British Speedway Weekly Bulletin

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 JASON Garrity completed a spectacular double success with victory in the National League Riders’ Championship at Rye House.The Belle Vue youngster, who has recently started gaining Premier League experience with Leicester, topped the standings with 12 points at the end of a competitive meeting to add the NLRC to his win in the British Under-19 Championship earlier in the season at the same venue.

Garrity’s success was achieved in against-the-odds fashion as he recovered from a last place in his first ride to reel off four straight wins and finish on twelve points – one clear of his Colts team-mate Kyle Howarth, with Jay Herne (Newport) defeating Robert Branford (Buxton) in a run-off for third.Garrity said: “I actually made a pretty good start in my first race, but everyone else just bungled up in the bends. That’s speedway, isn’t it? I did the same thing in the U19s when I won that. I was excluded in my first race then, and won every other.

“You know, I like hard racing and it’s a matter of fact that you can’t expect to go out and have an easy ride; it’s got to be hard. So there it was; it was hard.

“Everything is going well at the moment - I was at Somerset last night (for Leicester) and got a few points. I just need to keep the focus up for the rest of the season, and then start again in 2012.”Howarth, who forms a strong top two with Garrity in Belle Vue’s National League team, also believes he is reaping the benefits of experience at Premier League level.

He said: “It’s been great tonight. I struggled a little at first in terms of gating, but I got a few good gates as the meeting wore on which made a big difference. I didn’t put too much pressure on myself; I just went out there to enjoy my racing.

“It’s been great at Edinburgh as well. The track has been tremendous, but more importantly I’ve just been enjoying it – that’s the main thing, really. I want to keep the good work up until the end of the season.”*THE Great Britain Young Lions management have announced plans to stage the first-ever 125cc British Final.Eastbourne will host the event, and it will take place after the Eagles’ Knockout cup clash with Poole at Arlington on Saturday September 17.

GB Youth co-boss Neil Vatcher said: “The format will be twelve of the current British Youth riders currently signed up for the series, and it will be run over twelve heats and then a Final for the top four.“We would like to thank Martin Dugard, Mike Corby and the Eastbourne promotion for helping to organise this event, and if all goes well we hope to be able to run it annually.”

Line-up (not in riding order): Tom Brennan, Jack Collins, Kenny Bowdery, Kieran Vaughan, Lewis Whitmore, Henry Atkins, Luke Woodhull, Ben Woodhull, Jack P Blackburn, Kean Dicken, Macauley Leek, Saul Bulley.

SUPER7EVEN SERIES SPEEDWAY GB EVENTSBRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENELITE LEAGUE PAIRS: POOLEBRITISH FINAL: SCOTT NICHOLLSPREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: GLASGOWPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS:  Date TBCPREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, September 25 ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Swindon, October 15

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BELLE VUE manager Jim Lynch has dropped a big hint that the club will be keen to bring Rory Schlein – who has recently taken over as the Aces’ No.1 – back to Kirkmanshulme Lane next season.Lynch said: “Rory has shown great improvement and great consistency this season. I would put 80 per cent of it down to him and 20 per cent of it down to Belle Vue for helping him and for respecting him as a rider.“I am a great believer in respecting riders. I don’t like to see them referred to as club assets. Clubs will all be looking to put together teams for next season and we should respect riders’ desires when we are doing it.”BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury is incensed by the ban suffered by No.1 rider Krzysztof Kasprzak, who has again been prevented from racing by his Polish club Tarnow.Drury said: “This has gone beyond a joke. First and foremost they are denying the lad a living which is totally unfair and I questioned the legality of it when they banned him in April.“I told them and KK himself that I would only have him back at Birmingham if I had it in writing that they would not pull the trick again. They stated in writing that they had no intention of imposing any further ban on Krzystof Kasprzak later this season and then this happens.”COVENTRY skipper Ryan Fisher is determined for the Bees to keep their play-off hopes alive with a positive result likely to be necessary when they race at Eastbourne next Monday – for the second time in nine days.Fisher said: “We can definitely still get in, and hopefully the fact we’re going back to Eastbourne so soon after Saturday will help us. We’ve got to get points there, and then win at home, and we can do it.“I wish we’d got a point there this time, it was disappointing after the results earlier in the week, but hopefully we can go back and do it next week.”EASTBOURNE are looking ahead to the play-offs for the first time since 2005, having secured their place with maximum points in Saturday’s home double-header against Wolverhampton and Coventry.Team manager Trevor Geer said: “We started the season well and the boys have got better as the year has gone on. I always believed we would get through.”Fellow co-promoter Mike Bellerby added: “It has been a fantastic night of speedway. Everything went according to plan. There was a brilliant atmosphere in the stadium.”KING’S LYNN boss Rob Lyon says there will be no under-estimating the threat provided by Birmingham as the Stars look to secure a play-off place with victory over the Brummies on Wednesday.Lyon said: “Birmingham made the move up from the Premier League alongside us this season, and to be honest we have quite a history from our time their together. They stopped our celebrations for 100 straight home wins when they came here and beat us in our 99th meeting, so there is definitely no love lost between us and I am pretty sure Graham Drury would take great satisfaction if he was to come here and spoil our celebrations once again.“With that in mind and the fact that Birmingham have hit some form of late I expect an extremely tough meeting, but we will put everything on the line for this meeting and give it 110%. We want a place in the title play-offs more than anything else in the world.”LAKESIDE co-promoter Jon Cook reflected on a terrific night for the club on Friday, as the Hammers reached their 46-point target with a hard-fought victory over Birmingham.Cook said: “That was one for the fans. They have been absolutely superb this year and their level of support has never dipped even during our lean form of the early season. Crowd figures are up for the fifth year running and to get the level of support we enjoyed on a rearranged fixture, with England playing football, blew us away. “The atmosphere created was superb and the reception afforded to Lee (Richardson) and JD (Jonas Davidsson) on their extra lap of honour after Heat 15 sent all the team and our hardworking backroom staff away absolutely buzzing.”PETERBOROUGH legend Hans Andersen will return to the club for Thursday’s Elite League trip to Swindon, having agreed to see out the season with the Panthers as a replacement for Nicki Pedersen who is to concentrate on his Grand Prix campaign.Andersen said: “I never burned my bridges with the club and it’s no secret that I always fancied coming back one day. Straight away the door was opened, I made sure I walked through.“It should be a great move for me as I live around here, I know the people here and I have good memories of the place, I’ll never forget 2006 in particular when we showed what you can achieve when everyone gets on.”POOLE star Chris Holder is determined there will be no repeat of 2010 for the Pirates, who will top the Elite League table going into the play-offs for a second successive season and are now looking to finish the job after having to settle for the runners-up place last year.Holder said: “That is something we don’t want to do again, and I don’t think it will happen again. I think that is something you do once and never again.“I am not sure who we will choose in the play-offs, but it is going to be tough. All the teams in the play-offs are good at home and away, so we will have to be on our A-game.”SWINDON have confirmed that Russian rider Sergey Darkin is the man to make way for Danish youngster Mikkel B Jensen, who will join the Robins for their final team fixtures of the season.Co-promoter Gary Patchett said: “Sergey did his job for us and in many ways he is the unlucky one. We wish him all the best and thank him for his efforts.“Everyone knows it’s been a tough season and we are already casting an eye towards 2012 by bringing in someone of Mikkel’s talent.”WOLVERHAMPTON boss Peter Adams praised the efforts of Ty Proctor, who gained two crucial wins in Monday’s local derby win over Birmingham before missing his last ride due to an ongoing leg injury.Adams said: “Ty’s performance was remarkable, he really gave it a go and he deserves great credit when you consider the conditions.“He had a real go but he was in agony after that third ride and had to be helped off the bike, there was no way he could continue. But it’s a good job he contributed those six vital points because without them we would have been in serious trouble, so he deserves great praise.”

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BERWICK endured another wet Saturday night with their home clash against Plymouth abandoned after 12 heats with the Bandits well ahead and the result standing.Manager Ian Rae said: “Once again I have to – in most cases – congratulate the riders for their great attitude and determination to get the meeting run, but the rain wouldn’t let up and the official in charge had no option but to call it a day. Maybe the weather might be kind when Sheffield call next Saturday night.”EDINBURGH promoter John Campbell has admitted to have drawn a blank in his efforts to change his side’s line-up for the final weeks of the campaign.Campbell said: “I would have liked to have changed the team and I’ve been trying to do that for weeks, but there is simply no-one available.”GLASGOW’S Christian Henry has been ruled out for the remainder of the season with a collarbone injury – but co-promoter Stewart Dickson is determined not to allow that to adversely affect their title charge.Dickson said: “Not having Christian for the rest of the season is a big blow. However, our team has been designed to be able to cope with the loss of any rider and now we hope that the likes of Theo (Pijper) can produce the kind of performance that we know he can and the rest of the lads can continue to cover for the absent Henry.”IPSWICH collected their fourth away win of the season by holding on for a 47-46 result at Newcastle on Sunday, having seen a ten-point lead slashed in the closing stages.Manager Pete Simmons said: “It was nice to get the win, but we nearly threw it away. We had the meeting sewn up, but at ten ahead they had a chance of a tactical ride in Heat 13 and they nearly got an 8-1 with it. Kevin Doolan had to ride well to split he Diamonds boys.”LEICESTER promoter David Hemsley says his side gave a positive display at Somerset on Friday, where they came agonisingly close to gaining an away point.Hemsley said: “Somerset have been beaten at home only once all season and to be in with a chance of a match point speaks volumes for how the riders applied themselves.”NEWCASTLE boss George English paid tribute to guest Shane Parker, who came close to inspiring a Diamonds comeback from ten points down at home to Ipswich, only for the Witches to snatch the meeting by a single point.English said: “The comeback was magnificent bearing in mind how much ground we lost in the early heats, and it’s just a shame we lost out in the last heat, but Derek (Sneddon) was right up against the toughest duo Ipswich could put out. Shane Parker did a superb job guesting for us and some of his passing had to be seen to be believed. A great guest by anyone’s standards.”NEWPORT skipper Leigh Lanham says the forthcoming Knockout Cup semi-final is a big target for the in-form Wasps to chase this month.Lanham said: “One battle all the boys are looking forward to is the KO Cup against Workington as this is our big chance to bring some silverware to Newport. Victory would mean a final with either Newcastle or Glasgow.”PLYMOUTH are looking to Travis McGowan to bring them back up to strength with a series of injuries continuing to cause problems in their first Premier League season.Promoter Mike Bowden said: “We need to bring in another rider because we have spent too long using the rider replacement facility for injured team members. It means other riders having to go out in additional races and that has been placing too much of a burden on them.”REDCAR stage the Julie Lewis Memorial Trophy on Thursday, the meeting in honour of the former office manager both at their current track and at Cleveland Park from the 1960s.Co-promoter Chris Van Straaten said: “Julie was a formidable lady who ran the office firmly but fairly. It is a sign of the respect that she was held in that Redcar Speedway is pleased to hold an event in her memory and with such a range of riding talent on display. This will be a great night of speedway racing with the overall winner hard to predict at this stage.”RYE HOUSE manager John Sampford couldn’t contain his disappointment at the Rockets’ narrow defeat at Plymouth, with the Devils securing the win thanks to a last-heat 5-1.Sampford said: “There was a whole catalogue of things going wrong, which cost us points – and ultimately the match. The killer blow was Chris (Neath) having his bike seize just before Heat 1. He had just spent a grand on that engine and then that happens. I know we came away with an away match point, but it doesn’t feel like a consolation at the moment.”SCUNTHORPE maintained their top-six position with a 49-41 home win over Somerset in a meeting which contained plenty of good racing despite the unfortunate injury suffered by the Rebels’ Christian Hefenbrock.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We were really up against it without Tero (Aarnio) and Richard (Hall) today but we dug deep and ground out a really important result. We’re pleased to have got the bonus point, and I would like to wish Christian Hefenbrock a speedy recovery.”SHEFFIELD star Ricky Ashworth says the Tigers have been frustrated by some inconsistency which has prevented them from enjoying an even stronger season.Ashworth said: “We have dropped points when we’ve been away from home and at times when we should have taken them. It’s just been little things here and there which have held us back and that’s a frustration for me. But we still have the chance to finish in the top three which would be a good achievement.”SOMERSET manager Steve Bishop praised recent signing James Wright after a stunning home debut against Leicester, including a memorable Heat 15 burst to secure all three points.Bishop said: “James’ performance on Friday night certainly gave everyone a lift, especially the fans who loved the way he came storming through from the back to take his wins.”WORKINGTON star Richard Lawson would have missed the club’s postponed home fixture against Ipswich with a shoulder injury – but he expects to return this weekend.Lawson said: “I have got a couple of physio sessions booked in, and because I have had this injury before I know what it is like so I should be OK for next week. I will see if I am fit enough for the Ipswich match on Thursday but my main concern is getting back for the Edinburgh match on Saturday and Newcastle on Sunday.”FIXTURE PICTURE…

OFF

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 7:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Birmingham 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Edinburgh 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Newport 8pm

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 8:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Peterborough 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Workington 7.30, Sheffield v Rye House 7.45 JULIE LEWIS MEMORIAL: Redcar 7.30

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Somerset 7.30, Plymouth v Newcastle 7.30, Scunthorpe v Redcar 7.30

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Sheffield 7pm, Workington v Edinburgh 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Hackney 7.30

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 11:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Somerset 4pm, Newcastle v Workington 6.30, Rye House v Plymouth 2pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Stoke 3pm, Hackney v Scunthorpe (follows PL fixture), Newport v Belle Vue 2.30 IVOR BROWN TROPHY: Leicester v Dudley 7pm BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 5: Sittingbourne 12pm

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 12:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Coventry 7.30, Peterborough v Swindon 7.30, Wolverhampton v Belle Vue 7.30

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 13:NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Isle of Wight v Mildenhall 7.30

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 14:ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 1st leg: Poole v Eastbourne 7.30 ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Belle Vue v Peterborough 8pm

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 15:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v King’s Lynn 7.30 ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Peterborough v Belle Vue 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Plymouth 7.30, Sheffield v Newcastle 7.45

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 16:PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Workington 7.30, Scunthorpe v Leicester 7.30, Somerset v Redcar 7.30

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 17:ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Eastbourne v Poole 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Rye House 7pm, Leicester v Somerset 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 1st leg: Newport v Workington 7pm

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 18:PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Workington v Newport 7pm PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 1st leg: Glasgow v Newcastle 2.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Isle of Wight 3pmCHALLENGE: Rye House v King’s Lynn 2pm

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19:GARY PETERSON MEMORIAL: Wolverhampton 7.30

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 20:CHALLENGE: Dudley v Birmingham Bulls 7.30

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 21:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Edinburgh 7.30


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