BRITISH SPEEDWAY ROUND-UP #9

HERE’S our latest news and fixtures from around the tracks up and down the country.

PIC OF THE WEEK…

EDINBURGH gave their season a major boost with a thumping 54-36 away win at Birmingham in the Cab Direct Championship. The Monarchs put on a dominant display at Perry Barr, led by stand-in skipper Craig Cook with 14 points and he was well-supported with Paco Castagna scoring 10+1.
Photo Credit: PHIL McGLYNN

SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP NEWSROUND…

JOB DONE BY WOLVES
WOLVERHAMPTON skipper Sam Masters praised the all-round team effort which saw the Monmore side maintain their 100 per cent home record with a thrilling win over Ipswich.
Masters said: “At the start of the night we said that if we could get a win here against that strong team we’d be happy, but that was impressive.
“To 5-1 those guys (Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov), I don’t think that will happen too much this year.
“I was really happy with the boys though, everyone dug deep and did their job.”

DOYLE LOVING LIFE WITH EMIL
IPSWICH No.1 Jason Doyle is relishing his combination with Emil Sayfutdinov at Foxhall this season.
The duo have combined for a host of 5-1s in 2023 already, and were involved in some thrilling action in Monday’s 49-41 defeat at Wolverhampton.
Doyle said: “I’ve ridden in teams a few times with Emil, with Leszno, in Poland for one. It’s always great to have someone with Emil’s capabilities, professionalism and how good he is on track.
“It always shows you there are things to learn from the top boys and it’s nice to have him in the team and to see him flying round some of the tracks for the first time back in England for so many years is amazing.”

LAWSON CRASH MARS LIONS WIN
LEICESTER star Richard Lawson is set for a couple of days in hospital after a heavy Heat 15 crash in the win over Sheffield on Monday.
Lawson tangled with the Tigers’ Tobiasz Musielak and crashed heavily, and although he suffered no broken bones he has been ruled out of the trip to Ipswich on Thursday.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “It wasn’t so much conceding a 5-1 in Heat 15 that took the shine off (the win) a bit, it was the incident with Richard.
“Richard feels okay but they want him in hospital for the next couple of days to keep an eye on him.”

SLOW START COSTS TIGERS
SHEFFIELD suffered a third successive away defeat when they went down 53-37 at Leicester on Monday.
The Tigers slipped ten points down in the first four races and No.1 Jack Holder admitted it was too large a deficit to pull back.
He said: “We just gave them too much of a head start.
“They were banging out of the starts early on and then a little too late, we started to climb back a little bit.”

PANTHERS WIN AT LAST!
THERE was relief throughout the Peterborough camp as the Panthers finally ended their winless run with a 53-37 home victory over King’s Lynn.
The Panthers narrowly failed to overturn an 18-point deficit for the aggregate point but put two league points on the board with reserve Ben Cook racking up a superb score of 16+2 from seven rides.
Co-promoter Carl Johnson said: “Ben has been steady all season, and we knew when he got dialled into this place he was going to be super-fast, and he showed that tonight. He was so quick, and having somebody at reserve scoring points like that was a real match-winner.
“Dan was a tremendous guest but the whole team put an effort in, they were riding with a smile on their faces and it was really good to see.”

FRUSTRATION FOR STARS
KING’S Lynn boss Alex Brady felt his side had “led themselves down” in their defeat at Peterborough on Monday – although they did take some consolation with the aggregate point.
The Stars had targeted the A47 derby double for a maximum five points, making the best possible start to the schedule with a 54-36 home win last week before going down by 16 at Alwalton.
Brady said: “From the first track grade we let ourselves down unfortunately and then Peterborough came on really strong in the back third of the meeting especially, and we were lucky to hold on in the end for the aggregate point.
“It’s not the biggest disaster in the world to take one point from here, but we came to take all three and I’m disappointed that we didn’t.”

ACES MISS OUT
JAIMON Lidsey scored a brilliant 15-point maximum for Belle Vue but the Aces are out of the Premiership KO Cup after an aggregate defeat to Wolverhampton.
The damage was done in the first leg over Easter when the Manchester side suffered a 26-point defeat, and a strong performance in the return fixture at home saw them come up short by eight overall.
Lidsey said: “It’s a bit of a tick off my bucket list, 15 around Belle Vue is tough – it’s a hard track to be fast on, so to get a 15 here is a big relief.
“I haven’t really changed anything, it’s just riding more, and being back here in the UK is doing me very well. Being on the bike as much as possible is really paying off.”

THE WEEK AHEAD… Sports Insure Premiership leaders Belle Vue are back in action on Bank Holiday Monday with a home and away double against Wolverhampton, with the evening fixture at Monmore Green live on Eurosport and discovery+… Sheffield finally return to Owlerton on Thursday as they host King’s Lynn… Ipswich look to bounce back from Monday’s defeat at Wolves with a home clash with Leicester on Thursday… the Lions then race at Peterborough on Bank Holiday Monday.

CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP NEWSROUND…

ANOTHER FINAL FOR PIRATES
POOLE overcame Redcar over two legs to reach the BSN Series Final – with a bigger win in the away leg than the one they managed at Wimborne Road!
The Pirates have made the Final of every competition they have entered since moving to Championship level in 2021, and maintained that record with a 52-38 win on Teesside for a 20-point aggregate triumph.
Co-boss Gary Havelock said: “Our intention at the start of the season is to win everything that we go for. You can’t always win, but we certainly always give it a go!”

TIGERS HEAD FOR FINAL
GLASGOW completed the job of defeating Scunthorpe in the BSN Series semi-finals and they will now take on Poole in the Final.
The Tigers were 46-44 winners in the away leg before racing to a 55-35 victory on their own Ashfield track – and boss Cami Brown reserved special praise for the youngest member of the side.
He said: “Our man of the match had to be young Ace Pijper. For a 16-year-old to come out and get two 5-1s is fairytale stuff. He is doing such a great job for us.
“But this is a great boost for all the lads to get through and show what a great side we have this year.”

MONARCHS’ MAJOR BOOST
EDINBURGH got their Cab Direct Championship campaign up and running with a big win at Birmingham last Wednesday.
The Monarchs had lost their home opener to Redcar but quickly redressed the balance at Perry Barr, one of their strongest venues to visit in recent years.
Manager John Campbell said: “Very pleased with the excellent display. There was good scoring throughout showing what we can do.
“Rory (Schlein) was a great guest and Craig (Cook) led the team brilliantly. We now look forward to pushing on from this performance.”

BRUMMIES LEFT PONDERING
BIRMINGHAM bosses made their feelings clear after a heavy home defeat to Edinburgh last Wednesday.
The Brummies have lost all four matches at Perry Barr this season with the loss to the Monarchs coming just 24 hours after a morale-boosting Cab Direct Championship win at Plymouth.
Co-owner Nigel Tolley said: “As Directors and management members, we had a debrief on Thursday – and we won’t allow things to stand still and we won’t just accept something like Wednesday night.
“I honestly believed that we could beat Edinburgh on Wednesday night and while we thought we had turned a corner results-wise, it’s now obvious we haven’t. We now need to look at every possibility of increasing our chances of improving results.”

SCORPIONS PLAN FORWARD
SCUNTHORPE boss Dave Peet admitted he had an eye on a future Cab Direct Championship trip to Glasgow after progression to the BSN Series Final was put out of his side’s reach.
The Scorpions lost 55-35 at Ashfield last Friday for a 22-point aggregate defeat.
Peet said: “We weren’t too far behind early on, but from Heat 6, Glasgow started to power away and by the end of Heat 10, they had it in the bag.
“After that, we chose not to make any programme changes, because we’re back at Glasgow in a month in a league match and we gave all the lads a further chance to gain some track time. We held Glasgow over the last five races and that bodes well for when we come back here.”

HEEPS OF POSITIVES
OXFORD star Cameron Heeps was voted Rider of the Night after last Wednesday’s BSN Series group match win over Plymouth.
Heeps is in his second season at Cowley and is looking to offer strong support to the Cheetahs’ powerful heat-leader trio.
He said: “Every meeting is one that we want to win, so job done there. Overall it was a decent night for me and a good win for the boys.
“I treat every meeting the same, I come out here to win and earn a few points. A win is a win, and I got some good points in the bag for myself.”

THE WEEK AHEAD… Defending champions Poole race their opening Cab Direct Championship fixture at home to Scunthorpe on Wednesday… The Scorpions also travel to Edinburgh on Friday with the Monarchs currently top of the early table on points difference… Redcar and Glasgow race their KO Cup quarter-final on Friday (Ecco Arena) and Tuesday (Ashfield)… the KO Cup semi-final between Oxford and Poole takes place over 24 hours starting at Cowley next Tuesday.

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE NEWSROUND…

HOME COMFORT FOR CHARGERS?
OXFORD boss Peter Schroeck is looking forward to getting back to Cowley after the Chargers were beset by problems in visits to Belle Vue and Mildenhall.
Schroeck’s side host the Colts in the reverse fixture on Wednesday after an impressive win over Leicester in their last home outing.
He said: “We can’t allow what happened in our two away fixtures to affect us and the response and vibe in the camp since our trip to Mildenhall has really encouraged me.
“On our day, I truly believe this team can be a match for any of our rivals at this level. It’s a key fixture and one we want to take control of in the early stages.”

BULLETS BEATEN BUT UNBOWED
BERWICK coach Kevin Little said the attitude within the camp was a major factor to take out of a tough weekend against Workington.
The Bullets’ misfortune continued with injuries and mechanical problems, but they still put on a good showing at Northside where they came close to forcing a last-heat decider – with Connor Coles and Jamie Halder receiving special praise for burning the midnight oil to resolve bike problems.
Little said: “That shows a huge commitment to the club and their team-mates which I’m glad was rewarded with a good points return.
“It is the sort of attitude that we want to see from riders at Berwick and is one of the reasons we can still take the positives from the results so far this season.”

BRUISED COMETS GO TOP
WORKINGTON top the early National Development League table after home and away wins over Berwick last weekend.
But the Comets also have three riders nursing injuries following an eventful two days of racing.
Skipper Luke Crang has a torn quad muscle and aims to be back in a couple of weeks, whilst Kelsey Dugard suffered a high-speed crash on Sunday but escaped with nerve damage to his right arm.
Meanwhile youngster Luke Harrison made his comeback from a broken shoulder in the home clash with the Bullets and took four rides, but needs a little longer to be fully race-fit.

THE WEEK AHEAD… Belle Vue have a busy week of NDL action as they travel to Oxford on Wednesday in a strong position for the aggregate point, and then host Mildenhall on Friday… champions Leicester are back at home on Saturday when they face Kent… Workington have a host of talented youngsters on show at Northside on Sunday as they stage the British Under-21 Qualifier with six places up for grabs in the Final.

FIXTURE PICTURE…

WEDNESDAY MAY 24:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Poole v Scunthorpe 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Oxford (33) v Belle Vue (56) 7.30

THURSDAY MAY 25:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R1: Ipswich v Leicester 7.30, Sheffield v King’s Lynn 7.30

FRIDAY MAY 26:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Scunthorpe 7.30
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Redcar v Glasgow 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Mildenhall 7.30

SATURDAY MAY 27:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Leicester v Kent 7pm

SUNDAY MAY 28:
BRITISH U21 QUALIFIER: Workington 3pm

MONDAY MAY 29:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R1: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 12pm, Peterborough (42) v Leicester (47) 7.30, Wolverhampton v Belle Vue 8pm

TUESDAY MAY 30:
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP S/F 1st leg: Oxford v Poole 7.30
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Glasgow v Redcar 7.30

WEDNESDAY MAY 31:
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Poole v Oxford 7.30
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Birmingham 7.30

THURSDAY JUNE 1:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R1: Ipswich (41) v Wolverhampton (49) 7.30, King’s Lynn v Sheffield 7.30

FRIDAY JUNE 2:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Birmingham 7.30, Scunthorpe v Redcar 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Oxford 7.30

SATURDAY JUNE 3:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Berwick v Oxford 7pm, Leicester v Belle Vue 7pm, Workington v Mildenhall 3pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh 1.30

SUNDAY JUNE 4:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Belle Vue 4pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Workington 12pm

MONDAY JUNE 5:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R1: Belle Vue (49) v Ipswich (41) 7.30, Peterborough (40) v Wolverhampton (50) 7.30

TUESDAY JUNE 6:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Plymouth v Poole 7pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Oxford v Mildenhall 7.30