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EDINBURGH No.1 Craig Cook won the Premier League Riders Championship in an eventful re-staging at Sheffield on Sunday.Cook, who led the qualifying scores after the regular 20 heats, defeated Rye Houses Anders Mellgren in what became a two-man Final after both Jason Doyle and Rene Bach crashed outwhilst Josh Auty also came to grief in the semi-final.Cook said: I don't know how I stayed calm during the time it took to run the final. It hasn't really sunk in yet, I guess it will soon. I hope I get some publicity now, I haven't had much recently!SpeedwayGB major events co-ordinator David Hoggart expressed his sadness over the lengthy ending of the meeting which saw three riders hurt.He said: Its a real shame, because wed had some great racing throughout the qualifying races. We had a lot of riders around the same standard and they were all giving it everything to try to winunfortunately, we had the three guys all come to grief. It wasnt the way wed all have liked it to finish.
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JASON Doyle has been ruled out for the rest of the seasonmeaning he will miss Grand Finals in both Elite and Premier Leagues for Swindon and Somerset.Hospital checks revealed Doyle has broken a bone in his neck and is likely to be off a bike for up to two months after his crash in the second running of the Final in the PLRC at Sheffield.Somerset promoter Debbie Hancock said: The weekend started out so well with us qualifying for the Premier League Championship Final, but instead of celebrating we are having to come to terms that we will be contesting both that and our League Cup Final without Jason.The hospital say that the break is not serious and he doesnt appear to have suffered any other damage apart from some bruising in the rib area, and that the break should heal naturally over the next 6-8 weeks, during which time Doyley will have to wear a neck support.Doyle will be replaced by his Swindon doubling-up colleague Sebastian Alden for the first leg of the Elite League Grand Final between the Robins and Poole at Blunsdon on Monday.
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JOSH Auty is a major doubt for the closing weeks of the campaign having suffered a suspected broken wrist at Sheffield on Sunday.Auty crashed out of the semi-final in the PLRC, his injury being a big worry for both Scunthorpewho could contest the Premier League play-off Finaland Birmingham, who are still involved in the Elite League Knockout Cup.Scunthorpe boss Richard Hollingsworth said: It was such a shame, because Josh was still very much in contention in the semi-final, and he was riding well. It was a very nasty fall.Well just have to wait and see what now happens with Josh. We are hoping, for his sake and also for ours, that we will see him in a Scorpions race-jacket again before the end of October.
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WORKINGTONS injury headaches have increased with their top two riders, Richard Lawson and Rene Bach, both involved in accidents on Sunday.Bach crashed spectacularly in the Final of the PLRC at Sheffield and was ruled out of the Comets 36-54 Knockout Cup semi-final first leg defeat at Newcastle later in the day, when Lawson also came to grief.Manager Tony Jackson said: After initially appearing to have escaped injury, Renes right hand began to swell up quite badly on the way up to Newcastle causing him considerable discomfort. Once at Newcastle he was deemed unfit to ride and we are grateful to Adam McKinna for agreeing to ride for us as a guest at less than one hours notice.Then Richard Lawson fell at Brough Park, dislocating his right shoulder, and we will now have to assess the fitness of both riders ahead of another crucial weekend, which sees us contesting a must-win play-off fixture at Edinburgh on Friday and the second leg of the KO Cup semi-final at Derwent Park on Saturday.
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BERWICK will stage the traditional curtain-raiser to the British Speedway campaign next year, having been selected to host the Ben Fund Bonanza on March 9, 2013.The Bandits will follow Sheffield, Rye House, Scunthorpe and Birmingham in staging the event which raises vital funds for seriously injured riders.Event organiser Paul Ackroyd said: We need to move the meeting round the country, and its only fair that the northern supporters get a chance to see the meeting.Berwick have always had good track collections for the Ben Fund, in fact they have been the highest for the last three years, so obviously the people there are keen to support the Ben Fund. With the Polyfoam safety fence, and the stadium the way it is now, the improvements that have been made make it an ideal venue and opportunity for us to have the meeting there.
(FIXTURES)
MONDAY OCTOBER 15:ELITE LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 1st leg: Swindon v Poole 7.30
TUESDAY OCTOBER 16:BANKSS OLYMPIQUE: Wolverhampton 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE PLAY-OFF S/F 2nd leg: Isle of Wight v Mildenhall 7.30
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 17:ELITE LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 2nd leg: Poole v Swindon 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Buxton 7.30
THURSDAY OCTOBER 18:ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Birmingham v Coventry 7.30PREMIER CHALLENGE TROPHY: Ipswich v Rye House 7.30
FRIDAY OCTOBER 19:PREMIER LEAGUE PLAY-OFF: Edinburgh v Workington 7.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Mildenhall v Stoke 7.30
