BIG EVENT LATEST…
BRITISH Youth boss Neil Vatcher has named his eight-man squad for the FIM World Under-21 Team Cup semi-final in Gustrow, Germany on August 22.Vatcher has confirmed captain Kyle Howarth and teenage sensation Robert Lambert will definitely be in the final four, with the remaining two places to be selected from: Adam Ellis, Stefan Nielsen, Josh Bates, Ashley Morris, Max Clegg and Zach Wajtknecht.Vatcher said: “It goes without saying that both Kyle and Robert will be travelling to Germany, as both are at the start of long international careers.“It’s fair to say that both riders will be leading from the front in the our quest to qualify for a first Final for the British Under-21 team since we hosted the event at Rye House back in 2010.“These are really exciting times to be part of the British set-up, and we genuinely do have a great opportunity to qualify for this year’s World Final, although the semi-final will by no means be an easy affair.“Along with the hosts Germany, who are always a tough team to crack in their own backyard, the very strong Danish team and Finland complete the semi-final line up.“We are aware that this will not be an easy meeting, but I am sure that the GB team will have the same respect from the three nations as we will give them.“With Kyle and Robert already in the final four, the remaining six riders are vying for the final two places, and it’s certainly not an easy decision to be made. All six riders deserve their place in the team, although of course only two can be selected.”The Young Lions would like to thank the following for their support and backing of the GB Team: BSPA, SCB, Ged Rathbone, Wessex Marine of Poole, ATPI Travel Management of Manchester.Nielsen, meanwhile, scored five points in the opening round of the World Under-21 Final at Lonigo last weekend.He won his first race of the meeting, defeating eventual rostrum finisher Nikolaj B Jakobsen of Rye House, as well as Polish hotshot Pawel Przedpelski. The second round takes place at Polish venue Lublin on August 15.Meanwhile the 2015 Major Events calendar continues with the Premier League Fours at Peterborough on Sunday August 2.Eight of the Premier League clubs will be involved what promises to be a packed afternoon of racing at the Showground.They will be split into two groups of four for the eight-heat semi-finals, with the top two teams from each group progressing to the twelve-heat Final.The qualifying teams (group draw to follow) are: Edinburgh, Somerset, Glasgow, Workington, Ipswich, Rye House, Newcastle and Peterborough.
BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAJOR EVENTS 2015:ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: JASON DOYLEBRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: KYLE HOWARTHBRITISH FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENPREMIER 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
BRITISH UNDER-19 FINAL: Berwick, Saturday September 12
ELITE LEAGUE LATEST…
BELLE VUE star Josh Grajczonek admits the club are frustrated by their misfortune with the weather, with Monday’s home postponement against Leicester being their sixth of the season.Grajczonek said: “I think I've done about three home meetings for Belle Vue this year so I’m still trying to find a decent set-up, but lately I found something that seemed to be working pretty well.“It sucks that the weather has caused the club so many problems and postponements but it’s one of those things you can’t control so we’ve just got to hope for an improvement, and fast.”COVENTRY skipper Chris Harris saluted a perfect team performance in the Bees’ 60-32 win over Wolverhampton, with Finnish star Joonas Kylmakorpi leading the way with a 15-point maximum.Harris said: “Everyone did their job, and it’s good for our confidence especially as we’ve got another big break now before our next match.“Our aim is to finish top so that we can pick where we want to go, and it’s much easier to be out there on top rather than chasing, which can be hard work! I’m sure the other teams will be looking at us and hopefully getting a bit scared now. It was another great reception from the crowd, they lift us when they get behind the team like that, and it shows in our performance.”KING’S LYNN will be without both Vaclav Milik and Robert Lambert for their home clash with Wolverhampton.Milik picked up a wrist injury in a guest appearance at Poole last week whilst Lambert is also ruled out after his crash in the televised Premier League fixture at Berwick.Stars boss Rob Lyon said: “By their own admission, Wolverhampton have struggled this season after a bright start, but they are more than capable of an upset anywhere so we need to be on top of our game again to ensure victory comes our way.”LAKESIDE are launching their search for a new home for the sport in Essex with a special promotion at their televised clash with league leaders Coventry on Monday, July 27.With the future of Speedway at the Arena-Essex raceway in doubt under plans for potential development, club bosses want to see a huge response from sports fans, and admission will be just £5 for the match against the Bees.Hammers chief Jon Cook said: “We are starting down the path of finding a new home for the sport in Essex and we’re hoping fans of all sports throughout the county will show their support for our objective on July 27. A night at the races for just £5 seems like a pretty good deal to me!”LEICESTER kept their strong recent home run going with a 49-42 win over Swindon to move off the foot of the Elite League table - despite losing Sam Masters to injury in the early stages.Lions boss Norrie Allan said: “I was content with operating rider replacement to cover for Grzegorz Walasek because in my mind I had confidence in our top four to score well but there is always a risk that a rider can pick up an injury during the course of the match which leaves you vulnerable. “The unthinkable happened as we lost Sam Masters in his second race with a dislocated right thumb and that placed a bit of unwanted pressure on us and it was a relief when we won Heats 12 and 13 which left us in a strong position to win the match.”POOLE star Chris Holder says he is still confident of Elite League success for the Pirates despite seeing fellow Australian and ex-Pirates man Darcy Ward join rivals Swindon after the completion of his suspension.Holder told the Bournemouth Echo: “He definitely strengthens them a lot and it will make them really tough to race against but when you look at our team, it is pretty solid all the way through. When everybody scores their points we look pretty unbeatable, certainly at Poole. “We could not break up a winning team, it would have been unfair on the boys who have done such a good job so far. I think Darcy understood that.”SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter was delighted with the opening home match for his revised team as they defeated Poole 50-42 to move back into the Elite League play-off places.Rossiter said: “It’s a great win against a very strong Poole side, and obviously I’m delighted. Darcy (Ward) did well on his home debut but it’s a team effort, and all the boys played their part. “The arrival of Darcy has given us all a lift. The Aussie boys are great characters and Darcy is obviously enjoying himself here. We’ve got some big meetings to come now, and this is a good way to start an important part of the season because we will keep fighting for the play-offs.”WOLVERHAMPTON star Freddie Lindgren says the club’s riders are working hard to arrest their slump in form, with the Monmore men having conceded 60 points in recent visits to both Swindon and Coventry.Lindgren said: “I don’t know if it looks like we aren’t trying but we really are giving it everything, we are just massively down on confidence at the moment.“It’s tough for us all at the moment, but we haven’t given up yet and we need to try and get back to winning ways. There are still a lot of meetings and a lot of points to play for, so we have to keep giving it our best and hopefully we can get our confidence back soon.”PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…
BERWICK bounced back from last heat Premier League disappointment at home to Ipswich on Saturday by picking up a 48-42 away win at Rye House in their Knockout Cup Quarter-Final 1st Leg on Sunday.Bandits team manager John Anderson said: “After the last three meetings, I don’t think anyone could have dared to believe we were capable of leading by so much and taking the win by six was astounding.“We really have the boost we needed but we have to build on this immediately.”EDINBURGH have suffered further injury woe after No.1 Sam Masters broke a bone in has hand while on Elite League duty with Leicester on Saturday.The Australian is expected to be sidelined for around a month while Rob Branford has suffered a further setback and could also be out of action for another four weeks.Monarchs promoter Alex Harkess told the Edinburgh Evening News: “We have to consider the possibility of signing someone to cover for Rob; we know we won’t find anyone who will score six or seven points but somebody who can get two or three points would be ideal.”GLASGOW have announced plans to revamp their former Ashfield Classic individual event.Tigers co-owner Peter Facenna said: “We have got the facility now and we want to really make this as good as we can.“I think we’ll have a strong field and we’re offering great prize money; we want all the top riders there and to make it a spectacle.Meanwhile, the Tigers are looking for a replacement for Dimitri Berge who has quit due to a loss of confidence.IPSWICH gave their play-off hopes a major boost with two wins in the space of three days.The Witches comfortably saw off a depleted Rye House side 58-35 before picking up a hard fought 48-42 win at Berwick on Saturday.Team manager Phil Hilton said: “It was a very good win for us with plenty of positives – now we need to push this form on to Thursday when we face Edinburgh.”NEWCASTLE’s hopes of a play-off place were dealt a major blow as they slipped to a 48-41 home defeat to Sheffield on Sunday.Diamonds team manager George English said: “It was a very disappointing night where we had too many individuals that didn’t perform; we just weren’t good enough on the night and were outdone by the quality of Sheffield’s guests.“We now have to get nine points from our next three meetings to keep our play-off hopes alive.” PETERBOROUGH let an eight-point lead slip with just three races to go to lose 47-43 away at Scunthorpe on Friday.Panthers promoter Ged Rathbone described it as a disappointing and frustrating night. He said: “It is a meeting we should never have lost, but it is another point closer to being in the play-offs.“It seems to me that we are getting no decisions from referees and it is now starting to cost us points.”PLYMOUTH look to end a run of three successive defeats when they host Workington in the Premier League this Friday.Devils co-promoter Ashley Taylor said: “We have been losing at home because we are not matching the visiting teams out of the gate; if the team all perform together, they are capable of getting the right results.“There are no easy matches in this league, it is a case of giving every team full respect but we have to make sure we get out there and do the job properly. REDCAR boss Jitendra Duffill says he was relieved his side’s 48-45 win over Somerset will stand after the Rebels had a protest kicked out by the Speedway Control Bureau.The controversy came after Matej Kus won heat eight on a rider replacement outing after a discrepancy over the rider averages.Duffill told The Gazette: “Mistakes were made but nobody at the stadium picked them up before or during the meeting and we did everything in good faith and with the blessing of the referee.“To come from ten points down and win against one of the best sides in the league was something we should have been celebrating; it proved again that we can match the best.”RYE HOUSE’s return to racing at Hoddesdon didn’t go to plan as they slipped to a 48-42 defeat in the first leg of their Knockout Cup Quarter-Final first leg against Berwick.Rockets team manager John Sampford said: “You have to remember that this was the Bandits fourth fixture in a week whereas we have pretty much been sitting idle during the 42 days we’ve been away from here.“Now it’s down to us to believe that the tie isn’t over; yes it’s going to be tough, but we’ve got to travel up to Shielfield Park with the right attitude and the self-belief and give it our very best shot.”SCUNTHORPE have been boosted by the news that Josh Auty will return to their line-up for this Friday’s home clash against Ipswich.The club No.1 has been out of action for over two months after suffering a broken hand in May.Scorpions promoter Rob Godfrey said: “It will be fantastic to have Josh back; he’s such a quality act at Premier League level and he’s always top entertainment value.“He nearly came back last week against Peterborough, but he was sensible about it and gave himself another week.”SHEFFIELD have snapped up Italian racer Paco Castagna.The Tigers made the move as they suffered further injury troubles when Ashley Birks was ruled out for the season after suffering serious shoulder damage in last week’s League Cup clash with Glasgow.New-boy Castagna said: “To finally find a club that gives me a chance to start my British career is so good for me.“I know Sheffield is a good team and promotion and to be with such a team it really is an honour.”The club are also expecting to find out further news today on stand-in skipper Andre Compton who missed Sunday’s win at Newcastle with a wrist injury.SOMERSET will be aiming for three more Premier League points when they host Glasgow on Friday.The Rebels will welcome back Charles Wright and Brady Kurtz to their line-up who both missed last weekend’s Knockout Cup ties against Plymouth.Team manager Garry May said: “Of course it will be great to have Brady back following his excellent display in the opening round of the World Under-21 Championship in Lonigo where he finished fifth against a very competitive line-up.“So I hope the Somerset fans will turn out in force come Friday night, not only to cheer the team on, but also to give Brady the reception he richly deserves.”WORKINGTON face two meetings in two days as they travel to Plymouth on Friday before hosting Newcastle on Saturday.Comets team manager Tony Jackson said: “Hopefully we can get something from our visit to Plymouth but it won’t be easy as it is a very different circuit to the wide open spaces of Derwent Park. “We need to find some consistency away from home; if we could solve that problem then we would be in a much better league position.” CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE LATEST…
BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury was delighted to see his side maintain their perfect National League record with a hard-fought 50-40 win at King’s Lynn last week.“What another great performance from our riders and what another big four points to our league tally,” Drury said.“If I'm being honest, that scoreline flatters us slightly because things were really close throughout; but once again we got stronger as the meeting went on.“Credit to King's Lynn, they played their part in what I felt was a great advert for the National League but it's absolutely great for us to get another win on board.”BUXTON manager Jason Pipe was frustrated to see his side narrowly miss out on a point as they slipped to a 49-41 defeat at Rye House in a closely contested encounter at Hoddesdon on Saturday.“I’m disappointed as we really should have taken something from the meeting,” Pipe commented.“When are you going to see Tony (Atkin) have such a bad night as he had, he blew his best engine and struggled with his second bike that wasn’t set up, and Ryan (Blacklock) has been riding better than his 6 points from 5 rides that he scored. “I’ve been impressed with Dale Lamb who has never seen the track before. I’m confident he will do well around Hi-Edge next week. My joint men of the match have to be Liam Carr and Tom Woolley who looked very good out there.” COVENTRY boss Laurence Rogers was left ruing the absence of Conor Dwyer due to injury as the Storm slipped to a narrow 48-41 loss at Kent last week.Rogers said: “We were so close but yet so far, and it was such a shame that we were without Conor, because I think he would have loved it and he would have taken points off Danno Verge and Ben Basford easily.“Unfortunately the rib injuries cost us there, otherwise we would have come away with something, at least a point if not more.” CRADLEY boss Will Pottinger was in jubilant mood after the Heathens bounced back to winning ways in perfect fashion with a crushing 59-33 victory over Stoke last week.Pottinger said: “It was important that we bounced back from a couple of defeats in the league to get a win, and we managed to do that.“Stoke didn’t win a race, so we were quite dominant out in front and it was great to win by a 26 point margin.“It was brilliant to see the lads riding well again. We’ll take a lot of positives from that performance, and hopefully when we come back against Buxton in two weeks we can perform like that again.”EASTBOURNE favourite Georgie Wood believes his grasstrack background has helped him to make a major impact during his first season on the shale with the Eagles.Wood told the Speedway Star: “I think riding on the grass first has helped me adapt to speedway, more so than if it was the other way around. It’s quite an aggressive sport and you need the body strength to control the bike on the smaller circuits and you have to have the mental strength to compete all the time.“I’ve got the confidence to get out in the dirt and will try inside and outside lines. Martin Dugard reckons that if you can ride Eastbourne, you can ride anywhere. You have to use your head but you have to have the balance and turn the bike hard, and being here helps make you a better rider I think.” KENT boss Chris Hunt spoke of his relief after the Kings ended a run of six consecutive defeats with a much-needed 48-41 win over Coventry Storm last Monday.Hunt said: “It’s been a long time coming! I know Coventry were depleted but a win’s a win, and hopefully it will give us a bit of confidence.“The top four all got in the points and I thought Jamie Couzins supported them well. It’s a shame we haven’t got a league meeting for a while now, but that’s the way it goes.” KING’S LYNN have snapped up Jake Knight as a replacement for injury victim James Cockle – and boss Dale Allitt is thrilled to welcome him back to the Young Stars.Allitt said: “In recent weeks Jake has been taking part in practice sessions after the Stars and Young Stars meetings, he had indicated to me that he would like to come back and with a space available it makes perfect sense.“Jake knows this place very well, he is familiar with the boys in the team and is keen to get stuck in. We have some important meetings coming up and having a full team again is a real boost.”MILDENHALL promoter Kevin Jolly has revealed his concerns regarding off-track issues in the Fen Tigers’ pits after their recent draw with Eastbourne at West Row.Jolly told the Speedway Star: “Some of the comments that were made, and the attitudes held, particularly with some people working with the riders were not what I want to hear or see in the club.“There was some disrespect for our team manager, Robert Henry, who knows more about speedway than the whole of the team put together, and that really angered me and certainly annoyed Robert.“I’m not having that, so we’ll have to do some serious talking. It’s not easy making changes at this level of speedway. There isn’t a pool of riders out there, but we have to know who is really with us.“When we did the Grand Slam a few years ago we had a lot of tough times, especially with injuries, but crucially we stuck together as a team on and off the track.” RYE HOUSE chief Andrew Silver believes the Rockets are moving in the right direction following their return to the National League.“Every one of our lads are progressing in their own way,” Silver told the Speedway Star. “It’s very tight building a team to a strict 36 point limit and doing that on an average budget, you have to rely on one or two of your rookies to come through and be successful.“I feel Alfie (Bowtell) and Danyon (Hume) are doing that plus riders like Kyle Hughes are finding a bit of form, so it all seems to be happening at the right time.“I’m hopeful that once we get to the business end of the season we’ll be in there fighting.” STOKE boss Malcolm Vasey admitted they were simply outclassed as they suffered a heavy 59-33 defeat at Cradley last week.Vasey said: “It was a very disappointing night, especially when your riders can't win a single race between them you quite simply aren't going to win a speedway match. “There were some good effort and I wouldn't lay the blame at everyone's door, but we did look very weak at times and we just weren't good enough on the night.”
FIXTURE PICTURE…
WEDNESDAY JULY 15:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Wolverhampton 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Kent 7.30
THURSDAY JULY 16:PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Edinburgh 7.30, Redcar v Newcastle 7.30LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Sheffield v Glasgow 7.30
FRIDAY JULY 17:PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Sheffield 7.30, Plymouth v Workington 7.15, Scunthorpe v Ipswich 7.30, Somerset v Glasgow 7.30TRAVEL PLUS TOURS KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Edinburgh v Redcar 7.30, CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v Birmingham 7.30
SATURDAY JULY 18:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Edinburgh 7pm, Rye House v Glasgow 7pm, Workington v Newcastle 7pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Eastbourne 7pm
SUNDAY JULY 19:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Berwick 3pm, Newcastle v Scunthorpe 6.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Coventry 3.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Buxton v King’s Lynn 3pmNATIONAL TROPHY: Mildenhall v Rye House 3.30
MONDAY JULY 20:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v King’s Lynn 7.30, Wolverhampton v Poole 7.30THE LAURELS: Kent 6.30
WEDNESDAY JULY 22:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Belle Vue 7.30, Poole v Wolverhampton 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Buxton 7.30
THURSDAY JULY 23:PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Glasgow 7.30TRAVEL PLUS TOURS KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Redcar v Edinburgh 7.30CHALLENGE: Sheffield Select v Cradley Select 7.30
FRIDAY JULY 24:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Rye House 7.30, Scunthorpe v Plymouth 7.30, Somerset v Ipswich 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v Eastbourne 7.30, King’s Lynn v Cradley 7.30, King’s Lynn v Buxton (follows previous fixture)
SATURDAY JULY 25:PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Edinburgh 7.15, Workington v Peterborough 7pmPREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Berwick v Rye House 7pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Rye House v Birmingham 7pm, Stoke v Kent 7pm
SUNDAY JULY 26:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Peterborough 3pm, Newcastle v Rye House 6.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Eastbourne 3pmBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 4: Rye House 2pm
MONDAY JULY 27:ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Coventry 7.30, Wolverhampton v Swindon 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Rye House 6.30
WEDNESDAY JULY 29:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Leicester 7.30, Poole v Swindon 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v King’s Lynn 7.30
