(SPEEDWAY 1)
SWINDON have swooped to bring fans’ favourite Peter Kildemand back to the club as a temporary replacement for injury victim Adrian Miedzinski.Miedzinski suffered a horrific hand injury in the Robins’ season opener against Poole at the Abbey last week, and although the damage is not as bad as first feared he will be sidelined for a period of time.Kildemand will make his comeback at King’s Lynn on April 22, and boss Alun Rossiter said: “We’ll find out after Adrian has had surgery how long he is likely to be out, but I think we'll look to target him coming back around the World Cup break.“Although it’s a big blow to lose him we are pleased to bring back Peter, a rider who everyone knows is capable of scoring plenty of points and winning races. When I asked him to come back for a short period of time there was no hesitation at all.”
(SPEEDWAY 2 – WEDNESDAY REVIEW)
POOLE made it two wins out of two at the start of the Elite League season with a 53-39 victory over Lakeside at Wimborne Road.The Pirates found themselves trailing to back-to-back 5-1s from the Hammers in Heats 5 and 6 but hit back strongly and fired in four successive maximum advantages – with Dakota North overhauling GP star Andreas Jonsson on the final turn of Heat 10.Kyle Newman (12+2) and Maciej Janowski (12+1) led the scoring for the home side with Chris Holder (10+1) dropping just one point from four rides, whilst Richard Lawson again impressed for Lakeside with 14+1.Holder said: “It felt a lot better tonight, I know I still have some way to go to get back to my absolute best, but that gave me a lot of confidence and it was good to put in a performance like that. I am beginning to get there now, I feel.”Meanwhile King’s Lynn stand-in boss Dale Allitt completed his stint in charge with a 50-43 home win over Belle Vue at the Adrian Flux Arena.Kenneth Bjerre returned to form for the Stars with 11+1 with captain Rory Schlein adding 10+2, whilst the Aces fell short of a league point despite 12 points from skipper Scott Nicholls and 11+1 from youngster Max Fricke.Allitt said: “I am pleased to be able to sign off my time in charge with a victory. The boys improved from last Friday’s defeat and produced a solid display to get all the league points.“With Kenneth scoring well it took the pressure of the rest of the team a little bit, but there is still some room for improvement. I think our reserves Lewis (Kerr) and Ashley (Morris) were unlucky, their totals are not a true reflection on how they rode.”Nicholls said: “You’ve got to take the positives from nights like this and for me as a captain, one of those was that I could see everybody showing their potential within this team.“I’m not going to be too disheartened by the last couple of matches because we managed to keep things close even though we weren’t all firing together.”Cradley opened their City Gearboxes National League title defence with a hard-fought 47-43 home win over Coventry, who did enough to secure a point from the meeting.Heathens captain Max Clegg won the decisive Heat 15 when a Storm 5-1 would have seen them snatch a draw.Reserve Ellis Perks (14) top-scored for the home side although he was disqualified for bringing down Storm captain Luke Crang in the final race, with Crang (12+2) and Dan Greenwood (13) impressing for the visitors and Greenwood subsequently taking the Bronze Helmet match race against Clegg.Cradley boss Will Pottinger said: “Coventry pushed us all the way, fair play to them for that, but it was important for us to get the win and it was a good team effort.“We managed to just get over the line in what was a tough meeting which was good, and we have come away with three points which is the main thing.”Coventry manager Laurence Rogers said: “We’ve got to take a lot of positives out of this meeting. That’s the first time the boys have been together as a complete team and there’s already a great spirit.“Darryl (Ritchings) got better and better in every race, you could see the confidence coming back, Rob (Shuttleworth) for a 3.75 rider, got some very good points, and Dan was excellent. Crangy as captain for the first time put in a brilliant performance.”
(SPEEDWAY 3 - THURSDAY PREVIEW)
SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter has issued a rally cry ahead of their Elite League clash with Lakeside at the Abbey on Thursday.Despite the loss of three riders through injury in their Bank Holiday defeat by Poole, Rossiter is staying positive and has sung the praises of his remaining team members as well as booking former Swindon riders Hans Andersen and Scott Nicholls to guest against the Hammers.Rossiter said: “I want to thank all the fans who came out to support us against Poole, it was great. But I understand why they went home disappointed, we lost the meeting and we had riders on their way to hospital.“But on the positive side I thought Nick Morris was excellent on Monday and Zengi (Grzegorz Zengota) was showing improvement. Kyle Howarth is a very positive rider and we need to take that attitude into Thursday night – both in terms of the riders and supporters.”Meanwhile in-form Sheffield look to continue their unbeaten start to the season in their opening Premier League outing against Plymouth at Owlerton.But the Tigers have also been warned to avoid complacency against a Devils side packed with experience.Promoter Damien Bates said: “We are all delighted with the start we have made in the League Cup, but we can’t take our foot off the gas for one moment.“We need to keep working hard and Plymouth have some riders in their side who are sure to enjoy riding against us.”In the League Cup, an important Southern group fixture takes place at Foxhall between Ipswich and Somerset.A home defeat for leaders Rye House on Monday has left the group wide open, and a second away win for the Rebels would significantly enhance their chances – whilst the Witches are looking to gain ground with a second home win.In the Northern group, Redcar host Newcastle with both sides looking to get off the mark although for the Diamonds it will be their first outing in the section – where Sheffield have already racked up 10 points from three meetings.Bears boss Jitendra Duffill said: “This will be another tough one but I expect us to perform much better than we did against Workington. I believe that we are capable of winning this meeting and I am confident that we will perform well. “A lot will depend upon the fitness of Matej Kus who injured his shoulder last Thursday, but Matej practiced at the weekend and told me he felt good so hopefully we will see the best of him again this week.”Newcastle bring in former Redcar rider Luke Crang to guest at reserve for the injured Lewis Rose.Manager George English said: “We go into the meeting with Redcar full of confidence following an impressive result and performance on Sunday.”“We will be looking to pick up some points to start our season off well and if we perform like we did at the weekend I think we will put in a very good display.”(SPEEDWAY 4)
HOPES for the return of speedway to the Isle of Wight in 2016 have taken a step forward.Brian Ginders, Chairman of Island Speedway (IOW) Ltd has given his full backing to the new venture after viewing proposals from former Wight Wizards rider Barry Bishop and business partner Martin Widman, who have already attracted interest from potential partners and sponsors and are now planning a supporters’ meeting in the near future.Ginders said: “I have looked at the business plan submitted by Barry and Martin and it is very realistic. Why the Supporters Group could not run before was because there was no real business plan in place but having seen the new plan put forward by Barry and Martin I must say it looks very realistic with new ideas and that's why I have given it my full support and backing. “I urge all Island supporters to forget the past and come to the forthcoming meeting to listen to what is being proposed and look forward to the future.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
RYE House stalwart Luke Bowen has announced his decision to take time out of the sport.The Rockets have applied for a 28-day facility to cover Bowen’s immediate absence, starting with their trip to Somerset in the League Cup on Friday.Bowen’s association with the club dates back to 2002 but he had experienced a tough start to the current campaign after scoring paid-nine at Peterborough.Manager John Sampford said: “We are obviously disappointed that someone who has been such a backbone of Rye House for so long has decided to step away from racing, but we respect that decision. “We can only thank Luke for all the service he has given over the years, and sincerely hope that we will see him back in the saddle again soon.”
(SPEEDWAY 6)
MILDENHALL will go into West Row action as a team for the first time this season on Sunday – but they will be using rider-replacement for Jack Kingston.The Essex-born Fen Tigers man is taking a break from the sport due to personal issues which have been impacting on his racing. Promoter Kevin Jolly said: “Jack is having a difficult time both on and off the track at present and the club are helping him as much as possible. I feel in the circumstances that Jack has made the right decision to take a break and the club fully support his decision. “We want a happy and firing Jack showing his true potential and enjoying his racing and when he feels ready to return we will be pleased to see him.”
(SPEEDWAY 7)
OVER 40 British Youth riders attended a highly successful Training Day at Buxton on Tuesday.Also in attendance to give each rider help and guidance were current riders Stuart Robson and Kevin Doolan along with former World Champion Gary Havelock, also with GB Youth boss Neil Vatcher on hand to assist the organisation of the event.Vatcher said: “We have had Training days in the past but it would be fair to say that the event at Buxton on Tuesday was the most successful one to date.“Along with having a record numbers of riders attending, each and every rider had at least five lessons, with all of the experience trainers on hand to pass on some valuable advice.“Each of the Under 16s not only had the opportunity of getting some valuable track time in ahead of the start of the British Youth Championship at the start of next month, but learnt an awful lot of good tips from the three trainers who were all on hand to give out some great advice.“Speedway is such a dedicated sport and one that you are always learning different things at different stages of your career, and each of the Youth riders who attended the training day will have gone home with more knowledge they would have arrived with in the morning.“The Young Lions would like to thank the three trainers Stuart Robson, Kevin Doolan and Gary Havelock for making it such a great event, the Buxton Promotion for hosting the event and the BSPA for supporting it.”
(FIXTURES)
THURSDAY APRIL 9:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Sheffield v Plymouth 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Ipswich v Somerset 7.30, Redcar v Newcastle 7.30FRIDAY APRIL 10:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Poole 7.30, Lakeside v Swindon 8pmLEAGUE CUP: Edinburgh v Workington 7.30, Plymouth v Peterborough 7.15, Somerset v Rye House 7.30
SATURDAY APRIL 11:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v Belle Vue 7.30LEAGUE CUP: Berwick v Edinburgh 7pm, Rye House v Plymouth 7pmRUSTY HARRISON TESTIMONIAL: Workington 7pm
SUNDAY APRIL 12:LEAGUE CUP: Glasgow v Workington 3pm, Peterborough v Plymouth 3pm, Newcastle v Sheffield 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Mildenhall v King’s Lynn 3.30CHALLENGE: Buxton v Redcar Select 3pmCHAMPIONSHIP OF SUSSEX: Eastbourne 3.30
