SPEEDWAY News and Fixtures

(SPEEDWAY 1)

PETERBOROUGH skipper UIrich Ostergaard will take extra motivation from one of the Premier League Pairs’ most controversial moments when he lines up at Somerset on Friday.The Danish star reeled off five successive wins when representing Reading in the 2008 event, but was denied a shot at the title when partner Mark Lemon was ruled to have missed out to the Rebels’ Jason Doyle in the race for third place in the semi-final, a decision which put the home side through.Ostergaard said: “I can still remember it clearly today. Everyone was sure that Lemo had got third, but the referee clearly didn’t think so. Everyone at the track was shocked by the decision and it was a huge shame because it cost us the chance of winning some silverware.“Myself and Lasse (Bjerre) can definitely win it. I’ve been in good form lately and Lasse has been flying all season. Somerset is a great place to race, the track has so many different lines and it is quite similar to Peterborough, only a bit smaller.”(SPEEDWAY 2 – WEDNESDAY PREVIEW)

POOLE have a swift chance for revenge after carding their lowest score of the season at Belle Vue on Monday – as the Aces make the return trip to Wimborne Road.The Pirates were beaten 38-54 in Manchester and now hand a debut to local rider Brendan Johnson in the reserve berth, whilst former Poole man Rohan Tungate stands in for the injured Richie Worrall for the visitors.Pirates promoter Matt Ford said: “Belle Vue have inflicted two double-figure defeats on us at their home patch and so I would like to think we can return that statistic by being at our very best and not allow them to get into the meeting. “That won't be easy as in Matej Zagar, Craig Cook and Scott Nicholls they have a trio more than capable of banging in some big scores, and they've selected well in calling up Rohan as he certainly knows the fast lines around our track.”In the Premier League, Scunthorpe host Sheffield in a match swiftly re-arranged following last Friday’s postponement.Both sides are at full-strength with Thomas Jorgensen fit to take his place for the Scorpions, whilst Ty Proctor is available for the Tigers having been ruled out of the initial fixture due to an Elite League commitment.Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “I’ve been involved in speedway for long enough to know that nothing is a formality in this game. We must not get complacent, because Sheffield did win here early in the season and we have to respect that.“Ultimately, our goal is three points to add our tally. If we show the focus we have in our last two home meetings, against Ipswich (55-38) and Newcastle (58-38), we should be well on our way.”Sheffield skipper Simon Stead said: “There’s no reason why we can’t knuckle down for the rest of the season and make sure we finish strongly.“We aren’t where we want to be at the moment, but fingers crossed everything can start to fall into place now and we can push ourselves up the table over the second half of the season.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

RYE House stalwart Luke Bowen celebrates his Testimonial meeting at Hoddesdon on Sunday - after over 350 appearances in the club’s colours.Bowen first lined up as Raider in 2002 before spending ten successive seasons with the senior Rockets team, and although injury kept him out of the 2013 campaign he has returned this season.Bowen’s Testimonial (2pm) will feature a Best Pairs event including Rye House stars past and present, and also ‘Blast from the Past’ races involving Alan Mogridge, Troy Pratt, Ian Barney and Stefan Ekberg.Bowen said: “There has been a lot of hard work to pull everything together over the last eight months – and the last few weeks have been really high pressure and stressful – but my Testimonial Committee has done a fantastic job.“Now, I can’t wait for Sunday. I just want it to be a fun day, with a little something for everyone. I think we’ve got that by having a Pairs event, which is a little bit different for a meeting like this – plus we’ve got the Blast from the Past races and plenty going on off the track. “We might even have one or two ‘extras’ which we haven’t even advertised yet, but I think we’ll surprise everyone with those on the day!”(FIXTURES)

WEDNESDAY JULY 9:ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Eastbourne OFF, Poole v Belle Vue 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Scunthorpe v Sheffield 7.30

THURSDAY JULY 10:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Poole 7.30, King’s Lynn v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Plymouth 7.30, Redcar v Berwick 7.30

FRIDAY JULY 11:PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: Somerset 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Devon v Kent 7.15

SATURDAY JULY 12:BRITISH GRAND PRIX: Cardiff 5pm

SUNDAY JULY 13:LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Workington v Peterborough 7.30LUKE BOWEN TESTIMONIAL: Rye House 2pm


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