(SPEEDWAY 1)
BRITISH Champion Chris Harris was Coventry's hero in a thrilling Heat 15 asthe Bees secured all three points against Ipswich.Harris overhauled rival No.1 Scott Nicholls in a wheel-to-wheel battle togive his side the points they required after being shocked by an Ipswich 8-1in Heat 14 which put the visitors back in contention for a point.Bees skipper Harris said: "We'd changed a few things before Heat 15 and Iknew I was quick enough. The changes paid off, and it was a hard, fair raceand luckily enough I came out on top this time."Obviously we both want to beat each other, we both want to win our races,but it was fair and it was good to win it. "We hadn't expected their 8-1 in Heat 14 but these things happen inspeedway. They pushed us all the way but it was important that we gotmaximum points and we got there."
(SPEEDWAY 2)
KENNETH Bjerre continued his one-man assault on the Peterborough trackrecord by smashing the Showground's fastest time again on Friday.Bjerre lowered the mark to 58.5 in Heat 1 of the Panthers' win against BelleVue - the third time he has broken it this season, and he has now slicedhalf a second off the old record.The Danish star suffered his only defeat to ex-Panther Peter Karlsson, butthe home side were pleased with their 54-40 win which lifts them two pointsabove the Aces with three matches in hand in the race for the play-offs.The meeting also marked the return of Peterborough skipper Niels-KristianIversen after a ten-match absence with a broken shoulder, and he notched adouble-figure score.Iversen said: "My wrist was pretty painful throughout the meeting but it wasgood to be back. It was another terrific performance with everyone scoringand now we can't wait for Monday's Sky TV match against Lakeside."
(SPEEDWAY 3)
BIRMINGHAM took control of their Knockout Cup tie against Somerset with a48-42 win at the Oak Tree Arena - but the win came at a cost.The Brummies covered well for the absence of Justin Sedgmen due the WorldUnder-21 Championships, but then lost Aaron Summers with a broken collarbonein Heat 12.Boss Graham Drury said: "It's definitely broken, and Aaron has gone backnorth to get it checked out at his local hospital."He's already looking into the possibility of laser treatment to hopefullyspeed up the healing process but it's hard to say how long he will be outfor because we don't know the full extent of the damage yet."If it looks like a lengthy absence we would obviously look at our optionsfor bringing someone in to cover for him. It's a real shame because it was agreat performance by our lads at Somerset with a depleted team."
(SPEEDWAY 4)
MILDENHALL have announced that their West Row stadium will open early onSunday to enable supporters to watch England's World Cup clash with Germany.The bar will open at 2.45pm and supporters are asked to park in the normalcar park and then make their way to the pits entrance where they will beable to pay their admission for the meeting and then watch the football inthe bar.The Fen Tigers then take on reigning National League Champions Bournemouthin an eagerly-awaited fixture with the speedway getting underway at 5pm.Chairman Ray Mascall said: "This seems a sensible solution that will suitmost people and we would like to thank stadium owner Dave Coventry for hisco-operation with this, and we look forward to two cracking matches."
(FIXTURES)
SATURDAY JUNE 26:PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Berwick v Workington 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Rye House v Buxton 7pm
SUNDAY JUNE 27:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v King's Lynn 4pmPREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Newcastle v Redcar 7pm, Workington v Berwick7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: King's Lynn v Isle of Wight 7pm, Mildenhall v Bournemouth5pm, Newport v Plymouth 2.30
MONDAY JUNE 28:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Swindon 7.30, Peterborough v Lakeside7.30, Wolverhampton v Belle Vue 7.30
TUESDAY JUNE 29:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v King's Lynn (at Wolverhampton) 7.30, Isle of Wightv Scunthorpe 7.30
