(SPEEDWAY 1 – MONDAY REVIEW)
COVENTRY captain Chris Harris produced an incredible Heat 11 ride to virtually ensure his team would beat Elite League play-off rivals Swindon at Brandon.Harris, who had been involved in a big crash in the previous day’s Latvian Grand Prix, used the outside line to pass first Troy Batchelor and then Nick Morris to prevent a Robins’ 8-1, and set the Bees up to take maximum points.The home side won 53-40 with Harris’s score of 12+1 backed up by 12 from Jason Garrity and 10+3 from Kyle Howarth in a controversial encounter which saw the visitors suffer no fewer than eight disqualifications in the first nine races.Bees boss Gary Havelock said: “I’m immensely proud of the team – not just tonight, but the way they’ve been riding and the effort they’ve been putting in.“Kenneth (Hansen) hurt his shoulder in his crash and Jason had a massive hit on his back, but they were still going out in races because we need them, and as for that ride from Chris Harris – awesome, who said there’s no passing at Coventry?”Swindon manager Alun Rossiter said: “Fair play to Coventry, the first thing I should say is congratulations to them. But I have to be careful what I say about the referee. I'm not making excuses, people watching on TV can make their own minds up, I don't need to say anything more.”Belle Vue’s plans to stage a double header were thwarted by the weather, but the Aces did take victory over play-off chasing Lakeside in the first scheduled meeting.The home side were 42-33 up after twelve heats when a halt was called due to heavy rain, with the subsequent clash with Eastbourne postponed.Belle Vue skipper Scott Nicholls said: “We gave a good, solid team performance and we were looking very strong, it's just such a shame that we had that downpour.“It wasn't for long but because it was so heavy, and because the track here is so slick anyway, it made conditions quite dangerous. My only concern at that point was rider safety; forget the dates, forget the meetings, forget the results. If the track isn't safe to ride, that's my only concern.”Wolverhampton bounced back to form at home with a 56-37 win over Leicester at Monmore, despite the absence of Piotr Pawlicki due to illness.Jacob Thorssell (14), Tai Woffinden (12+1) and Lasse Bjerre (10+2) were all in double figures for the home side, whilst Simon Stead scored 14 and Jason Doyle 12 for the Lions, who lost Mads Korneliussen to injury after a first-ride crash.Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “I was expecting more from Leicester to be honest, but they did have some bad luck when they lost Mads early on.“From our point of view everyone did their bit, and it was a good win. It was nice to see some of the younger guys having a bit of prominence for a change.”Leicester manager Norrie Allan said: “I thought that maybe we could have given Wolverhampton a match, but when Mads had to withdraw from the meeting it took the sting out of us a little. “Leicester fans may be wondering why I didn't send Jason Doyle out for a tactical ride in the sixth race and the reason for that was because the lads were saying gate 4 was terrible and we would waste the opportunity. Even 'Woffy' came last on his own track from that starting position and the best it had yielded was two points when three riders were in the race. So we let that go and then 'Doyley' made nonsense of the information by winning the race from that position and instead of a 7-2 we ended up with a 4-2.”In the National League, Kent moved into second place with a 57-37 home win over Buxton at the Hi-Edge Raceway, with Ben Morley scoring 17 points for the home side – a total matched by Liam Carr for the Hitmen, but with Tony Atkin their only other significant scorer.
(TUESDAY REVIEW)
IPSWICH gained a vital away victory at Peterborough as the race for Premier League play-off places intensifies.The Witches were 47-42 winners at the Showground with Richie Worrall smashing the PL track record in Heat 1, and they led for much of the meeting.The Panthers turned things around with a 5-1 from debutant Adam Roynon and Lasse Bjerre in Heat 10 to go ahead, but Cameron Heeps and Morten Risager responded in Heat 12 and a win for Heeps in Heat 14 ensured the home side could not take victory.Witches manager Brian Messenger said: “Another fantastic team performance, they all worked really hard and thoroughly deserved the win. It could so easily have been four points as we did have a couple of mishaps, one being Cam going for a big blast round the boards and not turning in time which ended his race in Heat 6. “That said, I am more than happy with three points, and now to keep the momentum going against Workington on Thursday night.”Panthers boss Carl Johnson said: “We knew we were in for a tough night with three new riders coming in – especially as all three of them have missed a lot of racing this year.“Ipswich are a very strong team and had that bit too much for us tonight, but I remain fully confident that we will make the play-offs.”(WEDNESDAY PREVIEW)
POOLE promoter Matt Ford says his side must guard against complacency as they prepare to face a depleted Leicester team at Wimborne Road.The Pirates expect to be at full strength with no official FIM verdict on skipper Darcy Ward following his suspension from last weekend’s Latvian Grand Prix, but the Lions are without Danish duo Mads Korneliussen and Nicolai Klindt due to date clashes and Simon Stead because of tonsilitis. Former Poole rider Ben Hopwood guests for the injured Josh Bates at reserve.Ford said: “We are on a good run of form at the moment, I am hoping we are in the middle of it and we can keep things going. Complacency is a word I frown upon and whilst Leicester may be having a tough time at the moment it doesn't mean that our lads should ease up any. “We need to keep showing the resolve we had at King's Lynn last Thursday. Confidence is a vital ingredient in speedway and good form breeds confidence.”Somerset look to open up a lead at the top of the Premier League table when they host Plymouth in the first of two home matches at the Oaktree Arena this week.Rebels boss Garry May said: “Although we have a 100 per cent home league record, we can take nothing for granted with the visit of both Plymouth and Ipswich this week. Plymouth have riders who are capable of scoring well at the Oaktree Arena.”Plymouth are without Kyle Newman (racing for Poole) and Roland Benko (European Pairs) and they are covered by rider-replacement and Tom Perry.In the National League, King’s Lynn stage a double-header with both Mildenhall and Scunthorpe visiting the Norfolk Arena – with the Fen Tigers keen to cement their top four place after losing at home to Cradley on Sunday.Mildenhall boss Robert Henry said: “We now need to bounce back and win at Kings Lynn on Wednesday. I will be having strong words with the lads and I am looking for a positive reaction.”(SPEEDWAY 2)
GLASGOW have signed Tero Aarnio after Danish youngster Anders Thomsen left the club.The experienced Finn comes into the side for the Tigers’ trip to Workington on Friday with Thomsen standing down after finding it difficult to cover the costs of racing in this country.Glasgow boss Stewart Dickson said: “We have gone for Tero as he has Premier League experience and knows the level he has to hit. He will score us points - continuing to use rider replacement does not suit us.“This signing leaves us just over six points with Dimitri Berge now being sidelined and we are looking at how best to cover that.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
WORKINGTON have signed Joe Jacobs at reserve to replace Ashley Morris, who has been ruled out for the remainder of the season.Jacobs was recently released by Peterborough as part of a major team revamp whilst Morris has to sit out the rest of the campaign after suffering a head injury at King’s Lynn in June.Workington owner Laura Morgan said: “We are delighted to secure the services of Joe to ride for the Comets in what promises to be a very busy back end of the season for us. He was unlucky to lose his place at Peterborough when they made several team changes and once we became aware of his availability we wasted no time in contacting him with a view to him riding for the Comets.”Manager Tony Jackson added: “Joe is certainly a good fit for Ashley and he is very keen to do well for the Comets and finish the season off strongly. We hope that he settles in quickly and with all the matches we have coming up I am sure that he will soon get into the swing of things with his new team-mates, although he already knows Ricky (Wells) quite well having been team-mates at Wolverhampton.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
ANDERS Mellgren has departed Rye House less than a month into his second stint with the club.The Swede has been riding with a steel rod inserted in his back since returning from his early-season injury, but has been in pain recently and has informed co-promoter Len Silver he cannot continue.Silver said: “It is with great reluctance that I have accepted Anders' decision not to race in Britain for the rest of this season. I know that he originally considered that his back injury had repaired fully, and to start with that seemed to be the case. “However, it has been obvious that he has deteriorated on a match-by-match basis, and all we can do is to wish him a full recovery during this winter.”Mellgren’s decision comes at a bad time for the Rockets who are facing an injury crisis with Luke Bowen suffering elbow damage in a crash at Plymouth, whilst Steve Boxall has a possible broken ankle after an accident at Hoddesdon on Saturday.
(FIXTURES)
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)
THURSDAY AUGUST 21: ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v King’s Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Workington 7.30, Sheffield v Redcar 7.30
FRIDAY AUGUST 22:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Lakeside 7.30, King’s Lynn v Eastbourne 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30, Plymouth v Peterborough 7.15, Redcar v Sheffield 7.30, Somerset v Ipswich 7.30, Workington v Glasgow 7.30
SATURDAY AUGUST 23:ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Wolverhampton 7.30, Lakeside v Coventry 7.45, Leicester v Poole 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Rye House 6.30, Berwick v Newcastle (follows previous fixture)NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Kent 7pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 24:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Newcastle 3pm, Rye House v Berwick 6pm, Peterborough v Somerset 5pmNATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Kent 3pm, Mildenhall v Stoke 3.30
