BIG EVENT LATESTSOMERSET skipper Jason Doyle took time to remember club legend Emil Kramer after clinching Premier League Pairs glory with Josh Grajczonek at the Oak Tree Arena.The Rebels were staging the event for the seventh successive season but it was their first victory after several near-misses in the past, with Doyle having been involved previouslyas was Swedish star Kramer, who tragically lost his life in a road accident in December 2009.Doyle said: This ones for Emil. We came so close to winning the Pairs back in 2008 and I know he was really gutted to have lost out in the Final that night, and so I would like to dedicate our victory tonight to Emils memory. I can imagine hes looking down on us now with a huge grin on his face at what weve achieved tonight. This is also for the Hancock family who have devoted so much to make this club the success it is today and no one deserves tonights victory more than they do.The Rebels got the better of Scunthorpe duo David Howe and Josh Auty in the Final, with Doyle working his way through from the back, and the runners-up were philosophical about the result.Howe said: Ive never reached the semi-finals of this meeting before, let alone the Final. Nevertheless, its always a little disappointing to get so near yet so far.Josh and myself made a decent enough start in the Final, but over the four laps we werent quite good enough. Well done to Somerset, they rode the right lines in the Final and deserved to win.The next major SpeedwayGB event of the 2013 season is the Premier League Fours at Peterborough on July 14, which will feature eight clubs and was dramatically won by Berwick last season.Meanwhile, the National League Pairs takes place at Mildenhall on June 30, and dates and venues have now been announced for two more individual events.Coventry are to stage the British Under-19 Final at Brandon on Friday September 20, which will see Mildenhall and Somerset rider Stefan Nielsen defend the title.And the one-off British 125cc Final will take place on Monday August 26 at Rye House, with twelve riders competing immediately following the Rockets Premier League clash with Berwick.SPEEDWAYGB EVENTS SERIES 2013BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: ROBERT BRANFORDBRITISH FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENPREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: SOMERSETPREMIER 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
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BELLE VUE blasted back to form with a convincing 57-37 home win over Eastbourne, Magnus Zetterstrom scoring a 12-point maximum in a strong all-round performance.Manager Jason Attwood told the Manchester Evening News: Im impressed with everybody. We are in it as a team so were really happy with the team performance.We got three points and three points were up for grabs. It was probably what we would expect, so we have three more home meetings (in June) and another three performances like that and we can get our minimum target.BIRMINGHAM promoter Graham Drury believes his side will continue to give strong performances with the June averages forcing a re-shuffle of their riding order.Drury told the Birmingham Mail: Danny (King) was No.1 towards the end of last season and what this does is also create a situation where Chris Harris is now in the middle order and hes much better than that.Im confident Martin (Smolinski) will continue to score points in the main body of the team, and with Josh (Auty) at reserve it also gives us plenty of strength lower down the order. Were looking forward to the month of June and we see no reason why our flying form cannot continue.COVENTRYS winning run came to an end at Lakeside on Monday despite a bumper 20-point haul from Polish star Krzysztof Kasprzak, with the Bees hampered by the absence of skipper Scott Nicholls due to a foot injury.Manager Gary Havelock said: Its a difficult place to come, and Scott is good for double-figures around here every time.That was probably the problem and the rest of the boys apart from Krzysztof didnt really get started. We had some big scoring power at the end of the meetings last week, but tonight we didnt have anyone to back Krzysztof up.EASTBOURNE will be looking to bounce back to form when they host table-topping Wolverhampton at Arlington on Saturday.The Eagles were beaten by 20-points in their last outing at Belle Vue having required the use of two guests at reserve due to Adam Shields retirement and injury to Denis Gizatullin.KINGS LYNN boss Rob Lyon has praised former Stars rider Kevin Doolan, who made a successful guest appearance for the club and helped them to a point in their recent away trip to Poole.Lyon told the Eastern Daily Press: Kevins got a lot of experience. He knows Kings Lynn very well from the past and hes a bit of a speedway legend in these parts.When hes guested for us in the Elite League hes never let us down, and (last) Monday typified that. He still has a soft spot for the club and he did a fantastic job for us.LAKESIDE boss Neil Vatcher was delighted with the Hammers team performance as well as the debut of Sebastian Ulamek in the 55-40 win over Coventrywhich sets them up well for the home clash with Poole on Friday.Vatcher said: Seb came here last year as a visiting rider and had three wins, so we knew he can ride Lakeside really well and we are very pleased to bring him in. We feel he can do a good job for us.The win at Poole about three weeks ago has turned the season around, and the confidence in the team has gone sky-high. We didnt really click at the start but now things are looking really good.PETERBOROUGH boss Jan Staechmann still has faith in his riders despite a tough start to the season featuring a series of home defeats at the Showground.Staechmann told the Peterborough Telegraph: The last thing a rider needs after a bad meeting is to be told be hasnt done well, but supporters part with good money to watch us in action and we completely understand any criticism that comes our way.But I can only plead with the fans to stay loyal to the club. I remain adamant it will come right.POOLE promoter Matt Ford has confirmed he spoke to Danish duo Mikkel Bech and Mikkel Michelsen regarding the possibility of replacing Robert Miskowiak, who has quit the club.Ford told the Bournemouth Echo: We have spoken to Mikkel Bech (Jensen) but because of his Wednesday commitments it made it a little awkward because we would have had fixture clashes on four or five occasions. We also spoke to Mikkel Michelsen but there were similar types of problems.There are still other irons in the fire and I have requests out there for a couple more riders, but it is just down to riders now and whether they would consider either taking on England or returning to England.SWINDON manager Alun Rossiter says the broken collarbone absence of Nick Morris during May had a bigger impact on the Robins fortunes than they had been expecting.Rossiter told the Swindon Advertiser: Nick is going about his business quietly because he is riding at a very hard number in the team, and although he had a few issues at the start of the season he has got back onto it recently.His five or six points are pretty steady, and if he had got them when he was missing things would have been a whole lot different.WOLVERHAMPTON boss Peter Adams admits the loss of Tai Woffinden (collarbone) and Ty Proctor (nerve damage) is a major double blow to his table-topping side.Adams said: They have been the form riders in our team in the early weeks of the season, and they are as responsible as anyone for getting us to the top of the league.Its made worse given the fact that on the very day Tai broke his collarbone he goes to second place in our averages below Freddie, which means when Proctor regains his fitness we wont even have a guest for Tai.
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BERWICK boss Ian Rae admits the current lack of action for the Bandits has been a frustration as they look to iron out their inconsistency.Rae said: We havent made the best of starts to the season and we need to ride our way back into form. The Sky meeting was such a success that we wanted to build on that, but circumstances dictate we cant.EDINBURGH were left to rue a stroke of misfortune having reached the semi-finals of the Premier League Pairs at Somerset last Friday.Manager Kenny Crichton said: We were very disappointed that before the semi-final the water bowser broke down and soaked gate three, which was Clauss (Vissing) gate. I complained to the referee but he said he couldnt do anything about it, we had to press on with the meeting.GLASGOW boss Sean Courtney admits the clubs rider search has taken on added importance following James Wrights decision to take a break from racing.Courtney said: Ive been on the phone constantly trying to source riders, which at the moment are very scarceespecially with us riding on a Sunday. Its quite a battle to try and find riders to fill those positions were looking at changing.IPSWICH promoter Chris Louis believes the Witches impressive reserve combination of Cameron Heeps and Adam Ellis are as good as any of their rivals in the Premier League.Louis told Speedway Star: Our two young reserves are as strong, if not stronger, than any other pair in the Premier League, and this will be the case both at home and on away tracks. We could not have started our league campaign much better and both Cameron and Adam have played their parts to the full.LEICESTER skipper Kauko Nieminen was delighted with the response to his Testimonial meeting, which saw a large crowd in perfect weather conditions for last Sundays event.Nieminen said: There has been so much preparation behind the scenes to bring everything together and I want to thank everyone who made the day possible. So many people gave up their afternoon for me which I am grateful for and hopefully fans left the stadium with a big smile on their faces.NEWCASTLE promoter George English says the Diamonds recent televised victory at Berwick ranks up amongst the clubs all-time best displays.English said: It was one of the finest performances by any Newcastle team in our history, in fact you would be hard pressed to find any TV performance better than the one the lads turned in at Shielfied. At the end of the meeting I turned on my phone to be inundated with congratulatory messages from all over, and our very good friends in the Newcastle Labour East team also sent a letter.PLYMOUTH co-promoter Ashley Taylor has fired a warning to his riders that the club are still monitoring their options despite the recent signing of Mikkel Bech.Taylor said: If we feel further changes are necessary then we will make them. Some team members are still riding for their positions.REDCAR are bracing themselves for a tough test from in-form Somerset in this Thursdays big Premier League match at the South Tees Motorsports Park.Bears boss Jitendra Duffill said: 'Yes, it is going to be a tough one but we have a string of home victories and are confident of maintaining that run. Even though Micky Dyer moves up into the main body of the team we are guaranteed strength at reserve with Carl Wilkinson moving in the opposite direction and he will form a strong pairing in that position with Max Dilger as the other reserve.RYE HOUSE boss John Sampford is looking for a very different result when the Rockets face Plymouth at Hoddesdon on Saturday compared to the Devils recent away win in a League Cup encounter.Sampford said: Well certainly be going into this match with respect for them because we now know from personal experience what they are capable of. But we also know what we are capable of ourselves. It is all about getting the right result to kick us into gear towards what will hopefully be a place in the Championship play-offs come the end of the season.SCUNTHORPE star Josh Auty gave credit to Premier League Pairs winners Somerset after he and David Howe had to be content with runners-up place having reached the Final at the Oak Tree Arena last Friday.Auty said: Of course, were all here to try to win the meeting. But as David said, we werent quite good enough once we got to the Final. Fair play to Somerset, theyve waited a long time to win this meeting around their own place, and now theyve managed it.SHEFFIELD boss David Hoggart says the Tigers must show a positive response to last weeks home defeat by Leicester when they face Berwick at Owlerton on Thursday.Hoggart said: I cannot hide my disappointment. We were poor and there is no excuse and I have to say I understand the frustration of the fans. The time is right for us to bounce back when we take on Berwick and I feel we have enough within the team to make that happen.SOMERSET have slashed admission prices to 10 for all adults with children going free for next Tuesdays televised clash with Edinburghand supporters in attendance will also receive a 2 discount voucher for their next home meeting.Rebels promoter Debbie Hancock said: In each of the previous four years the cameras have been here we have been blessed with an excellent crowd and we would love to maintain that tradition, and I would strongly urge everyone to come along next Tuesday and sample the action live for themselves, especially if theyve not been before.WORKINGTON are looking forward to a much busier June after a very quiet May - although absent riders throughout last month meant the quiet spell was very much appreciated by the promotion.Comets team manager and co-promoter Tony Jackson said: April saw us race nine matches in 25 days then, from early May to early June, we only had two matches in 32 days and now face eight matches in just 22 days up to the end of June. However, the quiet spell came at the right time as we had injuries to Tero Aarnio and Chris Mills, while Kyle Howarth and Ashley Morris were representing Great Britain in under-21 team and individual events across Europe.We now look forward to having Kyle and Ashley back in harness while Chris Mills is due to make his return from a broken left wrist this weekend in the top-of-the-table home clash with Redcar, and we remain hopeful that Tero Aarnio will have recovered from his broken right foot by next weekend. Our guests have done a tremendous job for us when called upon and were much appreciated, but it will be great to get our own riders back together once again as we enter another busy period.FIXTURE PICTURE
TUESDAY JUNE 4:NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Dudley v Buxton 7.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Isle of Wight v Stoke 7pm
WEDNESDAY JUNE 5:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Belle Vue 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Buxton 7.30
THURSDAY JUNE 6:PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Newcastle 7.30, Redcar v Somerset 7.30, Sheffield v Berwick 7.45
FRIDAY JUNE 7:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Kings Lynn 8pm, Lakeside v Poole 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Redcar 7.30, Plymouth v Glasgow 7.15, Somerset v Rye House 7.30
SATURDAY JUNE 8:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Wolverhampton 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Ipswich 7pm, Leicester v Glasgow 7.30, Rye House v Plymouth 7pm, Workington v Redcar 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1st leg: Stoke v Kings Lynn 7pm
SUNDAY JUNE 9:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Workington 3pm, Newcastle v Ipswich 6.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Buxton v Mildenhall 3pm
MONDAY JUNE 10:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Peterborough 7.30, Wolverhampton v Lakeside 7.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Kent v Buxton 6.30
TUESDAY JUNE 11:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Edinburgh 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v Coventry 7.30
WEDNESDAY JUNE 12:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Wolverhampton 7.30, Poole v Birmingham 7.30
THURSDAY JUNE 13:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Coventry 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Plymouth 7.45PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Redcar v Scunthorpe 7.30
FRIDAY JUNE 14:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Peterborough v Eastbourne 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Ipswich 7.15PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F: (1st leg) Edinburgh v Newcastle 7.30, (2nd leg) Scunthorpe v Redcar 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v Kent 8pm
SATURDAY JUNE 15:PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Sheffield 7pmPREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Workington v Somerset 7pmNATIONAL TROPHY: Stoke v Isle of Wight 7pm
SUNDAY JUNE 16:PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Newcastle v Edinburgh 6.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Buxton v Stoke 3pm, Mildenhall v Kent 4.30
MONDAY JUNE 17:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Swindon 7.30, Wolverhampton v Peterborough 7.30CHALLENGE: Kent v Rye House Raiders 6.30
TUESDAY JUNE 18:PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Somerset v Workington 7.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Isle of Wight v Kent 7pm
WEDNESDAY JUNE 19:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Poole 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Kings Lynn v Stoke 7.30
