BIG EVENT LATEST…

SOMERSET will defend the Premier League Fours title in Sunday’s showpiece event at Peterborough (2pm).The Rebels are again amongst the favourites but track a much-changed team from the line-up which triumphed at the Showground in 2014.Brady Kurtz and Charles Wright, who took two rides in the Final last year at reserve, remain with the club and are joined in the quartet by Richie Worrall and the returning Josh Grajczonek, with Leigh Lanham named at reserve.Grajczonek said: “Given Somerset won it last year we are desperate to retain the title, but there are a few good teams out there who are capable of winning it.“It's always a tough meeting, you need everyone firing and all the teams are always giving it their all.“We've got a strong side though, and hopefully going in as defending Champions we can all come to the party and repeat what Somerset did last year.“It won't be easy but we are going in feeling optimistic about our chances, and we are all keen to bring the trophy back to Somerset again.”Somerset compete in Group B against Glasgow, Rye House and Newcastle, with the to two clubs advancing to the Final.They will be joined by the top two from Group A which features host club Peterborough up against Edinburgh, Workington and Ipswich - who were recent winners of the Premier League Pairs.Panthers co-promoter Ged Rathbone said: “It is a huge honour for my promotion to be able to stage such a significant meeting in our first season.“We are delighted with the progress we have made considering 10 months ago there was a very real possibility of there being no speedway in Peterborough.“Just as we have done all season, we will be giving our all in adversity and hopefully the riders we do manage to put out on track can make their presence felt in what I'm confident will be a terrific meeting.”

PL FOURS LINE-UPS GROUP A: EDINBURGH: Craig Cook, Kevin Wolbert, Justin Sedgmen, Erik Riss, Robert Branford (res).WORKINGTON: Rene Bach, Rusty Harrison, Kyle Howarth, Ricky Wells, Kenneth Hansen (res).IPSWICH: Gino Manzares, Danny King, Cameron Heeps, Nico Covatti, Stefan Nielsen (res).PETERBOROUGH: TBCGROUP B:SOMERSET: Josh Grajczonek, Brady Kurtz, Richie Worrall, Charles Wright, Leigh Lanham (res).GLASGOW: Nick Morris, James Sarjeant, Aaron Summers, Richard Lawson, Victor Palovaara (res).RYE HOUSE: Anders Mellgren, Kasper Lykke, Edward Kennett, Nikolaj B Jakobsen, Luke Bowen (res).NEWCASTLE: Steve Worrall, Ludvig Lindgren, Lewis Kerr, Anton Rosen, Simon Nielsen (res).

BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAJOR EVENTS 2015:ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: JASON DOYLEBRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: KYLE HOWARTHBRITISH FINAL: TAI WOFFINDENPREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: IPSWICHPREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Peterborough, Sunday August 2PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, Sunday September 6

NATIONAL LEAGUE FOURS: BIRMINGHAMNATIONAL LEAGUE PAIRS: King’s Lynn, Saturday September 5NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Rye House, Saturday September 26

BRITISH UNDER-19 FINAL: Berwick, Saturday September 12

ELITE LEAGUE LATEST…

BELLE VUE skipper Chris Morton admitted his frustration at missing out on a league point at King’s Lynn last week as the race for the play-offs intensifies.Morton said: “Frustrating, I think, is the best way to put it. We gave it everything we had and the boys really put up a terrific fight, one which we thought would almost certainly get us a point.“The team worked brilliantly together though and it was great to see Craig [Cook] back to his best. You have to take the positives from these matches and that’s exactly what we expect the boys to do.”COVENTRY No.1 Hans Andersen admitted it was a case of mixed emotions at Lakeside on Monday after he was pipped on the line by Andreas Jonsson, which left the Bees with two points for a 45-45 draw rather than three for a win.Andersen said: “I knew I’d lost it when I lifted coming off that corner, and it’s just one of those things. I had to change bikes just before the race because the clutch broke on the bike I’d just won a race on, so I went out on a bike I hadn’t used at all.“But no excuses, I made the gate and just needed to hold on for less than half a lap and I just made a rider error.“I think Lakeside can thank (Adam) Roynon for riding with a broken collarbone to get them that one point for a draw, but both teams had a bit of good and bad luck, so in the end it was probably a fair result and a good meeting on TV.”KING’S LYNN boss Rob Lyon wants to see his side keep up their 100 per cent home record when they host A47 rivals Leicester on Wednesday.Lyon said: “Leicester are now our nearest rivals in geographical terms so hopefully the atmosphere will have a local derby like feel to it!“The Lions make their first visit to us this season after being called off in May, and I'm sure they will provide us with a difficult meeting. Last week we won a great match against Belle Vue and we want more of the same on Wednesday.”LAKESIDE chief Jon Cook rated the Hammers’ home draw with Coventry in front of a bumper attendance with reduced prices as a massive success.Cook said: “We couldn’t have asked for more, a crowd of 2000+, fantastic speedway, a last heat decider, a race to the line and all in front of our local MP Jackie Doyle-Price. “Tonight was probably the most important and successful night in the club’s history and we send our thanks to all the fans who turned out to support the club. Our fight to survive has taken a huge step forward tonight.”LEICESTER promoter David Hemsley admits the loss of Josh Auty at reserve after an incident in the recent Scunthorpe/Ipswich Premier League match is a big blow to the Lions.Hemsley told the Leicester Mercury: “Josh has been out of the Lions team since early May and we were looking forward to his return, but I cannot see him back this season unless there is a miraculous recovery.“It is another chapter in our injury-blighted season, and, of course, it means Josh is set for another lengthy spell of recuperation. I guess it will mean we will continue to see more of Carl Wilkinson, a guest who has been popular with Lions fans and has been a key member of the side in our run of good home form.”POOLE promoter Matt Ford says the visit of Swindon, including former Pirates star Darcy Ward, will provide a good benchmark for his side this week.Ford said: “I am still looking for consistency and improvement in certain areas of our team and I know the riders themselves are keen to not let anyone down, especially themselves and so the visit of Swindon will be a very good test.“We all know how good Darcy is on a bike and just what he is capable of producing around here, after all we have benefitted from his scoring prowess for nearly five years, but Swindon's side goes much deeper than that.”SWINDON gave their play-off hopes a major boost by taking their first away win of the season at Wolverhampton on Monday at the start of a busy run of fixtures on the road - despite losing Nick Morris to injury in his second ride.Robins boss Alun Rossiter said: “The atmosphere was great tonight and it was probably the best team spirit I've seen all year; after going six down in heat ten, everyone rallied round, they really pumped themselves up and finished the meeting in an outstanding manner.“Luck didn't seem to be going our way at one point, but we stuck at it and pulled off a great result in the end. I've now got to hunt for guests to replace Nick, potentially for the rest of our meetings this week, but this is the perfect way to start a demanding week.”WOLVERHAMPTON promoter Chris Van Straaten was disappointed to see his side suffer a third home defeat of the season as Swindon staged a powerful finale to the meeting to win 51-39 at Monmore on Monday.Van Straaten said: “It was a very disappointing night in the end and there's no excuses after holding the lead that we did. As the track slickened off we struggled but you can't take anything away from Swindon, they're a really fine team, they took the meeting by the scruff of the neck and ended up winning comfortably.“A lot of our riders are struggling confidence wise but we need to pull it together and try and get back to winning ways against another strong looking side in King's Lynn next week.”

PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…

BERWICK bosses issued a public apology following the club’s exit from the Knockout Cup on Saturday.The Bandits held a six-point lead from their away leg, but slipped to a 50-40 home defeat to Rye House who had not won at Shielfield Park for nearly 40 years.Berwick team manager John Anderson said: “The team fell woefully short of the mark in far too many departments and I can only sincerely apologise to supporters for what they had to endure.“We fully understand how the fans feel and I can assure everyone we feel the same pain and despair as we’ve tried everything this season to get a winning side and still nothing has worked and we end up suffering a match like that.In a later statement, Anderson said: “We really want new partners to join us to take the club forward, or we want to sell it on as a going concern to a suitable buyer.”EDINBURGH snatched a last-gasp consolation league point as they went down 48-42 at Plymouth on Saturday.A last heat 5-1 from Craig Cook and guest Brady Kurtz salvaged what could prove to be a vital addition to their league tally come the end of the season.Monarchs promoter John Campbell said: “I’m sure we all felt we were capable of winning but the track was super-slick and if you missed the start and weren’t clever enough to nip in on the second bend then you were basically a goner – it was a dreadfully disappointing meeting.”GLASGOW have signed Czech Republic rider Hynek Stichauer as their new reserve to replace the outgoing Dimitri Berge.Tigers team boss Stewart Dickson said: “He (Stichauer) has always been in the main body of teams; he got a wee injury and lost his place at Berwick but we’re hopeful he can come in and do a job.“We’re not asking him to score sevens, eights and nines, if he rides to his average he’ll keep the balance of the team which is important.“We’ve managed to skip July pretty unscathed but it’s getting a bit tight so we need to strengthen.”IPSWICH fell to their third home defeat of the season as they went down 47-43 to Glasgow on Thursday.The meeting was a big blow for the Witches who were looking to bolster their current play-off place position but an injury to reserve Stefan Nielsen the previous night created a much tougher task for the Foxhall outfit.Team manager Phil Hilton said: “Too many inconsistencies and last places cost us dear and if this doesn’t get sorted out we will continue to struggle to get the desired results.”NEWCASTLE manager George English will have team decisions to make ahead of their Premier League trip to Rye House this Saturday.Christian Henry is still struggling with a serious back injury which he sustained just over a week ago in a high-speed crash at Workington.Meanwhile, Lewis Rose, who was recently replaced by Tero Aarnio, has received confirmation that he has a broken scaphoid and could be out of action for at least another month.PETERBOROUGH promoter Ged Rathbone has praised the sport’s governing body ahead of this Sunday’s Premier League Fours tournament.The BSPA have granted the event hosts special dispensation due to their current injury woes.Said Rathbone: “I applaud and thank the BSPA for giving us permission to track Robert (Lambert) and Emil (Grondal).“We now hope to be able to field a team worthy of such an occasion and capable of challenging to win the club’s first trophy for some time.”PLYMOUTH have snapped up James Wright and expect him to make his debut in this Saturday’s home clash with Somerset.Devils co-promoter Ashley Taylor said: “The signing of Wright should give us a big push to the end of the season in our bid for a top six finish to reach the play-offs.“We need to win our home matches and we hope the fans will support us in good numbers to help push us over the line.”REDCAR’s 37-35 Knockout Cup home win over Edinburgh came at a cost with injuries to two of their key riders.Jan Gravesen suffered severe bruising while Bears No.1 Lasse Bjerre has been ruled out for the remainder of the 2015 season after sustaining a severely dislocated hip.Redcar chief Brian Havelock told The Gazette: “The hip bone came right out of the socket and they operated at 2.30 am.“The news is that he may have to lay on his back for eight to ten weeks and could still need another operation during that time.”RYE HOUSE are through to the semi-finals of the Knockout Cup after picking up a win against all the odds away at Berwick.The Rockets trailed by six-points from the first leg and had lost their previous six meetings. But that run came to an end after a 50-40 victory saw them win at Shielfield Park for the first time in 38 years.Team manager John Sampford said: “All the boys put in a superb effort and they always believed they could pull off the result right from heat one.“They proved that this team can come back from adversity and pull off the result on a totally different circuit and under different riding conditions.”SCUNTHORPE will be without Josh Auty and Ben Wilson for their trip to Ipswich this Thursday.Auty re-broke his hand in their home meeting against the Witches earlier this month while Wilson suffered a broken pelvis during a gust appearance at Sheffield last week.The Scorpions have booked club assets Thomas Jorgensen and Matt Williamson for this week’s meeting at Foxhall.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: “I lost count of the number of riders I spoke with over the weekend but none of them could commit to our final nine meetings; making countless phone calls is not an enjoyable part of the job by any means.”SHEFFIELD boss Jack Lee has praised Arthur Sissis after he secured his first ever maximum in British Speedway last Thursday.The Australian picked up a full 15-points from five rides in a confidence boosting challenge meeting against Cradley.Lee told the Sheffield Star: “It was just what Arthur needed because every now and again he gets a bit down and he lets his head drop so a boost like that is just what the doctor ordered.“Hopefully it will now stand him in good stead when he comes up against the Premier League boys for the rest of the season.”SOMERSET will be looking to defend the Premier League Fours title at Peterborough this Sunday.Rebels team manager Garry May said: “Looking at the line-ups I think we have as good a chance as anyone of winning, but it is the type of meeting where one piece of bad luck can really scupper your chances.“The main thing is to avoid running those last places and to keep your side of the score-chart continually ticking over and we should be there or thereabouts come the final reckoning as we strive to keep the Fours trophy residing at the Oaktree Arena.”WORKINGTON boosted their play-off chances with a 49-44 home victory over Peterborough on Saturday.The Comets now find themselves eight-points behind sixth placed Ipswich, but have four meetings in hand over the Witches.Another close encounter is expected at Derwent Park this Saturday when Workington host Sheffield.

CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE LATEST…

BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury was in philosophical mood after seeing their spectacular winning run come to an end with a 49-44 defeat at Rye House on Saturday.Drury said: "Realistically we were going to lose a meeting at some point and fair play to Rye House, they rode out their skin and fully deserved to be the first team to beat us this year."It was always going to be a tough match-up and even before the meeting I'd have taken a point. When you consider the situation we found ourselves in at the half-way stage, I'm over the moon to be coming away with anything in the end."BUXTON manager Jason Pipe admits his side were simply beaten by a better side after they went down 61-31 against Cradley at Perry Barr last week.Pipe commented: "Cradley are so good around here - they have their bikes set up well for Perry Barr and they are so hard to beat."We had some bad luck in heat 15 when Liam (Carr) was excluded, but we had too many riders not quite there whether it be due to setups or recovering from knocks."COVENTRY Storm are on the lookout for new riders as they look to overcome their injury problems.Team boss Laurence Rogers said: "We are now two riders down and I am looking deep and hard at what I can do. The points limit doesn't help, and I have already talked to so many riders and tried to get a few out of retirement."Our aim now has to be to finish in the top four and make the Gold Cup, and I hope everyone will get behind us to help us do it."CRADLEY boss Will Pottinger was delighted with another powerhouse performance as they romped to a comprehensive 61-31 triumph over Buxton at Perry Barr last Wednesday.Pottinger said: "It's great to break that 60-point barrier; we've come close a couple of times this season and we were really glad to finally do so tonight."Our gating wasn't at it's best tonight but that made for some really good, entertaining racing."There were plenty of encouraging signs for all six of our riders and it's another confidence boosting night for us as a team."EASTBOURNE manager Glenn Martin believes they are on the brink of conquering their troubles away from Arlington."We just need to get over the line and win league matches away from home," Martin remarked."We've done it in the Knockout Cup and National Trophy. We drew at Stoke in the League and before that drew at Mildenhall in the trophy."Everyone is working hard to convert these "near misses" into victories. We talk a lot to the riders and they know how ambitious the club is."If we are going to make a mark, the IT First Eagles have to be a team which expects to regularly win away, as well as every time at home."KENT youngster Danno Verge has vowed to come back stronger after taking a break from National League action to conquer his troubles.After a tough run of form, Verge told kentkings.co : "I've struggled since I moved to reserve which should not have happened - it should have been the opposite and I should have scored more points. I need to get this sorted and so I've taken a couple of weeks off to improve my fitness."I will be taking a break from National League but I'm going to do a few practices at other tracks where I can to try and get faster and try a few different things."I'm working very hard to try and get to be where I want to, and I want to improve not only for me but for the Kent fans who've been so supportive to me all season. I will be back and I will be better than what I've been the last month or so since I've been at reserve."KING'S LYNN have moved their double header with Cradley and Buxton to Friday, August 21.The Young Stars saw the clash postponed due to heavy rainfall on Friday and have instead pencilled in the fixture for the date when Kent were due to visit the Adrian Flux Arena.In the meantime, they will also host Rye House on August 5 in their next home meeting in the National League.MILDENHALL have handed a return Nick Laurence in a bid to ensure they end the season strongly.Laurence, who first rode for the Fen Tigers back in 2011, suffered a broken collarbone on a guest appearance for Mildenhall at Kent back in April.However, he now returns to their side as a replacement for the struggling Stefan Farnaby at reserve. RYE HOUSE chief Andrew Silver has called on his side to build on their stunning win over Birmingham on Saturday in the coming weeks."Although Saturday's performance was great, we cannot rest on our laurels," Silver told the club’s website."We did a fine job, but there is plenty more racing to be done and progress to be made."If we could give that sort of performance away from home now, that would be something to aim for."Having pushed Birmingham on their home track early on in the season I cannot see why we can't go away to any club looking for a win."STOKE boss Malcolm Vasey was delighted to see his side claim a much-needed win in convincing fashion against Kent to move off the bottom of the National League table on Saturday.The Potters manager said: "It was a comfortable win, but it was a meeting we also had to win. Kent had to make a couple of changes which obviously didn't help them, but it was our job to get a victory."We've moved off the bottom of the table and that does give us all a feel good factor around the place, and I'm really pleased that we will now be going for it for the remainder of the season."There are times this year when we've been desperately unlucky, and we've said that all along. We've proved over the last few weeks what we are capable of, even the draw against Eastbourne last week was a good result, so let's go for it."FIXTURE PICTURE…

WEDNESDAY JULY 29:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Lakeside 8pm, King’s Lynn v Leicester 7.30, Poole v Swindon 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v King’s Lynn 7.30

THURSDAY JULY 30:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Scunthorpe 7.30, Sheffield v Rye House 7.30

FRIDAY JULY 31:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v King’s Lynn 7.30, Lakeside v Swindon 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Plymouth 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 1:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v Lakeside 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Somerset 7.15, Rye House v Newcastle 7pm, Workington v Sheffield 7pmTRAVEL PLUS TOURS KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Edinburgh v Redcar 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Eastbourne v Kent 7pm

SUNDAY AUGUST 2:PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Peterborough 2pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Kent 3pm

MONDAY AUGUST 3:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Poole 7.30, Wolverhampton v King’s Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Plymouth 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Mildenhall 6.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 5:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 8pm, Poole v Leicester 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Birmingham v Cradley 7.30, King’s Lynn v Rye House 7.30

THURSDAY AUGUST 6:PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Workington 7.30, Redcar v Glasgow 7.30, Sheffield v Scunthorpe 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 7:PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Peterborough 7.30, Plymouth v Ipswich 7.15, Scunthorpe v Newcastle 7.30, Somerset v Redcar 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Eastbourne 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 8:PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Edinburgh 7pm, Workington v Somerset 7pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Coventry 7pm

SUNDAY AUGUST 9:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Redcar 3pm, Newcastle v Workington 6.30, Peterborough v Edinburgh 5pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Coventry v King’s Lynn 2pm, Coventry v Stoke (follows previous fixture), Eastbourne v Buxton 3.30, Rye House v Mildenhall 5pm

MONDAY AUGUST 10:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Lakeside 7.30, Wolverhampton v Swindon 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Buxton 6.30

TUESDAY AUGUST 11:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Edinburgh 7.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 12:ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Belle Vue 7.30FAST GOLDEN HAMMER: Cradley 7.30