(SPEEDWAY 1)
THE draw has been made for the British Under-21 semi-final at Plymouth on Saturday March 22.Six places are up for grabs as competitors bid to join the ten seeded rides in the Cradley-staged Final at Monmore Green on April 15.Three of the favourites clash as early as Heat 1 as Ben Morley and Darryl Ritchings – both Elite League fast-track draft riders – go up against Dan Greenwood, along with home rider James Shanes.There are two other fast-track riders in the line-up - James Sarjeant and Max Clegg - and nine members of the field are making their debut in the competition.DRAW: 1. Dan Greenwood (Coventry Storm), 2. Ben Morley (Lakeside/Kent), 3. Darryl Ritchings (Swindon/King’s Lynn Young Stars), 4. James Shanes (Devon), 5. Adam Kirby (Unattached), 6. James Sarjeant (Coventry/Coventry Storm), 7. Danny Phillips (Cradley), 8. Connor Mountain (Mildenhall), 9. Max Clegg (Leicester/Cradley), 10. Brandon Freemantle (Kent), 11. Rob Shuttleworth (Stoke), 12. Nathan Greaves (Cradley), 13. Ryan Terry-Daley (Coventry Storm), 14. Tom Woolley (Buxton), 15. Connor Coles (Mildenhall), 16. Jack Kingston (Mildenhall). Reserves: Danno Verge (Unattached), David Holt (Unattached).
(SPEEDWAY 2)
SHEFFIELD have parted company with co-promoter David Hoggart – weeks after a new consortium took charge of the Owlerton club.Owners Damien Bates, Peter Mole and Simon Parker say they wish to take the Tigers forward in a different way.Mole said: “David has been a loyal servant of the club, working tirelessly with Neil Machin during some difficult seasons, alongside his heavy workload at the BSPA, management committee duties and full-time employment. He played a big part in bringing the consortium together, which made this situation difficult.“We are working hard to take Sheffield to a brighter and exciting future, and everything is positive for the new season. Whilst David has been a big part of the management here over recent seasons, we now have our own ideas of team-building, gaining increased sponsorship and moving the club forward.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury says the underdog tag suits his team fine this year.Drury believes the revamped Brummies will spoil some reputations following the club’s achievement of finishing top of the Elite League table in 2013 – and they have a busy start to competition with four matches scheduled in March.Drury said: “We were written off this time last year and look where we ended up! I have faith in this team because we have points in every position.“Our top five doesn’t have a particularly powerful spearhead, but we have strength in depth and I expect new signings like Adam Skornicki and Daniel Nermark to score well. And I’m pleased with the reserves we have, Paul Starke and Simon Lambert are two of the more experienced riders to be promoted from the National League.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
SCUNTHORPE have named Arron Mogridge as the fourth signing for their National League team this season.The 22-year-old is the son of former rider Alan, who enjoyed a 25-year professional speedway career, and Arron has impressed in recent amateur events at the Eddie Wright Raceway.Stags chairman Richard Hollingsworth said: “He’s not been riding for that long and just keeps improving. You get a feeling about how far some riders will progress, but with Arron not having ridden youth speedway or reached a high level in Moto X it is harder to get a feel for how far he could go. “However, when you observe him in the pits and on track I just have a good feeling about him. I really think he could be a big surprise over the next year or two.”
(SPEEDWAY 5).COVENTRY Storm will have the backing of locally-based City Gearboxes (Coventry) Ltd as team sponsors for the 2014 National League season.The company, who have previously backed rugby and ice hockey in Coventry, first became involved in speedway by sponsoring a Midland Development League fixture, and that support was quickly extended to the Storm last year.Joint-team boss Laurence Rogers said: “It is great news that Gary and Lorraine Drinkwater at City Gearboxes (Coventry) Ltd are back as the Storm's main team sponsors in 2014.“They are brilliant sponsors and assist the riders individually as well along with the MDL side, the Mercia-Vikings. They have been become close friends – and of course Lorraine now also has the club shop, with some superb merchandise on sale.”
(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY MARCH 9:BEN FUND BONANZA: Leicester 2pm
