(SPEEDWAY 1)
WORLD Championship leader Tai Woffinden returns to Wolverhampton on Monday with the aim of securing a third successive British title.The Wolves asset, who took the decision to sit out Elite League racing this year, goes into the national championship in blistering form after a 21-point maximum for Great Britain in last Thursday’s World Cup Race-Off.Woffinden will face tough competition from multiple former champions Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris, with Craig Cook and Ben Barker looking to repeat their rostrum finishes of last season.And there are a host of other riders with their eyes on a Wild Card place for the British Grand Prix, which will go to the highest finisher with the exception of GP regulars Woffinden and Harris.Woffinden suffered heartache on several occasions before finally taking the title in 2013, and hopes he can quickly dial back into the Monmore circuit on Monday.He said: “I haven’t ridden a track the shape and size of Wolverhampton all year so it might take a couple of races for me to get dialled in back at the place, but we shall see.“It’s always well prepared and I’ve done a lot of laps there down the years – but not this year and that’s the difference.“I really worked hard for it (in 2013). I went close before and when I finally did it there was just this outpouring of delight.“I went on to win the World Championship that year so it would be nice to do the double again this year, but there’s a long way to go where that’s concerned!”LINE-UP: Carl Wilkinson (Scunthorpe), Andre Compton (Sheffield), Ben Barker (Berwick), Steve Worrall (Belle Vue/Newcastle), Craig Cook (Belle Vue/Edinburgh), Kyle Howarth (Swindon/Workington), Adam Roynon (Redcar), Scott Nicholls (Belle Vue), Tai Woffinden (Unattached), Chris Harris (Coventry), Jason Garrity (Coventry/Sheffield), Lewis Blackbird (Wolverhampton/Peterborough), Richard Lawson (Lakeside/Glasgow), Danny King (Coventry/Ipswich), Edward Kennett (Lakeside/Rye House), Leigh Lanham (Somerset).
(SPEEDWAY 2)
COVENTRY host the National League Fours at Brandon on Sunday afternoon (3pm) with eight clubs from the third tier taking part.The Storm have been drawn in Group A alongside Eastbourne, King’s Lynn and Birmingham, whilst holders Cradley are in Group B with Rye House, Mildenhall and Kent.Each group is raced over eight heats with the top two teams in each then progressing to the eight-heat Final, making for a 24-race schedule.Coventry manager Laurence Rogers said: “This is a very big meeting, it should be a cracker and we have eight good sides competing.“I feel we have the toughest draw being in group A but with our top riders in form we should still be very confident of going through.“Last year we dominated the semi-final group we were in whilst Cradley scraped through, but in the Final if it was going to go wrong it did, and our West Midlands rivals took the honours, so we will be out for revenge!”
(SPEEDWAY 3 - SATURDAY REVIEW)
WORKINGTON bounced back from their disappointing away defeat at Scunthorpe on Friday with a 50-42 home victory over Rye House on Saturday.Rene Bach scored a 15-point maximum as the Comets’ win was secured in the final heat after the Rockets had registered two late maximum heat advantages - but it was a victory achieved at a cost as the home side lost the services of reserve Nathan Greaves with a broken right fibula and tibia following a crash in Heat 2.Manager Tony Jackson said: “We demanded more effort from everyone and we were very pleased with the response, but it was such a shame for young Nathan to pick up that injury in his opening ride. “Naturally we send him best wishes from everyone connected with Workington Speedway for a full and speedy recovery from his injury. “Meanwhile we need to look at the team and see what our best options are to replace him as we still have a lot of the season left to race and we need to make some decisions.”Rye House, already using the rider-replacement facility, were reduced to five riders when Steve Boxall withdrew with shoulder problems after one outing.Boss John Sampford said: “The five of them rode their hearts out to get us so close to that match point. We could arguably have nabbed it if we had deployed the Tactical Ride option in Heats 8 or 11, rather than Heat 9, but hindsight is a wonderful thing. “Nikolaj (Busk Jakobsen) was head and shoulders above the rest of the team, with a couple of race wins, when we nominated him, but we had to settle for four points after he was passed by Rene Bach.”
(SPEEDWAY 4 - SUNDAY PREVIEW)
PETERBOROUGH are under orders to put their Premier League title challenge back on track at Newcastle on Sunday.Team boss Carl Johnson is expecting a positive reaction from his riders after they saw their unbeaten start to the league campaign ruined by a 46-44 home loss at the hands of Ipswich on Friday.Johnson stressed: “We need to prove the defeat against Ipswich was just a blip and we are looking for the boys to respond in the right way at Newcastle.“We are not in this good position in the table by fluke. We have proved we are a good team despite having more than our fair share of injury problems and we need to go on doing that.“Newcastle have been struggling a bit so far, but they won at Ipswich on Thursday and that result shows they are a dangerous side.”The Panthers bring in Ben Barker to guest for Olly Allen at No.1 and welcome back Robert Lambert, with rider-replacement in operation for Lewis Blackbird who has not been passed fit to return from finger and back injuries.Meanwhile Scottish rivals Glasgow and Edinburgh meet again at Ashfield in their return fixture after the Tigers snatched a dramatic 48-42 away win on Friday.Peterborough and Edinburgh are currently tied on 19 points in second third places in the table, but Glasgow will rise to that position if they prevent Edinburgh from scoring, and if the Panthers miss out at Brough Park.
(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY JUNE 14:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Edinburgh 3pm, Newcastle v Peterborough 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Coventry 3pm
MONDAY JUNE 15:BRITISH FINAL: Wolverhampton 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Rye House 6.30
WEDNESDAY JUNE 17:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Coventry 7.30, Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 8pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Coventry 7.30, King’s Lynn v Mildenhall 7.30
