(SPEEDWAY 1)

KENNETH Hansen has received good news from Danish doctors following his cancer scare this week.Writing on his Facebook page, the Workington rider said: “Just to let you all know that I've had a scan made and blood samples taken. “I have cysts, which are harmless apart from being painful! I need no further treatment at this moment in time, but will have the cyst removed later this year. I will now resume all my duties with my speedway teams! “The last 24 hours have been very stressful for me and my family, as a British doctor yesterday told me I quite sure had cancer in my testicles. I flew home as soon as possible to go through more checks in a Danish private hospital and have just now received the news that I don't need to worry any more! “I would like to thank every single one of you for your amazing support and love. I am truly amazed of how big and how much love there is in the speedway family.”

(SPEEDWAY 2 – THURSDAY REVIEW)

POOLE have retained the Elite Shield by an 11-point aggregate margin over King’s Lynn - although No.1 Chris Holder aggravated his wrist injury in a crash early in Thursday’s second leg.Holder fell in Heat 1 at the Adrian Flux Arena and withdrew after an aborted attempt at a second ride – whilst the home side also suffered problems, as Nicklas Porsing was ruled out after a Heat 4 crash.Poole led 36-35 on the night with three heats to go, but a 5-1 and a 4-2 from the home side set them up for victory on their own track, with Niels-Kristian Iversen top-scoring on 12+1 whilst Dakota North scored 13 for the Pirates.King’s Lynn boss Rob Lyon said: “We managed to pull though in the end and scrape a win which is important. I would have been nice to win overall but it is not the be-all and end-all. We had a few little problems but those are good matches to get those out of the way ready for the real stuff next week.”Poole promoter Matt Ford said: “We are hungry for any silverware at Poole and once you've won a trophy you really don't want to hand it back. But this has come at a cost, with us losing Kyle (Newman) and now Chris who aggravated his wrist problems. “He is suffering from a dead wrist right now and that is a bit of a concern and because he couldn't feel comfortable on the bike we had to pull him out of the meeting unfortunately. We wish him all the best and hopefully it won't prove too serious.”Sheffield raced to a convincing 57-35 League Cup win over Scunthorpe in their opening fixture of the season, led by a paid maximum from skipper Simon Stead.A solid all-round effort from the Tigers ensured plenty of back-up, with Josh Auty and Carl Wilkinson (11 each) dominating the Scorpions’ scoring.Stead said: “It’s always nice to start the season with a win, and also a pretty dominant performance where every rider contributed. “We wanted to set our stall out, we knew what we wanted to achieve and I think we’ve come out and managed to achieve it.”Scunthorpe boss Dave Peet said: “I was very encouraged by our team spirit, because it was the first time this unit of riders has rode together. Josh looked fine, while Wilko was on it, and Theo (Pijper) got it together as the night went on.“Sheffield have put together a side this season which will be dominant at home. But, having said that, we will push them much closer when we return to Owlerton in the league fixture.”Workington boss Tony Jackson was delighted by his side’s performance in a 56-36 away win at Redcar in the first leg of the A66 Trophy – which rounded off a much better day for the club, starting with news that No.1 Kenneth Hansen has a large cyst rather than the testicular cancer which was feared.Jackson said: “Although it needs to be removed at a later date, he can now resume his career with us; which is a tremendous relief for him after what has been a very turbulent few days in his life.“Then, to go to Redcar and win by 20 points away from home capped what was a much brighter day for us all. The team rode excellently throughout and it was a great way to get dialled in to the new season. “It was particularly pleasing to see how well our new reserve pairing of Nicki Barrett and Nathan Greaves performed in their first match for us, which gave everyone plenty of encouragement for the season ahead.”Belle Vue skipper Scott Nicholls took victory in the season-opening Bob Kilby Memorial at Swindon, triumphing in a three-man run-off.Nicholls, Hans Andersen and Freddie Lindgren all scored 13 points but Nicholls made the best start from the inside in the deciding race, leading home Andersen and Lindgren.Nicholls said: “It was a cold night but I was making some good starts and I’m really pleased to win the meeting.“It’s nice to have meetings such as this to loosen up before league racing begins, and I am very proud to have won the event as I know what the name of Bob Kilby means to everyone here.”

(SPEEDWAY 3 – FRIDAY PREVIEW)

THE 2015 Elite League season gets underway on Friday with matches at both Coventry and Lakeside.The Bees host Wolverhampton in a local derby at Brandon, with recent signing Joonas Kylmakorpi making his debut – although incidents last night see both teams without one of their regular riders.Coventry have booked Matej Kus to guest for Stuart Robson, who crashed out at Redcar and was detained in hospital overnight, whilst Wolves will be without new signing Tobiasz Musielak after a heavy crash in Poland.Bees boss Gary Havelock said: “When you look at his (Kylmakorpi) average of 6.33, I believe most of that was achieved last season from a heat-leader spot, and we all know with the new race format, the rides there are way harder than at No.2 or No.4.“I feel he’ll definitely get his average, at least, at most places home or away, so going forward there’s no doubt the move is going to make us a lot stronger, and hopefully we can hit the ground running on Friday.”Wolves No.1 Freddie Lindgren said: “Coventry is a hard place to go, there is a good rivalry between the clubs and they are always pretty strong at home.“I’m sure it’s going to be a really good battle, and hopefully we can all pull together and come away from it with some points.”Lakeside will be at full strength for their home clash with Leicester, with Edward Kennett and Ashley Birks making their Elite League debuts for the club, whilst the Lions have booked Ben Barker to guest for the injured Mikkel Michelsen.Hammers promoter Jon Cook said: “Last Friday’s meeting saw a fantastic crowd to remember Lee (Richardson). Now it’s time to get down to the serious business of getting some Elite League points on the board. “Following practice last Wednesday, and Press and Practice along with the Spring Classic all the boys have had a good number of laps around the Raceway and are looking to kick off the campaign with a positive start.”Leicester manager Norrie Allan said: “I have spoken to Mikkel and he is hopeful of a return to the team in two to three weeks’ time and that is good news as I feared that he would be out of the side for much longer. “Ben was pleased to help us out, and what I like about him is that he gives you full commitment and in my view he is an ideal replacement. Lakeside are a very good home side and it is a venue that can inspire a visiting team to a higher level if you can at least match them point for point early on.”In the League Cup, Peterborough are out to make a triumphant return to their traditional Friday race night as they host Rye House.The Panthers are looking to bounce back from a home defeat to Somerset last weekend, and skipper Ulrich Ostergaard admits victory is a must for his side.Ostergaard said: “We will now need to go to Somerset and get a result which is something I feel we can do. The track is quite similar and Olly Allen will fly around there after riding for them last year.“But the first job is to make sure we beat Rye House. We know we cannot afford to lose at home again. The boys in the team are all getting on well and trying to help each other, and we owe it to the management and the fans to get a win.”Rye House have called up Sam Masters to guest for the unavailable Edward Kennett, and boss John Sampford said: “Sam dropped just one point from four rides the last time he was at Peterborough in October, and he has made a strong start to this season, going well in the Ben Fund Meeting and Wolverhampton Olympique, and winning Theo Pijper’s Testimonial on Friday. “Robin Aspegren has plenty of big track experience from his two seasons at Berwick, while both Steve Boxall and Luke Bowen have done well there. It will be a first visit there for Nikolaj (Busk Jakobsen) but he is settling in very quickly as last Saturday’s haul will tell you.”Somerset open their season with a challenge against Elite League Champions Poole at the Oaktree Arena.Benji Compton is fit to return for the Rebels after his crash at Peterborough last weekend, and he will be joined at reserve by Paul Starke – who races for both Somerset and Poole on a regular basis. The Pirates will track Ellis Perks as a guest.

(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY MARCH 27:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Wolverhampton 7.30, Lakeside v Leicester 8pmLEAGUE CUP: Peterborough v Rye House 7.30CHALLENGE: Somerset v Poole 7.30

SATURDAY MARCH 28:LEAGUE CUP: Rye House v Somerset 7pmTYNE/TWEED TROPHY 1st leg: Berwick v Newcastle 7pmA66 TROPHY 2nd leg: Workington v Redcar 7pmSKILLS GROUP SPRING CLASSIC: Plymouth 7.15

SUNDAY MARCH 29:SPRING TROPHY 1st leg: Glasgow v Edinburgh 3pmTYNE/TWEED TROPHY 2nd leg: Newcastle v Berwick 6.30M6 CUP: Stoke v Birmingham 3pmPALMER TROPHY: Mildenhall 3.30CHRIS HARRIS TESTIMONIAL: Coventry 2pm (1pm for British Youth races)