RITISH SPEEDWAY WEEKLY ROUND-UP

THE countdown is on to one of the biggest events on the world speedway calendar...

Coventry's Brandon Stadium will host the 2009 Grand Prix Challenge on Friday, September 18 with a massive crowd expected as the race for a 2010 GP place hots up.The top three riders from the meeting will book their place in next year's series and home hopes will rest with Bees favourite Chris Harris.Coventry promoter Colin Pratt said: "It's an honour for Coventry Speedway to be staging such a prestigious event and we aim to do it justice."The stadium has held big events in the past and we're sure to see some fast and furious racing."

The action starts at 8pm and for fans travelling with a sat-nav the Brandon Stadium address is: Coventry Stadium, Rugby Road, Brandon, Coventry CV8 3GJ.Admission is Adults £25, OAP/Concessions £15, Under-15s £5, Under-5s FREE.

There are no pre-sales - all tickets are available on the day. A special souvenir programme will be available for £5.Restaurant bookings are available and can be made by calling 02476 542395.The draw has been made for the event and is as follows:

1 Chris Holder MA Australia2 Jaroslaw Hampel PZM Poland3 Kauko Nieminen SML Finland4 Chris Harris ACU Great Britain5 Lukas Dryml ACCR Czech Rep.6 Jonas Davidsson SVEMO Sweden7 Piotr Protasiewicz PZM Poland8 Grzegorz Walasek PZM Poland9 Kenneth Bjerre DMU Denmark10 Magnus Zetterström SVEMO Sweden11 Jurica Pavlic HMS Croatia12 Martin Smolinski DMSB Germany13 Fredrik Lindgren SVEMO Sweden14 Dave Watt AUS Australia15 Adrian Miedzinski PZM Poland16 Maksims Bogdanovs LaMSF Latvia17 Antonio Lindbäck SVEMO Sweden (Reserve rider)18 Tobias Kroner DMSB Germany (Reserve rider) *THE Premier League Riders' Championship, which is the next event on British Speedway's Super 7even calendar on Sunday, September 27, will start at 5pm.The Sheffield turnstiles will open at 3pm and the line-up will be announced in the near future with the top rider from every Premier League club doing battle.And there will be a new champion this year as reigning champ Tai Woffinden is now in the Elite League with Wolves.ELITE LEAGUE LATESTBELLE VUE face the most important weekend of their season desperate for an upturn in results after being beaten 37-57 on their home circuit by Wolverhampton on Monday.The Aces travel to Coventry on Friday for the first leg of their Knockout Cup semi-final with the winners to take on Lakeside in the Final.And their bid to avoid the relegation race-off includes a trip to Ipswich on Thursday and then a potentially decisive home clash with Poole next Monday.COVENTRY star Olly Allen celebrates his Testimonial meeting at Brandon on Sunday lunchtime (1pm) with an impressive line-up including World Champion-elect Jason Crump, former Bees skipper Scott Nicholls and current captain Chris Harris.Bees co-promoter Colin Pratt said: "Olly has proved to be a good, reliable servant for us and he's also put in a lot of work behind the scenes, especially with young Ricky Wells when he first came over this year. "Without the bad luck with injuries, I'm sure he would have progressed even more than he has already, but he's always done his best for us and I've often said that I wish all my riders could gate like he does!"EASTBOURNE promoter Bob Dugard said the club's recent staging of the Elite League Pairs had been a major success - and is now hoping for improved crowds at the Eagles' remaining Elite League matches.Dugard said: "It was a great night. It was a pity we didn't win it, but I think the stadium vindicated itself in all aspects."Why these people don't come to league matches, I don't know. The meeting went very well, the racing was generally quite good and the whole presentation was impressive."IPSWICH rider/manager Chris Louis is expecting the Witches to make further progress up the Elite League table during their final eight matches, after a recent good run pulled them clear of the bottom two.Louis said: "Every rider's attitude is first class and I know the play-offs seem a long way away, but you can't tell that to these boys, they still believe they can do it."Scott Nicholls has been excellent since he came back, and he never knows when he is beaten."LAKESIDE boss Jon Cook was in upbeat mood after the Hammers' emphatic 60-33 win over Belle Vue, which puts the Purfleet club in a strong position for a play-off place.Cook said: "Two weeks ago, Belle Vue gave us a closely fought battle, but tonight out boys just stepped up another notch - it's not so much that the Aces underperformed, but much more that we were on scintillating form, and we witnessed some great Speedway."Jonas Davidsson was a class apart, and the team riding of Joonas Kylmakorpi and Lee Richardson was superb. We now need to take this form into Saturday's encounter with play-off rivals Coventry." PETERBOROUGH reserve Henning Bager enjoyed one of his best displays of the season in Monday's narrow win over Swindon - and then said the Panthers will do all they can to take points from their remaining three away matches to break into the top four.Bager said: "The fans can rest assured that we will be giving it everything to get into the play-offs. We are all desperate to make it and we will all screw on the gas."We can't think too much about what is at stake and let it play on our minds. It is about being focused for every single race in the three meetings we have left and hopefully getting the results we need."POOLE star Chris Holder has emphasised that he sees his long-term future with the Pirates and is desperate to seem them bounce back to title-challenging form next season.Holder said: "You have to take the good with the bad, and hopefully next year will be a good year. I'm pretty happy where I am and to move would be a shame."We've had a really bad season after winning the title last year and a lot of people have been pretty upset at Poole. But I'm sure we'll be back next year a lot stronger, and hopefully we'll be the champions again."SWINDON manager Alun Rossiter still believes his side are in control of top spot in the Elite League after taking a point from a narrow defeat at Peterborough on Monday.Rossiter said: "We are still in the driving seat and I am happy with a point at the end of the day. Peterborough are very good on their own track, we knew that and we didn’t expect to come away with all the points."I’m not worried about Wolverhampton, we have one more home meeting left than them. I want a big performance from the lads on Thursday (against Eastbourne)."  WOLVERHAMPTON are now just one point behind Swindon at the top of the table after a hugely impressive 57-37 win at Belle Vue on Monday which saw them take the maximum four points available.Boss Peter Adams said: "I expected us to win at Belle Vue but not by 20-points. I think the difference was that James Wright didn't fire for them like he did against Coventry on TV the week before. "With Swindon dropping points at Peterborough it was a good night for us to collect all four from Belle Vue, but we still need to win a couple of times more away from home."PREMIER LEAGUE LATESTBERWICK trio Michal Makovsky, Stan Burza and Tero Aarnio all scored paid maximums in the Bandits' biggest win of 2009 - 63-29 over Sheffield, with home riders winning all 15 heats.Manager Dave Peet said: "They were magnificent tonight and Frankie (Facher) finally proved what we already knew about him – he’s a top quality racer who can take anyone’s scalp on his day. I thought we’d have to battle hard for the third league point but this was a superlative performance to be proud of."BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury is hoping Polish star Tomasz Piszcz will be fit for their forthcoming Northern tour after aggravating a hand injury at the weekend.Drury said: "I've told the lad I need him back totally fit or not at all.There's no point in him coming over here, riding at Edinburgh and then pulling out after a couple of races because that would leave me no time to book guests."EDINBURGH boss John Campbell feels the recent signing of German rider Kevin Wolbert will also be of benefit to countryman Max Dilger as both attempt to establish themselves with the Monarchs.Campbell said: "I would expect Kevin to do better than Max simply because he races in various countries far more often. Being team-mates is advantageous to them both. They will be able to talk about their failures or successes and be able to talk freely, they should work well together."GLASGOW skipper Shane Parker could be set to hand the club a massive boost by deciding to continue in the sport for another season.Parker said: "At the start of the season I was pretty sure in my own mind that it would be the last year, but as each week goes by then perhaps that attitude has softened a bit. Although definitely not committing to another year, there is no way I am ruling it out."KING'S Lynn boss Rob Lyon regarded the Stars' emphatic 57-33 win at Stoke as a potentially significant one in the race for the Premier League title.Lyon said: "It's unusual for us to win here, it's been a bogey track for us in the past and I feel this is a very significant result for us. Gaining all four points here tonight puts a bit of daylight between ourselves and Birmingham, and both clubs have some very important away meetings coming up."NEWCASTLE star Mark Lemon reeled off five straight wins as the Diamonds saw off Stoke by a 12-point margin despite being without Danish duo Kenni Larsen and Rene Bach.Diamonds boss George English said: "Mark was utterly brilliant with his first five-ride maximum for us and I have a feeling there’s many more to come as we ride up that Premier League table. It was a good performance, and credit to the rest of the team without out two incredible Danes."NEWPORT will be without recent signing Marek Mroz for the remainder of the season after a heavy crash at Sheffield last Thursday.Wasps co-promoter Nick Mallett said: "Although reports suggested broken bones, he hasn’t actually broken any. He has suffered ligament damage to his leg, but no broken bones which is obviously positive news. He will be out for the season though, so we hope he can make it to the stadium before the seasons out to see the fans who have supported him through his tough time with us."REDCAR put in two battling displays over the weekend to gain away points from their trips to Rye House and Newport despite being somewhat under-strength.Boss Brian Havelock said: "Being without Robbie (Kessler) definitely held us back. Ben Wilson was the only rider from the main body of the team who could take one his rides, so it was bound to have an effect."RYE HOUSE'S chances of being involved in the top-four promotion play-offs took a dent when the Rockets dropped a home point to Redcar on Saturday.The home side found veteran Gary Havelock in fine form for the Bears, and now urgently need to improve their away results over the next month to move up the table.SCUNTHORPE are through to the Knockout Cup semi-finals for the first time in their history after successfully defending their first-leg advantage at Redcar last Thursday.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: "It was a great result for us. Tactically we got it right, we knew what we had to do - and did it. Now we have got to believe we can go on and win this competition."SOMERSET general manger David Croucher has confirmed that Steve Bishop has returned to his team management role with the Rebels.Croucher said: "Work and family commitments meant 'Bish' couldn't continue in the role at the start of the season, but I am thrilled that he will be at the helm to hopefully guide the team towards the play-offs."SHEFFIELD manager Eric Boocock regarded the Tigers' heavy defeat at Berwick as a blip on a successful run, and says they can still look to seal a top three position.Boocock said: "People said this team was rubbish and, yes we were at Berwick, but that hasn't happened much this season. And I think we've given our fans plenty of entertainment, probably the best we've seen at Sheffield for a few years now."STOKE promoter Dave Tattum was an angry man as the Potters collapsed at home to the strong King's Lynn team, conceding 5-1s in each of the last five races.Tattum said: "We were beaten by a better side on the night, and they wanted it a lot more than we wanted it. We made the gate a couple of times and they passed our riders - and you can’t say the track was not right, because it was right and they made it work."WORKINGTON are planning to bring back the Cumbrian Open individual meeting with a provisional date of Saturday September 5 pencilled in.Comets owner Keith Denham said: "We’re going to invite a number of top riders and past Comets. All of our guys will get an invite and maybe eight or nine others, such as James Wright and Simon Stead, if they can come on the night."NATIONAL LEAGUE action continues and all the latest club press releases are now available at the news section on our website speedwaygb.comFIXTURE PICTURE...WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Ipswich 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Birmingham v Rye House 7.30, King's Lynn v Glasgow 7.30THURSDAY AUGUST 20:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Ipswich v Belle Vue 7.30, Swindon v Eastbourne 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Glasgow 7.45 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Bournemouth v Buxton 7.30 NATIONAL TROPHY: Isle of Wight v Mildenhall 7.30 TEESSIDE PAIRS: Redcar 7.30FRIDAY AUGUST 21:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP: Coventry v Belle Vue  8pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Birmingham 7.30, Scunthorpe v Glasgow 7pm, Somerset v Rye House 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Plymouth v Mildenhall 7.30, Scunthorpe v King's Lynn (follows PL fixture) NATIONAL TROPHY: Weymouth v Buxton 7.15SATURDAY AUGUST 22: SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Wolverhampton 7.30, Lakeside v Coventry 7.45 PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Birmingham 7pm, Rye House v Somerset 7pm, Workingon v Edinburgh 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: King's Lynn v Bournemouth 7.30 BRITISH U15 CHAMPIONSHIP: King's Lynn 3pmSUNDAY AUGUST 23:OLLY ALLEN TESTIMONIAL: Coventry 1pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Birmingham 4pm, Newcastle v Edinburgh 6.30, Newport v Scunthorpe 5pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Rye House 3pm NATIONAL TROPHY: Mildenhall v Weymouth 6pmMONDAY AUGUST 24:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Poole 7.30, Wolverhampton v Swindon 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Edinburgh 7.30TUESDAY AUGUST 25:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Plymouth 7.30WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Peterborough 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Birmingham v Edinburgh 7.30, King's Lynn v Somerset 7.30THURSDAY AUGUST 27:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Wolverhampton 8pm, Ipswich v Swindon 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Workington 7.45 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Bournemouth v Mildenhall 7.30FRIDAY AUGUST 28:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Poole 7.30, Lakeside v Ipswich 8pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30, Scunthorpe v Newport 7.30, Somerset v Birmingham 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Plymouth v Bournemouth 7.30, Weymouth v Isle of Wight 7.15SATURDAY AUGUST 29:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Workington 7pm, Stoke v Rye House 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Rye House v Newport 7pmSUNDAY AUGUST 30:PREMIER LEAGUE: Birmingham v King's Lynn 6pm, Glasgow v Newcastle 4pm, Newport v Somerset 5pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Weymouth 3pm NATIONAL TROPHY: Buxton v Weymouth (follows NL fixture)MONDAY AUGUST 31:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Eastbourne 8pm, Swindon v Poole 7.30, Wolverhampton v Peterborough 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Glasgow 2pm, Rye House v Stoke 2pm, Scunthorpe v King's Lynn 3pm, Workington v Berwick 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Newport v Bournemouth 5pm, Rye House v Plymouth (follows PL fixture), Scunthorpe v Buxton (follows PL fixture)TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 1:BRITISH SIDECAR SPEEDWAY CHAMPIONSHIP: Isle of Wight 7.30WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 2:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Ipswich 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: King's Lynn v Birmingham 7.30