(SPEEDWAY 1)IPSWICH’S Danish youngster Lasse Bjerre has suffered a suspected broken femur in a crash at Leicester on Saturday.The two sides were level at 42-42 going into the deciding heat of a close-fought Premier League contest at Beaumont Park, when Bjerre and new Lions’ No.1 Kauko Nieminen tangled going into the first bend and went into the fence.Ironically, the race had already been stopped at that point due to an unsatisfactory start, but whilst a shaken Nieminen walked away the paramedic was required to accompany Bjerre to hospital, leading to the abandonment of the meeting.News of Bjerre’s injury will also be a blow to Elite League play-off chasing King’s Lynn, with whom the 17-year-old has performed an important role as a squad rider.(SPEEDWAY 2)LEE Smart is expected to make a dramatic return from injury as Plymouth bid to turn around their frustrating season.Smart suffered serious burns to his thigh in a crash at Berwick at the end of April and looked set to be ruled out of the rest of the campaign, but his potential comeback would be a major boost for the Devils who are bottom of the Premier League table.Promoter Mike Bowden said: “Lee will be getting back on the bike over the next few days and if everything is OK he will available for our matches against Edinburgh next weekend.“We need to make some changes because we can’t keep on losing home matches. It was a very disappointing performance against Newport apart from two members of the side who scored 27 of our 40 points.”(SPEEDWAY 3)INJURED Berwick rider Alex Edberg was a welcome guest at the Bandits’ 48-44 win over Somerset – just two hours after being released from hospital!Edberg had been involved in a serious crash at the venue last Saturday and is set to miss the rest of the season, but his team-mates picked up another two Premier League points with the Rebels taking one in tricky conditions.Berwick boss Ian Rae said: “With all the rain prior to the meeting, all I can say is well done to all of the riders in both teams for getting on with the job in hand and making it a pretty good meeting for the fans, with a special thanks to guest Claes Nedermark who got stuck in and was a pleasure to have in our pits. “But what about having Alex here! He’s one amazing young lad and received great support from the collection (£1012.22) from a crowd limited in numbers thanks to the dodgy weather.”(SPEEDWAY 4)STOKE’S impressive run of form continued with a 56-37 win over King’s Lynn as the Potters gained ground on the National League leaders.Reserve James Sarjeant was unbeaten for the Loomer Road side until a last-race disqualification, and Tim Webster only missed out on a maximum with an engine failure.Manager Malcolm Vasey said: “It was a pleasing performance and I’m sure that other clubs will be taking note of our scores. We needed that win to keep us in touch with the teams above us at the moment, I know we have quite a few matches in hand but we don’t want them running away from us. “I was pleased to see everyone getting amongst the points with four riders getting paid for double figures and Tim just missing out on a maximum due to his engine failure in his second ride.”(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY JULY 10:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Somerset 4pm, Newcastle v Edinburgh 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Hackney 3pmMONDAY JULY 11: WORLD CUP EVENT 2: King’s Lynn 7.30TUESDAY JULY 12:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v Newport 7.30WEDNESDAY JULY 13:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Dudley 8pm, King’s Lynn v Isle of Wight 7.30THURSDAY JULY 14:PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Leicester 7.30, Redcar v Somerset 7.30, Sheffield v Scunthorpe 7.45
