(SPEEDWAY 1)
GREAT Britain skipper Tai Woffinden says his side will give it their all in tonight’s World Cup Race-Off in Denmark.GB face Poland, Russia and the USA at Vojens with only the winners qualifying for the Final on Saturday, after narrowly missing out to Australia at King’s Lynn earlier this week.Woffinden said: “We tried hard and everyone put in 100 per cent and there's just a few little things that happened here and there. A few of the boys had some bad luck, but that's speedway.“I really enjoy racing at King's Lynn and I hope the fans enjoyed having me back here too. The Aussie boys were strong all the way through and that's why they won but we'll just go to the race-off, enjoy racing the bike like we do and give it everything we've got.” Boss Alun Rossiter is set to finalise his line-up after practice at lunchtime today, with Kyle Howarth once again part of the squad alongside Woffinden, Chris Harris, Danny King and Robert Lambert.
(SPEEDWAY 2)
COVENTRY and Sheffield star Jason Garrity is keen to create further upsets at the British Final on Monday after reaching the semi-final last season.Garrity finished fifth after defeating eventual champion Tai Woffinden earlier in the meeting, although he required a Wild Card to secure his spot at Monmore Green this year having narrowly missed a qualifying place at Owlerton.He said: “Normally if you pick up nine points in an individual meeting you’re guaranteed a semi-final place, but it was a really tough meeting with some really good riders and in the end I just missed out.“In the British Final, as we've seen in the last few years at times, anything can happen and I've got good bikes, I've got good equipment and I'm raring to go. I really enjoyed it last year and I know I caught a lot of people’s eye in that one and I want to do something similar or better this year.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
SIMON Stead says his recovery from multiple injuries is a case of ‘so far, so good’.The Belle Vue and Sheffield rider crashed out of Tigers away trip to Rye House in April and broke bones in his arm and leg.Now he’s been to see his specialist in the city who is happy with the progress made so far – but there’s a long way to go and the prospect of riding again this season seems unlikely.Said Stead: “I went to my specialist on Tuesday and I’m pleased to say the progress has been as good as I could have expected at this stage.“The bones are starting to knit together, and they can see new bone on the X-ray so he was very happy with that.“I can now start putting some more weight through my leg, and also build it up right to my pain tolerance, so that was great news.“Obviously I’m still looking at a long, slow road as far as the recovery period is concerned, and basically I have to keep on doing what I’m doing.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
PETERBOROUGH captain Ulrich Ostergaard is ready to race through the pain for the Panthers.Ostergaard suffered a broken toe and ligament damage to his right ankle in a crash during a Danish Championship quarter-final last Saturday.But he is determined to line up for the Panthers in Friday’s home Premier League match against Ipswich.Ostergaard insisted: “Providing I can get my boot on and put weight on my ankle, I’m going to give it a go.“I’ve was in a fair bit of pain after the crash. The young kid (Mikkel B. Andersen) completely T-boned me going into a corner and I ended up getting excluded for it.“I was stuck in hospital for about six hours waiting for the doctors to have a look and have some x-rays so it wasn’t the best Saturday I’ve ever had.“There is a broken bone either in my little toe or very close to it and the ligaments are damaged in my ankle.“I’ve had it strapped and rested since the crash and hopefully it will be okay for Friday. It is a big derby meeting and we want to keep our unbeaten record going.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
KENT manager Chris Hunt is keen to put a tough run of league results behind his side when they race in the National League Fours at Coventry on Sunday.The Kings have lost recent home matches to Cradley, Birmingham and Stoke but did manage a 45-45 draw at Brandon in a Knockout Cup tie.And Hunt feels their top four of Ben Morley, James Shanes, Danny Ayres and Aaron Baseby will be able to put them strongly in contention for the major event.He said: “I think we have as good a top four as anybody else and we will be going to Coventry with very expectation that we can challenge for the title.”
(SPEEDWAY 6)
BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury will leave out Harvie Banks for the next few meetings.Club No.8 Robert Parker will take Banks’ place and will make his full debut against Coventry in the National League next Wednesday.Said Drury: "I’m not going to re-declare my team because myself and Phil Morris, who helped put this side together, know that Harvie has got something to offer but right now it just isn’t happening for him."Harvie is very, very low on confidence right now and he needs some time away from National League racing to get himself in the right frame of mind."For our next couple of matches I’m going to give Robert Parker a chance. I think he fully deserves this opportunity; he’s raced in plenty of Midland Development League meetings so far this year and he’s been picking up some very creditable scores indeed. "What has impressed me most about Robert is that he is willing to listen and learn and he is very enthusiastic about his racing.”
(SPEEDWAY 7 - WEDNESDAY REVIEW)
CRADLEY moved back to the top of the City Gearboxes National League with a 53-40 home win over Kent.Max Clegg (13+1), Nathan Greaves (11+2) and Matt Williamson (10) were all in double figures for the Heathens in an entertaining clash at Perry Barr.Heathens boss Will Pottinger said: "Our objective was to get three more league points and we did just that so it's a case of job done once again for the lads."It was always going to be tough after a two week break in matches and we threw away some silly points and we need to cut them out."There was some bizarre races, some brilliant races and overall it was another really good night for the National League.”
(SPEEDWAY 8 - THURSDAY PREVIEW)
IPSWICH will look to make ground on the Premier League's top six when they host Newcastle at Foxhall on Thursday.The Witches have called up Craig Cook to guest for Danny King, who is racing for Great Britain at the World Cup, whilst rider replacement is in operation for Gino Manzares who represents the USA.Newcastle welcome back Anton Rosen but operate rider replacement for Christian Henry who is out with concussion.Meanwhile Redcar can move off the bottom of the table with a home win over Berwick at the Media Prime Arena.The Bears name an unchanged team with Adam Roynon having extended his loan spell, whilst the Bandits bring in Richie Worrall as a guest for the injured Claus Vissing, with rider replacement covering for Hynek Stichauer.(FIXTURES)
THURSDAY JUNE 11:PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Newcastle 7.30, Redcar v Berwick 7.30
FRIDAY JUNE 12:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30, Peterborough v Ipswich 7.30, Plymouth v Berwick 7.15, Scunthorpe v Workington 7.30
SATURDAY JUNE 13:PREMIER LEAGUE: Workington v Rye House 7pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Rye House v Eastbourne 7pm
SUNDAY JUNE 14:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Edinburgh 3pm, Newcastle v Peterborough 6.30NATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: Coventry 3pm
