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BELLE Vue skipper Scott Nicholls is ready to fight for an historic eighth British title at Wolverhampton on June 15.Nicholls has achieved an astonishing run of results in the national championship but last took the crown in 2012, as Tai Woffinden has been successful in the last two seasons.The second semi-final at King’s Lynn saw Nicholls top the list of qualifiers as he was one of five riders finishing on the eleven-point mark - and he admitted that conditions had been much-improved on his expectations with track work required due to heavy rain pre-meeting.Nicholls said: “You have to give full credit to the track staff because they continued to work on it and Buster (Chapman) told us he was confident he could prepare it to an acceptable standard.“I’m not too big to eat my humble pie and I did apologise to him afterwards because actually the track rode very well. It was a bit slick, but we saw some good action and great racing.“Qualification was my main objective and obviously it felt good to be declared the overall winner on the night, which in hindsight of my earlier feelings was slightly ironic so that was a nice turnaround.“I’m glad the meeting was able to go ahead. I had a good night but now it’s all about the Final in June, getting through my qualifying races there and hopefully having what it takes to win the title.“There’s no question that I firmly believe I can go all the way this year. I know I've got the skill and ability but I'm sure there’s quite a few other riders in the line-up thinking the same thing.”Double champion Woffinden, meanwhile, also booked his place at Monmore Green with a ten-point haul in his first official appearance on a British track this season.He said: “I’m pleased to go through and I would like to be British Champion once again. It means a lot to win your national title and I will be going for it – but it won’t be easy as I haven’t ridden a smaller track like Wolverhampton this year.”The Wild Cards for the Final have been confirmed as Jason Garrity and Adam Roynon, who both finished just outside the automatic qualifying places on countback in their respective semi-finals.BRITISH FINAL - June 15: Chris Harris (Coventry), Ben Barker (Berwick), Andre Compton (Sheffield), Edward Kennett (Lakeside/Rye House), Lewis Blackbird (Wolverhampton/Peterborough), Josh Auty (Leicester/Scunthorpe), Richard Lawson (Lakeside/Glasgow), Scott Nicholls (Belle Vue), Danny King (Coventry/Ipswich), Leigh Lanham (Somerset), Craig Cook (Belle Vue/Edinburgh), Kyle Howarth (Swindon/Workington), Tai Woffinden (Unattached), Carl Wilkinson (Scunthorpe), Jason Garrity (Coventry/Sheffield), Adam Roynon (Redcar).
BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAJOR EVENTS 2015:ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: JASON DOYLEBRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: KYLE HOWARTHBRITISH FINAL: Wolverhampton, Monday June 15PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: Somerset, Friday July 3PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Peterborough, Sunday August 2PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, Sunday September 6
NATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Coventry, Sunday June 14NATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: King’s Lynn, Saturday September 5NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Rye House, Saturday September 26
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BELLE VUE star Josh Grajczonek was pleased to secure a team place with the Aces after his spell as short-term cover for Davey Watt at Poole came to an end.Grajczonek said: “I always knew my place at Poole would eventually be relinquished back to Davey but I never expected to be riding permanently in a top flight team so soon after my stint there ended.“Of course I was gutted to think that was it for my Elite League campaign but Belle Vue had been taking a bit of notice over the last few weeks and offered me a spot almost right away. I’m very happy to be back with them, I’ve ridden for the Aces a couple of times in the past and I've always had a soft spot for them.”COVENTRY consolidated their position at the top of the Elite League table with a 57-33 win over injury-hit King’s Lynn on Monday in their first fixture for over a fortnight.Boss Gary Havelock said: “I’m very pleased - obviously they were slightly depleted but at the end of the day there’s four riders in a race and you can only beat the other two guys you’re at the tapes with.“Not being together for a couple of weeks was a bit of a concern, but all of the boys have been riding and we seemed to pick up where we had left off at Leicester, which was the planKING’S LYNN have been hit by serious injury to skipper Rory Schlein, who has undergone a lengthy operation on his back after a crash in Poland on Sunday.The surgery is reported to have been successful but with Kenneth Bjerre also out with a hand injury the Stars went down to a 33-57 defeat at Coventry on Bank Holiday Monday.LAKESIDE boss Neil Vatcher has pinpointed the absence of No.1 Andreas Jonsson as a big reason for the Hammers’ recent downturn in form.Vatcher told Speedway Star: “I could go on and list a whole catalogue of reasons as to why this season hasn’t worked out for us as we had planned at this stage, but we can’t allow the situation to continue.“The major problem has been the injury to Jonsson which has deprived us of a genuine No.1 rider.”LEICESTER have been rocked by the news that recent signing Lewis Bridger has quit the sport again after just one match with the club.Lions promoter David Hemsley said: “Utter disbelief is the only way I can describe the way I felt (on Monday). As a club we had gone that extra mile to pave the way for Lewis to return to the sport with equipment and practice facilities all placed at his disposal. “We realised that it would take him a meeting or two to get race fit but never expected this to happen. It is such a shame that such a talented British rider is lost to the sport again, and no doubt there was a great deal of soul searching that Lewis went through to arrive at his decision and we wish him well in whatever he decides to do in the future.”POOLE skipper Maciej Janowski made a successful return to Pirates colours after a knee injury with a maximum in the win at Leicester on Monday.Manager Neil Middleditch told Speedway Star: “Magic has been very much missed. I’m not going to say we’d be any better off in the league if he’d been riding, but we’ve done well to get through the injury period we’ve had with boys like Davey Watt, Kyle Newman and Magic all missing meetings.”SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter insists there should be a positive mood at the Abbey Stadium, with a fifth successive home win over Leicester keeping the Robins firmly in the top-four battle.Rossiter said: “The boys all did their jobs, and I can’t really understand some of the negativity - a few people need to have more belief in the riders. “Peter (Kildemand) was out, but that doesn’t mean it was the end of the world, and the rider-replacement worked for us. I thought Zengi (Grzegorz Zengota) was fantastic, and that’s why we brought him back to the club.”WOLVERHAMPTON were convincing Bank Holiday Monday winners over Lakeside, running up a 60-33 victory over a visiting side who were hit by injuries and unavailability at Monmore Green.Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “It was a good win – the opposition was weakened, obviously, and so were we to an extent but it was important for us to get back on the winning trail and we did just that.“I don’t think you can take a lot from this as it was a seriously weakened Lakeside team, so we won’t get ahead of ourselves, but we got the three points and that’s what matters.”
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BERWICK enjoyed a good Bank Holiday weekend going unbeaten in their two meetings.The Bandits secured a 52-38 Premier League win over Redcar on Saturday before battling their way to a hard-fought 45-45 draw away at Workington in the League Cup on Monday, mainly inspired by a 14+1 points haul from the in-form Thomas Jorgensen. EDINBURGH progressed through to the next round of the Premier League Knockout Cup with a 103-77 aggregate victory against Sheffield.Club Director Brian Gray said: “It was a solid performance from the boys beating Sheffield a bit easier than most of us anticipated.“I expected the Tigers to be stronger but it was really all over by Heat 8; it certainly was an entertaining evening though.”GLASGOW captain Aaron Summers said his side’s 46-43 defeat at Newcastle on Monday was a meeting the Tigers should have won.Said Summers: “It’s definitely points dropped; it shouldn’t have happened, we should have had all the points.“One point is better than nothing, it might just get us over the line when we need it, it’s just a shame it wasn’t the full three.IPSWICH booked themselves a place in the League Cup Semi-Finals with a 49-41 win at Plymouth on Friday.Team Manager Phil Hilton said: “I’m very pleased with the way the team turned it around; they all got stuck in from the start and the team spirit was there for all to see.“We must keep this momentum going now and start picking up some much needed league points in the coming weeks starting at Redcar on Thursday night.”NEWCASTLE came from nine-points behind to pull off a 46-43 home win against Glasgow.Team manager George English said: “I am very proud of what we have achieved; to come back from nine points down with a weakened team against a strong Glasgow side is sensational.“Lewis Rose was sensational and our whole team deserves so much credit for the way they pulled together.”PETERBOROUGH picked up a 46-44 Knockout Cup victory at home to Plymouth on Monday, but the meeting was overshadowed by the loss of Lewis Blackbird mid-meeting.Panthers boss Carl Johnson said: “He has broken the ring finger and little finger on his right hand; doctors are suggesting he will probably be out for between four-to-six weeks.“But knowing Lewis and knowing the fact the British Final is three weeks away, I’m sure he will be desperate to return sooner.”PLYMOUTH have given themselves a good chance of progressing through to the next round of the Knockout Cup after going down by just two points (46-44) in a spirited performance away at Peterborough on Monday.Co-promoter Ashley Taylor said: “It was good to see Todd Kurtz getting among the points with a couple of race wins in his first meeting of the season.“Although we have a history of going to Peterborough and getting good results, we have already lost twice at home to the Panthers this season so we can’t be complacent.” REDCAR’s miserable May continued with a heavy 58-32 loss at Rye House on Monday. A tough meeting saw the Bears win just three of the 15 races as they slipped to their fourth successive defeat.The Bears now face home and away fixtures against Ipswich on Thursday and Saturday respectively.RYE HOUSE picked up an impressive 58-32 victory at home to Redcar on Bank Holiday Monday, but are awaiting an update on a possible injury to captain Edward Kennett. Team Manager John Sampford said: “It’s a bit unfair to focus on just a few of the boys; I was really pleased with all of them because everybody contributed to that result.“They suspect that he (Kennett) has one or more broken bones relating to his little finger but he won’t know for certain until the swelling has gone down enough to enable it to be x-rayed.”SCUNTHORPE suffered a heavy 57-33 home defeat against Somerset on Monday meaning the Scorpions have won just one of their 13 meetings in 2015.Team manager Dave Peet said: “It was an extremely tough meeting for us; we won’t be pointing the finger because there was no lack of effort from our boys, we were simply beaten by a better side.“We now have to focus on our next meeting at Plymouth on Saturday; the lads have far from given up and there’s much more to come from us.SHEFFIELD bowed out of this year’s Knockout Cup after suffering a 103-77 aggregate defeat against Edinburgh.Reserve Arthur Sississ said: “It’s a shame we are out of the cup, but we’ve just been so unlucky and we hope our fortunes will change pretty soon.“We’ve lost so many riders now, we’ve lost almost all our team. There is only really me and Josh (Bates) still standing from the start of the season.”SOMERSET moved to the top of the Premier League table after a stunning 57-33 away victory at Scunthorpe on Monday.Team manager Garry May said: “All the boys rode superbly; despite Scunthorpe having strengthened their side up ahead of this match, I still thought we could come and get the win and the boys did that and more besides!“It’s the best possible way to prepare for our next home match against Newcastle at Oaktree on Friday.”WORKINGTON completed their 2015 League Cup campaign with a 45-45 home draw with Berwick.Comets team manager Tony Jackson said: “Naturally it was disappointing not to get the win, but fair play to the Bandits who have been hit by injuries over the past few days but came here and made a real entertaining match of it.“The loss of Kenneth (Hansen) maybe just cost us the win. Hopefully, after a few days rest, he will be able to take his place in the side for our visit to Edinburgh on Friday.”CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE LATEST…
BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury had mixed emotions after his side fought back to edge a 47-42 win over Eastbourne in the first leg of their Knockout Cup tie last week. The Brummies supremo admitted they were targeting a more substantial lead to take to Arlington for the second leg next Sunday – but they were eventually relieved to emerge with a narrow win on the night.Said Drury: “We ideally wanted a double figure lead from the meeting and to only come away being five points in front is disappointing; I expected more, but this cup tie is far from over. On the same hand it was a good spirited fightback and it was good to keep our unbeaten run going.“As seems to be the case in every meeting, I thought Adam Ellis, Tom (Perry) and Zach (Wajtknecht) were all superb. We had a long tail end and it's something we need to look at, but for now we will focus on the positives and enjoy another win at Perry Barr.”BUXTON boss Jason Pipe was full of praise for his side after they battled to a 47-43 triumph over Mildenhall at the Hi-Edge Raceway on Sunday.Pipe said: “All the boys mucked in and helped each other. It's was also pleasing to see that all seven riders scored points. There was also improvement in our gating today and the lads are now starting to get dialled in to their home track.“Mildenhall gave us a slight scare early doors, but the boys fought back and by Heat 10 they made sure they were at least four points ahead. I'm very proud of all the lads and it was also great to see the injured Ben Hopwood here too helping the lads in the pits and still being part of the team.”COVENTRY ace Dan Greenwood was in jubilant mood after his faultless 15 point maximum saw Storm snatch a dramatic 45-44 win at Rye House on Saturday.Greenwood said: “It’s a good feeling. I wasn’t expecting a maximum because they’ve got three good heat-leaders, especially around here, and for the team to get the win and for me to get a max is really good. “Before I went out for Heat 15 I knew a 3-3 was what we needed, I made the gate, got in front of Rob (Branford) and after the battle we’d had in the previous one I wanted to put one over on him.“Luckily I did that because Darryl was at the back, it was a tough race but I got the win and thankfully we got enough points to win the match.”CRADLEY boss Will Pottinger admits they were disappointed to leave Eastbourne empty handed following a brave effort on Saturday.However, he says their attentions now turn to the second leg of their Knockout Cup tie with Stoke at Perry Barr on Wednesday. Said Pottinger: “Of course we are disappointed because a point was the minimum requirement we were looking for.“We were very close, but unfortunately we just fell short in the end. All the lads tried their hardest, but it just wasn’t our day and we didn’t quite manage to get a point.“We’ve pushed Eastbourne who are a very strong side at home, and so we have to take the positives out of it and just look to move on.“We are looking forward to Wednesday’s meeting against Stoke now, and hopefully we can ride well to make it through to the next round of the Cup.” EASTBOURNE chairman Martin Dugard has heaped praise on Bradley Wilson-Dean following his spectacular introduction to British speedway.Wilson-Dean struck a 15 point maximum as he moved into the Eagles No.1 spot on Saturday, leading them to a fine victory over Cradley, and Dugard is thrilled with the early season form of the Kiwi hotshot.“We are getting exactly what we expected when we signed Brad. He is full living up to our expectations and more,” Dugard commented.“Brad is ‘box office’ wherever he goes as he is a born racer who doesn’t give up until the chequered flag comes down. I can’t believe some of the moves he is pulling.”KENT boss Chris Hunt was thrilled to see the Kings storm to a comprehensive 55-37 victory over King’s Lynn on Monday – their first of the National League campaign. He said: “It was another excellent all-round team performance. We certainly chose the right guest in Branford and I thank Rob for such a great effort. “The rest of the lads are just showing so much confidence in their riding around Central Park. And we are blessed with some outstanding entertainers too – it’s racing like this which will bring the crowds in and keep them coming back for more. The team spirit in our side is second to none too and that’s great to see.”KING’S LYNN saw their tough away form continue as they were well beaten at Kent on Monday.The Young Stars have demonstrated plenty of encouraging signs on home soil, but they were condemned to another heavy defeat on their travels – their fourth of the campaign.However, they will look to build on their promising home form as Coventry Storm visit the Adrian Flux Arena on June 3 before they host Mildenhall a fortnight later. MILDENHALL promoter Kevin Jolly has called on his side to find some consistency after they slipped to a disappointing 47-43 defeat at Buxton on Sunday. Said Jolly: “It is a disappointing result to be honest even though we took a point. There were some in and out performances today and we need to find a little more consistency.“I do think if we could have used Connor (Coles) more we would have nicked it but Connor wasn’t 100% after his fall and we didn't want to risk him.”RYE HOUSE suffered late heartache as they slipped to a narrow 45-44 home defeat in a dramatic clash with Coventry Storm on Saturday.Despite double figure contributions from Robert Branford, Luke Chessell and Kyle Hughes the Raiders were undone by a faultless Dan Greenwood maximum as they suffered a disappointing loss.They will be back in action as they travel to Stoke on Saturday looking to get back to winning ways. STOKE boss Malcolm Vasey admits they have been bitterly disappointed by their tough start to the season – but insists they are working hard to turn things around. Vasey said: “We’ve lost six matches in a row, that’s not acceptable. It’s unfortunate the way the fixtures have fallen have given us some very tough fixtures, and in the meetings amongst them we could have won we’ve suffered some terrible luck.“Even so it’s not acceptable, and we are working hard to try and do something better and improve as a team.”FIXTURE PICTURE…
TUESDAY MAY 26:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Coventry 7.30
WEDNESDAY MAY 27:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Leicester 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Cradley v Stoke 7.30
THURSDAY MAY 28:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Poole 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Ipswich 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 29:ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Belle Vue 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Workington 7.30, Peterborough v Berwick 7.30, Somerset v Newcastle 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v Mildenhall 7.30
SATURDAY MAY 30:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v Wolverhampton 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Redcar 7.30, Plymouth v Scunthorpe 7.15CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Rye House 7pm
SUNDAY MAY 31:PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Berwick 5pmLEAGUE CUP: Newcastle v Sheffield 6.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Cradley 3pmNATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Eastbourne v Birmingham 3.30
MONDAY JUNE 1:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Lakeside 7.30, Coventry v Poole 7.30, Wolverhampton v Swindon 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Birmingham 6.30
WEDNESDAY JUNE 3:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v King’s Lynn 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Buxton 7.30, King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30
THURSDAY JUNE 4:PREMIER LEAGE: Sheffield v Glasgow 7.30
FRIDAY JUNE 5:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Ipswich 7.30, Plymouth v Glasgow 7.15, Somerset v Rye House 7.30TRAVEL PLUS TOURS KO CUP 1st leg: Scunthorpe v Newcastle 7.30
SATURDAY JUNE 6:
SUNDAY JUNE 7:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Scunthorpe 3pm, Newcastle v Somerset 6.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Rye House 3.30, Stoke v Mildenhall 7pmBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 3: Leicester 3pm
MONDAY JUNE 8:WORLD CUP EVENT 2: King’s Lynn 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Stoke 6.30
WEDNESDAY JUNE 10:CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Kent 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: King’s Lynn v Buxton 7.30
