(SPEEDWAY 1)
PETERBOROUGH and Rye House have elected to bring forward their League Cup clash – which will now be the Showground season-opener on Tuesday (March 18).The sides were already due to meet in the East of England Cup but will instead go straight into official competition to avoid a clash of the original League Cup fixture with the British Under-21 Final, which will involve riders from both teams.Rye House will still be without Jason Bunyan as he is in New Zealand preparing for his Wild Card appearance in the forthcoming Grand Prix.Rockets boss John Sampford said: “A clash with the Under-21 meeting meant that we were without two riders and had no guest of suitable ability to call on. This way we are able to cope with just one absentee in the knowledge that our other riders are well up to the challenge of annexing the points we need - not ideal, but the best we can expect in the circumstances.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
LAKESIDE promoter Jon Cook says the 2014 campaign promises to be an exciting one both for his club and the sport in general.The Hammers will go into the Elite League season having won the race to sign hugely promising Danish youngster Mikkel Bech, whilst at reserve Adam Ellis is set to be one of several British youngsters to benefit from the new fast-track system.Cook said: “This is one of the most eagerly-awaited seasons ever with an exciting new race format plus the introduction of British youngsters at reserve, and our final preparations have already begun in earnest. “The team will be returning to action over the next ten days before gathering together for our Press and Practice Day on Tuesday March 25 followed by our away challenge at Poole on the Wednesday before we race at our Raceway in Elite League action here on Friday 28th against the Swindon Robins.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
SCUNTHORPE will celebrate ten years of action at the Eddie Wright Raceway this season.It will be the first North Lincolnshire track to reach that milestone, with racing having previously taken place at Quibell Park (1971-78) and Ashby Ville (1979-85) – and promoter Rob Godfrey is putting entertainment high on the agenda.He said: “I recognise the need to entertain the public; we’ve done a lot of work on the track over the winter. I want people to come away from the Eddie Wright Raceway having been entertained and having had a good time. Our track is one of the very best, if not the best, in Britain – that’s something I am proud of.“I think everyone knows by now that I plough all the money back into the stadium – I don’t go on holiday with it! I do have plans for a new building near the training track, and other improvements are also in the pipeline. I will always invest the money back into the stadium.”
(FIXTURES)
SATURDAY MARCH 15:NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Devon v Kent 7.15
SUNDAY MARCH 16:MADS KORNELIUSSEN TESTIMONIAL: King’s Lynn 3pm
MONDAY MARCH 17:BANKS’S OLYMPIQUE CLASSIC: Wolverhampton 7.30
TUESDAY MARCH 18:LEAGUE CUP: Peterborough v Rye House 7.30
