(SPEEDWAY 1 – THURSDAY REVIEW)
RORY Schlein kept up his good early-season form with victory at Ipswich on Thursday in the Billy Sanders Memorial.Schlein dropped just one point from his five rides, being beaten by home man Rohan Tungate in Heat 11, but it was Redcar newcomer Lasse Bjerre who finished as runner-up on 13 points, with Witches No.1 Danny King third on ten.Ipswich, though, have an injury concern over Ritchie Hawkins who took a heavy fall before reaching the first corner of Heat 2 and is awaiting further word on possible rib damage.
(SPEEDWAY 2 – FRIDAY PREVIEW)
LAKESIDE pay tribute to former skipper Lee Richardson in their opening meeting of the season at Purfleet on Friday.The Remembering #Rico Spring Classic features the 2015 Hammers team, including Swedish superstar Andreas Jonsson, going up against a Lee’s All Stars line-up featuring several past Lakeside riders – with a return to track racing for Kelvin Tatum being one of the intriguing aspects of the meeting.The night’s racing gets underway at 7pm with a Pairs mini-meeting at National League level, with the main meeting starting at 8pm, and there will be further demonstration races by youngsters from the Hagon Shocks Academy. All proceeds from the 25-heat schedule will go to Richardson’s widow and young family.Meanwhile Coventry and Leicester resume their local rivalry at Brandon in the second leg of the East Midlands Bowl, with the Lions having been convincing winners from their home meeting last weekend.Both sides return to full strength, and Bees promoter Mick Horton said: “Judging by last Sunday Leicester seem to have a really good team this season and it looks like they are going to be very difficult to beat on their own track. On Friday, though, they are coming to our backyard, and we will be ready.”Lions manager Norrie Allan said: “It is another opportunity to get some track time in before the official fixtures begin. Having all seven riders on top form at the same time is a team manager’s dream but it rarely works out that way but it did against the Bees on Sunday. I am expecting Coventry to be a different proposition on their own track to how they performed at Leicester because they are far better than that.”Edinburgh open their season with a Testimonial meeting for Dutch star Theo Pijper, who has been associated with the Armadale club for 14 years.Pijper has spent eight of those seasons riding for the Monarchs and holds the unique distinction of Premier League title wins with both Edinburgh (2003) and Glasgow (2011).Home riders Sam Masters, Kevin Wolbert and Robert Branford compete in the individual event, with Nike Lunna and Matic Voldrih recent additions to the line-up.(SPEEDWAY 3)
CHRIS Holder makes his first appearance at Leicester in Saturday’s Elite League Riders’ Championship.The former World Champion is back in the top-flight in the UK after a season out, and is part of an all-star field consisting of the top two riders from each club.Holder, now recovered from the injury which disrupted his national championship campaign, won the ELRC in 2012 as part of a run of four successive victories by Australian riders in the event. Swindon skipper Troy Batchelor defends the title.Holder said: “I am feeling good now and hoping that the wrist is fine, it's been a bit of a bleak time for me with injuries these last few seasons but I'll be going there to hopefully have a decent run out and see what happens.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
WORLD superstar Niels-Kristian Iversen has been drafted into the line-up for Ricky Ashworth's Big Day at Sheffield on Sunday.The Grand Prix star, on the comeback trail after crashing out of last year's series, has been released from his Polish commitment to take part in the Owlerton spectacular - and organisers are delighted. Said Ricky's Big Day spokesman Ian Hunter: “We don't like making last minute changes, but in this case we've made an exception. Niels always wanted to do his bit and when he called asking if there was a chance of being involved, we couldn't say no.“Our thanks go to Ashley (Birks), who came in earlier this week when Artur Czaja had to withdraw. He's fine with the move and appreciates that having Niels in is a massive plus because he doesn't come to Sheffield that often and will be spectacular to watch.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
SWINDON are delighted to announce they have welcomed M&S Van and Truck Rental on board as main team sponsors for the 2015 campaign.The local firm, who have been team partners for a number of years, have stepped up their involvement in a move which will see the club become known as the Swindon M&S Van Rental Robins.Company chief Mike Sykes said: “After sponsoring the Robins for eight years we are grateful to have the chance to become title sponsors and we believe we will have a successful partnership.“I've pretty much been a lifelong supporter- I've been going to Blunsdon since 1978 and I've been involved in the sport mainly with sponsoring individual riders for a number of years. I'm looking forward to the season as always and hopefully it will end up being a successful season for Swindon.”(FIXTURES)FRIDAY MARCH 20:EAST MIDLANDS BOWL 2nd leg: Coventry v Leicester 7.30REMEMBERING #RICO SPRING CLASSIC: Lakeside 8pm (7pm for NL Pairs-level event)THEO PIJPER TESTIMONIAL: Edinburgh 7.30
SATURDAY MARCH 21:ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Leicester 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Rye House v Ipswich 7pm
SUNDAY MARCH 22:LEAGUE CUP: Peterborough v Somerset 1pmRICKY ASHWORTH BENEFIT: Sheffield 5pm
