British Speedway Weekly Bulletin

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THE full rider line-up will shortly be available for the Premier League Pairs at Somerset on Friday July 11.The Oaktree Arena event is one of the most popular on the domestic calendar and always attracts a bumper attendance as it takes place one day before the British Grand Prix at nearby Cardiff.The hosts will be defending the title having finally gained Pairs success in 2013 for the first time since the event moved to Highbridge, thanks to Jason Doyle and Josh Grajczonek.Doyle is now a full-time Elite League rider and Grajczonek is expected to be amongst the Rebels’ opponents this year, as he is now No.1 for Workington – who won the Pairs in 2012.The two most recent winning clubs have been kept apart in the group draw, which also includes Peterborough who are back in the Premier League this year for the first time since 1998.GROUP A: Workington, Peterborough, Redcar, Ipswich, Newcastle.GROUP B: Edinburgh, Somerset, Plymouth, Berwick, Sheffield.

TAI Woffinden has revealed how he refused to panic when he dropped points on his way to a second successive British title last Monday.Woffinden lifted the trophy despite needing to go through the race-off to reach the final on his home Wolverhampton track - Craig Cook and Ben Barker were the automatic qualifiers.But Woffinden said: "I wasn't too concerned when I dropped points, to be honest. I don't want to sound arrogant, but I have to say it's always hard to win five straight heats and then win the final - it's almost like something always happens to spoil it.“So I stayed calm when I dropped points, I just stayed focussed and just tried to concentrate on getting to the final. It worked out and I'm so pumped about it.”Cook’s runners-up position handed him a dream date at Cardiff as he will take the Wild Card position for the British Grand Prix on July 12.He said: “I’m ready to go to Cardiff and give it my all. This is my opportunity to show what I’m made of.“There is no pressure on my shoulders. I’m just in there to mix it up. I’ll put the cat among the pigeons and see what happens.”Track reserve places at the Millennium Stadium will be taken by Barker, who finished third in the British Final, and Jason Garrity who finished fifth at Wolverhampton with his impressive night’s work including a race win over Woffinden.SPEEDWAYGB EVENTS SERIES 2014:ELITE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Re-staging TBCBRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: JOSH BATESBRITISH FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENPREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: Somerset, July 11PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Peterborough, August 3PREMIER RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, September 21NATIONAL LEAGUE MAJOR EVENTS:NATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: STOKENATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Coventry, August 10NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Rye House, September 28BRITISH SPEEDWAY FIM EVENT DATES:WORLD UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP Semi-Final: MIKKEL BECHGRAND PRIX QUALIFIER: LINUS SUNDSTROM

ELITE LEAGUE LATEST…

BELLE VUE skipper Craig Cook is desperate to use his Elite League form to kick-start his Elite League displays for Belle Vue.Cook scored an impressive ten (paid 12) at King’s Lynn last Wednesday two days after finishing on the rostrum at Monmore Green.He told Speedway Star: “All I want to do is do Belle Vue proud and do all of my clubs proud. It gets to me when I ride so badly. I have been working hard to get my set-ups right and get my clutches and my gating right.”BIRMINGHAM reserve Simon Lambert has praised club captain Danny King for his assistance to the Brummies’ lower-order riders.Lambert said: “I just need to say a big shout out to Danny, who has been absolutely spot-on with me since I joined Birmingham. He's spent a lot of time helping me with various things and we've had quite a few one to one chats. He's always said if I ever need anything just give him a ring and he's helped me a lot.“He's obviously a top rider with a lot of experience and being able to benefit from that is priceless really. I've ridden for a lot of clubs and had a lot of good captains in my career but Danny is one of the best I've ever been associated with so fair play to him.”COVENTRY boss Gary Havelock was satisfied with the Bees’ performance in their home win over Poole – although they had to be satisfied with two league points as Darcy Ward collected a maximum for the Pirates.Havelock said: “What I liked about tonight was that we came out strongly from the start again, as we did last week, and we seemed to be in some form of control for most of the meeting.“It would have been nice to have taken all three points, but when you have someone like Darcy Ward in the away team you have to say that he definitely is something special.”EASTBOURNE promoter Bob Dugard has given the thumbs-up to the Elite League’s Fast Track draft system which came into operation for the first time this year.Dugard told Speedway Star: “I’m really pleased with how the fast track rides are doing. I watch speedway almost every night of the week and I’m pleasantly surprised how some of them are getting on already.“You seem them holding their own and beating more senior riders, which is really encouraging. There’s no secret to it, it just comes down to giving these boys an opportunity.”KING’S LYNN returned to winning ways after defeat at Lakeside by taking an impressive 53-37 win at Wolverhampton on Monday.Now boss Rob Lyon is keen for the Stars to begin another lengthy run of wins with Eastbourne the next visitors to the Norfolk Arena on Thursday.Lyon said: “Eastbourne have a solid top five and once again will provide us with a hard match. The team is however in a determined mood and will be looking to secure another three more league points to the total.”LAKESIDE promoter Jon Cook hailed his side’s performance as they recovered from an eight point deficit to secure a 47-43 home win over Elite League leaders King’s Lynn.The Hammers were operating rider-replacement for the injured Davey Watt, with Richard Lawson leading the turnaround with a score of 11 (paid 13) including a vital Heat 10 5-1 with Mikkel Bech over Scott Nicholls and Rory Schlein.Cook said: “That was a performance of pure guts, effort and determination from all of the five Hammers and our guest Ben Barker, and it ranks up there as one of the best results in the (Stuart) Douglas/Cook eight-year era in charge of the Hammers.”LEICESTER boss Norrie Allan admitted his side had given away too many points in the early stages, meaning their revival after the interval was not quite enough to overturn a deficit at home to Swindon.Allan said: “Time and time again we were caught napping at the start which enabled Swindon to build up twelve point lead. When the track was re-graded and watered it favoured us as we scored three maximums in the last five races but the damage had already been done. “Rory Schlein was magnificent for us and so too was Simon Stead who played a great captain's role in the absence of Mads. I could not have wished for a better performance from Krzysztof Buczkowski who took a dreadful fall in his first race but came back to score double figures on his home debut and young Josh Bates had another good night and did his job at reserve.”POOLE promoter Matt Ford is urging supporters to take the opportunity to enjoy the entertainment provided by his riders – and has again reduced admission prices for their clash with Birmingham this week.Ford said: “I have said it before and make no apology for repeating it, we have the most exciting rider in the world riding for us in Darcy Ward and if you haven't had the chance to see him race live then let me remind you it is a sight to behold. “But it is not all about Darcy. We have our Polish pair of Shamek (Przemyslaw Pawlicki) and Magic (Maciej Janowski) backing Darcy up. Both are on the brink of reaching the Grand Prix, and also the battling and full-out attacking Vaclav Milik, whilst in Kyle Newman we have one of the top reserves in the Elite league.”SWINDON pulled off an impressive 47-45 win at Leicester last Saturday despite going into the meeting without their top two riders, Peter Kildemand and Troy Batchelor.Manager Alun Rossiter said: “We wanted to come with our full side, we were really struggling with guests because there were 19 riders out of the Elite League, and Leicester had the same problem in the end. But it was a last-minute stroke to bring in Sam Masters because I knew he’d done quite well around here, and I thought he could be my man. “We got the boys fired up and full credit to them. I was a bit gutted we didn’t get the four points, but that’s being greedy because if you’d offered me three beforehand I would certainly have taken them. I’m happy to go away with three points on the board and it makes up for the loss at home last week.”WOLVERHAMPTON skipper Tai Woffinden admitted the 37-53 home defeat against King’s Lynn on Monday was a setback, with several of his team-mates enduring tough nights whilst Woffinden himself scored 13.He said: “It was a tough night for us - we should have really won, being at home, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.“I don't think all the boys were scoring the points they needed to, and against a strong side like King's Lynn that's what happens. We've just got to put it behind us now, put it down to a bad night and just look to move on as quickly as possible.”

PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…

BERWICK co-promoter John Anderson has apologised to supporters after Saturday’s home meeting against Redcar was heavily delayed after the paramedic was taken ill.“That an appointed Medical Officer – the one single official without whom racing cannot take place – would be taken unwell to the extent he decided to leave the stadium, is something we could not have anticipated, and is hopefully unlikely to ever strike us again.“We would love to have a second Medical Officer on duty, but this is just not possible, not just on economical grounds but also logistically.”EDINBURGH made it an incredible 20 matches unbeaten at the start of the season with a 57-38 home win over Rye House – despite conceding two 8-1s during the course of the meeting.Monarchs boss Alex Harkess said: “We definitely weren’t at our best and losing these two heats was a disappointment, but we still had a bit to spare in the end.”GLASGOW manager Stewart Dickson insisted he was always confident of taking a home win over Ipswich on Sunday – despite Anders Thomsen joining Christian Henry on the sidelines early in the meeting.Dickson said: “I've said it for long enough that we've got a decent side and we're maybe one rider away from being pretty competitive here, there and everywhere. But you just don't know what you're getting from one meeting to another. “I knew Ipswich fancied their chances. But I knew they wouldn't beat us - I don't rate them travelling. We've raced three home matches in the league and we've got eight out of nine points.”IPSWICH emerged from a gruelling Northern tour with just one point to show from their efforts in three matches in three days.The Witches were beaten 38-55 at Scunthorpe on Friday before gaining a point from a 43-47 reverse at Workington, but then were left point-less again at Glasgow with a 40-53 defeat.NEWCASTLE moved into the Premier League play-off places with a 53-40 home win over Sheffield – doing their work in the opening ten heats as 43 of their points came in those races!Manager George English said: “The Diamonds performed well, the power was certainly in evidence as we took the win we deserved, and in a match where the racing was top-draw too, so it had everything you want from a speedway match. But it's just as well we took the good start as from Heats 11-15 they beat us 10-23!”PETERBOROUGH have appointed former rider Carl Johnson as team manager after a spell as machine examiner at the Showground.Co-promoter Trevor Swales said: “It is vital that we have consistency in the team management role – and Carl provides that. I’m not able to get to all meetings while Blayne (Scroggins) has also struggled with work commitments since taking a new job recently. Carl knows the club, he knows the sport and he is available for all home and away meetings.”PLYMOUTH were edged out by Somerset in a tight West Country derby on Saturday, going down 38-40 in a match curtailed two races early due to a lengthy delay following a crash to Stuart Robson.Co-promoter David Short said: “We apologise to the spectators but there was just not enough time to complete the final heats because of the delay. We began well enough and had a good early lead, but we let it slip.”REDCAR promoter Brian Havelock says a team change could be on the way with a former Bears rider reportedly lined up for a return.Havelock told Speedway Star: “I wanted to make the change before Saturday’s match but the guy I want to bring in was not available so it will probably be next week. He’ll come in at reserve but I still haven’t decided who to pull out.”RYE HOUSE star Jason Garrity has spoken of his delight at securing a track reserve position for the British Grand Prix at Cardiff next month, thanks to his fifth-place finish in the recent British Final.Garrity said: “It is really great news. I just want to build up towards it in July with some good form over these next few weeks.“Hopefully, I’ll get a ride on the night, but at the very least I’ll get to go out on the track (at the Millenium Stadium) for the practice on the Friday.”SCUNTHORPE have confirmed Nicolai Klindt will remain with the club for the remainder of the season after an impressive run of results since signing as a short-term replacement for Anders Mellgren.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “There’s no doubt his introduction into the team went a long way to helping kick-start our season after an inconsistent start.“It’s all worked out very well for Nicolai. He’s also just signed as a doubling-up rider for Elite League Leicester. His home meetings will now slot together, at Scunthorpe on a Friday and then at Leicester on a Saturday.”SHEFFIELD boss Joe Screen admits his side are overly-reliant on in-form No.1 Simon Stead, who scored another bumper 17-point haul in Sunday’s defeat at Newcastle.Screen said: “It was a disappointing performance again to be honest – a few riders were having issues and it was the same old story. We are a one man show at the moment with Steady and then we just have to see what comes with it which is hugely frustrating."SOMERSET will be without Pontus Aspgren for their home clash with Berwick this Friday as the Swede has been advised by his doctor that the broken bone in his hand needs more time to heal.Rebels boss Garry May said: “Of course we would have preferred to go into any match with a full 1-7, but there is no point rushing Pontus back into the side only for him to suffer further damage to the hand and be ruled out for an even longer time period. We coped well enough with rider replacement last Saturday against Glasgow, in fact it ‘scored’ a paid maximum for us against the Tigers!”WORKINGTON fought back from being eight points down with just four heats remaining to defeat Ipswich by four points at Derwent Park last Saturday.Comets manager Tony Jackson said: “We were really up against it when, having already gone into the match with two guests and rider replacement to cover for the missing Ricky Wells, Ashley Morris and Kyle Howarth we feared we had lost Rene Bach after a horror crash in Heat 11.“However, despite being in some discomfort, Rene dusted himself down and carried on while our guest, Thomas Jorgensen, teamed up with Simon Lambert for two late maximum heat advantages to drag us back into the match. Then, when Rene and Josh Grajczonek, who was having his first match back for us since his facial injuries, sealed the win in Heat 15 the crowd went wild.“We need to take that never-give-up attitude into our home meeting with Plymouth this coming Saturday and beyond. Our season has been very disjointed so far due to postponements but a good run of fixtures, coupled with getting riders back from injury, would get us into a routine while a change to the riding order is something we are also considering.”

FIXTURE PICTURE…

TUESDAY JUNE 24:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Scunthorpe 7.15NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Cradley v Mildenhall (follows previous fixture)

WEDNESDAY JUNE 25:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Birmingham 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Sheffield 7.30

THURSDAY JUNE 26:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Eastbourne 7.30, Swindon v Coventry 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Rye House 7.30, Redcar v Peterborough 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Sheffield v Berwick 7.45

FRIDAY JUNE 27:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Peterborough 7.30, Plymouth v Redcar 7.15, Scunthorpe v Newcastle 7.30, Somerset v Berwick 7.30TRAVEL PLUS TROPHY 2nd leg: Coventry v Cradley 7.30

SATURDAY JUNE 28:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Peterborough 7pm, Rye House v Redcar 7pm, Workington v Plymouth 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Scunthorpe 7pm

SUNDAY JUNE 29:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Plymouth 3pm, Newcastle v Scunthorpe 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Cradley 3.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP: Buxton v Coventry 3pm

MONDAY JUNE 30:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Birmingham 7.30, Eastbourne v Poole 7pm, Wolverhampton v Swindon 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v King’s Lynn 6.30

TUESDAY JULY 1:PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Redcar 7.30

WEDNESDAY JULY 2:ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Leicester 7.30, King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30, Poole v Wolverhampton 7.30

THURSDAY JULY 3:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v King’s Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Edinburgh 7.30, Sheffield v Rye House 7.45

FRIDAY JULY 4:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Swindon 7.30, Lakeside v Wolverhampton (TBC) 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Redcar 7.30, Plymouth v Ipswich 7.15, Scunthorpe v Sheffield 7.30, Somerset v Workington 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30

SATURDAY JULY 5:ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v King’s Lynn 7.30, Lakeside v Wolverhampton (TBC) 8pm, Leicester v Birmingham 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Plymouth 7pm, Rye House v Workington 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Stoke v Kent 7pm

SUNDAY JULY 6:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Edinburgh 3pm, Newcastle v Plymouth 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Cradley 3pmNATIONAL TROPHY: Mildenhall v Kent 3.30

MONDAY JULY 7:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Poole 7.30, Wolverhampton v Coventry 7.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Kent v Mildenhall 6.30

TUESDAY JULY 8:PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Rye House 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Devon 7.30

WEDNESDAY JULY 9:ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Eastbourne 7.30, Poole v Belle Vue 7.30


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