(SPEEDWAY 1)

POOLE have confirmed that Russian star Renat Gafurov has been issued his work permit enabling him to take his place in the Pirates' team this season.Gafurov intends to travel to Britain at the end of the week and will be present at the club's press and practice session next Monday.Promoter Matt Ford said: "It was a long, drawn out and complicated process, as I always knew it would be, but I think well worth it as I feel that Renat will do a good job for us this year."There was a lot of paperwork involved, hours of form completion and many hurdles that had to be cleared but late Wednesday afternoon we received the one piece of news that we wanted, confirmation of the issuance of the work permit."

(SPEEDWAY 2)

BUXTON'S 2010 Rider of the Year Robert Branford will be back for the club's defence of the National League title this season.17-year-old Branford is set for a busy year as he will also be racing at Premier League level for Redcar, but he will continue with Buxton when his Bears commitments allow.Club boss Jayne Moss said: "Rob exceeded all our expectations last year and probably his own, and we were keen to have him back in the team this year, and in fact had everything agreed before he returned home for the winter."He was very popular with the fans and if he continues where he left off last year may well be challenging for the number one spot."

(FIXTURE)

SATURDAY MARCH 12:

BEN FUND BONANZA: Scunthorpe 2.30