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KINGS Lynn star Maciej Janowski will take a one point lead into the third round of the World Under-21 Final at Coventry on August 17.Janowski is at the head of a tight five-way fight for honours at this stage of the competition having won the second of seven events in Slovenia earlier this month to move onto 24 points.The reigning champion holds a narrow advantage over Mikkel B Jensen, with Peterboroughs Michael Jepsen Jensen only one point further adrift.Coventry asset Przemyslaw Pawlicki, who makes his first return to Brandon since the end of last season, is on 21 points whilst fellow Pole Bartosz Zmarzlikthe sensation of the recent Grand Prix in Gorzow - is still in contention with only five points covering the top four.Pawlickis brother Piotr, who also had a spell with the Bees in 2011, is next in the standings, whilst Somersets Sam Masters took his place in the series at Lendava, scoring six points after missing the first round due to injury.The Brandon event will be staged over the traditional 20-heat format with all points scored counting towards the riders overall series total. Two Wild Cards are to be named, along with track reserves, and qualified rider Richie Worrall is hoping to be fit to return from a broken leg.It will be the first time a World Under-21 event has been staged at Coventry since 1991, that meeting having been won by Brian Andersen who went on to enjoy an eight-year career with the Bees and also won an Elite League title with Oxford.
THE competing clubs have been named for the hugely popular Premier League Pairs at Somerset on August 24.As has become traditional, the event takes place at the Oak Tree Arena the day before the British Grand Prix at Cardiff, and ten of the thirteen Premier League clubs will be taking part.Qualification has been decided on the basis of the top three eligible riders from each club from their August Green Sheet averages, using line-ups which stood on Thursday August 2.Clubs must then select two of their top three riders to take part, and they have been split into two groups of five for the meeting itself, with the top two from each group progressing to the semi-finals.Qualifying clubs: GROUP 1:PLYMOUTHBen Barker, Ryan Fisher, Cory GathercoleLEICESTERKauko Nieminen, Magnus Karlsson, Lasse BjerreWORKINGTONRichard Lawson, Rene Bach, Adam RoynonNEWCASTLEStuart Robson, Mark Lemon, Ludvig LindgrenREDCARUlrich Ostergaard, Aaron Summers, Matej KusGROUP 2:BERWICKRicky Ashworth, Sebastian Alden, Lee ComplinGLASGOWJoe Screen, James Grieves, Josh GrajczonekSOMERSETJason Doyle, Sam Masters, James WrightSCUNTHORPEDavid Howe, Josh Auty, Thomas JorgensenEDINBURGHCraig Cook, Andrew Tully, Theo Pijper
SPEEDWAYGB EVENTS SERIES:BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: JOE HAINESPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: BERWICKBRITISH FINAL: SCOTT NICHOLLSPREMIER 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 PAIRS: MILDENHALLNATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Stoke, Sunday August 26NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Rye House, Saturday September 29
BRITISH SPEEDWAY FIM EVENT DATES:WORLD UNDER-21 TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL: AUSTRALIAGRAND PRIX QUALIFIER: CHRIS HARRISWORLD UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP Round 3: Coventry, August 17
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BELLE VUE boss Jason Attwood gained his first victory since taking charge of the Aces with a hard-fought 47-43 success over Birmingham at Kirkmanshulme Lane.Attwood said: I am delighted with that result. I felt a lot of pressure for my first home meeting in charge, but we won as a team tonight. Rory had a bad first ride, but after that I think we saw some of the Rory Schlein that we were used to watching last season. And Craig Cook has been exceptional.BIRMINGHAM promoter Graham Drury had mixed feelings after seeing his side come away from Belle Vue with a point on Monday, as he admitted their expectations had been for a win.Drury said: It was good to come away with something from Belle Vue but obviously it was a meeting we had down as an away win for us and for various reasons it just didnt happen.We are getting hit by some inconsistency in the team and thats something we need to put right if were going to make the top four.COVENTRY skipper Chris Harris hopes his 14-point haul in the Bees win over Wolverhampton at Brandon last Friday is a sign of things to come for the remainder of the campaign.Harris said: Thats me at my best when Im riding like that, and it shows when things are going well and Im feeling good in myself. I just hope it keeps going like that for the rest of the season now.It was a good night for the team, everyone rode well and we got the win we needed and beat our local rivals which is always even better.EASTBOURNE boss Trevor Geer was somewhat frustrated to drop a point to play-off rivals Peterborough at Arlington on Saturdayalthough the Eagles did respond by gaining an away point at Wolverhampton two nights later.Geer said: We really needed three-points from this meeting to aid our Play Off push, and if we didnt already, we know now that we are going to have to pick up points on our travels if we are to make the final four come the September cut-off.All credit to Peterborough though, they battled hard as we expected they would, and with their gating at times looking much sharper than ours, there were moments that I feared that they might be looking at taking more than a pointhad we not got the 5-1 in Heat 14, that was crucial, they might have done just that.KINGS LYNN will track Belle Vues Rory Schein as a guest for the absent Niels-Kristian Iversen when they continue their play-off chase at home to Eastbourne on Wednesday.Promoter Buster Chapman said: With seven other Elite league teams were riding on the same night, finding a guest was tough but thankfully Rory was available, and I am sure he will do a sterling job as he did at Coventry earlier in the season.Last weeks meeting was fantastic and one I will always remember, this week is about having some fun and putting a smile on the on the fans faces. I hope lots of people who were their twenty years ago come along and join us again.LAKESIDE star Peter Karlsson believes the Hammers will improve their away record when they get into a period of regular racing, with the club facing a busy August as they look to maintain a top-four place.Karlsson said: It will be nice to get a flow of meetings going this month; it feels like we are just starting the season again really.Its important also to win our home meetings because you build confidence in the squad doing that, and it we can win these home meetings then we should be able to go and pick up some points away as well.PETERBOROUGH co-boss Jan Staechmann is looking for his side to keep the positive momentum of their 61-32 home win over Lakeside into this weeks home and away clashes with Poole.Staechmann said: Its always going to be difficult with rider-replacementespecially away from homebut we have nothing to lose as everyone will be expecting us to get beat (at Poole). So anything we can do to better that is a bonus.Last time we were there we had rider-replacement for Michael (Jepsen Jensen) and we held them to two-points up until Heat 9, but we just ran out of steam in the last few races. But this time we have a stronger team and with a little bit of luck who knows what we can do.POOLE promoter Matt Ford is urging his side to bounce back quickly from coming away from Swindon point-less on Monday, as they go into two matches against Peterborough later this week.Ford said: Darcy (Ward) and Chris (Holder) have won so many points for us this season that I guess the law of averages meant that at some stage it would go against us, but to be so close and let it slip was disappointing."It means we need to bounce back quickly on Wednesday against Peterborough who will be spurred on by their massive home win no doubt, but we can ill-afford any more slip-ups.SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter praised his skipper Hans Andersen, who ensured all three points for the Robins by beating Darcy Ward and Chris Holder in Heat 15 of Mondays top-of-the-table showdown with Poole.Rossiter said: Hans knew that Chris and Darcy were going to be there, and both are class acts. But he made a good first corner and hunted him (Ward) down, and made the right move at the right time.Youve got to give credit to both sets of riders for riding in those conditions, they did exceptionally. We lost all our home advantage because of the weather, and not everyone was firing.WOLVERHAMPTONS Swedish youngster Jacob Thorssell was pleased with his contribution of paid-six as his side notched a hard-earned home victory over Eastbourne.Thorssell said: It is very nice to finally get a win and hopefully we can win a few more in the next few meetings."My performance was OK. I had a fall in my fourth heat which I was disappointed with, but overall I was pretty pleased.
PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST
BERWICK boss Ian Rae described his sides 50-39 success over Rye House achieved with only four riders after both reserves were taken out in a Heat 2 crash, as a proud night for the club.Rae said: Relieved, delighted, amazed and a very proud victory beyond beliefthat just about says it all about that match. I wasnt sure how the lads were going to cope as there were only four left in the pits but their desire to win was superb.EDINBURGH promoter John Campbell admits the club have fixture difficulties after seeing last Fridays clash with Rye House abandoned due to rain after six races.Campbell said: I dont know when we can restage this match, we already have two matches next weekend and two in one night at the end of the month. We didnt get a good crowd anyway tonight and I am very concerned.GLASGOW co-promoter Alan Dick says the recent signing of Henning Bager, and the impending return from injury of Filip Sitera, has been a big boost to the Tigers prospects.Dick said: Bringing in Bager has been important as he has strengthened up our middle order, where we were weak, and is averaging eight points which is fantastic. Filip will take us back to full strength and its as strong a 1 to 5 as we have had all season.IPSWICH co-promoter John Louis has paid tribute to former Foxhall chief John Berry who passed away suddenly at his home in Australia last weekend.Louis said: Without John Berry there wouldnt be the Ipswich Witchesits as simple as that. He master-minded everything and could create an absolute gem of a rider from nothing. His impact on speedway cannot be under-estimated.LEICESTER co-promoter Alan Jones has stressed the importance of the Lions form on the road in their remaining fixtures as they look to hold on to a top-six place.Jones said: The situation tells its own story that unless we start to pick up points in the remaining away fixtures, our goal of a place in the top six will be under threat. That would be a big disappointment having spent all season in the top two.NEWCASTLE manager George English continues to be kept busy with booking guests at reserve for the Worrall brothers, both of whom continue to be on the sidelines with broken legs.English said: Its more difficult covering Steves absence than Richies as we can only use NL riders, whereas there are some good quality riders in other clubs top fives who might fancy a night standing in for Richie on his August 5.78 average.PLYMOUTH will be without reserve Robert Ksiezak for their fixtures this weekend after the Australian crashed during a guest booking for Berwick.Promoter Mike Bowden said: His ankle has been put in a cast and is it a suspected break, but that has still to be confirmed. We will need to be at our best against a Workington team who were tipped by many pundits to win the league this season.REDCAR promoter Brian Havelock believes there were encouraging signs from a home defeat against Workington, and that the Bears can return to winning ways in this Thursdays local derby against Newcastle.Havelock said: 'The new lads did well and Jade Mudgway will get better I'm sure. Everybody at the Motorpark looks forward to a match against our Tyneside rivals and let's anticipate turning our season around.RYE HOUSE promoter Len Silver says the signing of Kasper Lykke Nielsen is with one eye on the 2013 season as the Rockets regroup following the shock retirement of Jordan Frampton.Silver said: We have signed Kasper on the basis that he is a prospect for future success and not on the expectation that he will start getting big scores immediately. One condition of his joining the team was that he fulfils all of our remaining league fixtures so that he achieves an established average for 2013 and does not have to be included with a massive seven-point figure that is hard to live with.SCUNTHORPE gained big performances from Nick Morris and Josh Auty in their 49-40 home win over Workington which keeps them very much in the Premier Leagues top six.Manager Richard Hollingsworth said: On a very positive note Josh and Nick were pretty impressive. Nick dropped just one point for the second week running whilst Josh came back strong with big wins in Heats 13 and 15. The rest of the team were solid and Im looking forward to next Friday. We have another high-flying team, Leicester, visiting.SOMERSET face a crunch week in their bid to clinch a play-off place with a Wednesday home clash with Edinburgh at the Oak Tree Arena followed by away fixtures against the Monarchs, Berwick and Glasgow.Manager Steve Bishop said: we cannot, and will not treat Edinburghs visit lightly as they are undoubtedly in a false position given the relatively few number of matches they have ridden compared to the rest of the league. The Scottish tour of three matches in as many days is a tough schedule, but we are hopeful of picking up some points that will help to consolidate our position in the upper reaches of the table.SHEFFIELD co-boss David Hoggart believes his team are better than they have shown in recent matches, with a shock home loss to Glasgow followed up by defeat at Workington.Hoggart said: We have great spirit in the side when we are up against it, but unfortunately we get up against it too often and we leave ourselves with too much to do. Thursday was a muck-up, we all acknowledge that, but we gave a reasonably good acquittal of ourselves on Saturday but left without anything to show for it.WORKINGON are still searching for a suitable rider to fill the vacant reserve berth following the seemingly season-ending injuries to the in-form Kyle Howarth.Comets team manager Tony Jackson said: Trying to find someone to come in and replace Kyles scoring is probably impossible, but at the moment finding any suitable replacement is proving to be very difficult indeed. So far we have been reliant on guests who, in last weekends matches, were all excellent but it is far from an ideal situation as the choice is quite restricted, especially with a lot of teams, including ourselves, racing several times each week to catch up on all the rain-affected matches.
FIXTURE PICTURE
TUESDAY AUGUST 7:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v Stoke 7.30, Isle of Wight v Scunthorpe 7.30
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 8:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Lakeside 7.30, Coventry v Swindon 7.30, Kings Lynn v Eastbourne 7.30, Poole v Peterborough 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Edinburgh 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 9:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Peterborough v Poole 7.30, Swindon v Birmingham 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Plymouth 7.30, Redcar v Newcastle 7.30, Sheffield v Edinburgh 7.45NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Isle of Wight v Dudley 7.30
FRIDAY AUGUST 10:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Birmingham 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Somerset 7.30, Plymouth v Workington 7.30, Scunthorpe v Leicester 7.30
SATURDAY AUGUST 11:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Somerset 7.30, Edinburgh v Newcastle 7pm, Leicester v Rye House 7.30 Workington v Scunthorpe 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Mildenhall 7.30
SUNDAY AUGUST 12:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Somerset 4pm, Newcastle v Redcar 6.30
MONDAY AUGUST 13:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Lakeside 7.30, Peterborough v Swindon 7.30, Wolverhampton v Coventry 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Workington 7.30pm
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 15:PREMIER LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Belle Vue 7.30, Poole v Birmingham 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 16:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Coventry 7.30SIMON STEAD TESTIMONIAL: Swindon 7.30JULIE LEWIS MEMORIAL: Redcar 7.30
FRIDAY AUGUST 17:WORLD UNDER-21 FINAL Round 3: Coventry 7.45SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Eastbourne 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Scunthorpe v Sheffield 7.30, Somerset v Berwick 7.30MATTHEW WETHERS TESTIMONIAL: Edinburgh 7.30WESTERNAPOLIS: Plymouth 7.30
SATURDAY AUGUST 18:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Wolverhampton 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Leicester 7pm, Rye House v Plymouth 7pm, Workington v Ipswich 7pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 19:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Ipswich 4pm, Newcastle v Edinburgh 6.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Leicester v Workington 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Dudley 3pmNATIONAL TROPHY: Buxton v Stoke 3pm
MONDAY AUGUST 20:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Kings Lynn 7.30, Coventry v Lakeside 7.30, Wolverhampton v Birmingham 7.30
TUESDAY AUGUST 21:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v Mildenhall 7.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Isle of Wight v Buxton 7.30
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 22:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Wolverhampton 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Plymouth 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Rye House 7.30
