BIG EVENT LATESTCRAIG Cook has set his sights on the British titleafter booking his place in the Final on home territory at Edinburgh last Friday.Cook dropped just one point from five rides in the semi-final, losing out to Birmingham skipper Danny King who was declared meeting winner as a result after the two tied on 14-points.The Monarchs star, who also doubles-up with Belle Vue in the Elite League, was one of the surprise packages in last years Final at Wolverhampton, and believes he can go further at Monmore Green on May 13.Cook said: My main aim was to get through to the British Final for a second time, and Ive done this.Last year I went into the British Final with little expectation, this time Im going there to win and I feel good about my chances.It was pretty hairy at times on the track but I was so pleased to beat Chris Harris and Edward Kennett, they are class riders and I feel pretty satisfied at how things went for me overall.Multiple champion Harris is also safely through to the Final despite being disqualified from his second ride after a clash with former team-mate Kennett, with the Swindon man also amongst the qualifiers.Newcastle duo Richie Worrall and Stuart Robson both made it through, and Robson has recent experience of the Final venue at Wolverhampton having recently signed for Coventry in the Elite League. Glasgows James Wright completed the qualifiers.The remaining seven automatic places for Monmore, and the two Wild Cards, will be determined following Thursdays meeting at Sheffield with two of the events biggest-hitters entering the fray at Owlerton.Scott Nicholls broke the long-standing record of Barry Briggs when securing his seventh national title last season, whilst Tai Woffinden has started the season in blistering form as highlighted by his place in the Final of the European Grand Prix at Bydgoszcz.QUALIFIED FROM EDINBURGH: Danny King (Birmingham), Craig Cook (Belle Vue/Edinburgh), Edward Kennett (Swindon), Chris Harris (Birmingham), Richie Worrall (Newcastle), Stuart Robson (Coventry/Newcastle), James Wright (Glasgow). SHEFFIELD (APRIL 25): Chris Schramm (Plymouth), Scott Nicholls (Coventry), Jason Garrity (Rye House), Ben Barker (Birmingham/Ipswich), David Howe (Scunthorpe), Olly Allen (Rye House), Lee Smart (Stoke), Ashley Birks (Swindon/Scunthorpe), Lewis Bridger (Lakeside), Richard Hall (Sheffield), Joe Haines (Sheffield), Josh Auty (Birmingham/Scunthorpe), Tai Woffinden (Wolverhampton), Robert Mear (Lakeside), Simon Stead (Kings Lynn/Sheffield), Kyle Newman (Somerset).
SPEEDWAYGB EVENTS SERIES 2013BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: Dudley, April 23BRITISH FINAL: Wolverhampton, May 13PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: Somerset, May 31PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Peterborough, July 14PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, Sept 22ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Swindon, Oct 12NATIONAL LEAGUE MAJOR EVENTS:NATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: Mildenhall, June 30NATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Stoke, August 18NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Rye House, Sept 21BRITISH SPEEDWAY FIM EVENT DATES:WORLD UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP Round 3: Berwick, August 10GRAND PRIX CHALLENGE: Poole, August 24
ELITE LEAGUE LATEST
BELLE VUE boss Jason Attwood admits the decision to allow club asset Richie Worrall to join Kings Lynn on loan was due to the Aces determination not to make multiple team changes this season.Attwood told the Manchester Evening News: I dont want a revolving door at the club. I would make a change if the time was right, but I dont want to see a list of our averages with about 14 names on it.Richie wanted to crack on with his career and I had to make a decision which I stand by, but I have told him his name is on our team sheet for 2014.BIRMINGHAM boss Phil Morris believes the Elite League will remain unpredictable throughout the season, and says teams who have started well can still be caught.Morris told the Birmingham Mail: I know Swindon have been brilliant and thoroughly deserve the praise theyve been getting but there is a long way to go.There have been some very strange results so far this season. Teams are dropping points when you wouldnt expect it and I suppose its all part of the Elite League and how unpredictable it is.COVENTRY promoter Mick Horton says the Brandon club are still looking at options for team strengthening after picking up just one draw in their first six Elite League matches.Horton said: We are looking at possible changes but its difficult because of the lack of riders. A lot of the riders abroad dont want to come to the UK, and there arent really any other British riders around at the moment who are good enough.This season so far has been frustrating beyond belief because the team we put together on paper had so much potential, so its hard to know what to saybut weve got to stick with it.EASTBOURNE boss Trevor Geer offered no excuses after the Eagles went down to a heavy 34-59 defeat at new Elite League leaders Wolverhampton on Monday.Geer told the Brighton Argus: We were given a lesson in gating. We were quick enough to go out and win races when we made the gate.But we werent making gates for most of the night. None of the riders were. There is no excuse, it was the same for everybody. The track was good.KINGS LYNN boss Rob Lyon is excited by the prospect of working with British youngster Richie Worrall, who now comes into the Stars team as a replacement for Kozza Smith.Lyon said: I'm sure that he will do a great job for us and make us very solid. I think he is probably the best British prospect of his age group coming through into the big time. Richie is still learning, but he is a great prospect and it looks like he has all the qualities to succeed in speedway.I feel desperately, desperately sorry for Kozza. It's not something that we looked at and made a quick-fire decision on. I think he needs to concentrate on his Premier league consistency. He is still an asset of the club and Im sure he will come back in the future and be the rider that he wants to be.LAKESIDE boss Neil Vatcher believes an overall lack of racing has hampered the Hammers as they look to get into a consistent run of form this season.Vatcher told the Speedway Star: We havent really got into our stride, we had the two challenge matches with Peterborough rained-off and that didnt do us any favours.We need to get racing, and with plenty of racing under their belts Im confident that our boys will start to fulfil the expectations that we have of them. PETERBOROUGH skipper Kenneth Bjerre has urged supporters to remain behind the riders as the Panthers look to bounce back from a tough start to the season, with just one win in six matches so far.Bjerre told the Peterborough Telegraph: We wont be able to turn it round with an empty stadium. We need everyone behind us. Ive been at this club for many years and I want to win the league here.The only way we will be able to improve is by winning races and winning meetings. We have to make sure we get a big win against Belle Vue in our next meeting.POOLES 590-day unbeaten home record was ended by Wolverhampton last Wednesday as the visitors secured an impressive 48-42 win.The Pirates had reduced their deficit to just two points with three heats remaining, but No.1 Darcy Ward came to grief in Heat 13 when attempting to split visiting duo Freddie Lindgren and Tai Woffinden.Former Poole men Adam Skornicki and Ludvig Lindgren then carded a maximum for Wolves in Heat 14 to spell the end of the Pirates run.SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter is urging fans to turn out in force when the bikes roar back at Blunsdon this Thursday as the Robins face Eastbourne.Rossiter said: Every home meeting weve had so far has been held in freezing temperatures. Thats not the case on Thursday and we are the form team in the league, we are the reigning champions and we want to see the terraces packed.Weve made a blistering start to the season and deserve big crowds. I can understand why people have thought twice about coming to see the racing in the cold, but theres no excuse for Thursday! Bring it on!WOLVERHAMPTON have stormed to the top of the Elite League with Mondays 59-34 win over Eastbourne being their sixth success from seven matches so far this season.Wolves star Ty Proctor said: I think the atmosphere here this year is just superb - it's very much reminiscent of 2009 and all the success we had then.It's been a great start to the season which we really needed after a tough couple of seasons, and it's been great to be a part of it so far.
PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST
BERWICK boss Ian Rae knows his side must improve their gating amongst other issues to avoid a repeat of last weekends home defeat by Edinburgh.Rae said: We've got to sort out our gating as a priority for yet again that left us too far back by the time they got to bend one, but there are other concerns within the side and we will be ironing all them out long before our next match.EDINBURGH got off to a flying start in their League Cup group with an impressive 48-42 win at Berwick, with Craig Cook and Claus Vissing both in fine form and taking 5-1s in the important late races.Monarchs co-promoter Alex Harkess said: I was hopeful that we could win this one, even though the track was different from our earlier visit. Well done to the team.GLASGOW youngster Harley Horwood says disappointment over his recent scoring fired him up for his first race win in British Speedway against Rye House on Sunday.Horwood said: I was just so angry in Heat 14, I went out there and ended up winning it. It was just coming over here to do this and the disappointment lately with the scoring that fired me up. My dad has taken time off work to try and help get me started, and the disappointment on everyones face starts getting to you, but it worked!IPSWICH Director of Speedway Chris Louis says Jari Makinen will still be given support from the club despite his place being taken by Ritchie Hawkins following a family bearavement for the Finnish rider.Louis said: In our roles with the club both Pete (Simmons) and myself have to consider both the rider and the club and this is the right decision for both parties at this time. Jari will be a frequent visitor to Foxhall and we will offer him all the help he needs.LEICESTER opened their Premier League campaign with a solid 53-37 win over Redcar, despite missing Danish youngster Lasse Bjerre due to commitments in his home country.Co-promoter Alan Jones said: We were all a little apprehensive going into our first Premier League fixture at home without Lasse, who has been in top form at Leicester this season. Redcar arrived on the back of two excellent results against Berwick in the Knockout Cup but in the end we need not have worried as the lads responded so positively to the challenge.NEWCASTLE boss George English said the Diamonds match against Workington had presented more problems than they had expected, but was pleased to come through with a 53-40 win.English said: We did well as an all-round team to take this victory as Stuart Robson certainly had issues with his machine as we saw most notably in Heat 13 when he spluttered to a last place, but with Richie (Worrall) flying high again and excellent points from Christian (Henry) and Ludvig (Lindgren) we just held it together to hold the winalbeit a little tighter than wed have liked.PLYMOUTH have stood-down Ben Reade in order for him to gain confidence racing in the National League, and replaced him at reserve with Australian rider Jake Anderson.Co-promoter Seemond Stephens said: Jake raced for us last year and averaged over three and a half points in three home and six away matches. We feel he can build on that and this will strengthen our team.REDCAR are chasing revenge over Newcastle when the sides meet in the League Cup on Thursday, the Diamonds having taken convincing victories in the Tyne-Tees Trophy clashes at the start of the season.Bears boss Jitendra Duffill said: 'The visitors certainly caught us cold as it was our first fixture of the season whereas the Diamonds had several matches under their belt already. We have enjoyed some exciting victories at home since plus have seen the emergence of Micky Dyer as a high scoring and match winning reserve. Newcastle remain a very good team but matters should be different this time.'RYE HOUSE sailed through to the Knockout Cup quarter-finals with a hefty aggregate win over Glasgow courtesy of a 63-26 home win leaving the away leg a case of completing the job.Manager John Sampford said: We knew the task in hand and the lads set about it. We wanted to get as many points on the board as early as possible in order take the sting out of Glasgows attack as quickly as we could, and we did just that. All the lads chipped in with points to make sure that we had the result we wanted by Heat 8.SCUNTHORPE manager Dave Peet preferred to look on the bright side after the reigning champions were held to a 45-45 draw by Ipswich in their Premier League opener.Peet said: Weve got to take the positives out of the night. Young Josh Bates has come on tonighthe really impressed me. On another night, the effort he put in tonight would have scored him six or seven points. He had a bit of bad lucka race being stopped while he was on a 5-1, but he was really competitive and rode well.SHEFFIELD boss David Hoggart still took some encouragement from his teams display at Workington after No.1 Simon Stead crashed out in Heat 1, with the Tigers unable to follow up their dramatic home win from two nights earlier.Hoggart said: It was a heavy defeat but given the circumstances it was still a relatively promising performance, so all of my optimism about our side remains intact. We took three riders there who had never seen the track before in Jake Knight, Damien Koppe and Facundo Albin so it was a new experience for each of them.SOMERSET are left waiting on results from elsewhere before discovering if they will reach the League Cup semi-finalsafter dropping points against Plymouth last weekend.Manager Garry May said: I suppose it was a case of disappointment and frustration in equal measures. We could have booked our place in the semi-finals this weekend, but instead we are now in the hands of others, which is not ideal, and although our chances of still finishing top of our group are slim, speedway, like most sports, can be extremely unpredictable, so you never know.WORKINGTON have been hit by a freak injury to their in-form reserve Chris Mills, who joined the club at short notice when winter signing Mason Campton encountered problems with his work permit back in Australia.Comets team manager Tony Jackson said: We just couldnt believe what happened and the whole team shares his disappointment. We had all enjoyed a terrific night on Saturday at Derwent Park, with a big win over Sheffield, when Chris decided to try a practise start and flipped his bike, which resulted in a broken left wrist for him.At present we dont know how long he will be out of action, but hopefully it wont be too long. Its quite ironic that the rider brought in to replace Mason is the one we are now having to replace with guests. Chris had been scoring some vital points for the team and had settled into the side really well; enjoying the atmosphere and team spirit that we had generated. He was particularly looking forward to the home and away KO Cup clashes with former club Ipswich this weekend, followed by our Sky TV match at Scunthorpe early next week.
FIXTURE PICTURE
WEDNESDAY APRIL 24:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Lakeside 7.30, Kings Lynn v Poole 7.30
THURSDAY APRIL 25:BRITISH SEMI-FINAL: Sheffield 7.45SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Eastbourne 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Ipswich v Workington 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Redcar v Newcastle 7.30
FRIDAY APRIL 26:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Peterborough v Belle Vue 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Plymouth v Newcastle 7.15LEAGUE CUP: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30
SATURDAY APRIL 27:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Poole 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Sheffield 7pmPREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Workington v Ipswich 7pmLEAGUE CUP: Rye House v Plymouth 7pmCHALLENGE: Stoke v Buxton 7pm
SUNDAY APRIL 28:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Redcar 3pmPREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 2nd leg: Newcastle v Plymouth 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Coventry 4.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Buxton v Isle of Wight 3pm
MONDAY APRIL 29:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Poole 7.30, Coventry v Wolverhampton 7.30
TUESDAY APRIL 30:PREMIER LEAGUE: Scunthorpe v Workington 7.30NATIONAL SHIELD: Dudley v Mildenhall 7.30CHALLENGE: Isle of Wight v Stoke 7pm
WEDNESDAY MAY 1:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Swindon 7.30, Poole v Eastbourne 7.30
THURSDAY MAY 2:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Kings Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Redcar 7.45STAR OF ANGLIA: Ipswich 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 3:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Scunthorpe 7.30, Redcar v Sheffield 7.30, Somerset v Leicester 7.30CHALLENGE: Kings Lynn v USA Dream Team 7.30
SATURDAY MAY 4:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Workington 7pmHANDICAP INDIVIDUAL: Rye House 7pmNATIONAL TROPHY: Stoke v Mildenhall 7pmBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 1: Leicester 5.30
SUNDAY MAY 5:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Newcastle 3pmCHALLENGE: Buxton v TBC 3pm
MONDAY MAY 6:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Lakeside 7.30, Wolverhampton v Kings Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Leicester 2.30, Newcastle v Glasgow 6.30, Scunthorpe v Edinburgh 3pm, Workington v Berwick 7pmCHALLENGE: Kent v USA Dream Team 3pm
TUESDAY MAY 7:NATIONAL TROPHY: Isle of Wight v Buxton 7pm
WEDNESDAY MAY 8:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Eastbourne 7.30, Poole v Lakeside 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Coventry 7.30
