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MATEJ Zagar has agreed terms with Belle Vue for a third season at Kirkmanshulme Lane.The Slovenian star is to continue as No.1 for the Aces, again joining skipper Scott Nicholls in the top five, and will also be looking to build on his best-ever World Championship finish of fifth place this year.Zagar said: “I’m really looking forward to coming back to Belle Vue in 2015. I’ve really enjoyed the last couple of years and I don’t feel there’s any other team in the UK I would ride for.“It’s nice to have that consistency of sticking with the same club from one season to the next because I feel more like I’m a part of it. I get on really well with the management and I feel really close to the fans, and so I’ll do my best to make sure we enjoy some success before we move to the new stadium.”(SPEEDWAY 2)
PETERBOROUGH have made popular skipper Ulrich Ostergaard their first signing of a new era of speedway.Club chief Ged Rathbone has moved swiftly to secure the services of the Danish star just days after the Panthers’ survival at Premier League level was secured, and he returns on an 8.00 average after an impressive 2014 campaign.Rathbone said: “We all saw during last season that Ulrich is one of the leading riders at this level. He performed superbly home and away while conducting himself very professionally off the track.“I know that more than half of the teams in the Premier League were keen to sign him, but there was only one place he wanted to race. He did take a bit of a gamble in some respects by holding on for our situation to become clear, but that just shows his desire to be at Peterborough. He regards the place as his home in the UK.”
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GERMAN star Kevin Wolbert will return to Edinburgh for the defence of their titles in 2015.Wolbert, who was with the Monarchs’ Scottish rivals Glasgow this year, ended a previous three-year stint at Armadale as Edinburgh No.1 in 2011, and feels he has plenty of room for improvement after seeing his average drop to just over six.Wolbert said: “I’m absolutely happy to be back. At Armadale you have some chance to pass, and also Doc (Bridgett) tries to make the track 100 per cent every time, and the same each week. Not like tracks which are slick one week and grippy the next.“We have already ordered new engines. The engine I had before in Edinburgh, I sold, but I will try the new ones at press and practise. I will work on my setup there and hope to get back to the standard I was when I was at Edinburgh before.”
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REDCAR have named Lasse Bjerre as their new No.1 for the 2015 Premier League season.The Dane comes in on loan from parent club Peterborough and replaces Richard Lawson, who will not be returning to the Bears next season.The Teesside club have also confirmed two more signings with the experienced Stuart Robson joining the club after three seasons with local rivals Newcastle.And Australian star Hugh Skidmore returns for a third year in Bears colours, having won the Rider of the Year award in both of his previous campaigns with the club.
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WORKINGTON are one rider away from completing their 2015 team after naming American international Ricky Wells as their sixth signing.Wells was in excellent form at the end of his first year with the Comets and topped an online poll from a local newspaper to be voted Rider of the Year.Manager Tony Jackson said: “By his own very high standards Ricky had a difficult start with us last season, but he worked hard and turned things around mid-season, going on to finish the campaign very strongly indeed.“One of the main reasons we signed Ricky last season was for his away form, which again was very good in 2014, and he starts next season on an average of 6.49, which in my opinion is a figure that he is more than capable of adding to by some way. Ricky is very professional and ambitious in his outlook and I am very much looking forward to working with him again next season.”
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TEENAGE prospect Josh Bates will be back with Sheffield next season – and the club insist there’s plenty more to come from him.Tigers co-promoter Damien Bates is keen to emphasise the management were unanimous in keeping his nephew, who won the British Under-21 Final last season.He said: “I know some people will say it’s all about family ties, but that’s not true. If we felt Josh would have been better off elsewhere we would have allowed that to happen and we had calls from some other Premier League clubs who wanted him.“But he’s a proper racer and battler and the public love him for his all-out effort and he fully deserves to be back with the club.”
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KENT have secured the signing of talented youngster James Shanes as they prepare for the 2015 National League season.17-year-old Shanes made a big impression at Central Park as a visiting rider this year, twice scoring double-figures at the venue for Devon.He said: “I’ve really enjoyed my racing at Central Park and have ridden the track very well, so I know it suits my style. Also I know a lot of people in Kent from my grasstrack racing in the county and I am certain the whole set-up with really supportive management, a great team and really enthusiastic fans will be exactly what I need to progress my speedway career.“My (2014) season was too uneven due to Devon not getting all their fixtures in and I did miss a period after getting in the Plymouth Premier League side but then damaging knee ligaments in a crash at King’s Lynn. I’m training hard over the winter now and am raring to get back on track as a Kent King in 2015.”
