye House v Ipswich 7.45 Scunthorpe v Edinburgh 5pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Newport v Buxton 2.30, Scunthorpe v Hackney (follows PL fixture)

TUESDAY MAY 3:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v Scunthorpe 7.30

WEDNESDAY MAY 4:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: King's Lynn v Eastbourne 7.30, Poole v Lakeside 7.30


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