(SPEEDWAY 1)
PETERBOROUGH host the Premier League Fours at the Showground on Sunday afternoon (2pm) with Somerset defending the title.There are 28 races on the programme with eight teams competing in one of the most popular events of the season.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: Robert Lambert, Ulrich Ostergaard, Lewis Blackbird, Michael Palm Toft, Emil Grondal (res).GROUP B:SOMERSET: Josh Grajczonek, Brady Kurtz, Richie Worrall, Charles Wright, Leigh Lanham (res).GLASGOW: Victor Palovaara, James Sarjeant, Aaron Summers, Richard Lawson, TBC (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).Pre-meeting comments:Tony Jackson (Workington manager): “You can make a case for every side in the competition to win it but no matter what, two very good sides will drop out of each of the two semi-finals.“Our foursome of Rene Bach, Rusty Harrison, Kyle Howarth and Ricky Wells are solid while I believe that Kenneth Hansen could prove to be our trump card at reserve on the day. Every race reads like a ‘Heat 15’ line-up, but we will be giving it everything to try and better our performance last year, which saw us reach the final and then finish as runners-up to Somerset.”Ulrich Ostergaard (Peterborough captain): “It is exciting to have such a big event at our home track. There will be a big crowd and we need to impress.“It would be great if we could win some silverware because the club has gone a long time without a trophy. I know how much time, effort and money Ged (Rathbone) has put into Panthers and I would love to be successful for him.”Garry May (Somerset manager): “It is the type of meeting where one piece of bad luck, especially in the semi-final round which consists of just eight heats, can really scupper your chances of progressing through to the 12-heat Grand Final. “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.”John Sampford (Rye House manager): “We’ve got a good top four, and Luke (Bowen) has shown in the past what he can do at the Showground if we call on him at reserve.“It’s all about what happens on the day. We’re looking forward to it, and we’ll simply go there and give it our best shot.”
(SPEEDWAY 2 - SATURDAY REVIEW)
LAKESIDE grabbed their first Elite League away win of the season with a 51-39 triumph at Leicester on Saturday.The Hammers were well-served by their guests with Max Fricke scoring 10+1 and Chris Harris adding nine at the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium, whilst Jason Doyle top-scored with 13 for the home side.In the Premier League, Plymouth kept up their charge towards the top six with a 57-36 win over Somerset to complete a weekend double over the Rebels.The Devils are now just five points behind sixth-placed Ipswich with three matches in hand and had both Kyle Newman (11+1) and Ryan Fisher (10+2) in double figures on Saturday, whilst Josh Grajczonek (12) and Brady Kurtz (10) dominated the Somerset scoring.Plymouth co-promoter Ashley Taylor said: “To get those results against Somerset was a massive achievement for us. Our thanks go to the Plymouth supporters who turned out in better numbers.“We remain on course to reach the end of season play-offs and get as high up the league table as possible.”Somerset boss Garry May said: “It was another disappointing performance to follow on from the previous night’s home loss, but as was the case in last night’s match, Plymouth were once again the better team on the night and we can have no complaints about tonight’s loss.“But one bad weekend doesn’t mean that it is the end of our Play-Off or League Championship ambitions, what we have to do is to put this behind us, take forward any learnings from these two matches and re-group ahead of next Friday’s home league match against Redcar.”Workington extended their unbeaten home league record with a 56-33 victory over play-off contenders Sheffield at Derwent Park.Meanwhile the Tigers’ injury concerns grew when they lost reserve Josh Bates with bruising to his ribs and lungs following a heat 2 spill when he hit the stricken Matt Williamson - and the visitors had gone into the meeting without Jason Garrity who damaged a knee at Coventry on Friday.Reserve Matthew Wethers led the way for the Comets with 11+4 whilst Rene Bach added 11. Guest Danny King piled up 14+1 for Sheffield.Workington boss Tony Jackson said: “This has to go down as one of our best team performances of the season so far. We knew that the Tigers would give us a tough match and yes, they had some misfortune with injuries, but our riders were up for it tonight and to a man they got stuck in. “Six of them won at least one race while a mid-match spell where we claimed three successive 5-1’s seemed to knock the wind out of the Tigers. There were several excellent individual performances from our team but a special mention must be given to reserve Matthew Wethers, whose paid 15 score was certainly his best in Comets colours.”Sheffield newcomer Nicolai Klindt said: “It was good to get my first meeting for Sheffield out of the way, although it was a tough night for us. I personally struggled a bit on setups and made some mistakes in the first corner which cost me points which was a bit disappointing.“But I can promise it will be better on Thursday – I’ve got my engine back that I used last year now which I know works well, so I’m looking forward to my first meeting at Owlerton now and hopefully putting in a much better performance to help the team move on from tonight with a win.”Teenage sensation Robert Lambert made a hugely successful guest appearance for Rye House in the Rockets’ 55-38 win over Newcastle.Lambert, replacing the unavailable Edward Kennett, raced to a 15-point maximum and equalled the five year old track record of Chris Neath in Heat 6 before breaking it in Heat 10 and lowering it still further in Heat 15 - 0.4s faster than the previous mark.Rye House co-promoter Len Silver said: “Track record or not, I have never seen anyone ride with, and control, that much speed around this circuit, especially out in the dirt by the fence throughout Heat 15. “And you have to ask: when was the last time anyone broke a track record anywhere in the very last race of the night?”Edinburgh are through to the Travel Plus Tours KO Cup semi-finals after a comfortable 61-29 home win over injury-hit Redcar at Armadale.Justin Sedgmen (16+1), Kevin Wolbert (15) and Craig Cook (11+2) were all in the major points for the Monarchs with Matej Kus scoring 11+1 for the Bears.Edinburgh boss Alex Harkess said: “You have to sympathise with Redcar who had put a decent team together before they hit these injuries. But we got the job done with no mishaps so I was happy with that.”Eastbourne, meanwhile, progressed to the National League KO Cup Final by seeing off Kent 50-40 at Arlington for a 24-point aggregate victory.Eagles No.1 Bradley Wilson-Dean rode through the pain barrier after a Heat 1 crash, and subsequently went for an X-ray on his left hand, and guest Martin Knuckey was forced to withdraw having been involved in the same incident.Eastbourne boss Glenn Martin said: “It was good to grind out the result with what in the end was a five-man team. Bradley managed to carry on and win four rides but Martin was groggy and had to pull out“Hopefully we will be at full strength by the time the final comes around.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
BUXTON host Kent at the Hi-Edge Raceway on Sunday with the two sides level on nine points in the City Gearboxes National League.Both teams have the incentive of moving several places up the table with a win, and Hitmen boss Jason Pipe feels the reserves will have a vital part to play in proceedings.Pipe said: “Kent are not to be underestimated. They may have only won once in their last ten meetings, but they will really give us a hard meeting on Sunday. I feel a lot will depend on what the reserves score. “Ben Basford for Kent will be well up for this meeting to show us why should have gone with him to cover for Paul Bowen instead of us giving Dale Lamb a try out. Their other reserve Adam Sheppard really impressed me at Wolverhampton in the MDL meeting on Monday. “A lot of meetings are won and lost at reserve. Hopefully our reserves will out shine the Kings’ pairing and we go on to collect the three points we need if we are to challenge for that fourth place in the league.”(FIXTURES)
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
