BIG EVENT LATEST…

BRITISH Speedway will play host to three major FIM events this season at both full international and Under-21 levels.Lakeside have stepped in to stage a semi-final of the World Under-21 Team Championship on Sunday May 27; a Grand Prix qualifier will take place at Berwick on Saturday June 16; and Coventry will stage the third round of the World Under-21 Championship on Friday August 17.The Lakeside event sees Great Britain take on Denmark, Australia and the Czech Republic as they look to book a place in the World Under-21 Team Final at Gniezno in Poland on September 1. The meeting takes place at the Arena-Essex Raceway subject to a final FIM inspection on May 4.Co-promoter Jon Cook said: “We are all excited about staging our first full FIM event at the venue, and to get behind the British Under-21s as they try to qualify from a tough and attractive round.“Our own (rider) Richie Worrall and (manager) Neil Vatcher will, of course, be part of that team on and off track respectively, and the added opportunity to stage a meeting on a Sunday afternoon was one we were pleased to take when the BSPA needed another venue at short notice.”Berwick will also be breaking new ground when they stage a round of Grand Prix qualifying on Saturday June 16, featuring top British duo Chris Harris and Tai Woffinden and Lakeside’s Davey Watt.The Bandits installed their new polyfoam safety barrier prior to the new season and a successful FIM track inspection gave them the green light to stage one of the five qualifiers with places up for grabs for the semi-finals a fortnight later.Club director George Hepburn said: “Christer Bergstrom inspected all aspects, not just the track as you can imagine and there were many other matters to oversee including, safety fence, jury room, referee box, medical/dope control room, changing rooms, pits and the like and I have to say a big thank you to Berwick Rangers and their Supporters Club for all their assistance in helping with several of these issues.“Christer was highly impressed with Shielfield and fair enough, there are about five or six minor matters to be resolved but nothing that will lose us any sleep. “It is onwards and upwards now to June 16. A lot of hard work lies ahead to get that meeting spot on, but we look forward to it with relish.”Meanwhile Coventry have prior history in the World Under-21 Championship as they staged the event as a one-off Final back in 1991. The meeting is now part of a seven-round series, and could feature former Bees duo Przemyslaw and Piotr Pawlicki.Co-promoter Colin Pratt said: “Obviously we don’t know the qualifiers yet, but looking at the list of riders who are eligible it promises to be a really good meeting.“From the form guide abroad at the moment the Pawlickis seem to be doing the business again, and we’re very much looking forward to staging this big FIM event at Brandon.”

SPEEDWAYGB EVENTS SERIES:BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: JOE HAINESPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Peterborough, Sunday July 15BRITISH FINAL: Wolverhampton, Monday July 30PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: Somerset, Friday August 24PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, Sunday September 23ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Swindon, Saturday October 20

NATIONAL LEAGUE MAJOR EVENT DATES:NATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Stoke, Sunday June 10NATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: Mildenhall, Sunday July 22NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Rye House, Saturday September 15

BRITISH SPEEDWAY FIM EVENT DATES:WORLD UNDER-21 TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL: Lakeside, May 27GRAND PRIX QUALIFIER: Berwick, June 16WORLD UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP Round 3: Coventry, August 17

ELITE LEAGUE LATEST…

BELLE VUE boss Jim Lynch says the Aces are planning to re-introduce Danish star Patrick Hougaard back into their side this week after a month out with a broken collarbone.Lynch said: “We are waiting for the final word from Patrick who has lined up four outings at home, either in practice or in Danish League matches.“He is going to be sore coming back from a broken collarbone after a month but we are looking at including him for the Birmingham match (on Thursday).”BIRMINGHAM star Ben Barker says the Brummies are desperate to get back to racing with Thursday’s home match against Belle Vue coming after a frustrating period of inactivity.Barker said: “It’s very frustrating sitting around waiting for meetings, I’d be happy to ride every night of the week, the busier the better.“It will be good to get back together after three weeks. It was a major disappointment to have last week called off against Coventry because I was raring to go and so were the other boys.”COVENTRY promoter Mick Horton says the Bees’ upcoming run of four matches in six days should give them the opportunity to add to their points total after no meeting for nearly three weeks.Horton said: “We have a target in mind for these meetings and I’m certainly hopeful of getting three points at home and picking up something on our travels too, which is certainly what we need to do.“The boys are desperate to get on track again. It’s really early days, we showed some good early form and I feel we’ve been very unlucky with mechanical problems.”EASTBOURNE star Lukas Dryml is looking for regular call-ups to Heat 15 after earning a nomination for the race in the Eagles’ last home meeting against Peterborough.Dryml said: “I am at full power now. I feel well and I need to really work hard on the concentration of the meeting. I just need to be focused and calm for the gate.“When I make a start I am good enough and fast enough and hard enough to win races, but concentration is the most important thing for me. It’s Heat 15, the best four riders and I was there, I belong there.”KING’S LYNN promoter Buster Chapman says the attitude of Maciej Janowski played a big part in his decision to bring in another Polish rider, with Matuesz Szczepaniak now joining the Stars.Chapman said: “I had always been wary of signing a Pole, but Magic has been fantastic to deal with so far this season so I had no hesitations in signing Mateusz. “It is great he will become a club asset after a few meetings and I hope he has a long and successful career with King’s Lynn in the Elite League."LAKESIDE skipper Lee Richardson believes the Hammers have already shown several of the qualities which they will require to sustain a title challenge this season.Richardson said: “I think the key is that everyone has performed well and the team has reached the levels expected at this stage. We have shown that we have plenty of strength in depth and that is really important if you want to be considered serious title contenders.“For example, I didn’t have the best of meetings at Belle Vue, I wasn’t quite right with the set-up but fortunately the rest of the boys were getting out of the gate okay and we got the win.”PETERBOROUGH boss Trevor Swales is expecting an interesting contest with Swindon at the Showground on Friday as the sides become the first to contest a Knockout Cup tie under the new regulations.Swales said: “The new format is certainly going to present some different challenges, and I’m sure it’s going to take a bit of getting used to. “I think the changes to the rules has made the competition more worthwhile, and hopefully by doing what we’ve done it will give it a higher profile.”POOLE’S Australian stars Chris Holder and Darcy Ward combined for a last-heat 5-1 to snatch an away win at Wolverhampton – exactly as they had done in the Pirates’ previous triumph on the road this year at Coventry.But boss Neil Middleditch was keen to stress this was no two-man show, saying: “I am very proud of the performance tonight and the manner in which we never stopped believing.“Although Chris and Darcy produced the last-heat heroics, it wasn’t just about them. This was a victory in which we had to dig deep and everyone contributed.”SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter says there are no concerns over the fitness of Peter Kildemand and Robin Aspegren, who both took painful falls in the Robins’ last fixture.Rossiter said: “They were both a bit sore after the meeting, but our sports therapist saw them the following day and they would have been fine to race in the meetings that we lost to the weather.“It’s obviously been a frustrating week but we are delighted with our start to the season and just wanted to keep the momentum going. Most of the boys have been getting some racing on the continent even if the weather has played a hand over here.”WOLVERHAMPTON star Nicolai Klindt is facing a period on the sidelines after breaking his shoulder-blade in three places in a crash during the narrow home defeat against Poole on Monday.Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “It's too early to say what the position will be for us, but obviously Nic is a key member of the team and he was riding superbly."The rider replacement facility is all we have available, but if he is going to be out for a significant amount of time then we may have to look for a temporary replacement

PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…

BERWICK boss Ian Rae said the manner of the Bandits’ home win over Newcastle last weekend was an indication of things to come this season.Rae said: “We’re a solid side, and the skill is developing nicely every week. Ricky (Ashwoth), Seb (Alden) and Lee (Complin) are simply spectacular, Lubos (Tomick) is scoring steadily, Alex’s (Edberg) confidence is coming back more and more every week as is Jason King’s who, despite his lower scored is not off the pace and usually is banging away in the thick of it.EDINBURGH star Derek Sneddon has a broken right collarbone and small fractured bone in his foot after a crash at Glasgow which also saw team-mate Charles Wright hurt, although he has avoided breaking any bones.Sneddon said: “My boot was almost ripped off in the crash. My arm is in a sling and I’m on pain-killers, though they are not working. I know we have Ipswich in the league at Armadale a week on Friday and that’s my target to get back. However, I’m not going to do anything stupid.”GLASGOW youngster Mason Campton says the Tigers riders have been given a clear message of what is expected of them as the season moves towards the Premier League stage.Campton said: “Stewart (Dickson) has been very fair with us all and spelled it out. Basically we know that the league is the competition that we are aiming to be as well prepared for as possible, and we all have the League Cup to get things right.”IPSWICH director of speedway Chris Louis says the recent sale of Danny King to Elite League Birmingham will assist with re-building the Witches.Louis said: “It was a very difficult decision to allow Danny to go. We have put time and money into his progression, he’s a young English rider, but I need to see the bigger picture and re-building Ipswich Speedway is what I intend to do.”LEICESTER boss Jason Attwood is hoping his team can get the job done without the need for last-heat deciders when they start their Premier League programme this weekend.Attwood said: “I’m getting bored with saying it because I seem to be saying the same thing every week about needing points at reserve. I’m getting fed up with having to ask the lads in Heat 15 to go out and get me something!”NEWCASTLE will face Scunthorpe at home this Sunday after the Scorpions agreed to visit at short-notice in order to help their rivals to avoid a fixture backlog.Diamonds boss George English said: “I have to send some very sincere thanks to Scunthorpe. Their promoter Rob Godfrey has been magnificent in getting his team to come to us with one week’s notice and it’s a great relief dealing with people with such helpful and positive attitudes.”PLYMOUTH promoter Mike Bowden believes his side can overcome the absence of Ryan Fisher (World Cup qualifier) and get the better of Ipswich at the St Boniface Arena on Friday.Bowden said: “Ipswich are one of the teams who are fancied to win honours this season and I am sure it will be a tough encounter. I am looking forward to seeing the team carry on from where they left off against Leicester – although I could do without having another last heat decider.”REDCAR boss Jitendra Duffill expects a close contest when League Cup northern section leaders Workington visit the South Tees Motorsport Park on Thursday.Duffill said: “Yes, it is going to be tough but we relish this sort of match. The Comets are power-packed with several riders who love racing at our track. However, we have put together a very competitive team too. Both sides are evenly-matched and this should prove an entertaining contest.”RYE HOUSE fought back from 14-points down to snatch a point from their League Cup trip to Ipswich, keeping the Rockets in with a chance of qualifying from the Southern group with plenty of home matches to come.Manager John Sampford said: “To come away from Ipswich with a result like this was a great achievement for the team. After our recent rain-offs, it was almost a case of re-starting our season again and blowing away the cobwebs.”SCUNTHORPE boss Richard Hollingsworth was pleased with the Scorpions’ strength in depth in their home win over Redcar last Thursday.Hollingsworth said: “It was pleasing to see Jerran Hart back on song, and he and Ash (Birks) won five races between them from reserve. Ash worked very hard for his six points. All things considered, it was a good team performance and we remain on course to finish in the top two of the Northern Section of the League Cup and qualify for the semi-finals.”SHEFFIELD have announced a three-way partnership with South Yorkshire Police Fire and Rescue, and long-time friends Pirtek in an attempt to make the city’s roads safer.Keith Watts of South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said: “Working in partnership with Sheffield Speedway and Pirtek is a great way to promote the importance of road safety. During 2011 there were 30 people killed on the roads of South Yorkshire, the Safer Roads Partnership is determined to reduce these figures further and attending events such as this is just one of the approaches that we take.”SOMERSET promoter Debbie Hancock sent congratulations to Rebels duo Kyle Newman and Sam Masters on their qualification for the World Under-21 semi-finals, and hopes team-mates Alex Davies and Tom Perry can follow suit.She said: “It would be quite a coup for the club if all four Rebels made it through to the semi-final stages. Sam and Kyle did tremendously well in their qualifying meeting in Germany, and I am sure that Alex and Tom will not want to be out-done by their team-mates when they ride in their qualifying meeting in Holland.”WORKINGTON will be back to full strength with Kenny Ingalls returning from injury, and will have a new riding order when they visit Redcar on Thursday and then host Sheffield on Saturday.Boss Tony Jackson said: “Kyle Howarth moves up into the main body of the side for the first time after his superb start to the season, and dropping down to reserve will be Adam Roynon, who has also made a solid start to the campaign. Both riders have increased their averages already this year, but Kyle just edged out Adam by three-hundredths of a point to move up into the top five.”FIXTURE PICTURE…

TUESDAY MAY 1:NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Isle of Wight v Rye House 7.30

WEDNESDAY MAY 2:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v King’s Lynn 8pmNATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: King’s Lynn v Mildenhall 7.30

THURSDAY MAY 3:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Belle Vue 7.30, Swindon v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Newcastle 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Redcar v Workington 7.30, Sheffield v Glasgow 7.45

FRIDAY MAY 4:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Belle Vue 8pm, Lakeside v Poole 8pmELITE LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Peterborough v Swindon 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30, Plymouth v Ipswich 7.30, Somerset v Leicester 7.30

SATURDAY MAY 5:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Coventry 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Leicester v Redcar 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Berwick v Edinburgh 7pm, Rye House v Plymouth 7pm, Workington v Sheffield 7pmSTAFFS CUP 2nd leg: Stoke v Dudley 7pm

SUNDAY MAY 6:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Leicester 4pm, Newcastle v Scunthorpe 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Scunthorpe 4.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Buxton v Dudley 3pm

MONDAY MAY 7:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Eastbourne 6pm, Poole v Swindon 7.30, Wolverhampton v Coventry 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Sheffield 2.30, Rye House v Somerset 2pm, Scunthorpe v Edinburgh 3pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Rye House v Buxton (follows PL fixture)NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Scunthorpe v Stoke (follows PL fixture)

TUESDAY MAY 8:NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Dudley v Buxton 7.30CHALLENGE: Isle of Wight v Stoke 7.30

WEDNESDAY MAY 9:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30

THURSDAY MAY 10:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Peterborough 7.30, Swindon v Eastbourne 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Ipswich 7.30

FRIDAY MAY 11:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Peterborough 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Ipswich 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Scunthorpe v Glasgow 7.30, Somerset v Plymouth 7.30

SATURDAY MAY 12:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Redcar 7pm, Leicester v Scunthorpe 7.30, Plymouth v Somerset 7.30, Rye House v Newcastle 7pm, Workington v Edinburgh 7pm

SUNDAY MAY 13:PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Sheffield 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Stoke v Scunthorpe 5.30BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 2: Mildenhall 4.30

MONDAY MAY 14:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Lakeside 7.30ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Belle Vue v Birmingham 7.30GARY PETERSON MEMORIAL: Wolverhampton 7.30

TUESDAY MAY 15:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Mildenhall 7.30

WEDNESDAY MAY 16:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Lakeside 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Dudley 7.30