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POOLE promoter Matt Ford has spoken of his pride in bringing the Grand Prix Challenge to Wimborne Road on Saturday.Just three qualifying places are available for the 2014 GP series in what is sure to be a hotly-contested event, and there are plenty of riders with Pirates connectionsincluding current team members Maciej Janowski and Tomas H Jonasson.Ford said: I always vowed that if ever I was lucky enough to get a chance of having a say in the running of Poole Speedway, the one thing I would try to do is aim as high as possible and attempt to bring the biggest events and attract World Champions to be part of this fantastic club.With seven past and present Poole riders in the field, it really does turn up the heat for the rest in a meeting where all 16 know that they are five quality rides away from this sports holy grail.
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PETERBOROUGHS Norbert Kosciuch has been ruled out of the trip to Birmingham on Wednesday and has returned to Poland for physiotherapy.Kosciuch crashed heavily in the Panthers home win over Lakeside on Monday although initial fears of a broken collarbone proved unfounded.Co-promoter Trevor Swales said: Norbi has been told to rest for a week, but typical of speedway riders he wants to come back before that and were very hopeful that will be the case.The Panthers continue their late charge towards the play-offs at Perry Barr with Birmingham looking to bounce back from defeat at Belle Vue on Mondaywhilst Kings Lynn also retain top four ambitions ahead of a home clash with Coventry, although they will be without No.1 Niels-Kristian Iversen due to a Danish fixture.
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WORKINGTON have postponed plans to stage the Cumberland Open Championship at Derwent Park on August 31, although they still plan to run the event later in the season.The decision has been taken due to lack of rider availability, and the clubs safety-fence fund raising fun day will now take place on September 14 when they host the final Test Match between Great Britain and Australia.Workington owner Laura Morgan said: We always said that we wanted to have as good a quality field as we could possibly get for this event, however with seven clubs now riding on that date, plus riders from some of the remaining clubs also riding as guests in those matches, it became impossible to assemble a 16-rider field that would do the meeting justice.We certainly did not want to simply just fill the sixteen places and run the meeting anyway, as that is not fair to the supporters, who we know were looking forward to the meeting; as indeed were we.
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GLASGOWS Joey Ringwood has been ruled out of the Tigers trip to Redcar on Thursday after being told to rest a neck injury.Ringwood took a heavy fall at Ashfield last weekend and will be replaced in the match against the Bears by Ben Morley, although he is expected to return when play-off chasing Ipswich visit the Scottish venue on Sunday.Glasgow boss Sean Courtney said: Its a bit of a hard one to cover for, because I felt like Joey was finding his feet at reserve."Every time he seems to get going he has a bit of a bump. You watch him there (on Sunday), hes challenging Doyley (Jason Doyle) in the first corner, so he's going to be a big miss for us.
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RYE House boss John Sampford says the clubs busy Bank Holiday schedule will be perfect preparation for their attempt to reach the Knockout Cup Final.The Rockets, still with a doubt over the injured Jason Garrity, travel to Edinburgh and Berwick this weekend before the return fixture against the Bandits on Monday afternoon.Sampford said: We still want to finish as high up the League table as we can, and we will keep fighting for every match point. And we also want to be in the right frame of mind for Redcar. We want everything to be just right in terms of carrying maximum momentum into those fifteen heats on the 31st.Jason is going to have a practice at Sheffield on Thursday, and then decide if he is fit or not to do this weekend.
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WEDNESDAY AUGUST 21:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Peterborough 7.30, Kings Lynn v Coventry 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 22:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Belle Vue 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Plymouth 7.30, Redcar v Glasgow 7.30, Sheffield v Scunthorpe 7.45
FRIDAY AUGUST 23:SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Peterborough v Coventry 7.30, Lakeside v Poole 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Rye House 7.30, Plymouth v Scunthorpe 7.15, Somerset v Ipswich 7.30
SATURDAY AUGUST 24:GRAND PRIX CHALLENGE: Poole 6.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Rye House 7pm, Workington v Newcastle 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Isle of Wight 7pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 25:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Ipswich 3pm, Leicester v Berwick 6pm, Newcastle v Workington 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Dudley 3pm, Mildenhall v Stoke 4.30
