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LAKESIDE boss Jon Cook has been pleased to confirm a full programme of racing at Purfleet this season.The Hammers will race as many meetings as possible on their traditional Friday night, and their Elite League programme is supplemented by the introduction of the Hackney National League team, who will race half of their meetings at Lakeside.Cook said: "We are pleased with this year's fixtures as we have delivered as many Friday home meetings as the international list allows and, thanks to the support of our Raceway landlords, we have the advantage of being able to run two Saturday night meetings and on both Friday Bank Holidays."We have lost two home League matches due to the Sport's winter of discontent and as regrettable as that is we have replaced them with at least five Hawks meetings and have applied for another major senior event, details of which we hope to announce soon."

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ISLE of Wight are one rider away from completing their team line-up after finalising the transfer of Rob Smith from Rye House.Smith joins the Islanders as part of the deal which took Ben Hopwood to Hoddesdon, and boss Kevin Shepherd has high hopes for his newcomer in this season's National League.Shepherd said: "Although in a lot of people's eyes Rob may be a gamble, the club has total faith in him. We can see Rob upping his average even after not racing our track on a regular basis."This now only leaves one place to fill in the Islanders 1-7, we know the rider we want and are just awaiting his existing promoter's permission to sign him."

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BELLE Vue have completed their starting line-up for the Elite League season with the signing of experienced Pole Tomasz Piszcz.The 33-year-old has previously been a squad rider with the Aces, and his most recent full-time spell in British speedway was with Birmingham in the Premier League two years ago.Operations Director Chris Morton said: "Tomasz really fits the bill. He is very keen to ride in the UK again and once he is settled, he is more than capable of performing well. It is a tough call to go straight into a competitive Elite League team but I am confident he can do it."We did consider introducing a new Danish rider, but it would have been someone who is completely new to British racing. Tomasz has experience and is the closest thing to what we were looking for."

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LEICESTER'S former supporters' club chairman Ken Naylor has taken a position as co-promoter of the newly re-formed Lions.Naylor has worked tirelessly in attempts to see speedway return to Leicester 28 years after its disappearance, and this will come to fruition when the club launches a new era at Beaumont Park in early April.He said: "Right from the outset of my tenure as chairman of the Supporters' Club the sole purpose was to find a way to see speedway return to the city, and now having achieved this I feel that my work is done. When David Hemsley invited me to become his co-promoter I did not hesitate in saying yes, which means that I will remain involved."There are still many challenges ahead and I will be looking into the possibility of launching a youth development programme that will provide opportunities at Beaumont Park for newcomers at little or no cost to the riders."

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PAUL Cooper has been named as the new No.1 rider for the combined Scunthorpe/Sheffield team in this season's National League.Sheffield asset Cooper was left without a Premier League team place after missing the closing stages of last season due to a grasstrack crash which saw him airlifted to hospital with severe head injuries.Manager Stuart Parnaby said: "I think Paul's signing works in so many ways. It helps Paul get back into competitive racing and that has to be good for him and our new partners at Sheffield."From the team's point of view he seriously strengthens us and takes us from being a good team to the next level. He is a great personality to have in the pits, will fit in well with the younger lads in the side and will only have a positive impact on the excellent morale we already have."