(SPEEDWAY 1)
WORLD Champion Tai Woffinden completed back-to-back Grand Prix victories by winning a terrific Swedish event at Malilla.Woffinden, who will defend his British title at Wolverhampton on Monday, now holds a narrow one-point lead over Greg Hancock overall after the two proved almost inseparable on Saturday.The duo shared the series lead going into the meeting and had both scored 14 points on the night ahead of the Final, in which Hancock gated only for Woffinden to charge around the outside on turns three and four.Woffinden said: “I’m pumped. Coming to this one I didn’t know how I was going to get on because it’s not one of my favourite tracks.“But we got the set-up right in the end and I was fast as – so I can’t complain! I’ve got four days off after the British Final so I’m going to step everything up a notch and finish strong.” (SPEEDWAY 2)
DANNY King heads into Monday’s British Final at Wolverhampton in top form as he chases a rostrum place for the first time in his career.King’s best result in previous years was a fourth-place finish in 2010 but with more racing under his belt as a result of doubling-up with Newcastle alongside his Birmingham commitments, he is optimistic of improving upon that.He said: “Just the chance to be British Champion is huge but with the Wild Card at Cardiff up for grabs it's going to be even more special this year."It's definitely going to be difficult because everybody will be so desperate to do well, but I'm going in fairly high on confidence so we'll see how it goes. It's always tough at Wolverhampton which is perhaps not my best track, but I've had some good meetings there in the past.”
(SPEEDWAY 3 – SATURDAY REVIEW)
RYE House established a ten-point lead over Glasgow in the first leg of their Knockout Cup tie at Hoddesdon on Saturday.British Finalist Steve Boxall was back on-song for the Rockets with a paid-12 haul and stand-in Ben Morley also impressed with a Heat 8 win over Christian Henry and Andre Compton.Anders Thomsen top-scored for the Tigers with 13+1 ahead of the deciding leg at Ashfield on Sunday.Rockets promoter Len Silver said: “Glasgow were a hard team to beat, but I am really proud of the way the team responded to the challenge and the position of adversity they were in.“What pleased me most was seeing Steve and Luke (Bowen) back on form. The race win from Ben was also critical. I went to him before the heat and said, ‘you’ve got a real chance to beat these guys, but you’ve got to stay up by the fence for four laps,’ which he did.”Cradley moved up to second place in the National League with a 54-36 win at Devon in the first half of a double header at the St Boniface Arena.Paul Starke led the way for the Heathens with 14 from six rides at the head of a strong all-round display in which each visiting rider won at least one race.Cradley boss Will Pottinger said: “I’m pleased with the result, and it’s another four league points to add to our total. Our lowest score was seven points, which shows what a great team effort it was without Steve Worrall.”The Demons then recovered to see off Scunthorpe 56-28 in the second meeting of the day, which was curtailed one race early due to the curfew.James Shanes raced to a 15-point maximum for the home side and there were also double-figure scores from Tim Webster (12) and Matt Bates (10+2).Promoter Ashley Taylor said: “We would like to thank the supporters for their attendance and patience. It might have been an easy win over Scunthorpe, but it provided some good track time for our riders.”At Loomer Road, Stoke kept up their strong start to their league campaign with a 59-34 win over Buxton – with each of their top five riders scoring nine or ten points.Liam Carr (11+1) and Tony Atkin (9) led the way for the Hitmen, whose boss Jayne Moss said: “The team is continuing to improve and there have been some pleasing aspects. Liam, Tony, Ryan (Blacklock) and Adam (Extance) have turned in good performances once more.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
WORKINGTON’S Premier League clash with runaway league leaders Edinburgh at Derwent Park was halted after nine heats due to a lack of ambulance cover - following an ankle injury to home rider Kyle Howarth, with the home side holding a slender 28-26 advantage at the time of the stoppage.Comets owner Laura Morgan said: “We were placed in a no-win situation when told that due to a lack of availability, a vehicle from the County Ambulance Service would take in excess of one hour to get to the track assuming it wasn’t diverted to an emergency in the meantime. “That meant that the track ambulance had to take Kyle to hospital and that would take a similar amount of time to get back to the track. Supporters had already been standing around for nearly half an hour by the time the ambulance left the track, so to expect them to hang around for at least another hour was not really an option, also bearing in mind that we have a time curfew in operation at the stadium.“Based on those facts, and following discussions with the Referee and the Edinburgh promotion, the decision to abandon the meeting was reluctantly made, which was a major disappointment as the meeting was building up to a thrilling finish and the abandonment has obviously added to our fixture backlog. “Hopefully Kyle is not as badly hurt as was initially feared but at present we still do not know the full extent of his injury, which has simply lengthened our ever-growing injury list following the recent injuries to Josh Grajczonek and Ashley Morris.”
(SPEEDWAY 5 – SUNDAY PREVIEW)
MILDENHALL are planning plenty of entertainment on and off the track as they host the National League Pairs – one of the third tier’s biggest events of the season.Eight of the nine clubs are represented and the meeting includes several riders who are gaining experience in the Elite League as part of the Fast Track system, including home duo Joe Jacobs and Dan Halsey.Fen Tigers chairman Kevin Jolly said: “To add a little razzmatazz to the occasion we are pleased to have the Start Line girls from Coventry, who will be in attendance at the forthcoming British Final, with us and also we are pleased to welcome the local Harley Davidson club who will be parading prior to the start of the meeting and will have their bikes available to view around the stadium. “Add to all that great fish and chips, a good weather forecast and some top class speedway and I can’t think of anywhere else to be this Sunday.”There is a big Premier League clash on Sunday evening as third-placed Somerset travel to Newcastle chasing their second away win of the season.Rebels boss Garry May is keen for his side to quickly put their KO Cup disappointment behind them, as their defence of that item of silverware ended against Ipswich on Friday.May said: “We have to re-group and concentrate on defending our League Championship title, starting with our trip to Newcastle on Sunday before we face Glasgow at the Oaktree Arena next Friday.”Meanwhile Rye House defend a ten-point first leg lead at Glasgow as their Knockout Cup tie comes to a conclusion, with the Ashfield start-time pushed back to 5pm to enable extra preparation time following Saturday’s clash at Hoddesdon.Tigers boss Stewart Dickson said: “Christian Henry is going to make a big difference at number two - I think he'll be worth eight or nine points per home meeting - and with him coming in, and them losing (Matheiu) Tresarrieu, we've got to be favourites for this tie.”(FIXTURES)
SUNDAY JUNE 15:PREMIER LEAGUE: Newcastle v Somerset 6.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP 1st round 2nd leg: Glasgow v Rye House 5pmNATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: Mildenhall 3.30
MONDAY JUNE 16:BRITISH FINAL: Wolverhampton 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Devon 6.30
TUESDAY JUNE 17:LEAGUE CUP S/F 1st leg: Peterborough v Workington 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Stoke 7.30
WEDNESDAY JUNE 18:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Belle Vue 7.30, Poole v Leicester 7.30
