SPEEDWAY News

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BIRMINGHAM have signed Polish international star Sebastian Ulamek for the 2012 Elite League season.Ulamek, who has 30 Grand Prix appearances under his belt, has been tempted back to British racing by the Brummies after spending the last few seasons in his home country and Sweden.Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “He’s won the title with Coventry and with all due respect the last time he raced here regularly the league was that little bit stronger than it is now and that’s why I believe he can improve on his average.“He’s beaten the best riders in the world throughout his career and if he can settle in quickly and start scoring big points for us from the start then he will become one of the top performers in the Elite League.”(SPEEDWAY 2)

BELLE Vue’s Danish star Charlie Gjedde has agreed a deal to return to the Aces next season.There was a question mark over Gjedde’s availability as he wanted to continue doubling-up with Premier League Newport and it wasn’t clear at first if he could race for them and the Aces.Team boss Jim Lynch said: “I was felt there was never any great doubt that he would be back but there was an issue over whether or not he would be allowed to continue doubling up with Newport.“He may have had to look at his plans if he hadn’t but he was cleared to do so by the Promoters’ Association.”

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WOLVERHAMPTON have completed their 2012 team plans by signing highly rated Dane Thomas Jorgensen.The youngster will double-up from Premier League Scunthorpe and will share one of the Wolves reserve slots with Ricky Wells. No.1 rider Freddie Lindgren will sign his contract in front of supporters at a Forum on Monday.Promoter Chris Van Straaten said: “We used Thomas at Birmingham last year and we were impressed with his attitude and enthusiasm.“We are happy to have him. We will give him opportunities at the start of the season – that’s the way we work and then it’s all up to him. As in any walk of life, the one that’s doing the best will get the matches.”

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DANNY Warwick has been revealed as the latest signing for the Isle of Wight in this year’s National League.Warwick was left on the sidelines at the start of 2011 but made a successful return to the Smallbrook Stadium and is now looking forward to a full season’s racing.He said: “It feels good to be sorted out early and able to get everything into place for next season, there have been very few times that I have had everything in place this early. “My aim is to get myself back up to where I was a couple of years ago. I really want to challenge Nick (Simmons) for the No.1 race-jacket, I know that I'm capable of it, but I just need to get more consistent.”

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BIRMINGHAM have handed a doubling-up position to highly-rated Australian youngster Tyson Nelson.18-year-old Nelson will share the spot at reserve with Josh Auty and will also ride for Premier League Rye House.Brummies boss Graham Drury said: “Tyson is a highly rated rider with a good style. We are in talks with Rye House owner Len Silver and if he does well enough for us we would consider making him a club asset. “We are very aware of the fact that our Elite League asset base is not as strong as it should be so Tyson is the type of rider who can fit the bill. He will share the team spot with Josh and then we will see how they go. We will allocate meetings as we see fit.”

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DUDLEY Heathens have been handed a double boost with talented teenagers Ashley Morris and Tom Perry agreeing new deals with the former Cradley club.Both riders, based in Wolverhampton, have spent the last two months in Australia on a racing holiday and new deals were quickly agreed on Thursday for them to spend a third successive season at the team’s adopted Monmore Green home.Heathens chairman Nigel Pearson said: “We’re delighted to have both Ash and Tom back on board and in all honesty I didn't really expect any problems, they were both as keen to come back to us as we were to have them.“They have been told what we expect of them this season. They are at a key stage of their development and we need to see progress from both riders because they both had ups and downs in 2011. We want to see them consistently on the up this year.”