BRITISH SPEEDWAY WEEKLY BULLETIN 2014/21

BIG EVENT LATEST…

SOMERSET boss Garry May is targeting further honours this season after his team clinched the Premier League Fours title at Peterborough last Sunday.The Rebels won the event for the second time in their history, the first having come back in 2005 – and May believes it could be the springboard as they fight to retain the Premier League crown.The Rebels came through a tight group at the Showground which saw the elimination of the hosts, and were joined by Scunthorpe in the Final along with Workington and holders Edinburgh from the other group.Somerset’s Brady Kurtz blew an engine in Heat 3 as Scunthorpe took the early advantage, the Scorpions being three ahead at the one-third stage.However, Olly Allen and Nick Morris won the next two races for the Rebels to put them into a lead they would not relinquish, with reserve Charles Wright successfully replacing Kurtz in his final two rides.Morris won Heat 11 to secure the title, with the Rebels (24) finishing six points clear of Workington (18) and a further three ahead of Scunthorpe and Edinburgh.May said: “This is just a fantastic achievement by the boys. When we put the team together over the winter I knew that we would be strong in events such as this and the Pairs, and so it has proved.“All five of the boys rode their hearts out, and were not going to be denied. I knew that Nick and Olly wanted to make up for the disappointment of losing out in last month's Pairs Final, and they have done that in stunning style.“In just under two years this club has won every team championship there is to win in the Premier League, which is some achievement, but we are not finished yet.”The Fours also proved to be a positive day for Scunthorpe, whose third place was their best-ever result in the competition - eclipsing fourth in 2008 - and the Scorpions achieved it without the services of Nicolai Klindt (unavailable) and Josh Auty (illness).Manager Dave Peet said: “I couldn’t ask for anything more from our riders, they gave it everything and battled for every point. I’m really proud of them, it was a first class performance.“With the way our team is built, any four out of our top six could do this meeting. You could certainly argue we were without two of our top four, but the lads still went out and did us proud.“We actually didn’t start the semi-final that well. We had a quick word with the riders and said: ‘Hey, we’re better than this.’ We asked them to go out and show what we are capable of, and they certainly went and did that.“In the Final, we were running away with it in the first four heats. But the track changed completely for the next four races, and it caught us out. We then had to dig deep to make sure we ended up with third place ahead of Edinburgh.”SPEEDWAYGB EVENTS SERIES 2014:ELITE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Re-staging TBCBRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: JOSH BATESBRITISH FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENPREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: EDINBURGHPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: SOMERSETPREMIER 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

ELITE LEAGUE LATEST…

BELLE VUE skipper Scott Nicholls says his side have to show character to bounce back from successive home defeats to Swindon and King’s Lynn – with the Stars having run up a 54-39 win at Kirkmanshulme Lane on Monday.Nicholls said: “They were just a much better team than us. We were out for the win and we put everything we had into the meeting to try and secure that win, but in the face of such strong opposition we simply couldn't match them.“It's a shame to have two home losses on the bounce, but for the sake of pride we need to regroup and support each other as a team and at least finish the season with a clean sheet.”COVENTRY star Kenneth Hansen admits he is loving his first season at Brandon – and wants to cap it off with a place in the Elite League play-offs.Hansen said: “I couldn’t ask for any more from the fans because even if I have a bad meeting they are supporting me, and that’s what you want. I just hope we can reach the play-offs so that we can give something back to them as a team. “I don’t want to say we will do it because that can come back to bite you in the backside, but I think we just need to take one meeting at a time and keep this good spirit and performance going, and I’m pretty sure we will be there in the end – but you never know!”EASTBOURNE face a hectic run of ten matches in August when they re-commence racing against Swindon on Monday – and manager Trevor Geer says those matches will define their season.Geer said: “I saw how we defeated Poole in our last home meeting and the results in the week leading up to that when we came away from both Leicester and Lakeside with a point.“The team has upped their game and I’m sure we are ready to dish out some shocks. We do need to win away to get into the play-offs and I know we are facing the top teams in the league. Eastbourne’s riders are ready for the challenge.”KING’S LYNN returned to action after the World Cup break with an impressive 54-39 win at Belle Vue on Monday.The table-topping Stars gave a solid all-round display with Kenneth Bjerre top-scoring on 10+1 – but all seven of their riders picked up at least six points. Lewis Kerr missed the victory due to his finger injury, having attempted a comeback for Newcastle in the Premier League Fours.LAKESIDE boss Neil Vatcher admits the coming weeks are critical to the Hammers’ play-off hopes with matches to come against their main rivals.Vatcher told Speedway Star: “We have a huge couple of months of racing ahead of us with 12 matches to race, and a lot of those against teams like ourselves who are in the hunt for a play-off position.“We’ve still got Poole to race three times, including twice at home, two away meetings at Swindon, Coventry at home and away, and Eastbourne away. All these teams are very much in contention so our destiny therefore is very much in our own hands.”LEICESTER welcome back World Cup winner Mads Korneliussen when Wolverhampton visit the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium on Saturday.The Lions also include No.1 Jason Doyle who starred for Australia in the Final, as they go into action for the first time since July 17 at the start of a busy run of fixtures with four home matches in August.POOLE promoter Matt Ford heaped praise on his team after they came away from Wolverhampton on Monday with an emphatic 59-36 away win to spell our their title intentions.Ford said: “That was one of the best away performances from a Poole side since I have owned the club. We went there expecting them to be on a bit of high with the latest team changes and we rode exceptionally well. “Our gating was superb, we were much more alert at the tapes than they were and whilst we might have had a little bit of fortune on the way we deserved the win and it is a good building block for the rest of what will be a very vital month for the club.”SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter is backing youngster Nick Morris to turn the corner as the Robins bid to break into the Elite League’s top four during a busy August.Rossiter told Speedway Star: “Nick has lost confidence in his machinery, but he is investing in improving his bikes and also has Mark Courtney on board to help him.“Confidence is vital in all sports, not least speedway where one second per lap can make such a vast difference. Nick is still very young, he still has amazing potential and I’d not advise anyone to write him off or think he has peaked. I know there is a lot more to come from him and I want to see the smile back on his face.”WOLVERHAMPTON promoter Chris Van Straaten says the heavy home defeat at the hand of Poole on Monday summed up the way the season has developed for the Monmore side.Van Straaten said: “Sometimes it's not your year and you just have to accept that. The bad luck we had tonight at the start of the meeting caught up with us, but Poole were in magnificent form.“Even without our bad luck I think we would have struggled to match them to be honest, they were just an awesome team. They gated a lot faster than us and were just a better side.”PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…

BERWICK will bring Alex Edberg back into their team this week with local youngster Liam Carr rested from Premier League duties.Bandits boss John Anderson said: “When Alex was himself rested with a view to regaining confidence following a sickening series of crashes, we told him the door would be open at Berwick if and when he was scoring freely again in his domestic meetings in Sweden. “Both Alex and the club feel he is ready to return, and with Liam finding Premier League racing a bit difficult at present, we are making this move to improve the club's prospects of achieving what might be our best season since I took over here.”EDINBURGH star Sam Masters collected victory in the club’s long-established individual event, the Scottish Open, to continue a good run of recent form.Masters said: “I found the right setup last week when I scored a maximum, I made a slight adjustment after my first race tonight but everything went perfect for me after that.”GLASGOW co-promoter Colin Hamilton says the recent signing of Swede Victor Palovaara continues a policy of bringing in younger riders, with four of the Tigers’ 1-7 aged 20 or under.Hamilton said: “Alongside Anders (Thomsen), Kasper (Lykke) and Dimitri Berge we have a fairly youthful and exciting looking side and much for our supporters to look forward to.” IPSWICH hit top form at Foxhall last Thursday with a 60-34 win over Berwick in a meeting which saw the Witches record only two last places.Captain Ritchie Hawkins said: “Berwick are a very good team with a strong away record this year so I was expecting a tough night. To be honest the scoreline makes it look like we won easily but there was a lot of hard racing out on track and I hope the fans enjoyed watching it.”NEWCASTLE picked up a useful away point at Redcar last Thursday with former Diamond Rene Bach impressing as a guest for Danny King – but manager George English felt an even better result was possible.English said: “Newcastle rode well, one of their best away this year, but there were still niggling little lackings that meant we fell short of a win I believe was well within our capabilities. But at least we took one league point.”PETERBOROUGH boss Carl Johnson said the Panthers had under-achieved in the Premier League Fours on home territory, as they made an early exit at the semi-final stage.Johnson said: “We were definitely good enough to win the meeting in my opinion and it is disappointing to not even make the final. Things didn’t go our way in the last two heats of the semi, but we only collected one point from four races and that’s not good enough on our own track.”PLYMOUTH boss Lee Trigger says the club’s top priority now has to be on their appearance in the KO Cup semi-finals, with a play-off challenge now looking unlikely.Trigger told the Plymouth Herald: “We’ve got the semi-final against Ipswich to come, and our aim between now and then will be to get the team ready for it. Our aim is to make ourselves invincible at home, so that when Ipswich do come to our place, they are going to find it very difficult.”REDCAR boss Jitendra Duffill was delighted with a 47-43 home win over Newcastle after guest Lewis Blackbird crashed out of the meeting in his second ride.Duffill told Gazette Live: “We were always going to be up against it after losing Lewis, especially after he started so promisingly. The odds looked stacked against us after that and it was going to take a huge effort. But the team pulled together and that was an immense effort to win with just five riders from early on.”RYE HOUSE moved off the foot of the table with a 55-41 win over Redcar at Hoddesdon with Luke Bowen scoring a four-ride maximum and Oliver Greenwood impressing on his home debut with paid-eight.Rockets promoter Len Silver said: “It wasn’t just the points that young Olly scored that impressed me; it was the way he put himself about on the track.”SCUNTHORPE boss Dave Peet admits away form is currently hampering the Scorpions, with Monday’s 37-53 defeat at Glasgow preventing them from moving up from their current fourth place.Peet said: “We do need to address our away performances; we believed we get something out of this meeting, but it just wasn’t our night. The sun was playing havoc, but it was the same for both teams. We just didn’t get going, while Glasgow were very strong.”SHEFFIELD star Ty Proctor still hopes to be back in action in the near future as he undergoes daily treatment on a troublesome leg injury.Tiger co-promoter Damien Bates said: “Ty will be assessed on a regular basis over the next week or so and is seeing the former Sheffield Wednesday and England physio Alan Smith. He’s trying to get fit and get back on the bike but at this stage it’s a case of wait and see what happens.”SOMERSET boss Garry May is calling on Rebels fans to give their riders a big welcome back when they return to home action on Friday having triumphed in the Premier League Fours last weekend.May said: “We still have the League Championship itself to go for, we are the defending League Champions and we want to retain that title. But all that is for later, right now we are going to enjoy the glory of being the Premier League Fours Champions, and hopefully all Somerset fans will be at the Oaktree Arena on Friday when we take on Rye House to give these boys the congratulations they richly deserve.”WORKINGTON are once again facing injury problems after the in-form Simon Lambert joined his fellow reserve Ashley Morris on the sidelines. Lambert broke three bones in his left hand when riding as a National League guest for Stoke at Coventry last Friday.Comets manager Tony Jackson said: “Losing Simon is a major blow as he has been excellent value since he joined us, riding to almost double his three-point average, and we can only replace him with a National League guest. He is having an operation on his hand this week and at best he will be out for three to four weeks.“With Ashley also out we are very reliant on guests at reserve, which is far from ideal. Our efforts to find a temporary replacement with a suitable average have come to nothing, with any riders identified having too many fixture clashes. However, Kyle Howarth returned to the track at the Fours last weekend after his ankle ligament problems and that now gives us a full compliment in the main body of the team for the first time in a while, which is just as well as we have a very busy schedule coming up.”

FIXTURE PICTURE…

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 6:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Swindon 7.30

THURSDAY AUGUST 7:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Rye House 7.30, Redcar v Berwick 7.30, Sheffield v Workington 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 8:ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Poole 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Newcastle 7.30, Scunthorpe v Peterborough 7.30, Somerset v Rye House 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 9:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v Wolverhampton 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Sheffield 7pm, Rye House v Somerset 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Devon v Coventry 1.30, Devon v Stoke 3.30

SUNDAY AUGUST 10:PREMIER LEAGUE: Workington v Scunthorpe 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP: Glasgow v Newcastle 1.30, Newcastle v Glasgow 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Coventry 2.30

MONDAY AUGUST 11:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Coventry 7.30, Eastbourne v Swindon 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Scunthorpe 6.30RETRO FOURS: Wolverhampton v Heathens v Birmingham v Oxford 7.30

TUESDAY AUGUST 12:PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Edinburgh 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Mildenhall 7.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 13:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Newcastle 7.30, Somerset v Edinburgh 7.30

THURSDAY AUGUST 14:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Poole 7.30, Swindon v Eastbourne 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Edinburgh 7.30JULIE LEWIS TROPHY: Redcar 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 15:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Eastbourne 7.30, Lakeside v Belle Vue 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Somerset 7.30, Plymouth v Rye House 7.15, Scunthorpe v Sheffield 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 16:ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Coventry 7.30, Leicester v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Somerset 7pm, Rye House v Ipswich 7pm, Workington v Newcastle 7pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Devon 7pm

SUNDAY AUGUST 17:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Somerset 3pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Kent 3pm, Mildenhall v Cradley 3.30, Mildenhall v Scunthorpe (follows previous fixture)

MODNAY AUGUST 18:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Lakeside 7.15, Belle Vue v Eastbourne (follows previous fixture), Coventry v Swindon 7.30, Wolverhampton v Leicester 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Buxton 6.30

TUESDAY AUGUST 19:PREMIER LEAGUE: Peterborough v Ipswich 7.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 20:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Leicester 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Plymouth 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Mildenhall 7.30, King’s Lynn v Scunthorpe (follows previous fixture)