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THE draw has been made for the Premier League Riders’ Championship at Sheffield on Sunday September 6.The top rider from each of the thirteen PL clubs, subject to fitness, is included along with the next three qualifying riders, for the Owlerton showpiece - and two former winner clash in their first outings!Edinburgh duo Craig Cook and Sam Masters are both previous PLRC winners with Masters having triumphed in 2011 when representing Somerset, and Cook one year later riding for the Monarchs.They meet in Heat 2 along with Newcastle’s Steve Worrall and former Sheffield rider Ricky Wells, of Workington.Great Britain World Cup riders Robert Lambert and Danny King are also included and will meet in Heat 1 where they face fellow Elite League regulars Richard Lawson and Nick Morris.The home side are represented by Jason Garrity whilst the spectacular Brady Kurtz of Somerset has made several guest appearances for the Tigers this season.Scunthorpe’s Ryan Douglas was named in the official draw but subsequently suffered injury in the Scorpions’ Premier League trip to Sheffield, and he is expected to be replaced by one of his team-mates.DRAW: 1 Robert Lambert (Peterborough), 2 Richard Lawson (Glasgow), 3 Nick Morris (Glasgow), 4 Danny King (Ipswich), 5 Steve Worrall (Newcastle), 6 Craig Cook (Edinburgh), 7 Ricky Wells (Workington), 8 Sam Masters (Edinburgh), 9 Matej Kus (Redcar), 10 Thomas Jorgensen (Berwick), 11 Brady Kurtz (Somerset), 12 Jason Garrity (Sheffield), 13 Josh Grajczonek (Somerset), 14 Ryan Douglas (Scunthorpe), 15 Kyle Newman (Plymouth), 16 Edward Kennett (Rye House).*FURTHER news on the Premier League Fours, which was abandoned recently following the serious accident involving Newcastle and King’s Lynn’s Lewis Kerr, will follow in due course.*BERWICK are offering sponsorship packages for their staging of the British Under-19 Championship at Shielfield Park on Saturday September 12.Subject to the weather for their Premier League fixtures, the Bandits expect the national title event to be their final home meeting of the season.The event has already attracted meeting sponsorship from Perryman’s Coaches, with the newly-formed Speedway Riders’ Association also providing their backing.Supporters, either individually or collectively, and local business are all invited to get involved.18 rider sponsorship packages are available at £60 each, along with 20 heat sponsorships at £60 each and 18 tyre/fuel/oil sponsorships at £40.The draw for the event will be made shortly with Tweedside’s own Liam Carr involved and set to be one of the pre-meeting favourites.
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BELLE VUE boss Mark Lemon is relishing being part of a three-way scrap for two play-off places with recent strong home form meaning the Aces are strongly in contention.Lemon said: “Tensions are running high right now particularly as regards to our situation, and with King’s Lynn now in the mix it just emphasises even more the importance for us to win our remaining fixtures.“That's three clubs, including us, vying to stay in the top four but even if just one starts to pull away, so be it. There's now two places up for grabs and as long as we claim one of them I’ll be happy.”COVENTRY boss Gary Havelock knows his side’s battle for top spot in the table will also have a major impact on the top four qualifiers as a whole - because three of the Bees’ last six matches are against play-off hopefuls Swindon, starting with their trip to Blunsdon on Thursday.Havelock said: “Throughout last season and this season, everywhere we go I expect us to get points, be it one point or four points.“I expect us to get into positions where we can take points from matches, and it would be very nice to take a few points off Swindon, with three of our last six being against them!”KING’S LYNN face a crucial run of matches having slipped out of the Elite League’s top four with Monday’s results.The Stars host Leicester at the Adrian Flux Arena on Thursday, one of two home fixtures against the Lions, and also visit the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium in the return on Saturday.LAKESIDE suffered a 52-41 defeat at Belle Vue on Monday and now have just two matches remaining to complete their Elite League season.The Hammers are building up to their clash with title challengers Poole at Purfleet on August 21 which will round off their home campaign.LEICESTER boss Norrie Allan is targeting matches against Midlands rivals Wolverhampton - who they are to meet three times before the end of the season - to help the Lions move up the table.Allan said: “We have three more home fixtures, which we must win them all, and seven away, of which two are against Wolverhampton the team closest to us in the table.“The results of those three matches (against Wolves) may well define our final position in the league that’s for sure and every effort will be made to avoid another last place finish.”POOLE skipper Maciej Janowski was still able to smile on the eve of his 24th birthday despite scoring 6+1 in the Pirates’ big home win over Leicester, as they continue to challenge for top spot in the table.Janowski said: “I am happy enough. I am always happy when we are winning and that was a very good win for us tonight so why shouldn't I be happy? “It might not have been such a good day for me but we won and that was important.”SWINDON gave their play-off charge a further boost by taking all four points available at Wolverhampton on Monday - with Darcy Ward breaking the track record and scoring a paid maximum.Boss Alun Rossiter said: “It was an excellent performance, everyone did their job. Darcy and Troy (Batchelor) were superb, Zengi (Grzegorz Zengota) did a great job again and Chris Harris proved an excellent choice of guest.“It was a strong performance all the way through, we led for almost the whole meeting and came away with four big points, so it was a really good night for us to keep us on track for the play-offsWOLVERHAMPTON promoter Chris Van Straaten admitted his team had been beaten by the better side with Swindon racing to a 52-38 victory at Monmore Green on Monday.Van Straaten said: “The entertainment was first class, there was some great racing for the neutral supporter, but the result was dreadful it has to be said.“I won’t accept that the effort and spirit wasn’t there because it was, they rode their socks off tonight, but they just aren’t good enough and that showed against a very strong Swindon side.”
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BERWICK are still looking for further support to ensure the survival of the club after the 2015 season.Bandits promoter John Anderson told the Berwick Advertiser: “No matter what we try to do, we get so dispirited when some sad folk still criticise use because injuries have decimated a good team and we’re losing matches while replacement riders, good new assets, are finding their feet in British racing; well I invite these critics to put up or shut up.“Let me say this, I will do everything in my power, explore every possible avenue to stop speedway closing down at Berwick.”The Bandits return to Premier League action after a three week break this Saturday at home to Sheffield. EDINBURGH recovered from a narrow one-point home defeat to Peterborough by gaining revenge on the Panthers in the reverse fixture as well as an impressive win away at Rye House.Monarchs club director Brian Gray said: “After the little hiccup on Friday, I was looking for five league points from our southern trip but to get eight is amazing!“I suspected we would do well at Rye House but turning over Peterborough on their own turf and getting revenge for the home defeat surprised more than a few folk I think!”GLASGOW team manager Stewart Dickson has praised his team’s form following Sunday’s comprehensive 62-28 home victory over Redcar.Said Dickson: “We’re winning races because confidence is high. The guys are going out expecting to win races, that’s the key, so it’s good when you win and everyone is happy.“Everyone is important; Hynek Stichauer got six paid seven. I know it’s only Redcar and there were a few eyebrows raised when we signed him, but he’s riding the track properly and he’s doing well.“The team spirit is excellent and he’s fitted in.”IPSWICH couldn’t follow up a stylish 58-35 home win over Workington as they went down 54-39 away at Plymouth the following night.Speaking after their trip down south, Witches team manager Phil Hilton said: “It was a tough meeting against a side that has recently strengthened and had good wins home and away against Somerset so their confidence was high.“We now have to re-group before we face Edinburgh in the League Cup Semi-Final on Friday.”NEWCASTLE team manager George English commended his side following their 53-39 Premier League victory over Workington on Sunday.Said English: “It was a very good win and a solid all round team performance.“Tero Aarnio was a hero with his performance and could have done more rides if we had needed him to but he battled through the meeting with a rib injury.“It wasn’t an easy night with the circumstances surrounding Lewis Kerr but the team pulled together and performed well.”PETERBOROUGH boss Carl Johnson admits he was frustrated with his side after their 49-41 home defeat to Edinburgh on Sunday.The Panthers were full of confidence going into the meeting, after battling their way to a hard-fought 45-44 away win against the Monarchs on Friday, but couldn’t hold off the Scottish outfit in the return leg.Said Johnson: “The win at Edinburgh now means nothing and that is very frustrating after the performance we produced up there.“No team likes losing at home – this is the fifth time it has happened this season and that is far too many“The riders know they have let themselves and the fans down again, but we will re-group and aim to come back firing again as we have done so often this season.”PLYMOUTH will be looking to make it five wins on the spin when they host Rye House on Friday.The Devils have put a great run of form together which has seen them close the gap on sixth placed Ipswich and a play-off place is well within their grasp.They face a Rye House side who have lost seven of their eight meetings on the road this season but co-promoter Ashley Taylor is warning against any complacency. Said Taylor: “You can never say anything is easy in the Premier League. “We have to make sure that our team is strong and at it’s best irrespective of the opposition.”REDCAR suffered three successive defeats in a disappointing week for the Bears.The Teeside outfit suffered heavy losses away at Somerset and Glasgow as well as going down 51-42 at home to the Tigers.Speaking after Thursday’s home defeat, team manager Jitendra Duffill told The Gazette: “We won’t take the defeat too badly as a lot of teams are going to get on the wrong end of them.“There was a lot of good racing and a lot of positives to take from it.“Jonas (B. Anderson) has scored points from his arrival and has been tremendous – hopefully he’ll become an asset of the club and someone we’ll be watching for years to come.”RYE HOUSE team manager John Sampford conceded his side were simply beaten by a better team as they suffered a 52-40 home defeat against Edinburgh on Saturday.Said Sampford: “It was always going to be a hard match – even without Sam Masters and Erik Riss, the Monarchs looked strong before the word go.“They are not League, Cup and League Cup winners for nothing, they have retained the nucleus of that side in 2015 and augmented it well.Having Nikolaj (Busk Jakobsen) available and a fully fit Edward (Kennett) after Heat 1 would have made a difference, but whether it would have been enough I really don’t know.”SCUNTHORPE have snapped up Danish prospect Andreas Lyager as a replacement for the injured Ben Wilson.The 17-year-old joins the Scorpions on an assessed 7.00 average and subject to BSPA approval, he will make his debut at the Eddie Wright Raceway against Redcar this Friday.Promoter Rob Godfrey said: "Andreas is mad keen to ride for us and we've decided to give him a chance."Andreas has got the rest of the season to gain a bit of experience on British tracks and whatever he scores is a bonus."A massive plus is that Andreas coming into the side pushes Alex Davies down to reserve, alongside Nike Lunna, which gives us a lot of strength at reserve for our remaining six meetings."SHEFFIELD picked up another important win to keep them in the play-off places after seeing off Scunthorpe 53-40 at Owlerton last Thursday.The victory moved them ten-points clear of seventh placed Workington and five-points clear of Ipswich in sixth to open up some breathing space.Tigers team manager Jack Lee said: “We dipped a couple of times and it wasn’t a perfect performance, but Brady (Kurtz) and Jason (Garrity) were both tremendous and they came up trumps for us when it mattered in heats 13 and 15.”SOMERSET host league leaders Edinburgh in front of the television cameras tonight in a crucial Premier League clash.The Rebels will be looking for three league points to strengthen their current position in the play-off places in front of what is expected to be a bumper crowd at The Oaktree Arena.Team manager Garry May said: “The past few seasons have seen us have some epic battles against Edinburgh and I am sure tonight’s match will prove to be no different.“Edinburgh come to the Oaktree in a rich vein of form, but the Somerset boys are well up for this meeting.”WORKINGTON will be without Rusty Harrison and Kyle Howarth for their crucial fixtures at home to Redcar and away at Rye House this weekend.Two wins for the Comets could potentially move them into the Premier League play-off places.Team manager Tony Jackson has challenged his side to continue their good home form while seeking improvement on their travels.Said Jackson: “When you compare our home and away records we are like two different teams; the difference is quite unbelievable. “If we fail to make the play-offs, then our failure to pick up points on the road will have been our undoing.”
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BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury believes his side are still on course for the National League title despite a narrow 46-44 defeat in their top of the table clash with Cradley at Perry Barr last week.Drury said: “We were found wanting in the lower end and our tail end was very long once again.“But you have to say well done to Cradley because you could see they were up for it and they edged what was another great advert for the National League.“Naturally we're disappointed to just miss out, but we're still in a strong position and all I can say now is, 'watch out Buxton!’”BUXTON boss Jason Pipe was disappointed to see his side slip to a narrow 47-45 defeat at Kent on Monday.Pipe said: “I don’t know where to start with this one. It was setups again – I’ve said to the guys that they shouldn’t complain about tracks becoming slick at the end of the meeting they should have enough experience to vary the bike setup to compensate. “I gathered the whole team together at the interval when the Kings had just pulled level and asked for a response but we just fell short”COVENTRY Storm manager Laurence Rogers was in jubilant mood after his side edged two 50-43 victories over King’s Lynn and Stoke in their double-header at Brandon on Sunday.Rogers commented: “I’m over the moon with the boys, it was two great performances today with points throughout the side, and the kids rode well too.“We’ve got the twelve away points but we knew we needed maximum points at home today and we’ve got them - qualification for the Gold Cup is our aim.“We’ve had two excellent meetings and I’d love to think we could have more supporters here for the next ones, because this is a great bunch of lads with a great spirit and the points are coming in now.”CRADLEY boss Will Pottinger hailed the effort shown by his side to keep their title ambitions alive with a hard-fought 46-44 win over local rivals Birmingham in their blockbuster top of the table clash at Perry Barr last week.“It was a great team effort from everybody with every riders' contribution proving vital,” Pottinger remarked. “There's no better way to wrap up the points than in a last heat decider and you could see how much it meant to everyone.“It's the perfect confidence booster to beat our local rivals at the start of what is going to be a very busy few weeks from the team.”EASTBOURNE have pulled off a major coup with the signing of highly-rated youngster Daniel Spiller. The17 year old comes in for Kelsey Dugard at reserve – and director Connor Dugard hopes his arrival can reignite their National League title charge.Dugard said: “Daniel already has many successes to his name in international and German events. He is one of the most exciting young riders in the world and it is fabulous that he is coming to join the IT First Eagles.“Bringing in Daniel Spiller is a clear signal of our intentions. We will fight to the last and the introduction of Daniel will give us new impetus. We have had an exciting season so far and we are determined to do all we can to make it a successful one and have trophies on the table at our end-of-season presentations at the Amex Stadium.”KENT boss Chris hunt was relieved to see his side end their losing streak with an impressive 52-41 win over Mildenhall last week.They backed up their victory with another hard-fought 47-45 win over Buxton on Monday – and Hunt told the Speedway Star he was delighted with his side.He said: “It was a really good performance, and to be fair we had a really good weekend. I know we lost both matches at Eastbourne and Buxton before coming back to Central Park, but the boys tried absolutely everything.“We came away with a lot of heart from our travels and I think that showed. Ben (Morley) led by example, it was a terrific display and everyone did their bit.” KING’S LYNN boss Dale Allitt dedicated their convincing 57-36 win over Eastbourne at the Adrian Flux Arena on Wednesday to Lewis Kerr.Kerr was a product of the Young Stars’ system before graduating to the main King’s Lynn side, and Allitt was delighted to see his side honour their injured former colleague with a spectacular win over the Eagles.He said: “That win was for Lewi. The guys rode really well and we deserved our victory tonight. I was pleased with how they attacked the track early on and gave us a good foundation to build on.”MILDENHALL promoter Kevin Jolly has called on his side to simply ‘enjoy their speedway’ over the remainder of the campaign.He told the Speedway Star: “After some troubled time there were smiles on the faces in the pits at Kent last week, and all I’ve told the lads to do for the rest of the season is enjoy their speedway.“None of us are going to get rich doing this so we might as well have some fun. Some seasons are ones when you can challenge for the trophies and others are when you are building and developing, and that’s what we are about this year.” RYE HOUSE star Luke Priest believes his side can continue their flying form to earn a spot in the end of season Gold Cup with a top four place.Priest told the Speedway Star: “We’ve gelled well, we all get on and we ride well together which is starting to show now.“A lot of clubs in the league are taking notice of what we’ve achieved recently and now we need to take advantage of that and press on up the table.“We are on a roll now, we had some bad meetings and some injuries, but going to Mildenhall a couple of weeks ago we had a full team for the first time in a while and it showed.” STOKE boss Malcolm Vasey was encouraged by two battling performances against Coventry at the weekend.The Potters raced to a superb 50-40 win over Storm at Loomer Road on Saturday before falling agonisingly short of a consolation point with a 50-43 defeat at Brandon the very next day.Team manager Vasey said: “It was a hard fought victory on Saturday and a deserved one which moves us back up the table once again. It was a solid team performance from the whole team with everyone chipping in with vital points.“We battled extremely hard at Coventry and it’s disappointing for us to come away with nothing after losing out on doing so by just a single point.”FIXTURE PICTURE…
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
THURSDAY AUGUST 13:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Leicester 7.30, Swindon v Coventry 7.30
FRIDAY AUGUST 14:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Leicester 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Plymouth v Rye House 7.15, Scunthorpe v Redcar 7.30LEAGUE CUP SEMI-FINAL 1st leg: Edinburgh v Ipswich 7.30
SATURDAY AUGUST 15:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v King’s Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Sheffield 7pm, Workington v Redcar 7pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Rye House v Eastbourne 7pm, Stoke v Cradley 7pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 16:PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Workington 5pm, Newcastle v Berwick 6.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Birmingham 3pm, Mildenhall v Stoke 3.30PEUGEOT INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow 3pm
MONDAY AUGUST 17:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Swindon 7.30, Wolverhampton v Leicester 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Kent v Eastbourne 6.30
TUESDAY AUGUST 18:PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Ipswich 7.30
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 19:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Leicester 7.30, King’s Lynn v Coventry 7.30, Poole v Swindon 7.30
THURSDAY AUGUST 20:ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v King’s Lynn 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Ipswich v Berwick 7.30, Redcar v Plymouth 7.30, Sheffield v Edinburgh 7.30
FRIDAY AUGUST 21:ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Swindon 7.30, Lakeside v Poole 8pmPREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Somerset 7.30, Peterborough v Newcastle 7.30, Scunthorpe v Berwick 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Cradley 7.30NATIONAL LEAGUE KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: King’s Lynn v Buxton (follows previous fixture)
SATURDAY AUGUST 22:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v Wolverhampton 7.30PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Somerset 7pm, Plymouth v Scunthorpe 7.15, Rye House v Ipswich 7pmCITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Stoke v Rye House 7pm
SUNDAY AUGUST 23:PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Somerset 3pm, Newcastle v Redcar 6.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Buxton v Rye House 3pm, Coventry v Cradley 4pm, Eastbourne v Birmingham 3.30, Mildenhall v Kent 3.30
MONDAY AUGUST 24:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 7.30, King’s Lynn v Leicester 7.30CHALLENGE: Kent v Arena-Essex 6.30
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 26:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Swindon 7.30CITY GEARBOXES NATIONAL LEAGUE: Cradley v King’s Lynn 7.30
