(SPEEDWAY 1)
BERWICK will re-stage their World Championship Qualifier at Shielfield Park on Monday after rain forced the postponement of Saturday’s showpiece event.The decision was taken by the FIM International Jury at 8.45pm that no racing would be possible due to the worsening conditions.An unchanged field will line-up for Monday’s re-staging with a 7.30pm start, and gates will open at 5.45pm.The Berwick team are in action on the same evening in a re-arranged League Cup match at Glasgow, and Alan Bridgett will take over as manager of the Bandits for the night with Ian Rae and George Hepburn looking after track conditions on Tweedside. (SPEEDWAY 2)
GREAT Britain’s Under-21s came agonisingly close to a place in the World Team Cup Final after a terrific effort in Germany on Saturday.The British quartet finished just three points behind the Czech Republic and Australia at Teterow having held the lead going into the final series of races.Skipper Kyle Howarth won three heats, competing despite having suffered a wrist injury in a crash on Friday, and he was joined in double-figures by Jason Garrity with Adam Ellis and Robert Lambert both also giving solid displays.GB co-boss Neil Vatcher said: “It was a fantastic effort by the whole team. With four races to go we were three points in front, and it’s a massive improvement on previous years.“Going into the last race there was still a chance the top three could all have tied if Kyle had won it, but as it happened the Czechs won a run-off with the Australians, and we ended up third.“The future looks very bright, though, with Robert and Adam eligible for at least three more years, and Phil (Morris) and myself are very proud of the boys.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
KING’S Lynn extended their winning run in the Elite League to twelve successive matches with a 47-42 victory at Leicester on Saturday.The Stars overcame the absence of Kenneth Bjerre and Robert Lambert to go thirteen points clear at the top of the table, with Niels-Kristian Iversen taking more than a second off the track record at the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium.Leicester were hampered by the absence of their own No.1 Jason Doyle, and manager Norrie Allan admitted his side had been undone by Iversen and fellow Stars heat-leader Rory Schlein.Allan said: “I said before the meeting that if we could contain their reserves in Heats 2 and 9 we had a chance. Well, we did more than that by totalling seven points to their five which would have been more had Heat 9 not been stopped when our two riders were in the lead. “Unfortunately, for once our top end did not perform and apart from a very good performance from Mads Korneliussen and a brace of wins for Simon Stead we were very patchy and missed the points output that Jason would have given the team.”Eastbourne were comfortable 57-35 winners over Belle Vue with Simon Gustafsson making a successful guest appearance for his parent club.Gustafsson and Bjarne Pedersen both scored 13 points for the home side, the Swede being unbeaten until Heat 15, with reserve Lewis Blackbird adding ten. Scott Nicholls top-scored for the Aces with 11 as they completed a disappointing Southern tour with a second defeat.Eastbourne boss Trevor Geer said: “Simon did a brilliant job for us. You are always pleased when you bring in a guest and he does something like that for you.”In the Premier League, Somerset completed the double over Rye House with an emphatic 58-37 away win at Hoddesdon – to inflict the Rockets’ heaviest home defeat for 23 years.Star of the show for the Rebels was reserve Paul Starke who scored a four-ride paid maximum, whilst Stuart Robson proved to be a fine guest for Nick Morris as he was beaten just once in five outings.Somerset boss Garry May said: “This was just truly an awesome performance. The boys really set about Rye House and right from the off there was only ever one team in it. “Everyone played their part but I am especially pleased for Starkey getting his maximum, and he has improved tremendously since the start of the season. In saying that, this was an all-round team performance and one that the boys can be justifiably proud of.”Rockets boss John Sampford said: “We simply came up short in too many areas. To begin with, we were using three guests, but only one of them came up with the goods. Steve (Boxall) is also clearly still experiencing machine issues, and we had Luke (Bowen) with his own problems as well. “Somerset, on the other hand, were rock-solid throughout. You just can’t afford any weak links against a team like that or they will blow you out, as they’ve now done home and away.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
GLASGOW stage a tribute to club legend James Grieves on Sunday afternoon – and the former rider is hoping the meeting can help kick-start the season for their current team.Grieves hung up his kevlars at the end of the 2013 campaign after a trophy-laden career spanning more than two decades.A £1,000 prize is up for grabs for the winner of Sunday's individual meeting, which includes the likes of Edinburgh's Sam Masters, Justin Sedgmen and Derek Sneddon, Australians Ty Proctor and Aaron Summers, up-and-coming Scottish rider Ryan MacDonald and Tigers Rusty Harrison, Theo Pijper and Christian Henry, plus demonstration laps from the club’s all-time top points scorer Steve Lawson.Grieves said: “I just want to give something back to the crowd and try and give them a good meeting. If the boys can put on a good show and everybody goes home happy, as long as the weather stays fair, then at least it puts up the morale a bit for the Tigers.“If we can get the fun factor back in it, and Glasgow can win on Monday, it could kick-start a good season.”In the Premier League, Newcastle host Berwick with the Bandits having impressed in recent away wins at Workington and Plymouth.Craig Cook comes in as a guest at No.1 for the home side, who are without Danny King due to the Grand Prix qualifier in Germany on Monday.
(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY JUNE 8:PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Berwick 6.30JAMES GRIEVES TRIBUTE: Glasgow 3pm
MONDAY JUNE 9:WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING ROUND: Berwick 7.30ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Lakeside 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Glasgow v Berwick 7.15NATIONAL TROPHY: Kent v Leicester 6.30
TUESDAY JUNE 10:PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Ipswich 7.30
WEDNESDAY JUNE 11:ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Belle Vue 7.30, King’s Lynn v Wolverhampton 7.30
