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FORMER World No.2 Krzysztof Kasprzak and British GP Wild Card Craig Cook have joined the field for the Ben Fund Bonanza at King’s Lynn on March 12.The line-up has been completed by Thomas Jorgensen, Kevin Doolan and Emil Grondal – and the 20-rider format will see Kasprzak, Cook, Jason Doyle and Chris Harris ‘seeded’ for slightly harder rides.Sheffield skipper Simon Stead said: “I think the Ben Fund is something that is a massive, massive help in assisting speedway riders that are injured to have a little bit of financial stability.“Our sport isn’t like football or many others where we continue to get paid while we are injured, so the Ben Fund provides the support they need. They helped me out massively last year, and they approached me early on about doing the Ben Fund meeting.“I had absolutely no hesitation, I was pleased to be asked and I’m looking forward to a successful meeting on a track which is always well prepared and a stadium with fantastic support. It’s a way of kicking the speedway season off with something to look forward to.”FULL FIELD FOR THE BONANZA: Chris Harris, Jason Doyle, Josh Auty, Robert Lambert, Lewis Kerr, Bjarne Pedersen, Richie Worrall, Steve Worrall, Ulrich Ostergaard, Josh Bates, Nicolai Klindt, Rory Schlein, Ben Barker, Simon Stead, Mads Korneliussen, Krzysztof Kasprzak, Craig Cook, Thomas Jorgensen, Kevin Doolan, Emil Grondal.
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BELLE Vue will compete in the 2016 FIM World Speedway League event in Berlin on April 23.The Aces, who were runners-up in the Elite League last year, will face opposition from the champions of Poland, Sweden and Denmark – Leszno, Elit Vetlanda and Munkebo respectively.Belle Vue CEO David Gordon said: “This is a competition which has been extensively talked about for at least a decade and to see talks coming to fruition and things getting underway these past two seasons is just fantastic.“For us to be involved in such a high-profile event is exactly what we wanted because we believe this is a competition that will grow and gain a lot of interest form fans in and around Europe.“The riders’ reaction to our involvement has been nothing but positive. It's a meeting that puts us all on the world map and we'll of course expect nothing less than their best performance on the day.”
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ROHAN Tungate believes signing for Swindon could help move his career to the next level.The 26-year-old has been drafted into Alun Rossiter's line-up for 2016 after Dakota North quit the club last week.Said Tungate: “I was pretty disappointed not to get an Elite League spot if I'm honest so when Rosco rang me I jumped at the chance.“I'm really happy to have signed for Swindon and it's a great opportunity for me to move my career forward. I hope I can do a job for the side and having all those fellow Aussies in the team will hopefully inspire us all to do good things.“I have been training really hard over the past few months with Adam Shields and it’s all systems go now really for the new season. I have signed to race for Somerset as well in the Premier League so it's going to be a busy old season but one I'm excited about.”
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SCUNTHORPE have invested in an ambulance in a move to help meetings at the Eddie Wright Raceway run as smoothly as possible.Scorpions chief Rob Godfrey has purchased the fully-equipped vehicle which can be used as a back-up at the venue when a rider requires hospital attention via the St John ambulance.Godfrey said: “We all accept there are going to be delays when riders get injured, and rider safety remains paramount, but the last thing you want is to be holding the meeting up too much. People don't want to be hanging around, so if we can minimise that, so much the better.“The NHS is becoming increasingly stretched, so there are going to be more and more problems with delays of waiting around for an ambulance to arrive, so we have decided to be pro-active and do something about it.”
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SOMERSET newcomer Jake Allen will fly into the UK this week in the build-up to his debut Premier League campaign.Co-promoter Debbie Hancock is looking forward to Allen’s inclusion in the Rebels’ line-up, and expects him to be determined to make an impression.She said: “Jake wanted to come over early in order to get himself settled in and acclimatise himself in good time before the start of the new season, and given the current difference in weather between his home in Australia and here in the UK, I think he’ll definitely need that acclimatisation time!“After the disappointment of last season when Jake had to miss out on riding in the UK, he is doubly keen to make up for lost time. He has been in regu
