BIG EVENT LATESTKYLE Howarth and Adam Ellis have been named as Wild Cards for the second round of the World Under-21 Final at Berwick on August 10.The best of the sports rising stars will be at Shielfield Park with Patryk Dudeka World Cup winner at senior level for Poland this seasoncurrently leading the series.
Workington and Swindon rider Howarth, who only narrowly missed out on qualification for a place in the full series, will be looking to bounce back on a more familiar track from a tough night in round one in Pila where he was also a Wild Card.
Ellis, who rides for Ipswich and the Isle of Wight, is handed his first opportunity at this level after a spectacular run of scoring in his first full season of league competition.
British Under-21 Champion Robert Branford (Leicester/Coventry) and Ashley Morris (Workington/Dudley) will take the track reserve positions.GB Youth co-boss Phil Morris said: Kyle was the obvious choice, we said some time ago we wanted him involved in this meeting and its a big chance for him to make an impression at this level.
The selection of Adam was based on current form, and his call-up is thoroughly merited. Its great for us that at the age of 17 he is very much ready for this event and we are looking forward to seeing how he does.
Both riders were very excited to receive the call and Im sure theyll get plenty of backing from the British fans on the night.Berwick co-promoter Ryan Anderson says the club are delighted to be staging the event, which follows on from the Grand Prix qualifying round which took place at Shielfield Park last year.
Anderson said: We have travelling fans coming from all over Europe, as well as from throughout the UK, to see the racing, and of course visit the town. We are so proud the FIM, and the British authorities, have awarded us this huge event.
I take it as a massive compliment to our amazing staff, who worked miracles in staging our first FIM international meeting last season despite heavy rain before and during racing.
We received so many compliments on the quality and work ethic of our track-staff, and on our overall presentation of the eventbut to be awarded another, even-more-important, FIM meeting so soon is really quite an honour.
Race sponsorship is available on a first-come first-served basis for just 50, and applications for this or meeting sponsorship should be made to club@berwickbandits.co .
Admission prices for the meeting have been confirmed as: Adults 20, Concessions 16, Children (12-16) 6, Under-12s Free.WORLD UNDER-21 FINAL ROUND 2, Berwick, August 10: Artur Czaja, Piotr Pawlicki, Kacper Gomolski, Vaclav Milik, Nicklas Porsing, Lasse Bjerre, Patryk Dudek, Adam Strzelec, Mikkel Michelsen, Adam Ellis, Vladimir Borodulin, Mikkel Bech, Bartosz Zmarzlik, Kyle Howarth, Nikolaj Jakobsen, Andzejs Lebedevs. Reserves: Robert Branford, Ashley Morris.SPEEDWAYGB EVENTS SERIES 2013BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: ROBERT BRANFORDBRITISH FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENPREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: SOMERSETPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: EDINBURGHPREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, Sept 22ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Swindon, Oct 12NATIONAL LEAGUE MAJOR EVENTS:NATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: DUDLEYNATIONAL 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 have handed their club captaincy to Craig Cook after boss Jason Attwood elected to relieve Ales Dryml of the duties.Attwood said: Listening to Craig on the track walk against Swindon a few weeks ago, he made some very poignant observations that reinforced my opinion of his natural ability to be a leader.Ales has done a great job as our captain this year but after his recent run of form, both at home and away, I wanted to try and take the pressure off him a little, and he has been very supportive of my decision."BIRMINGHAMS 51-41 defeat against Eastbourne on Monday included the further setback of Chris Harris suffering a broken collarbone in a Heat 15 crash.Brummies boss Phil Morris said: Some of the boys struggled with the track tonight and we need to resolve this as we come back here in around a months time. It was a tough night but we move on and look forward to Lakeside on Friday.Bomber has been returning to top form recently so this couldn't have come at a worse time for us, we all wish him a very speedy recovery.COVENTRYS Stuart Robson had praise for track conditions at Wolverhampton after top-scoring with eleven points in the Bees 37-55 Monmore defeat on Monday.Robson said: I couldnt believe the meeting was on if theyd had the rain wed had in Coventry, and full credit to the track staff here. It was absolutely brillianta little bit patchy here and there, which you would expect, but they did a great job and as long as you could avoid the soft patches it rode excellent.Ive been having an absolute nightmare run and this has hopefully begun to make up for it. I seized this engine at Coventry in a practice after the meeting a couple of weeks ago and I had to spend a fortune on it. Its been such a run of bad luck and hopefully the tables are turning now.EASTBOURNE boss Trevor Geer hailed his sides efforts in taking a full three-point haul against league leaders Birmingham on Monday, following on from their point gained at Perry Barr last week.Geer said: The form of Mikkel Michelsen was a revelation, to win his first heat in Elite League competition was fantastic, exactly what we hoped for and we look forward to plenty more from him. Timos (Lahti) contribution should not be forgotten also, his 13-points played a huge part in our win.Indeed, we should be pleased to have taken four-points out of six in the last week from Birmingham, the team who in the meantime have risen to the top of the Elite League table - we consider that to be something of an achievement.LAKESIDE boosted their top-four hopes with a 50-43 win over close rivals Kings Lynn at Purfleet to take all three points from the meetingbut co-promoter Jon Cook says there is room for improvement.Cook told the Hammers official website: We were inconsistent on the night and had to overcome a poor decision in heat five but the team responded well to our defeat here a fortnight ago and we are firmly back in the race.All the lads except Davey (Watt) will look back on at least one ride where they know they could have done better and thats a good thing when we have still gained the maximum available three League points.KINGS LYNN boss Rob Lyon says the Stars are still very much in the battle for the play-offs, and regards forthcoming home matches against Lakeside as crucial.Lyon told lovespeedway24.co.uk: Lakeside are fighting for that fourth position like we are and Poole are. Its in our hands to be honest. And there will be a lot of points dropped from now and until the end of the season, by all three teams, Im sure of that.The positive is we got a win on the board against Peterborough, weve broken that losing sequence and we need to take it on from here now and push on and see if we can make it.PETERBOROUGH co-boss Trevor Swales says the Panthers can benefit from reserve Dakota North signing for Premier League club Glasgow, as it will give him much-needed extra meetings.Swales said: Dak approached us about him moving into the Premier League as well as racing for us, because he just isnt getting enough meetings at present. Its very tough for the riders who are doing just the Elite League, and we had no problem in accepting his request and allowing him to speak to Glasgow.Hopefully him getting in some more regular meetings with Glasgow will benefit us as it can only help in keeping him race-sharp for when he rides in the Elite.POOLE boss Neil Middleditch says double World Champion Greg Hancock is the perfect signing to replace the injured Chris Holder as the Pirates look to give their play-off hopes a further boost.Middleditch said: Greg is speedways ultimate professional and has so much experience which he is ready and willing to share with his team-mates.I believe his off-track value to the side could well be of more value than the points he is likely to produce. His inclusion in the team has undoubtedly helped to lift the cloud that has hovered over us for much of the season but none more so than when we witnessed Chris's horror crash.SWINDON kept up their strong run of form with a hefty 60-33 win over Belle Vue to launch a busy programme of racing at the Abbey Stadium over the next month.Robins boss Alun Rossiter said: It was an absolutely outstanding performance, and everybody did a great job. Troy (Batchelor) put in a real captains performance - once again he raised the bar when he was made captain, and he is really maturing at the moment. I have nothing but praise for Troy right now."Obviously I'm really pleased for young Nick Morris as well. He had another great night, and he has been riding really well the last couple of weeks.WOLVERHAMPTON boss Peter Adams believes Ludvig Lindgren and Jacob Thorssell form the best reserve combination in the Elite League, with the Swedish duo piling up 17 (paid 20) in Mondays win over Coventry.Adams said: I think as a pair youd be hard pushed to find better reserves anywhere in the league. Luckily for us they dont show any signs of moving into the top five with the way the averages are which is good as we want to keep them both at reserve.Especially at home they have been very reliable, and all season they have been contributing which has been vital.
PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST
BERWICK star Matthew Wethers carded a paid maximum in the Bandits home win over Glasgow as the Shielfield Park side overcame an early deficit to take maximum points from the meeting.Berwick boss Ian Rae said: Again the lads, after a sluggish start, really started to bang the points in and took Glasgow for everything they could. It was a good determined performance and we took all three Premier League points - not a bad night's work.EDINBURGH collected all three points from a 51-39 home win over Berwick on a track made difficult by heavy afternoon rain, with 5-1s from Craig Cook and Claus Vissing in Heats 13 and 15 seeing them through.Captain Derek Sneddon said: The track was difficult but the trackstaff did a great job, because at 3pm it was still raining and the track was really wet. They did well to get the meeting on.GLASGOW manager Sean Courtney is expecting good things from new signing Dakota North, whose Tigers debut was delayed last weekend by the postponement of their home match with Plymouth.Courtney said: I think he's an exceptional talent. He's been doing well for Peterborough. I think the fans will take to him well and to me, he can go as far as he wants in the sport. Hes still in the Grand Prix Challenge and it shows just how capable he is.IPSWICH star Rohan Tungate bounced back from recent crashes to score a full 15-point maximum at Foxhall as the Witches moved past Edinburgh and into the League Cup Final.Co-promoter Chris Louis told lovespeedway24.co.uk: Rohan needed that following big knocks at Peterborough and Poole. Leigh (Lanham) has not had the easiest of seasons but I have a sneaky feeling that everything will come good for him when we need it to.LEICESTER co-promoter Alan Jones admits the Lions need points on the road after being limited to two from a 49-44 home win over Sheffield on Sunday.Jones said: The chase for a top six finish is getting very tight indeed and we desperately needed all three match points. We now have to win all of our remaining home fixtures by the maximum three match points and the point we dropped has placed more emphasis of securing results on the road.NEWCASTLE boss George English regarded the Diamonds derby draw at Redcar last Thursday as two points gained after an incident-filled night of action.English said: After our dodgy start with tape touching and tape offences we really didn't give ourselves a fair crack of the whip, but Ludvig (Lindgren) and Richie (Worrall) hauled us back to a good place and at the end of the night a draw was a far better result than it looked like we'd get initially - but if we'd been fair to ourselves from the off then a decent win could have been ours, too. But two league points are better than none.PLYMOUTH promoter Ashley Taylor is convinced the Devils can still make a charge for the play-offs following their impressive win at Workington last Saturday.Taylor said: It is still all to play for. We have five home and five away matches remaining. If we take maximum points from our home fixtures that will put us on 32 points. Then it will be all about what the other teams do and what we can pick up from our away fixtures.REDCAR were held to a 43-43 draw by close rivals Newcastle in a fiercely-contested derby clash at the South Tees Motorsport Park, despite No.1 Ulrich Ostergaard aggravating a foot injury in a crash.Manager Jitendra Duffill told gazettelive.co.uk: What held us up was our No.1 not scoring any points. After heat 10 we were six points down and it was difficult to see where we were going to get heat advantages from but the lads dug deep and many thanks to Carl Wilkinson.RYE HOUSE boss John Sampford has confirmed No.1 rider Olly Allen could be back in contention for the Rockets Northern tour this weekend after missing two months with a broken arm.Sampford said: Olly has had his cast removed and will let me know more on Wednesday. I will, though, get guest cover on standby in case he is not yet fit. We are in a very good frame of mind at the moment, definitely on the up.SCUNTHORPE came agonisingly close to taking a Premier League point from Somerset on Friday, going down to a 41-49 defeat at the Oak Tree Arena.Scorpions star Nicolai Klindt said: I am enjoying riding for Scunthorpe. Im glad Rob (Godfrey) has given me the opportunity. Once I have another meeting or two at home, I think Ill be really good around there, and we can start winning at home by more than one point. But the six away matches in August are the keywe have to avoid injuries and pick up plenty of points from those. We just need to keep on working and Im sure we can make the play-offs.SOMERSET are building up to a vital series of home matches, kicking off against top-six rivals Redcar on Friday and then Workington on Tuesday.Rebels boss Garry May said: Redcar are up there in the upper reaches of the league table on merit and have had a great year, so well need to be at our very best if we are to take all three league points from the match, which is very much the order of the day. Then we have Workington, and if that match is anything like the second leg of our Cup tie against the Comets at the beginning of July, then the fans will be in for another great nights entertainment.SHEFFIELD have booked Richard Lawson to guest for injured Simon Stead against Newcastle on Thursday, and former Tigers No.1 Ricky Ashworth is also in line to help out his old club in August.Co-boss David Hoggart said: Richard has helped us out this season and we are pleased to welcome him back on Thursday. And I think every Sheffield fan will be delighted to see Ricky back in a Tigers race jacket for a couple of meetings as we are well aware of how popular he still is on our terraces.WORKINGTON are looking to bounce back from last Saturdays home defeat at the hands of Plymouth when they entertain Rye House this weekend - and the Comets also have a new name at number one following the publication of the August averages.Comets team manager Tony Jackson said: Last Saturdays home defeat was certainly the last thing we wanted although we knew that they had a solid side with riders that would go well around our large Derwent Park circuit. Nevertheless, were it not for the various machine problems we suffered throughout the night we would certainly have won, and probably claimed all three points on offer; with Rene Bachs breakdown while leading heat 13 proving to be the one that finally killed us off and left us needing points from heat 15, which this week we did not get!However, we will re-group and carry on, with this coming Saturday against Rye House seeing Rene Bach take over from skipper Richard Lawson in the number one berth; although I am sure Richard will be desperate to regain that position, especially with the qualification cut-off date for the PLRC soon to be looming on the horizon!
FIXTURE PICTURE
WEDNESDAY JULY 31:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Lakeside OFF
7.30, Poole v Coventry 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 1:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Peterborough 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Berwick 7.30, Sheffield v Newcastle 7.45
FRIDAY AUGUST 2:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Birmingham 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Scunthorpe v Berwick 7.30, Somerset v Redcar 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v Buxton 7.30SCOTTISH OPEN: Edinburgh 7.30
SATURDAY AUGUST 3:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Edinburgh 7pm, Leicester v Scunthorpe 7.30, Plymouth v Redcar 7.15, Workington v Rye House 7pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 4:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Rye House 3pm, Newcastle v Sheffield 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Kings Lynn 4.30, Stoke v Dudley 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Buxton v Dudley 3pm
MONDAY AUGUST 5:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 7.30, Poole v Eastbourne 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Coventry 6.30
TUESDAY AUGUST 6:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Workington 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Dudley 7pm
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 7:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Wolverhampton 7.30, Kings Lynn v Belle Vue 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 8:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Birmingham 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Scunthorpe 7.30, Sheffield v Glasgow 7.45
FRIDAY AUGUST 9:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Wolverhampton 7.30, Lakeside v Eastbourne 7.45, Peterborough v Swindon 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Sheffield 7.30, Somerset v Plymouth 7.30
SATURDAY AUGUST 10WORLD UNDER-21 FINAL Round 3: Berwick 7pmSKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Redcar 7.30, Plymouth v Somerset 7.15, Rye House v Leicester 7pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 11:DANNY KING TESTIMONIAL: Birmingham 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Leicester v Rye House 7.30, Workington v Scunthorpe 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Kent 3pmSPRING TROPHY 2nd leg: Glasgow v Edinburgh 3pmBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 5: Northside 2pm
MONDAY AUGUST 12:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Coventry 7.30, Swindon v Kings Lynn 7.30, Wolverhampton v Birmingham 7.30CHALLENGE: Kent v Wimbledon 6.30
TUESDAY AUGUST 13:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Dudley v Stoke 7.30, Isle of Wight v Mildenhall 7pm
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 14:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Peterborough 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Sheffield 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kings Lynn v Kent 7.30
