(SPEEDWAY 1)
BRITISH duo Chris Harris and Danny King both made it through a weather-affected Grand Prix qualifier in front of a big crowd at Berwick.Harris scored a 15-point maximum despite suffering a heavy spill when King fell in front of him in Heat 12 – and King also emerged relatively unscathed to score 12, the pair being joined on the rostrum by second-placed Sam Masters.BSPA major events co-ordinator David Hoggart said: “We have to thank all the paying public for coming out to support this important event in their masses on a night where the weather might well have made them think twice about going out of their front door – let alone spending money on speedway.“Huge credit must also go to Berwick Speedway and their tireless track staff who worked so hard against the weather to get this meeting on and make sure it ran to its full conclusion as well as the cooperation of our FIM officials here tonight. But mostly the fans, who deserve massive thanks for coming out on an awful night.”In Saturday’s other GP qualifiers Edward Kennett, Lewis Bridger and Olly Allen all missed out on progression, although Allen won a run-off at Tarnow to take a reserve place for the semi-finals.
(SPEEDWAY 2)
BIRMINGHAM have made a change to their squad by signing in-form Berwick man Ricky Ashworth to share a spot with Ben Barker.Ashworth has been in blistering form for the Bandits since his winter move from Sheffield, and he replaces Magnus Karlsson in the doubling-up role for the Brummies.Promoter Graham Drury said: “My contacts in the Premier League have all told me how well Ricky has been riding and he likes the Birmingham track from the few appearances he’s made here.“He’s been flying for Berwick and I believe the time is right to hand him an opportunity at this level. He understands that Ben is the first choice in that position but with Plymouth getting behind with their fixtures because of the rain it means there will be more clashes with our dates than originally planned.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
RYE House notched a home win over Premier League favourites Somerset – despite only taking five of the fifteen heat wins.Two early 5-1s helped the Rockets into a six-point advantage which they defended for much of the meeting, although a last-lap Heat 15 pass from Rebels guest Josh Auty over Anders Mellgren ensured the Rebels would take a point from a 48-42 reverse.Rockets’ top-scorer Jordan Frampton, with 11+1, said: “The team did very well tonight against a very strong Somerset side.“We had to cope without Charlie Gjedde, while Josh Auty was more than an able replacement for Sam Masters, which worked in their favour, but there’s no denying the Rebels are an excellent outfit anyway.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
DUDLEY’S winning run continued with a 53-38 victory at Rye House to move the Heathens onto 13 National League points.The visitors secured back-to-back maximums in Heats 7 and 8 to take control, and the Raiders were unable to get back into the meeting with a tactical ride as the double-points James Sarjeant lost out to Adam Roynon in Heat 11.Dudley boss Will Pottinger said: “It was a very pleasing all-round team performance, and nobody let us down. I don’t like singling people out in team efforts, but it was very nice to see Byron (Bekker) back to his best.“The reserves did their job superbly and it means we have four wins from four meetings in the league, and three of them away from home.”
(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY JUNE 17:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Workington 4pm, Newcastle v Leicester 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Dudley 3pmBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 3: Northside 2pm
MONDAY JUNE 18:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Swindon 7.30, Wolverhampton v Belle Vue 7.30
TUESDAY JUNE 19:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Rye House 7.30
WEDNESDAY JUNE 20:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Birmingham 7.30, King’s Lynn v Belle Vue 7.30
