(SPEEDWAY 1)
GREAT Britain boss Alun Rossiter has injected youth into his squad for the FIM Speedway World Cup which takes place in June.The top two riders from the recent British Under-21 Final, Robert Lambert and Kyle Howarth, are both included in Rossiter’s 10-man squad for the tournament.Former World Champion Tai Woffinden and fellow Grand Prix star Chris Harris again lead the squad, with Kyle Newman also handed a call-up to the initial party after an impressive start to the season.Meanwhile Danny King, Craig Cook, Richie Worrall, Richard Lawson and Lewis Kerr are all named once again, with the 10-man squad to be whittled down to five (four starters and one reserve) for the first round of the competition at King’s Lynn on Monday June 8.Great Britain face Australia, the USA and Latvia at the Adrian Flux Arena seeking to repeat their result of last year when they secured a memorable victory to book an automatic place in the World Cup Final. The closing stages of the competition this year take place at Danish venue Vojens.Rossiter said: “I think it’s very important to blood a few of the youngsters, and that has been high in my thinking in this selection.“There’s a good chance that I will go down that route for the World Cup tournament itself, and I’ve got to make a few important decisions over the coming weeks.“Robert Lambert is obviously the one that everyone is looking at, he’s just 17 years of age, but I learnt a lot about him at the weekend and he has a very good head for a youngster.“The majority of the squad are riders who have made good starts to the season, and I think everyone should be positive about it. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be watching performances closely before submitting my line-up for King’s Lynn.“I also hope we can re-create the atmosphere of last year when we race in the tournament proper. The crowd that night were immense, the team fed off that atmosphere and it was a real highlight of the season.”GB SQUAD: Tai Woffinden (c), Craig Cook, Chris Harris, Kyle Howarth, Lewis Kerr, Danny King, Robert Lambert, Richard Lawson, Kyle Newman, Richie Worrrall.
(SPEEDWAY 2)
TOBIASZ Musielak has suffered a broken collarbone and will miss Wolverhampton’s trip to King’s Lynn on Wednesday.Musielak crashed during Leszno’s Polish League win at Stal Gorzow on Sunday and travelled to his local hospital for diagnosis.Promoter Chris Van Straaten said: “We have been told it’s a clean break with no displacement which is encouraging. Tobiasz and his team are investigating treatment which will give him the best possible chance of a swift track return – he is back at hospital on Wednesday.“It’s such a shame he will miss King’s Lynn as I feel it’s the perfect track for him – he had his best meeting for us at Poole last Wednesday, too.”(SPEEDWAY 3 – MONDAY REVIEW)
BELLE VUE snatched a dramatic last-ditch victory over Swindon in an Elite League thriller at Kirkmanshulme Lane on Monday.The lead swung between the teams throughout the meeting but the Robins took a 43-41 advantage into Heat 15, having picked up a 5-1 in Heat 13 when Aces’ No.1 Matej Zagar suffered clutch failure – and a 4-2 to the visitors in Heat 14 put them ahead.Scott Nicholls led the decider for the home side but Swindon’s Troy Batchelor and Peter Kildemand appeared set for a match-winning 3-3 – only for Kildemand to lose his steel shoe on the last bend and Zagar seized his chance to pass both Robins riders to seal a 46-44 triumph.Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “This was a big result for us, especially after we were beaten at Swindon last week. We knew the Robins would present us with a tough challenge and they didn’t disappoint.“Scott and Matej did a superb job to bring home the full whack and secure us the win. They came out and did exactly what I was hoping they would do, and they did it with some style. There was an element of good fortune in there but we’ll take every bit that we can get.”Swindon manager Alun Rossiter said: “I’m happy with a point, but to be honest it’s a bit of a bitter-sweet pill to take after being so close to getting the win.“We had Heat 15 under control until PK lost his steel shoe going into turn four, and it’s really frustrating to miss out like that. But there are lots of positives to take from it after another good performance, and that could be an important point for us at the end of the season.”In the National League Knockout Cup, Kent established a 14-point lead to take to Coventry on Friday thanks to a 52-38 win over the Storm at Central Park.Home No.1 Ben Morley scored 13 points, being well supported by Danny Ayres on 12+1 whilst Dan Greenwood also picked up 13 for the visitors.Coventry boss Laurence Rogers said: “We’re disappointed, we were looking for better than that and now the boys need to get their gating boots on for Friday because it’s still possible for us.“We were unlucky when Darryl (Ritchings) was second, chasing hard and turned it round, so we lost points there and it was a very slick track so there wasn’t a lot of passing. Crangy (Luke Crang) was full of ‘flu so that didn’t help him and he wasn’t really his usual self, and although we did start to pull back into it we faltered near the end again.”
(SPEEDWAY 4 – TUESDAY PREVIEW)
GLASGOW boss Stewart Dickson is anticipating a mouth-watering clash of two of the Premier League’s big hitters when Sheffield visit Ashfield in Tuesday’s televised clash.The match marks the start of the home side’s league campaign having previously been frustrated by the weather, whilst the Owlerton club will go back to the top of the table with a draw or better.Sheffield have called up former Glasgow star Josh Grajczonek to guest at No.1 for the injured Simon Stead.Dickson said: “Tuesday is now looking slightly more difficult than what I thought it would be two or three weeks ago. Sheffield don't look that strong on paper but speedway riders race with confidence - and they are racing with confidence. (Andre) Compton is scoring nine and 10 a meeting from the No 2 position and we know he can ride our track.“It's an exciting time for the club and it's just rewards for what Gerry and Michael Facenna have done with the club. Under the floodlights, it should be good. We only had the one evening meeting last year and it was a cracking meeting because we had all day to work on the track.”Sheffield boss Jack Lee said: “Andre has been great for us, he’s scored some very important points and we’re in a confident mood. He seems to be enjoying his racing as much as ever and it’s great to see. I’m sure he will be well up for the challenge of riding at Glasgow, I know he will along with the rest of the lads.“It’s a proud night for Sheffield Speedway to feature on live TV and we are honoured to be on Sky Sports. I’m sure we will go up there and give a good account of ourselves.”(FIXTURES)
TUESDAY MAY 12:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Sheffield 7.30
WEDNESDAY MAY 13:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Wolverhampton 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v Mildenhall 7.30
THURSDAY MAY 14:PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Glasgow 7.30, Redcar v Workington 7.30, Sheffield v Peterborough 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 15:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Ipswich 7.30, Peterborough v Glasgow OFF, Plymouth v Sheffield 7.15, Scunthorpe v Rye House 7.30, Somerset v Berwick 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Stoke 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Coventry v Kent 7.30
