NB. PLEASE NOTE START-TIME FOR LAKESIDE v COVENTRY ON SATURDAY IS NOW 7.45pm (see item 5)
(SPEEDWAY 1)
THE line-up has been confirmed for the World Under-21 Qualifier at Leicester on Saturday May 10.British Under-21 Champion Josh Bates and Stefan Nielsen, who finished fourth in that meeting, represent the home nation at the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium in one of three events which will determine qualification for the three-round Final series.The field also includes Elite League regulars Mikkel Bech and Jacob Thorssell, plus Premier League riders Gino Manzares, Dimitri Berge, Lasse Bjerre and Max Fricke.LINE-UP: Stefan Nielsen (GB), Roman Cejka (Cze), Adrian Cyfer (Pol), Nike Luna (Fin), Adrian Gala (Pol), Mikkel Bech (Den), Victor Palovaara (Swe), Gino Manzares (USA), Dimitri Berge (Fra), Lasse Bjerre (Den), Max Fricke (Aus), Eduard Krcmar (Cze), Jacob Thorssell (Swe), Sean Mason (NZ), Josh Bates (GB), Jiri Nieminen (Fin). Reserves: Tom Perry (GB), Ashley Morris (GB).(SPEEDWAY 2 – THURSDAY REVIEW)
REDCAR overcame Somerset with a last-heat 5-1 to secure a tense Premier League encounter 47-43 at the South Tees Motorsport Park.The Bears never trailed on the night but saw their six-point lead after Heat 10 wiped out by successive Rebels advantages, and a further trading of 5-1s saw the teams go into the last race level.Home stars Richard Lawson and Aaron Summers, though, took maximum points over Brady Kurtz and Pontus Aspgren in Heat 15 to seal victory for the home side.Lawson’s race win completed a five-ride paid maximum for the Bears No.1, whilst a solid team effort for the Rebels saw them take a league point from the meeting.
(SPEEDWAY 3 – FRIDAY PREVIEW)
SCUNTHORPE promoter Rob Godfrey is under no illusions as to the task facing his team as they visit unbeaten Edinburgh in the Premier League on Friday.The Monarchs have won all eight matches in all competitions so far this season, having seen their trip to Ipswich on Thursday rained-off.Edinburgh are at full-strength for the Armadale clash, whilst Scunthorpe include Theo Pijper and Mason Campton as guests for Anders Mellgren (injured) and Thomas Jorgensen (Danish Championship).Godfrey said: “It’s going to be a massively tough meeting as Edinburgh are the form team at the moment. But we have some riders who go well around their track, plus we’ve brought in two guests who are good performers around Armadale.“We will go into the meeting with the aim to win it – we go into every meeting with that attitude. Edinburgh have got to lose at some point, so it might as well be to us!”The closely-fought Southern League Cup group is set to be resolved this weekend, with Peterborough currently leading the way but Somerset and Ipswich retaining hopes of topping the table.The latter two sides clash at the Oaktree Arena, with the Rebels having been given renewed hope by their big win over Rye House last week.Somerset boss Garry May said: “The boys responded well to the disappointment of our loss at Plymouth to take Rye House apart at home last Friday to give us a glimmer of a chance of qualifying for the semi-final stages.”Meanwhile Peterborough travel to Plymouth with Danish duo Lasse Bjerre and Ulrich Ostergaard missing out due to their national championship. Steve Boxall guests for the Panthers, whilst Jason Garrity comes in for the Devils who have Rasmus Jensen missing for the same reason and Kyle Newman is injured, and both sides use rider-replacement too.Panthers boss Blayne Scroggins said: “The spirit in the camp is great and we have to go into the Plymouth and Rye House trips with a positive attitude. A point could well prove enough for us to go through as group winners, but we are looking for wins.”Plymouth co-promoter Ashley Taylor said: “It is clearly going to make for an interesting meeting and will not be as predictable as it might have been. Apart from the changes involving Newman and Jensen, there will also be a different dimension to our team with Kalle Katajisto promoted into the top five from his previous reserve position.”In the National League, Coventry host Kent with the Storm on-track for the first time since a successful Easter programme which saw them get the better of both Mildenhall and Cradley.Promoter Mick Horton said: “To beat Mildenhall and Cradley over Easter was an incredible effort and now hopefully the boys can carry it on against Kent. The Cradley match was a fantastic meeting and it showed just how good the racing can be at this level.”(SPEEDWAY 4)
KING’S Lynn have confirmed Kenneth Bjerre suffered a broken collarbone in his Heat 15 crash at the Norfolk Arena on Wednesday.The Danish star was discharged from hospital on Thursday in order to return home and seek specialist advice.Promoter Keith Chapman said: “The racing was really quick and riders were giving it their all as you could see from the final heat where Kenneth came in a bit deep and got caught out.“The crash looked a really bad one, and hopefully he will make a quick recovery, he is a tough little rider. We will know more in the coming days when he gets to Denmark. Once we know how bad it is we can assess the situation going forward. We all wish him well.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
LAKESIDE have brought forward the start-time of their Elite League clash with Coventry on Saturday by 15 minutes.The match will now take place at 7.45pm after talks with the Highways Agency via the Arena-Essex Raceway landlords.Hammers co-promoter Jon Cook said: “The Highways Agency are suspending works on the Dartford Bridge until 10.30pm on Saturday as our meeting, as per our Friday matches, are regarded as major sporting events likely to increase congestion.“On a Friday this is normally 11pm so we felt that we would bring forward our time slightly to allow wriggle room in case of unforeseen problems to allow the many hundreds of Kent based fans a more relaxed and quicker journey home.”(FIXTURES)
FRIDAY MAY 2:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Scunthorpe 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Plymouth v Peterborough 7.15, Somerset v Ipswich 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v Kent 7.30
SATURDAY MAY 3:ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Wolverhampton 7.30, Lakeside v Coventry 7.45, Leicester v Belle Vue 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Berwick v Sheffield 7pm, Workington v Somerset 7pmNATIONAL TROPHY: Stoke v Kent 7pm
SUNDAY MAY 4:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Redcar 3pm, Newcastle v Workington 6.30LEAGUE CUP: Rye House v Peterborough 2pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Stoke 3pm, Mildenhall v Devon 3.30
MONDAY MAY 5:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Lakeside 7.30, Swindon v Birmingham 7.30, Wolverhampton v Poole 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Newcastle 2.30, Scunthorpe v Edinburgh 3pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Mildenhall 3pm, Scunthorpe v Devon (follows PL fixture)
TUESDAY MAY 6:PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Edinburgh 7.30wtccTiago Monteiro aiming for another podium in Hungary
