(SPEEDWAY 1)
PETERBOROUGH chief Ged Rathbone has issued a public thank-you to Dale Allitt for his contribution to the club in the past year.Allitt was joint-manager for the Panthers alongside Carl Johnson, but has now reluctantly given up his position after a change of role at King’s Lynn which sees him become a co-promoter.Rathbone said: “Unfortunately the rules of British Speedway mean that a promoter of one club cannot have an active position with another club, therefore Dale won't be able to carry on as joint team manager at Peterborough."We're very pleased that he will continue to assist us in a consultancy role, attending home and away meetings wherever possible and giving us the benefit of his knowledge and experience in the sport.“Dale has had a positive impact on the club during his time with us and I want to place on record my thanks for that. His arrival was a big factor in us turning the corner after a tough start to last season and he has been prominently involved in building a team we feel can challenge for honours in 2016.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
KING’S Lynn boss Rob Lyon is calling for no slip-ups from his side as they entertain Lakeside in the first Elite League meeting of the season.Lyon says the Hammers’ past record at the Adrian Flux Arena counts for little with both sides having new faces – and the visitors have Stars asset Lewis Kerr making his debut at reserve following his winter switch to Purfleet.Lyon said: “Traditionally Lakeside haven't been good travellers here but we will take nothing for granted. It’s a fresh season and they will want to come with the attitude to get something out of the meeting.“It was a difficult night last week, the boys didn’t quite know how to react to the track, obviously the weather played its part. Hopefully if the weather is kind to us we will have a more typical King’s Lynn track on Thursday. I would be disappointed if we don’t come away with a win.”Lakeside co-promoter Jon Cook said: “There is definitely a level of enthusiasm surrounding the club heading into the new season that I haven’t know for quite some time.“I can’t recall the last time there was so much excitement surrounding the club in the build-up to the new season, so hopefully that will transfer on to the track.”Meanwhile Redcar boss Jitendra Duffill is expecting a tough test from rivals Berwick in the first leg of the Tweed/Tees Trophy.The Bears hand a British Speedway debut to Danish rider Jacob Bukhave, whilst Lasse Bjerre and Hugh Skidmore are back from long-term injuries – and amongst the Bandits’ newcomers is team manager Scott Courtney.Duffill said: “In my opinion they are one of the strongest teams in the league and it will be a good test for us. They have a very strong reserve in Matty Wethers who guested for us several times last year and are solid throughout. “Scott and myself used to ride together when we started our speedway careers back in the late 90's and it seems funny that we have ended up in similar roles on the other side of the fence! I'm sure he will do a great job for the Bandits this year.”Sheffield have called up Grand Prix star Jason Doyle to guest for the injured Simon Stead in Thursday’s Owlerton opener against Elite League Leicester.The Lions, meanwhile, bring in Stoke’s Chris Widman as Szymon Wozniak has a prior commitment in Poland.Sheffield co-promoter Damien Bates said: “Simon has told us everything is good, this meeting has just come a couple of days too soon for him and he needs a little bit more time to recover.“We are delighted to book World No.5 Jason Doyle as a guest and it’s going to be great to see a rider of his calibre wearing a Sheffield race jacket for the night.”Leicester won the first leg 59-34, and boss Norrie Allan said: “Sheffield are a much better team than the score-line suggests and I for one am not getting carried away with the result. “I thought that the pairings worked out well, the atmosphere in the pits was great and the best it has been since I came on board as the Lions’ team manager.”(SPEEDWAY 3)
SIMON Lambert has taken the decision to defer his Testimonial meeting into the 2017 season.Lambert had initially earmarked a date of Sunday August 28 for the event at King’s Lynn, but a review of other meetings that weekend including the National League Pairs at the same venue on the previous evening has promoted a re-think.Lambert said: “I’m obviously disappointed, but trying to set an alternative weekend date for later in the season would be problematical because of the unknowns of the play-off situation, so it has made sense to defer the meeting to 2017.“Hopefully, we will be able to stage the Decennary at Lynn at the start of next season, which should help us in terms of rider availability with the season not fully underway.”(FIXTURES)
THURSDAY MARCH 24:ELITE LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Lakeside 7.30TWEED/TEES TROPHY 1st leg: Redcar v Berwick 7.30INTER-LEAGUE CHALLENGE 2nd leg: Sheffield v Leicester 7.30
FRIDAY MARCH 25:ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton OFF, Coventry v Leicester 7.30, Lakeside v King’s Lynn 1pm, Poole v Swindon 12pmLEAGUE CUP: Somerset v Rye House 7.30NATIONAL TROPHY: Birmingham v Stoke 7.30GOOD FRIDAY CHASE: Eastbourne v Kent 12pm, Kent v Eastbourne 6.30
SATURDAY MARCH 26:ELITE LEAGUE: Leicester v Coventry 7.30 TWEED/TEES TROPHY 2nd leg: Berwick v Redcar 7pmIAN THOMAS SHIELD 1st leg: Workington v Newcastle 7pm
