BIG EVENT LATEST...

LEICESTER promoter David Hemsley has paid tribute to the support his club has received as they build up to their staging of the Premier League Fours at Beaumont Park on Sunday August 7.

Eight teams will do battle in one of the most popular events of the season, which has a new home this year at the East Midlands venue, which staged its first meeting in early April with the Lions returning to the track for the first time in nearly 30-years.

An intensive advertising campaign has taken place ahead of the Fours, with speedway also represented at Leicester City Football Club’s recent pre-season friendly against Real Madrid which attracted a sell-out 32,000 crowd.

Hemsley said: "It has to be said that the return of speedway to Leicester would not have been possible without the support of Leicester City Council.

"We have worked closely with the Council and have developed a special, unique relationship. Also, for this event David Hoggart and I have worked with the local authority and as a result Leicester City Council has promoted the meeting right across the City with a poster campaign supported by the ‘One Leicester’ brand.

"Originally twelve sites were identified that manifested into seventeen. This type of speedway advertising is unique within the modern era, and as an acknowledgment of the time, effort and commitment shown by Leicester City Council our guest of honour will be the new Elected Mayor of Leicester, Sir Peter Soulsby, whose presence is greatly appreciated."

The Premier League Fours gets underway at 5pm on August 7, with supporters encouraged to arrive early as a big crowd is expected.

One change to the previously-announced line-up is the replacement of the injured Taylor Poole in the Ipswich team, with Chris Mills standing in for the Witches.

GROUP 1: SOMERSET: Travis McGowan, Cory Gathercole, Sam Masters, James Holder. LEICESTER: Kauko Nieminen, Magnus Karlsson, Henning Bager, Jan Graversen. EDINBURGH: Kevin Wolbert, Craig Cook, Andrew Tully, Matthew Wethers. GLASGOW: Joe Screen, James Grieves, Theo Pijper, Michal Rajkowski.

GROUP 2: SHEFFIELD: Ricky Ashworth, Josh Auty, Shane Parker, Emiliano Sanchez. REDCAR: Matej Kus, Jason Lyons, Aaron Summers, Gary Havelock. WORKINGTON: James Wright, Tomas Topinka, Rusty Harrison, Peter Kildemand. IPSWICH: Kevin Doolan, Morten Risager, Lasse Bjerre, Chris Mills.

*DUDLEY Heathens collected their first item of major silverware with victory in the National League Fours last Saturday.

The former Cradley club, who returned to racing last season, overcame Belle Vue, host club Stoke and Mildenhall in the Final with comeback man Adam Roynon unbeaten from his two rides, and Ashley Morris securing the silverware by winning the final race.

Boss Will Pottinger said: "Nights like this make everything worthwhile. It was very tense, but Ashley was brilliant to win it for us in the last race.It was nice for us to celebrate with our fans, once again they were brilliant!"

Stoke boss Malcolm Vasey added: "We just ran short in the end, we did our very best but it just was not to be on the night. Tim (Webster) rode on bravely after a nasty fall in the last race in the semi final and is going to feel very sore in the morning, but Dudley did what was needed and took the victory.

"There is still plenty to ride for this season, we are well-placed in the League and we are in a Cup Final and we must not let our heads go down."

SUPER7EVEN SERIES SPEEDWAY GB EVENTS

BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: TAI WOFFINDEN

ELITE LEAGUE PAIRS: POOLE

BRITISH FINAL: SCOTT NICHOLLS

PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: GLASGOW

PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Leicester, August 7 PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, September 25 ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Swindon, October 15

ELITE LEAGUE LATEST…

BELLE VUE boss Jim Lynch couldn’t contain his disappointment after the Aces were held to a 45-45 draw with Coventry despite a terrific display by Rory Schlein and an impressive first appearance of the season from Lukasz Jankowski.

Lynch said: "We’ll have to say goodbye to a top four place after this. Coventry rode as a team and we were disjointed.

"We lacked the consistency to call ourselves a play-off team. It was criminal that Jankowski should give a performance like that on his return to the club and we only get one point out of the meeting."

BIRMINGHAM manager Graham Drury said his side’s battling efforts at Coventry on Friday, when they secured a point from a narrow defeat, were reward for the club’s supporters after two below-par home displays in succession.

Drury said: "The performance at Coventry was the sort of performance I expect from our team week-in, week-out. Every single one of them gave 100 per cent, and that’s what we ask for.

"We had a lot of supporters there who made plenty of noise, and I’m pleased for them. I think they all went home with a smile on their faces, because the journey home on Thursday couldn’t have been a very pleasant one.

COVENTRY skipper Edward Kennett said the Bees were content with a draw at Belle Vue on Monday as they remain firmly in the battle for a place in the play-offs.

Kennett said: "We’ll take a draw at the end of the night, I was pretty happy with that although it would have been nice to take everything but you can’t have that all the time.

"To be fair to Rory (Schlein) it was a fantastic ride in Heat 15, and when I sat in second and saw Kenni (Larsen) behind me I thought we needed to be safe, stay with that and keep Chris (Harris) at the back."

EASTBOURNE star Lukas Dryml has set himself the target of being fit for the play-offs after undergoing surgery on a broken thigh-bone in an horrific crash at Birmingham last Thursday.

Eagles co-promoter Trevor Geer said: "Lukas wants to be back in five weeks. He wants to be back for the play-offs, and knowing him, he will be.

"He had been riding recently the best he has in years, and is so massively committed to Eastbourne Speedway."

KING’S LYNN boss Rob Lyon was delighted to come away from last week’s fixtures with six points from wins over Eastbourne and away at Swindon, as the Stars close in on confirming a play-off place.

Lyon said: "I didn’t particularly put any targets on last week’s matches, but I’d probably have to say we ended up with even more points than we’d been hoping for.

SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Birmingham 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Stoke 7.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17:

NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v Belle Vue 7.30, Isle of Wight v Mildenhall 7.30

TUESDAY AUGUST 16:

SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Belle Vue 7.30, Peterborough v Swindon 7.30, Wolverhampton v King’s Lynn 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Newport 7.30

MONDAY AUGUST 15:

PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Ipswich 6.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v King’s Lynn 3pm, Mildenhall v Stoke 4.30, Newport v Hackney 2.30

SUNDAY AUGUST 14:

PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Ipswich 7pm, Rye House v Glasgow 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Dudley 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 13:

SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Swindon 8pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Leicester 7.30, Somerset v Workington 7.30 NATIONAL LEAGUE: Scunthorpe v Dudley 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 12:

SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Peterborough 7.30, Swindon v Poole 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Sheffield 7.30

THURSDAY AUGUST 11:

SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30, Poole v Swindon 7.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 10:

NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Buxton 7.30

TUESDAY AUGUST 9:

SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Birmingham 7.30, Wolverhampton v Poole 7.30 ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Peterborough v Coventry 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Rye House 7.30

MONDAY AUGUST 8:

PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Leicester 5pm

SUNDAY AUGUST 7:

SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Poole 7.30, Lakeside v Coventry 8pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Berwick 7.30, Rye House v Redcar 7pm, Workington v Edinburgh 7pm NATIONAL LEAGUE: Newport v Mildenhall 7pm, Stoke v Isle of Wight 7.30 BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 3: Plymouth 1pm

SATURDAY AUGUST 6:

PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30, Scunthorpe v Ipswich 7.30, Somerset v Berwick 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 5:

SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Wolverhampton 7.30, Swindon v Peterborough 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Newcastle 7.30, Redcar v Rye House 7.30, Sheffield v Berwick 7.45

THURSDAY AUGUST 4:

SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Swindon 7.30, Poole v Wolverhampton 7.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 3:

FIXTURE PICTURE…

Manager Tony Jackson said: "The defeat, and the injury to Kenny, took off a lot of the gloss from Saturday’s home win over Glasgow. We should be the Workington ‘Casualty’ Comets at the moment, although there are a number of teams in the league who are also suffering in the same way."

WORKINGTON reserve Kenny Ingalls suffered shoulder damage in a crash at Newcastle on Sunday, leaving the Comets short-handed in that department as Gary Irving was already on the club’s mounting injury list.

She said: "It was disappointing to drop those two league points at home, though the on track action was, once again, second to none. But we cannot let all the hard work of earlier in the season go to waste by dropping any more home points, and so all three league points from Friday’s match is a must."

SOMERSET promoter Debbie Hancock says the Rebels cannot afford to drop any more home points when Berwick visit the Oak Tree Arena on Friday, her side having been held to a draw by Redcar last week.

Promoter Neil Machin said: "He was a very intelligent man and I still miss him to this day. He was great to work with and he always tried to get the most out of life. The riders always respected him and he left us way too early."

SHEFFIELD will dedicate their home fixture against Berwick on Thursday to the memory of former promoter Tim Lucking, who died of heart disease 15 years ago.

Godfrey said: "It was an outstanding meeting, and with a bigger crowd and a good victory hopefully a few will be back (on Friday) to see us take on Ipswich."

SCUNTHORPE promoter Rob Godfrey was delighted with the team performance and also the turn-out from supporters as the Scorpions got the better of high-flying Glasgow with a 54-36 win at the Eddie Wright Raceway.

Neath said: "We’re looking forward to going up to Redcar. We won there last year and it is quite a good track. It’s a circuit we all like going to, so we should give them a good match. The Phase Two groupings mean that we’ve got a lot of tough meetings and long-distance travelling coming up, so we need to knuckle down and get stuck into it after the break we’ve just had."

RYE HOUSE skipper Chris Neath is optimistic that the Rockets can improve their league position in their forthcoming matches, starting with a trip to Redcar on Thursday.

Havelock said: "Although we were pleased to squeeze past title contenders Workington last Thursday and then draw away at Somerset the next night, there is no way that I will allow any complacency to ever affect our performances. I am particularly wary of the fact that the Rockets have Luke Bowen at reserve as he is a feisty rider who can get stuck in and score points."

REDCAR promoter Brian Havelock is taking nothing for granted ahead of the Bears’ clash with Rye House this week, despite an encouraging run of recent results.

Promoter Mike Bowden said: "Rye House are very strong on their home track and we did well to score 41 points. But who knows what might have happened if we had Gino in our side. It will be very interesting to see how Berwick handle our track - I think Jade Mudgway is the only member of their side that has seen it previously."

PLYMOUTH will welcome back recent signing Gino Franchetti for their home clash with Berwick on Saturday, the Italian having missed their fixtures last weekend as he was a track reserve at his home Grand Prix.

Mallett said: "He has had a lot of sorting out to do over the past week or so, so to keep his mind on the task of performing to a high level for us and elsewhere is a remarkable achievement in my book. He has been a delight to work with and that goes from day one."

NEWPORT promoter Steve Mallett has praised mid-season signing Charlie Gjedde for his continued high-scoring for the Wasps despite the devastating loss of equipment in a fire at his workshop.

Team boss George English said: "Just when you think things can’t get any worse this year, we get a smash like that in the final race with the match already won."

NEWCASTLE are assessing several injury problems ahead of their visit to Ipswich on Thursday, with Stuart Robson and Claes Nedermark the latest riders hit by their 2011 jinx in a last-race crash in the home win over Workington last Sunday.

Attwood said: "Since Magnus has signed for us he’s been a shining example, and the same goes for Kauko as well. He keeps making those moves in Heat 15 to pick up the points to make sure we get the draws. We just need that bit more support from the rest of the boys to take the pressure off those two a bit."

LEICESTER boss Jason Attwood says the Lions could not ask for more from their newly-signed top two of Magnus Karlsson and Kauko Nieminen, who salvaged another draw with their performance in the last race against Newport last Saturday.

Witches manager Pete Simmons said: "The team worked well together and showed a big improvement in their commitment levels. We will be looking for this to continue as we enter the second phase of league fixtures, starting with Newcastle at home on Thursday."

IPSWICH finally gained their second away win of the season with victory at Plymouth last Friday, the result being achieved with the Witches using rider-replacement for the injured Taylor Poole.

Dickson said: "I am glad that we don’t have to travel too much for the semi, and I have very happy memories of our last KO Cup semi-final with the Diamonds in 1991, where some of the most dramatic moments in our sport occurred for supporters of our team anyway! I think a fantastic two-legged battle with the Diamonds will be a great spectacle for both teams."

GLASGOW manager Stewart Dickson is pleased to be facing Newcastle in the semi-finals of the Knockout Cup as the Tigers chase full team silverware on two fronts this season.

Campbell said: "We were very disappointing and I thought we would do a lot better. We didn’t show enough fight and must be a lot better for the return on Friday."

EDINBURGH boss John Campbell will be urging a big response from his side in their home derby clash with Glasgow on Friday having gone down to a heavy defeat at Ashfield last weekend.

Lindgren said: "The idea of doubling up in the Premier and Elite Leagues had only just been put to me, and as luck would have it Berwick telephoned me the same day. I called Seb and he only said good things about the club so that made my decision easy."

BERWICK newcomer Ludvig Lindgren says he took the advice of fellow recent Bandits’ recruit before making the decision to join the Premier League club in addition to his top-flight racing for Wolverhampton.

PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…

"He knows he has to see a doctor today and it may well be that they keep him in for more observation but once he is released from hospital I will have him staying with me and make sure he is properly looked after until he feels he can fly back home to Sweden."

Wolves boss Peter Adams said: "Freddie's a tough lad and he's up and about this morning which is excellent news. I've had a good chat with him and he seems more like his old self.

WOLVERHAMPTON star Freddie Lindgren has made a significant improvement after being hospitalised for observation on head injuries following a Heat 1 crash at Monmore Green on Monday.

"Each and every rider needs to take a long, hard look at themselves and have a think about whether their contributions are acceptable in terms of what both they and the club expect of them."

Patchett said: "These guys are professional sportsmen and if they think they are falling short, then something’s wrong somewhere.

SWINDON co-promoter Gary Patchett says now is the time for individual riders to step up and ensure the Robins enjoy improved fortunes in the final stages of what has been a difficult season at Blunsdon.

"What we are seeing with him, Chris (Holder), and I will include Dennis (Andersson) in this, is the real future of Poole speedway. I would urge anyone who has yet to see these guys race to make a point of getting along to Wimborne Road to see for themselves just what they are missing."

Ford said: "When he is on that motorcycle - and that is the only place the lad wants to be - he is a very special talent. We are privileged at Poole to be able to witness Darcy on a regular business.

POOLE boss Matt Ford says he and the club’s supporters should appreciate the opportunity they have to witness the rapid development of several of the club’s young riders, including World Under-21 Champion Darcy Ward.

"It was good to see the Polish boys get stuck in a bit towards the end, they proved that they can do it even on a track that doesn’t suit them. We did show some spirit, but it came too late. It was very tough."

Swales said: "We struggled badly with our set-ups early on, even (guest) Peter Karlsson, and it cost us. We have to stop giving points away at the beginning of meetings because away from home it’s very difficult to come back.

PETERBOROUGH boss Trevor Swales had no complaints over the Panthers’ efforts in their 55-41 defeat at Lakeside last Thursday, but lamented a poor star to the meeting when they went 20-4 down after four races.

"He will need time to recover but, hopefully, we won't have seen the last of him this season."

Hammers co-promoter Jon Cook said: "My main thoughts are with Robbo as it sounds like he had a big smash. I have been in contact with his father in law and my Newcastle counterpart, George English, and although his injuries are serious thankfully he looks to have avoided the leg and wrist injuries first reported.

LAKESIDE are hopeful that Stuart Robson will be fit to still play a part in the remainder of their season after his accident at Newcastle last Sunday.