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EIGHT clubs will do battle at Peterborough on Sunday August 3 with the prestigious Premier League Fours title on offer.The event is one of the most popular on the domestic calendar with a bumper 28-race programme on the agenda at the Showground.Edinburgh triumphed last year in a remarkably close contest, with a single point separating three teams going into the deciding race of the Final.Claus Vissing was the Monarchs’ hero as they secured their first Fours title since 1993, the Dane winning the crucial Heat 12, but Vissing will this year be amongst the Berwick line-up – with the Bandits having an excellent recent record in the event.The Monarchs and the Bandits are both drawn in Group 2 along with Workington, who secured back-to-back triumphs in 2008-09, and Redcar, who recently took a notable 45-45 draw in a Premier League contest at the Showground.Peterborough are back in the event for the first time since 1998, when they were victorious on home shale, with the Panthers having made their return to the Premier League this year.The Panthers are joined in Group 1 by Newcastle, whose line-up includes Showground specialist Danny King, who rode for Peterborough in the Elite League and secured a Premier League team place with the Diamonds earlier this season.The group also includes Somerset and Scunthorpe, who are both riding high in the league at this stage and will also be confident of taking one of the two qualifying places for the Final.The meeting gets underway at 2.30pm on August 3, with gates at the Showground opening at midday.GROUP 1: Newcaste, Somerset, Peterborough, Scunthorpe.GROUP 2: Edinburgh, Workington, Redcar, Berwick.

KYLE Bickley retained his British 125cc Championship title with an unbeaten performance at Peterborough.The reigning champion triumphed in each of his four heats before speeding clear in the Final. Harry McGurk, unbeaten until facing Bickley in their final heat, finished second with Jordan Jenkins third, whilst Joe Thompson was fourth.GB Youth co-boss Neil Vatcher said: “The event was a great success, and it’s got bigger each time since we first ran it at Eastbourne in 2011.“Everyone watching was impressed with the high quality of racing and the fast race times. If these 12 British hopefuls can continue their progress British Speedway has a very bright future.“The success was proven as there were no fallers and no re-runs, all the riders were professionally turned out, and all credit to the families of the riders and the Peterborough promotion for allowing us to put on a great show.”

SPEEDWAYGB EVENTS SERIES 2014:ELITE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Re-staging TBCBRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: JOSH BATESBRITISH FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENPREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: EDINBURGHPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Peterborough, August 3PREMIER RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, September 21NATIONAL LEAGUE MAJOR EVENTS:NATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: STOKENATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Coventry, August 10NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Rye House, September 28BRITISH SPEEDWAY FIM EVENT DATES:WORLD UNDER-21 CHAMPIONSHIP Semi-Final: MIKKEL BECHGRAND PRIX QUALIFIER: LINUS SUNDSTROM

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BELLE VUE boss Jason Attwood says initial gate choices played a part in the Aces losing their unbeaten home record with a 41-49 defeat at the hands of Swindon.Attwood said: “I think I've got to hold my hands up to be honest. I decided at the beginning of the meeting to take gates one and three, which is a decision that's worked in the past, but unfortunately it's come back to haunt me tonight.“At the moment I'm lost for words. I was proud of the home record we had here because there was a faint hope that we could have made a go for the play offs, but that hope has now been taken away from us.”COVENTRY boss Gary Havelock is pleased with the Bees’ form ahead of their break for the World Cup, having seen his side defeat Belle Vue 52-39 at Brandon last Friday.Havelock said: “That was our best performance around here this season without a shadow of a doubt. We wanted to go hard right from the start, and after a couple of 3-3s we really kicked in with a lot of 5-1s.“It could have been a bit ‘iffy’ for us without Jason (Garrity) because he’s been doing fantastically well, but the top five did the job that they’re paid to do and I’m really happy. At no time during the meeting were the nerves coming – it was pretty smooth all the way through.”EASTBOURNE boss Trevor Geer believes his side’s impressive 50-40 win over Poole at Arlington on Saturday was a further demonstration of their potential to finish in the top four this season.Geer said: “Bjarne (Pedersen) had a great night, as did Danny Halsey. I have not seen him ride as well as that before. “This team believes we can make the play-offs and we will be handing out some shocks when we start racing again after the World Cup break.”KING’S LYNN skipper Rory Schlein thanked supporters for backing the ‘Pink Wednesday’ initiative with the Stars’ home clash with Leicester helping with his charity work for Breast Cancer Care.Schlein said: “The support for 'Pink Wednesday' was fantastic. Lots of supporters made an effort and it was a great to see the crowd with so much pink on show. “Lots of donations were made during and at the auction after the meeting, I can only say a big thank you to the fans. Their donations will go to help change livesLAKESIDE continued their positive run of form with a dramatic 46-44 win at Wolverhampton on Monday – following on from last week’s close-fought home victory over Eastbourne.Hammers co-promoter Jon Cook said: “To take the lead after Heat 13 for the second time in a week speaks volumes for the team’s spirit. Credit goes to them all. “It was a great night and all the more special as the win came with Stuart Douglas with us in the pits enjoying a night with the boys before he heads to Los Angeles.”LEICESTER enjoyed a positive week of results on the road, with points gained from narrow defeats at both King’s Lynn and Swindon – and in the latter meeting, a last-race 5-1 would have seen the Lions snatch their first away win.Boss Norrie Allan said: “We are gradually turning our season around. This was the second time in two days that we have arrived at the last race in with a chance of picking up at least a point. “Once again it did not quite work out for us but we picked up another consolation bonus match point and for us that is progress when compared with some of our away performances this season.”POOLE promoter Matt Ford admits King’s Lynn are the team to catch as the chasing pack look to make sure of play-off places over the final two months of the regular campaign.Ford said: “They are the envy of the league with the way their team has been built. A very solid one to five but by far they have the best combination at reserve and for me that makes them the team to beat this year. “As things stand, our July top five averages out-point them by nearly three quarters of a point but you only need to see the contributions from the two Lewis's (Kerr and Rose) to see why they are flying so high.” SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter admitted his side’s stunning 49-41 win at Belle Vue on Monday came as a surprise - even to him!Rossiter said: “It was a great win and a full team effort from the boys. Special praise goes to Peter Kildemand, he's got up and got on a plane this morning from Russia and that's commitment.“In my mind I thought we would struggle because Belle Vue are so good but we all chipped in and all the boys did a good job.”WOLVERHAMPTON promoter Chris Van Straaten says changes are possible as the Monmore club consider their options during the World Cup break – after losing at home to Lakeside on Monday.Van Straaten said: “We have been looking at what we can do with the team, the problem is until we see the new August figures we are still over the limit at the moment.“If we were to do anything, two riders would have to come out. We have looked closely at the situation and once we have the new averages we'll decide what the best course of action is to take.”PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…

BERWICK manager John Anderson felt his side had been somewhat unfortunate to go home with nothing after a 14-point defeat in an eventful derby clash at Newcastle on Sunday.Anderson said: “We held our own to the mid-point and still led by one point after Heat 9, but Newcastle seemed to go up a gear from that point onwards and we didn’t help ourselves either on several occasions.“Prior to that we were impressive and I do think we were worth a point or two for our efforts, but we lost too much direction at the end.”EDINBURGH boss John Campbell accepted that all good runs must come to an end – and the Monarchs’ run has been astonishing – as their 25th match of the season finally resulted in defeat at Peterborough.Campbell said: “Peterborough were the better team on the day. The pressure has been growing on us to win every time because of the incredible run we’ve had. It’s been some achievement to stay unbeaten till our 25th match.”GLASGOW No.1 Kevin Wolbert experienced mixed fortunes mechanically in the Tigers’ recent busy spell, which included a notable draw at Ipswich.Wolbert said: “I tried a new engine at Ipswich and it worked quite good. In the first heat the referee put me out, but it was a good meeting. At Plymouth, I tried an engine too and it wasn't good, and I tried another and the back chain came off. “In the next heat, I made the start but made a mistake in the second corner, crashed and Rusty (Harrison) went over me - so that was not very nice. (On Sunday) the first three heats were OK, but I still wasn’t feeling too good in the last couple.”IPSWICH boss Brian Messenger was left bitterly disappointed after seeing his side held to a 45-45 home draw by Glasgow in a result which damages the Witches’ play-off aspirations.Messenger said: “On paper this looked like a straightforward meeting for us to win and after last week’s showing there was no reason to expect otherwise. There were some poor performances and we have now made it hard for ourselves. We can't let this happen again!”NEWCASTLE manager George English was relieved to see his side bounce back from defeats at Sheffield and Somerset to defeat local rivals Berwick at home, with the margin for error reducing as the Diamonds chase the top six.English said: “We knew what we had to find to get back to winning ways after two abysmal away matches, with two of the lads, Danny and Lewis Kerr, taking maximums, but what we now have to do is keep up this form and make sure we make as good a push for the play-offs as we can, even though it will be a big ask.”PETERBOROUGH skipper Ulrich Ostergaard saluted his side after they became the first team to defeat Edinburgh in the entire 2014 campaign with their 50-43 success at the Showground on Sunday.Ostergaard said: “Edinburgh have been unreal this season. They’ve been winning almost everywhere so it is awesome to be the first team to beat them.“We had a couple of guys missing, but it was a complete team performance with everyone getting among the points.”PLYMOUTH’S new signing James Wright played a key role for the Devils in their 53-41 win over Glasgow, being involved in three 5-1s on his way to a paid-nine score.Boss Lee Trigger said: “It was good to see the new riders doing well, especially with James picking up points from the back. Sam Simota did particularly well at reserve, dropping only one point in his six races.”REDCAR pulled off a stunning comeback from 15-points down to defeat Workington 47-45 at the South Tees Motorsports Park last week. The Bears are next in action in home and away clashes with Scunthorpe as they look to break into the play-off zone.RYE HOUSE are set to include Anders Mellgren and Oliver Greenwood for their Northern tour to Berwick and Newcastle this weekend after the duo were signed to replace Mathieu Tresarrieu and Stefan Nielsen.Promoter Len Silver said: “I am very sad that Mathieu has had to be sacrificed along with Stefan. Both of these riders are extremely personable and did their best for the club. I was not disappointed in either of them and they leave under no cloud whatever in regard to their ability. I would not hesitate to re-employ either of them if the opportunity arose, and I wish them well in their new fields.”SCUNTHORPE promoter Rob Godfrey says back-to-back clashes with Redcar this week are vital to the Scorpions’ play-off aspirations, with an improvement required to their away fortunes.Godfrey said: “This is an important week in our bid for the play-offs. We’ve picked up results from Redcar’s place in the past, just as they’ve picked up results at the Eddie Wright Raceway.“The team has been in excellent form at home the last few weeks, and we need to be on the ball to keep that going against Redcar. At the same time, it’s time we started picking up a few more points from our away matches.”SHEFFIELD racer Leigh Lanham was released from hospital in Glasgow on Sunday having escaped with bad bruising to his back after crashing out of the Tigers’ defeat at Ashfield – with Ty Proctor also unable to complete the meeting.Boss Joe Screen said: “We’re up against it with injuries and it’s really bad luck for us when things were just starting to pick up, but we’ll just have to try and get through it and see what we can do.”SOMERSET face an important period of six Premier League fixtures in the space of eleven days as the Rebels look to cement their place in the play-offs.Manager Garry May said: “It’s a bit like waiting for that proverbial bus - nothing for ages then loads come along all together, but whilst it will be quite a tough schedule I know the boys will be up for it as we look to maintain our aim of a top 6 finish to ensure our place in the play-offs. The Somerset fans certainly have a lot to look forward to over the course of the next couple of weeks or so!”WORKINGTON owner Laura Morgan believes the regular use of guests due to injuries is a major factor in the Comets’ current lack of consistency.She told newsandstar.co.uk: “As much as we have good guests trying their hardest, it’s not a full team. It breaks up the dynamic. It definitely takes away the consistency. The boys have got to learn not to let these things impact on their performance.”FIXTURE PICTURE…

TUESDAY JULY 22:NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Coventry 7.30

WEDNESDAY JULY 23:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v King’s Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Berwick v Edinburgh 7.30

THURSDAY JULY 24:PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Somerset 7.30, Redcar v Scunthorpe 7.30, Sheffield v Peterborough 7.30

FRIDAY JULY 25:PREMIER LEAGUE: Scunthorpe v Redcar 7.30, Somerset v Plymouth 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Coventry v Buxton 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v King’s Lynn (follows NLKOC fixture)SELECT CHALLENGE: Arena-Essex v Kent (at Lakeside) 8pm

SATURDAY JULY 26:WORLD CUP EVENT 1: King’s Lynn 7pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Rye House 7pm, Plymouth v Somerset 7.15

SUNDAY JULY 27:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Berwick 3pm, Newcastle v Rye House 6.30, Workington v Sheffield 3pmNATIONAL TROPHY: Leicester v Mildenhall 4pmBRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 4: Eastbourne 3.30

MONDAY JULY 28:PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Somerset 7.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Kent v Leicester 6.30

TUESDAY JULY 29:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Sheffield 7.30F.A.S.T GOLDEN HAMMER: Cradley 7.30

WEDNESDAY JULY 30:PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Redcar 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Devon 7.30

THURSDAY JULY 31: PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Berwick 7.30, Redcar v Newcastle 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 1:PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Sheffield 7.15, Scunthorpe v Berwick 7.30, Somerset v Ipswich 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v Stoke 7.30SCOTTISH OPEN: Edinburgh 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 2:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Glasgow 7pm, Rye House v Newcastle 7pm

SUNDAY AUGUST 3:PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Peterborough 2.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Devon 3pm, Stoke v Cradley 6pm

MONDAY AUGUST 4:ELTIE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v King’s Lynn 7.30, Wolverhampton v Poole 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Stoke 6.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 6:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Swindon 7.30