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DAVID Howe headed the list of automatic qualifiers for the British Final with a fabulous 15-point maximum at home track Scunthorpe in the second semi-final.

And that booked a return to Monmore Green for the Scorpions skipper, Howe having spent the majority of his Elite League career with Wolverhampton before making the switch to Lincolnshire in 2009.

The re-arranged second semi proved to be a good night for the home club, with Ben Wilson joining Howe and Coventry captain Edward Kennett in the top three. All three are former British Under-21 Champions.

Howe said: “Everything went well for me and the bike was working fantastically well. Even when I missed the start I had the speed to get in front in the first lap so I've got to be happy, haven't I?

“Home track advantage certainly played its part, I'm not saying it was the difference between winning and losing as I've still got to ride the bike but the home track does help in a meeting like this where some riders haven't ridden it before.“Of course it makes a difference but you've got to make sure that the home track advantage isn't nullified by the home track expectation from yourself and the crowd.

“At Wolverhampton where the British Final is, I always say there isn't so much of a track advantage as Elite League riders ride that week in and week out, but this is a different place so it went well for me and I used it to my advantage. I haven't ridden Wolverhampton since I left the club but I've done many a lap round there so I'm sure I still remember it.”The other qualifiers from the Eddie Wright Raceway were Leigh Lanham, Stuart Robson, Lewis Bridger and Lee Richardson, with Olly Allen and Jerran Hart left to rue crashes in their last rides as they finished one point short of progression.One night earlier, Scott Nicholls had taken the honours at Sheffield with the five-times Champion dropping his only point of the night to former Tigers star Richard Hall.

Nicholls was joined in the top three by Ben Barker and Hall, whilst Daniel King made a successful return from injury to score eleven and comfortably reach the Final.

Reigning Champion Chris Harris made it through on ten, and the final places went to Jordan Frampton and home man Ricky Ashworth, with Ashworth’s Sheffield team-mate Josh Auty unluckily breaking a chain in his final ride when he held the lead – which would have been enough to qualify.

Auty, however, gained ample consolation four days later when he was handed one of the two Wild Card places in the Final, along with Tai Woffinden, who missed the semi-finals due to injury.BRITISH FINAL QUALIFIERS: Scott Nicholls, Ben Barker, Richard Hall, Daniel King, Chris Harris, Ricky Ashworth, Jordan Frampton, David Howe, Edward Kennett, Ben Wilson, Leigh Lanham, Stuart Robson, Lewis Bridger, Lee Richardson. WILD CARDS: Josh Auty, Tai Woffinden.SUPER7EVEN SERIES SPEEDWAY GB EVENTSBRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENELITE LEAGUE PAIRS: POOLEBRITISH FINAL: Wolverhampton, June 6PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: Somerset, June 24PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Leicester, August 7 PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, September 25 ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Swindon, October 15

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BELLE VUE’S Dawid Stachyra emerged from a disastrous run to score a vital six points in the Aces’ narrow 47-43 Elite League win over King’s Lynn.Team boss Jim Lynch said: “Dawid looked on the pace at last. He was very sharp and did well from what is the very difficult No 2 slot. “It will be interesting to see how he goes at Swindon on Thursday because it is a track which should suit him.”BIRMINGHAM will finally track a full side for their trip to Peterborough this week, as Krzysztof Kasprzak returns from his controversial Polish-imposed ban and Danny King makes his Brummies comeback after injury.Manager Graham Drury said: “It’s now time to draw a line under this messy saga and get on with what we do best, that’s ride the bike and try and pick up a result at Peterborough.“It will be the first time I have been able to pick the team I have wanted since the opening night of the season back on March 17 against Wolves. That night Claus Vissing broke his wrist and now, finally, we are back to full strength.”COVENTRY have completed the stunning signing of Russian superstar Emil Sayfutdinov as a replacement for Hans Andersen, with his first appearances set to be at King’s Lynn on Wednesday and then at home against Poole next Monday.Bees co-boss Alun Rossiter said: “It’s an absolutely massive signing not only for us, but also for British Speedway, and everyone should see the benefits from it. Emil is box office, he’s the rider everyone is talking about and it’s another big boost for speedway in this country after we’ve already seen Nicki (Pedersen) come back.“Emil is so keen to come here, and I was amazed by what I saw when I went out to Poland earlier in the week to tie the deal up. He is just so professional, and we can’t wait for him to get started with us.”EASTBOURNE extended their lead at the top of the Elite League table with a powerful all-round showing in a 55-41 victory over Peterborough at Arlington.Co-promoter Mike Bellerby said: “It was essential that we got back to our winning ways following the disappointment of our home defeat against King’s Lynn, and despite some anxious moments we have done just that with something to spare.“We are very happy with how the lads responded following a fortnight’s lay off and now with half our fixtures completed we remain at the top of the Elite League table. We have to take some pleasure from that.”KING’S LYNN manager Rob Lyon says he will not over-react to individual results such as the Stars’ heavy defeat at Lakeside on Saturday, with his side immediately responding by taking a useful away point from Belle Vue two nights later.Lyon said: “I did say at the start of the season that there will inevitably be times when we have peaks and troughs, and there will be the odd meeting here and there where we get whacked. “I do think that possibly people have lost sight of that simply because we’ve had such a good start, and that does get you to the point where it could be thought that we’re immune to any heavy defeats such as the one we suffered at Lakeside.”LAKESIDE, who are heading into a quiet month of Elite League action, say they will spend time during June re-assessing their team plans for the rest of the season after an inconsistent campaign so far.Manager Jon Cook said: “We won’t be carried away with Saturday’s win (against King’s Lynn) although we won’t be changing the side for the Cup matches either. We will be making an almost complete change to the riding order, whilst we continue to consider all our options.“I know the frustrations Stuart (Douglas) and I feel echo those of our fans, and we need to address that feeling. This is caused by the lack of consistency and commitment that our senior riders have shown on occasion. It’s particularly perturbing when riders who aren’t fit enough to ride in the UK then ride abroad, and that will be addressed in-house.”PETERBOROUGH star Troy Batchelor urged his side to use Eastbourne’s form as a blueprint for their own season, after the Panthers were defeated at Arlington on Monday.Batchelor said: “We were out of it and then back in it and then out of it again. We shouldn’t have left it so late.“We need to start banging in three points at home every meeting like these guys do at Eastbourne. We’ve got to start making use of home track advantage and try and pick some points up away.”POOLE manager Neil Middleditch rued the absence of Chris Holder due to illness as the Pirates missed out on the Elite Shield after defeat at Wolverhampton.Middleditch said: “It was a tough night but it was always going to be that way without Chris. We did well to get to a last-heat decider for a race-off but unfortunately fell at the last hurdle.“We tried to get a rider in to guest for Chris but there were so many people racing that it was impossible. You can’t expect riders to just drop everything and race for you when it’s likely they have been riding over the weekend.”SWINDON will have skipper Simon Stead back in their team after a season so far wrecked by rib injuries when they face Belle Vue at Blunsdon on Thursday – but Polish youngster Maciej Janowski misses out due to a commitment in his homeland.Robins co-promoter Terry Russell said: “It’s great to have Simon back but just as we thought we’d have seven riders for the first time in ages we have lost Magic for the night.“Hopefully the rider replacement facility will prove to be successful once again.”WOLVERHAMPTON star Tai Woffinden watched his team’s Elite Shield victory over Poole and then confirmed he will be fit to return from a broken shoulder next week.Woffinden said: “I’m not good at watching meetings I should be in but that’s what happens in this sport I guess and fair play to the guys, they were awesome.“The injury has been worse than first thought and it seems ages since I did it so I can’t wait to get racing again and hopefully I can score lots of points against Belle Vue.”

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BERWICK have signed 20-year-old Swede Alex Edberg to cover for the injured Hynek Stichauer, and he will make his debut against Glasgow on Saturday.Co-promoter John Anderson said: “We must emphasise that Alex is coming in as an ‘injury replacement’ and we have the option of retuning to our regular 1-7 line-up once the Czech Republic doctors have given Hynek final clearance. This will be a better option than using guests or the rider replacement regulation each week, and of course we’re hoping Alex proves to be a revelation in the UK.”EDINBURGH overcame the first-race loss of No.1 Kevin Wolbert to collect a vital 51-42 win over Newport at Armadale.Monarchs star Craig Cook quipped: “I thought at one stage our promoter John Campbell would have to get his gear on! I was pretty happy with my 13-point score, I would have liked a maximum but it was just good that we pulled together to win the meeting after losing Kevin.”GLASGOW co-promoter Stewart Dickson challenged his team to regain top form after just securing maximum points from a nervous encounter with Scunthorpe at Ashfield.Dickson said: “We are indebted to Joe (Screen) and Josh (Grajczonek) for digging us out of a hole and getting the extra point. We will need to race a lot better than that in the next few weeks as we have some tough fixtures ahead, but I still hope that things will continue in a positive vein and we can put pressure on the sides above us in the league.”IPSWICH have announced plans to resurrect the famous Star of Anglia meeting, first staged in 1979, as part of their 60th anniversary celebrations.The event will take place on Thursday June 2, and riders already confirmed are: Jason Doyle, Sam Masters, Kevin Doolan, Kozza Smith, Dakota North, Tyson Burmeister, Leigh Lanham, Jerran Hart, Jordan Frampton, Ritchie Hawkins, Chris Schramm, Taylor Poole, Alex Davies, Olly Allen.LEICESTER boss David Hemsley admitted he had mixed emotions after two close battles with Berwick over the weekend, the Lions taking a point from their trip to Shielfield Park before being held to a home draw 24 hours later.Hemsley said: “Probably I would begrudgingly have accepted two points before the weekend, but afterwards I tend to think that maybe we threw three away! They were two even and very competitive meetings.”NEWCASTLE have put back the start-time of their derby clash with Redcar on Sunday by half an hour to 7pm – to assist their rivals’ star Matej Kus to make the meeting in time after appearing in the Czech Grand Prix the day before.Diamonds co-promoter Darryl Illingworth said: “We have agreed to the Bears’ request to allow our supporters to see a titanic battle fought out by as near to full strength squads as is possible. Although the Bears are our fiercest of rivals there are times when you have to put aside those feelings and act in the best interests of the sport as a whole.”NEWPORT skipper Leigh Lanham was delighted with his own performance and that of the revised Wasps team in their dramatic 48-44 win over Sheffield on Friday.Lanham said: “That was the best meeting I have ridden in some time, definitely the best I have ridden as a Newport Wasp. I felt really comfortable with the bike and the track, and now we have Doyley (Jason Doyle) in the side, there is less pressure on me. The changes have really made us stronger, Justin (Sedgmen) had a superb debut for us and loves it here.”PLYMOUTH promoter Mike Bowden reacted to the Devils’ home defeat at the hands of Workington last Friday by stating that alterations will be made to the team.Bowden said: “It was a poor performance and we were effectively a two-man team, relying heavily on Ben Barker and Jason Bunyan. We will be making changes before next Friday’s home match against Scunthorpe. Kyle Hughes will be rejoining us and I am also having talks with an Elite League rider.”REDCAR have moved to bring Lubos Tomicek into the Bears’ side following two narrow home defeats, the Czech rider replacing the injured Adam Roynon.Boss Brian Havelock said: “We have been operating the rider replacement rule to cover for the absence of Adam. However, asking our reserves to take six or seven rides in a match has not proved totally effective so we have brought an experienced rider into our top five on a temporary basis until Adam is fit and available again.”RYE HOUSE returnee Steve Boxall admitted his first match back had exceeded expectations, having hit double figures in the Rockets’ impressive win over Somerset.Boxall said: “I’m just so happy at the moment. To be honest I didn’t fully expect it, but it was what I wanted to do tonight, not only for me but for the fans. We’ve had such a good replacement in Jason Doyle, and it’s left me with a lot to step up to in order to fill his shoes.”SCUNTHORPE boss Richard Hollingsworth says there is plenty more to come from his team with the potential to make further progress up the Premier League table as the season continues.Hollingsworth said: “Every single one of the riders is not quite there. They are better than their scores have suggested. That’s why we believe in the seven riders we’ve got, we think they are going to improve and move us up the table.”SHEFFIELD skipper Ricky Ashworth says his side will travel to their televised meeting at Somerset next Tuesday in a positive frame of mind.Ashworth said: “We all want to go down there and put on a great performance to show the country what we’re about. We lost at home to them but there’s no reason why we can’t gain some revenge, and that would be sweet on live TV.”SOMERSET promoter Debbie Hancock is hoping Friday’s clash with Leicester does not prove to be a banana-skin encounter as the Rebels will be without Sam Masters and Dakota North due to World Under-21 qualifiers.Hancock said: “In an idea world we would have preferred to have been facing Leicester with both Sam and Dak in our line up, but is a great honour for both of them and the club alike to receive international recognition.”WORKINGTON boss Tony Jackson had praise for his whole side as they kept up with the Premier League pace-setters with an impressive 49-41 win at Plymouth.Jackson said: “Only Kenny Ingalls, Charles Wright and our guest Kyle Newman had seen the place before, so it was a fantastic performance and a brilliant result. The team spirit amongst the guys is fantastic and they are a great bunch of lads to work with.”FIXTURE PICTURE…

TUESDAY MAY 24:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Belle Vue 7.30

WEDNESDAY MAY 25:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30

THURSDAY MAY 26:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Peterborough v Birmingham 7.30, Swindon v Belle Vue 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Newport 7.30, Redcar v Newcastle 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Sheffield v Buxton 7pm, Sheffield v Stoke (follows previous fixture)

FRIDAY MAY 27: PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Rye House 7.30, Plymouth v Scunthorpe 7.30, Somerset v Leicester 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Hackney v Dudley (at Lakeside) 8pm

SATURDAY MAY 28:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Glasgow 7pm, Newport v Plymouth 7pm, Workington v Rye House 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Sheffield 7.30CHALLENGE: Leicester v Birmingham 7.30

SUNDAY MAY 29:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Sheffield 4pm, Newcastle v Redcar 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Isle of Wight 4.30CHALLENGE: Birmingham v Leicester 6.30

MONDAY MAY 30:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Poole 7.30, Peterborough v King’s Lynn 4.30, Wolverhampton v Belle Vue 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Workington 2pm, Scunthorpe v Plymouth 3pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Newport v Mildenhall 2.30, Scunthorpe v Dudley (follows PL fixture)

TUESDAY MAY 31:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Sheffield 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v Hackney 7.30

WEDNESDAY JUNE 1:TEST MATCH: Great Britain v Australia (at Poole) 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Belle Vue v Dudley 8pm ASHLEY JONES MEMORIAL: King’s Lynn 7.30

THURSDAY JUNE 2:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Coventry 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Redcar 7.45 STAR OF ANGLIA: Ipswich 7.30

FRIDAY JUNE 3:TEST MATCH: Great Britain v Australia (at Lakeside) 8pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Workington 7.30, Plymouth v Glasgow 7.30, Redcar v Sheffield 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Scunthorpe v Ipswich 7.30

SATURDAY JUNE 4:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v King’s Lynn 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Sheffield 7pm, Leicester v Plymouth 7.30, Newport v Glasgow 7pm, Rye House v Edinburgh 7pm, Workington v Somerset 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Stoke v Buxton 7.30

SUNDAY JUNE 5:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Redcar 4pm, Newcastle v Somerset 6.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Dudley 3pm NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Mildenhall v Hackney 4.30

MONDAY JUNE 6:BRITISH FINAL: Wolverhampton 7.30

WEDNESDAY JUNE 8:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Belle Vue 7.30, Poole v Wolverhampton 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Stoke 7.30