(SPEEDWAY 1 – WEDNESDAY REVIEW)
BELLE Vue kept up an encouraging run over the last week by snatching a 45-45 draw from their trip to reigning champions Poole on Wednesday.Matej Zagar got the better of Chris Holder in the crucial Heat 15 with Craig Cook taking third place to bring the scores level and give the Aces two Elite League points to the Pirates’ one.Zagar scored 11 points for the Aces despite a retirement in his fourth ride, and Cook added ten, whilst reserve Kyle Newman (9+1) was top scorer for the home side, who have won only once in three Wimborne Road league outings but are up to second position in the table.Holder said: “It's still very much as it was with the track not to our entire liking but hopefully that can be worked on. “We have to ride it every week and it should be to how we would like it but all too often it plays into the opposition's hands. We just about hung on for the point tonight but we had hoped of course for a better result.”Belle Vue boss Mark Lemon said: “Of course we were a little disappointed not to maintain our early lead all evening but the effort of the team was faultless, and they battled hard in every race to keep the meeting so close.“Overall, we’ve had a really productive week. Our fortunes look to be greatly improving having put away six league points in the last seven days.”Elsewhere, leaders Coventry missed out on scoring from an away match for the first time this season as they went down 41-49 at King’s Lynn.The Bees looked set to take a point from the meeting until Stars’ top scorer Niels-Kristian Iversen (14) passed Joonas Kylmakorpi (10) on the last lap of Heat 15, leaving visiting boss Gary Havelock frustrated by earlier incidents including a final-bend breakdown for Kylmakorpi when he was on a tactical ride.Havelock said: “It’s very disappointing. If we didn’t have bad luck at the moment, we wouldn’t have any luck at all.“I still think there’s an awful lot more to come from this team, I genuinely believe we haven’t really got out of second gear yet, and we just need to ride this rough spell through. Of course we missed James (Sarjeant), and then you add in the four points Joonas would have got when he broke down coming out of the last corner.”In the National League, Adam Ellis scored a 15-point maximum as Birmingham defeated Stoke 51-39 at Perry Barr.Ellis was joined in double figures by Tom Perry (12+2) and reserve Zach Wajtknecht (14), and it was Ellis and Perry who combined over Stoke top-scorers Jon Armstrong (10) and Danny Phillips (9) in the last race to ensure the Potters went home empty-handed.Birmingham boss Graham Drury said: “It was another fantastic team performance and I think we were good value for our win in the end. “Things were pretty close early on but, as I expected, we were strong in the second half and managed to pull away.”Stoke manager Malcolm Vasey said: “I know we can ride better than we did tonight, the slow start cost us dearly at the beginning of the meeting.“It was very disappointing to be 9-3 down after two races, we battled hard to get back into the meeting but it wasn’t enough and we are all disappointed not to come away with something.”
(THURSDAY PREVIEW)
SWINDON are looking to make progress up the Elite League table when they host Wolverhampton at the Abbey Stadium on Thursday.The Robins are approaching full-strength after an injury-hit start to the campaign, but both teams are without their Polish riders due to national championship qualifiers.Rory Schlein guests for Grzegorz Zengota for the home side, whilst third-placed Wolves bring in Joonas Kylmakorpi to replace Tobiasz Musielak.Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “Swindon will be tough because they've got (Peter) Kildemand and (Troy) Batchelor fit again and as a team they've recovered well with a good win last week so we'll go there and give it our best and hopefully we can get something out of the meeting.“Then it's Poole next Monday which will be another test for us but we're feeling confident at the moment and we'll be determined to keep our impressive home record intact.”In the Premier League, Sheffield launch a hectic spell of four matches in six days when Ipswich visit Owlerton.The Tigers have booked Great Britain star Craig Cook as a guest replacement for injured skipper Simon Stead and Jason Garrity continues in place of David Bellego. The Witches operate rider-replacement for Gino Manzares.Sheffield star Ashley Birks said: “We’ve had a great start to the season as a team, we’ve got a great team spirit and everyone has been riding well. We don’t want the injuries we’ve had to ruin that, we need to try and work hard and do everything we can as a team to keep picking up points.“We’ve got a strong team still, we’ve got riders who are capable of winning races and we have got strength all the way down to Arthur (Sissis) and Josh (Bates) at reserve.”Rye House head to Redcar without two riders as Robin Aspegren misses the meeting with his partner due to give birth imminently whilst Steve Boxall has been ruled out with his ongoing shoulder injury. The Rockets bring in Michael Palm Toft to guest, and they hand a debut at reserve to new signing Dan Greenwood alongside the back-from-injury Kasper Lykke.The Bears are without Hugh Skidmore, who faces up to a month out with a dislocated shoulder, and manager Jitendra Duffill admits the season has not gone according to plan so far.Duffill said: “Hugh's loss weakens our team further, rider replacement will not work for us and I believe that we need to see a new face in the team in order to make us more competitive. “I do not believe that the problem is a lack of effort on any rider’s part, we are just not strong enough as a team but we cannot go on losing meetings at home because our season will come to an early finish if we do.”
( FRIDAY PREVIEW)
LAKESIDE and Coventry meet twice over the Bank Holiday weekend with the Hammers staging their home fixture at Purfleet on Friday.The Elite League leaders won on their second visit to the Arena-Essex Raceway last season and face a Lakeside team who are seeking to bounce back from a home defeat to Wolverhampton in their last outing. Wolves regular Freddie Lindgren stands in for the injured Andreas Jonsson for the Hammers.Coventry boss Gary Havelock said: “Lakeside is always a tough place to go at the best of times, because it’s one of the most technical tracks in the country. You need special bike set-ups there, but having said that we went there last year the second time and gave them a proper pasting.“We’ve definitely got the riders that to do the job if we can stay away from all that bad luck and hit the ground running there. I certainly feel we can get something out of the meeting.”In the Premier League, leaders Sheffield have booked Nick Morris and Anders Mellgren to take guest bookings as they go on a revenge mission at Somerset, the Rebels having won at Owlerton last week.Brady Kurtz takes over the No.1 position for the home side whilst Kyle Howarth comes in to guest for Richie Worrall who is away in World Championship qualifying action.Manager Garry May said: “The boys rode superbly well to get that win at Sheffield last week but as the saying goes, there is nothing more dangerous than a wounded Tiger, so we will have to be on top form if we are to build on that away win by doing the double over them.”Sheffield promoter Damien Bates said: “We’ll go down there with a positive attitude looking to take something from the meeting.“We’ve booked a couple of good guests and it would be nice to get some sort of revenge against them.”Peterborough have booked former Plymouth No.1 Ben Barker to guest for the injured Olly Allen when they visit the St Boniface Arena, having already won once at the venue in the League Cup this season.Kyle Newman takes over at No.1 for the Devils, who are hoping Ryan Fisher’s switch away from that position could prove beneficial.Co-promoter Ashley Taylor said: “Ryan is confident that he has found a solution to his problem and it will be a case of seeing what he can produce this week in the home match against his former club Peterborough. It would be good to see him hit the ground running in that one.”In-form Peterborough reserve Simon Lambert said: “We had a great result down at Plymouth in the League Cup a few weeks ago and they will be desperate to get revenge after the trouncing we gave them.“But we have a good team and the spirit has been absolutely phenomenal since we got our first win at Rye House on Easter Monday.”Edinburgh open the defence of their Premier League title against Scunthorpe at Armadale, but will be missing Erik Riss (broken collarbone) and Justin Sedgmen (GP qualifier).Kevin Doolan stands in for Sedgmen for the Monarchs, with Sam Masters taking over at No.1 as his May average has gone above Craig Cook, who moves down for the first time since early 2012.Cook said: “I switch to No. 5 this week with Sam at No. 1, that’s fine by me, he deserves it. He’s trapping like a demon. People say we have a great rivalry but I’m too busy working on my own riding.”Scunthorpe will be without David Howe, who is still recovering from damaging his shoulder in a workshop accident, whilst Matt Williamson guests for Ellis Perks who damaged knee ligaments in a crash at Kent on Monday.Meanwhile 18-year-old Ben Basford will line up for Buxton at King’s Lynn in the National League after Cameron Hoskins was ruled out due to injury, whilst David Holt continues to cover for Paul Bowen.Buxton boss Jason Pipe said: “This season Ben has ridden in three MDL meetings for Peterborough and Long Eaton. This is now his chance to test himself at NL level.”
(SPEEDWAY 1)
SWINDON are hoping to pack the Abbey Stadium for the visit of Sky Sports on Tuesday, May 26.The M&S Van Rental Robins have announced admission prices of £5 with children up to the age of 11 free of charge when high flying Coventry hit town, with tickets available in advance.Boss Alun Rossiter said: “We want to see the place packed for the TV meeting. It should be a great night of racing and we want a special atmosphere.“We want people who haven’t been before, or who haven’t been for a few years, to come down and take a look and hopefully it will in some small way help us create extra interest in the new stadium.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
PETERBOROUGH have confirmed they are to allow Adam Roynon to join Redcar on a 28-day deal as he steps up his comeback from injury.Roynon broken ribs and a punctured lung in a horror crash on the very first lap of the 2015 season at the Showground, and his replacement Michael Palm Toft will remain in the Panthers’ team.Promoter Ged Rathbone said: “Redcar are in urgent need of a rider and Adam needs the opportunity to race. He fully understands the situation and is looking forward to getting his season going.“We are going to monitor his progress closely with a view to bringing him back into our team at a later date. I will be working with him at as many meetings as possible during his spell at Redcar.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
SCUNTHORPE are to stage the 2015 City Gearboxes Midland Development League Riders’ Championship on Bank Holiday Monday, August 31.All ten MDL clubs will be represented with the event taking place after the Scorpions’ home Premier League clash with Sheffield.There are superb handmade and crafted trophies for the top three riders in the Final supplied by Mick Chapman Trophies of Ashford, Kent, and sponsorship has already been obtained for methanol (Dave Roscoe) and race-jackets (Nick Mallett) with opportunities for race sponsorship available.The MDL have issued their thanks to Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey for offering to stage the meeting.
(FIXTURES)
FRIDAY MAY 1:ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Coventry 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Scunthorpe 7.30, Plymouth v Peterborough 7.15, Somerset v Sheffield 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Buxton 7.30
SATURDAY MAY 2:LEAGUE CUP: Berwick v Workington 7pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Rye House v Kent 7pm, Stoke v Birmingham 7pm
SUNDAY MAY 3:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Rye House 3pmTRAVEL PLUS TOURS KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Newcastle v Scunthorpe 6.30LEAGUE CUP: Workington v Berwick 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Cradley 3pm, Eastbourne v Stoke 3.30, Mildenhall v Coventry 3.30
MONDAY MAY 4:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Lakeside 7.30, Leicester v King’s Lynn 7.30, Wolverhampton v Poole 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Sheffield 1.45, Rye House v Somerset 2pm, Scunthorpe v Edinburgh 3pmNATIONAL TROPHY: Kent v Mildenhall 3pm, Rye House v Eastbourne (follows PL fixture)CHALLENGE: Scunthorpe Stags v Halifax Dukes (follows PL fixture)
