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LINE-UPS have been declared for the World Under-21 Team Cup semi-final at Lakeside on May 27.Great Britain take on Denmark, Australia and the Czech Republic in the high-profile event being staged at the Purfleet venue, with the nations bidding for qualification to the Final in Poland in September.Britsh U21 bosses Phil Morris and Neil Vatcher have selected a team which reads: Richie Worrall, Joe Haines, Kyle Howarth, Steve Worrall and Kyle Newman, having initially named an eight-man squad following the recent national Under-21 Final.All of the Australian rides are regulars in the British Leagues, with Poole star Ward joined by Sam Masters (Somerset/Poole), Alex Davies (Somerset), Nick Morris (Swindon) and Dakota North (Ipswich/Birmingham), and the team is managed by current Newcastle rider Mark Lemon.The Danish side also has plenty of UK experience with Jensen adapting well to the Purfleet circuit by taking two race wins during Peterborough’s recent Elite League fixture there.Lasse Bjerre (Leicester/Peterborough) and Thomas Jorgensen (Scunthorpe/Wolverhampton) are also named by Danish boss Anders Secher, as well as Mikkel B Jensen who rode in last year’s Danish Grand Prix as a Wild Card.The Czech Republic are very much the unknown quantities in the event, having booked their place by edging out hosts Ukraine in a close-fought qualifier last month.DENMARK (Red): Mikkel B Jensen, Mikkel Michelsen, Thomas Jorgensen, Lasse Bjerre, Michael Jepsen Jensen.GREAT BRITAIN (Blue): Richie Worrall, Joe Haines, Kyle Howarth, Steve Worrall, Kyle Newman.CZECH REPUBLIC (White): Vaclav Milik, Eduard Krcmar, Roman Cejka, Ondrej Veverka, Zdenek Holub.AUSTRALIA (Yellow): Sam Masters, Alex Davies, Nick Morris, Darcy Ward, Dakota North.SPEEDWAYGB EVENTS SERIES:BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: JOE HAINESPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Peterborough, Sunday July 15BRITISH FINAL: Wolverhampton, Monday July 30PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: Somerset, Friday August 24PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, Sunday September 23ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Swindon, Saturday October 20
NATIONAL LEAGUE MAJOR EVENT DATES:NATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Stoke, Sunday June 10NATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: Mildenhall, Sunday July 22NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Rye House, Saturday September 15
BRITISH SPEEDWAY FIM EVENT DATES:WORLD UNDER-21 TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL: Lakeside, May 27GRAND PRIX QUALIFIER: Berwick, June 16WORLD UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP Round 3: Coventry, August 17
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BELLE VUE MD David Gordon has announced the club are targeting the start of next season for racing to open at the club’s £6m new stadium.The Aces boss has given a definite target after detailed negotiations, and the actual building should take six months.Gordon said: “Things have been very quiet for a long time while Chris Morton and I have been doing the hard yards of the detailed negotiations with meetings on an almost daily basis. But everything we have dreamed about is getting closer.”BIRMINGHAM boss Phil Morris admitted the Brummies had had to do a professional job in difficult circumstances when they won at Belle Vue on Monday.Morris said: “It was a difficult night for everyone after what happened to Lee (Richardson) on Sunday. Obviously Belle Vue were badly hit by Rory Schlein’s injury, but we had to do the job and take the opportunity.“We wanted to win by as many points as possible because you never know, points scored or indeed points difference at the end of the season can be crucial when it comes to league positions.”COVENTRY are waiting on Kenni Larsen’s fitness ahead of their home clash with Peterborough on Friday after the Dane crashed heavily in his home country last week.Larsen suffered concussion and would have missed Monday’s postponed fixture against Lakeside as a result.Bees co-boss Colin Pratt said: “I spoke to Kenni over the weekend and he was due to have some scans and then get back to me. Obviously we’re all hoping we can have him back with us for the Peterborough match.”EASTBOURNE star Joonas Kylmakorpi remains on the sidelines having suffered a setback in his recovery from a shoulder injury when he went for practice.Kylmakorpi said: “I just hope nothing is broken. It would be disastrous, it would be the end of the season for me.“I had been feeling pretty good before the practice started. It’s always different when you get on the bike, though, with all the vibration.”LAKESIDE owner Stuart Douglas has confirmed Friday’s home meeting against Swindon will go ahead as planned, and will be staged in memory of captain Lee Richardson.Douglas said: “Sometimes the dangers the riders face in this sport are sidelined in the competitive spirit, but this proves just how brave speedway riders are. Our club, and the speedway family around the world, are left totally bereft by this tragedy.“We intend to race at Poole on Wednesday and the club will stage Friday’s meeting with Swindon in memory of a rider who was a star for both clubs.“Jon (Cook), myself and all the management and supporters of the Lakeside Hammers join together to send our love and prayers to Lee’s lovely young family at this tragic time. RIP Lee. God bless you.”KING’S LYNN boss Rob Lyon says Stars’ top man Niels-Kristian Iversen is now proving himself to be a No.1 in all of his league racing.Lyon said: “Niels is in great form this season. I think a lot of that is down to confidence – he’s had an injury-free run over the last year or so after all his shoulder problems in the past, and he’s got confidence in his engines which are going how he wants them. “His clutches are set-up well so he’s happy with everything and it’s showing in his gating and in his general riding. He’s certainly happy at King’s Lynn and I think his performances in Sweden and Poland have shown he’s a force to be reckoned with, which is great news for all of his clubs and of course himself!”PETERBOROUGH co-boss Trevor Swales says there are no panic buttons being pressed following a week which saw the Panthers gain a point from a narrow defeat at Birmingham but then be beaten heavily at Lakeside.Swales said: “It was like starting all over again at Birmingham on Thursday, and while you have to be reasonably pleased to pick up a point on the road, we left there with a tinge of disappointment that it wasn’t more.“Lakeside was one of those meetings best consigned to the archives and left there. It was a bad night and some riders are having teething problems which is obviously down to the lack of meetings we’ve had.”POOLE and Great Britain boss Neil Middleditch says he has fond memories of working with Lee Richardson at international level – with the 2004 World Cup a particular highlight.Middleditch said: “The emotion that ran through the camp that year was incredible. I was proud to be the manager and Lee epitomised how I wanted the boys to ride – as soon as that suit went on, he was fully focused on the racing.“With regard to tomorrow (Wednesday), what do you say to the boys? We will ride in Lee’s memory and dedicate the meeting to him, but it is going to be very hard to race. We have to go on, but Lee won’t be forgotten.”SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter admits the club face a fixture headache after an almost unprecedented run of postponements over the last month.Rossiter said: “We had a bit of rain in the first few years I rode here, but I’ve never known a period like this. Eight rain-offs has been a nightmare.“It may be that we have to run against the Olympics, but I’m not too worried about that, as we’re on a Thursday I don’t think it will affect us too much.”WOLVERHAMPTON star Tai Woffinden is facing up to a spell on the sidelines after suffering a broken scaphoid in Monday night's Gary Peterson Memorial meeting at Monmore Green.Woffinden said: "There is too much swelling to establish how bad it is, but they could see a line through the bone which means it's broken."They've put my arm and wrist in a cast and told me to go back and see them in a week when hopefully a lot of the swelling will have gone down."PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…
BERWICK ran up by far their biggest win of the season with a 65-28 demolition of Redcar at Shielfield Park on Saturday.Bandits boss Ian Rae said: “That was pure domination from top to bottom and it’s just a shame Jay (Jason King) ended up in hospital and unable to enjoy the celebrations. I’d also like to congratulate Ulrich Ostergaard who at least made the meeting exciting with his thrilling racing where many of his colleagues failed to live up to the mark.”EDINBURGH endured a second difficult visit to Workington of the season in going down 58-34 at Derwent Park in the Premier League.Monarchs director Mike Hunter said: “Improved results from our top three gave us some late consolation. It’s still some way from being a good score but there are no easy points against the powerhouse Comets at home, and we didn’t help ourselves by gaining only two points from our TR rides.”GLASGOW were boosted by gaining a point from a rain-shortened meeting at Scunthorpe on Friday, skipper Joe Screen recovering from a first-ride retirement to win his next two outings.The Tigers are next in action this Sunday when they face Redcar at Ashfield in another Premier League fixture.IPSWICH boss Pete Simmons has stressed to his team that all three points are required from their home League Cup clash with Plymouth on Thursday.It’s the Witches final home match in the group with trips to Plymouth and Rye House to come as they look to maintain a top two position and qualify for the semi-finals.LEICESTER mounted a dramatic recovery from ten points down to edge out Scunthorpe at Beaumont Park and maintain their winning run in the Premier League.Co-promoter Alan Jones said: “We have never come back from ten points down before and won, so that is a first, and against one of the in-form teams so far this season it is a measure of where we currently are as a club.”NEWCASTLE manager George English says his team were warned not to under-estimate Sheffield ahead of a solid Diamonds display to defeat the Tigers 54-38.English said: “Sheffield have scored 40 in their last two matches, proving they’re not a bad side and early on there were signs we could have had problems. But we eventually got a stranglehold on the match and took a good win to add more league points to our already impressive total.”PLYMOUTH boss Mike Bowden is in optimistic mood ahead of the Devils’ KO Cup clash with Glasgow this Friday.Bowden said: “We hope to make progress in the cup and will be looking to build a healthy lead on Friday to take up to Glasgow for the second leg on May 27. We will be looking for better luck than we had in last Saturday’s home defeat by Somerset in our opening Premier League fixture.”REDCAR promoter Brian Havelock believes the club’s recent spate of home postponements has had a bearing on their away results, including in a heavy loss at Berwick on Saturday.Havelock said: “We’re lacking matches on our home track and we’ve lost a bit of confidence. I’m not too despondent although I feel sorry for our travelling fans because they’re not seeing their team do any good away from home at the moment.”RYE HOUSE boss John Sampford believes his side have the ability to bounce back quickly from a home Premier League defeat against Newcastle.Sampford said: “Full credit to the Diamonds; they are a very good side. We are obviously disappointed to lose two on the bounce at home. Newcastle and Somerset are both powerful sides this year, but there are more than two teams in the League, and our aim has to be to battle back and still finish in the top six in order to make the championship play-offs.”SCUNTHORPE boss Richard Hollingsworth said there was still a positive to take from the Scorpions’ defeat at Leicester, after Josh Auty and Jerran Hart had to pull out due to Heat 9 crashes, with the visitors still taking an away point.Hollingsworth said: “I was actually very proud of the way that Ashley Birks, Tero Aarnio and Thomas Jørgensen battled away, and also Josh before he was injured. They put in top notch performances, and didn’t really deserve to be on the losing side.”SHEFFIELD promoter Neil Machin described the Tigers’ performance at Newcastle as “disjointed” in a 38-54 defeat last Sunday.Machin said: “It was a fairly disjointed performance and everyone found the track difficult. That isn’t sour grapes, Newcastle deserved their win. They have a powerhouse reserve partnership and they outpointed us at the bottom. It was disappointing but now we move on and focus on this week’s meetings with Redcar.”SOMERSET assistant boss Garry May praised the all-round effort of the Rebels in winning at Plymouth last weekend, reserve Kyle Newman top-scoring with paid-16.May said: “It was a great effort by not just Kyle, but every member of the team. Kyle’s was the obvious stand-out performance of the night, especially given that he was still not feeling 100% after his recent bout of illness, though in highlighting Kyle’s contribution, there were telling performances from the likes of Doyley (Jason Doyle) and Sam (Masters) as well as the rest of the team.”WORKINGTON are looking to carry their good start to the season into this weekend’s home and away Knockout Cup tie with Scunthorpe.Comets boss Tony Jackson said: “At the start of the campaign they were one of the sides that I tipped as a good bet to take one of the play-off places come the end of the year, and their start to the season has only confirmed my initial thoughts. I’m sure both sets of riders will be eager to make progress in the competition with the winners of this tie going on to get two more meetings against Leicester in the next round.”
FIXTURE PICTURE…
WEDNESDAY MAY 16:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Lakeside 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Dudley 7.30
THURSDAY MAY 17:PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Redcar 7.45LEAGUE CUP: Ipswich v Plymouth 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 18:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Peterborough 8pm, Lakeside v Swindon 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Leicester 7.30, Redcar v Sheffield 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Plymouth v Glasgow 7.30, Scunthorpe v Workington 7.30
SATURDAY MAY 19:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Swindon 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Ipswich 7pmPREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Workington v Scunthorpe 7pmLEAGUE CUP: Rye House v Leicester 7pm
SUNDAY MAY 20:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Redcar 4pm, Newcastle v Ipswich 6.30LEAGUE CUP: Leicester v Plymouth 6pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Isle of Wight 3pm
MONDAY MAY 21:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Eastbourne 7.30, Peterborough v Birmingham 7.30ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Wolverhampton v Poole 7.30
TUESDAY MAY 22:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Ipswich 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v King’s Lynn 7.30, Isle of Wight v Stoke 7.30
WEDNESDAY MAY 23:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Peterborough 7.30, King’s Lynn v Wolverhampton 7.30
THURSDAY MAY 24:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Poole 7.30, Swindon v Peterborough 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Rye House 7.45PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Ipswich v Somerset 7.30, Redcar v Newcastle 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 25:PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Scunthorpe 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Edinburgh v Rye House 7.30
SATURDAY MAY 26:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Glasgow 7pm, Leicester v Somerset 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Rye House v Edinburgh 7pmLEAGUE CUP: Workington v Newcastle 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Buxton 7.30
SUNDAY MAY 27:WORLD UNDER-21 TEAM CUP SEMI-FINAL: Lakeside 4pmPREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Glasgow v Plymouth 4pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Stoke 3pm, Mildenhall v Rye House 4.30, Scunthorpe v King’s Lynn 3pm, Scunthorpe v Dudley (follows previous fixture).
MONDAY MAY 28:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Swindon 7.30, Coventry v Birmingham 7.30, Wolverhampton v Peterborough 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Newcastle v Redcar 7.30
TUESDAY MAY 29:NATIONAL SHIELD 2nd leg: Dudley v Mildenhall 7.30
WEDNESDAY MAY 30:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Lakeside 7.30ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Poole v Wolverhampton 7.30
