BRITISH SPEEDWAY ROUND-UP #29

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

PIC OF THE WEEK…

BELLE Vue clinched their third ROWE Motor Oil Premiership title in five years after a convincing Grand Final display against Sheffield on Friday night at a packed National Speedway Stadium.
The Aces were able to celebrate in front of their own Manchester fans as they won the second leg 53-37 for a 20-point aggregate success, officially sealing the crown with three races remaining.
The Belle Vue top five were in dominant mood with Jason Doyle (11), Norick Blordorn (10+2) and Zach Cook (10+1) all in double figures along with unbeaten guest Nicolai Klindt (11+1), whilst skipper Brady Kurtz was unbeaten after running a rare last place in Heat 1.
Photo credit: IAN CHARLES

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP LATEST

HOW IT STANDS
BELLE VUE secured their third Premiership title in five years with their 20-point aggregate triumph over Sheffield in the Grand Final. It was the first time the Aces had secured the league crown on their home circuit for 54 years.

ACES HIGH
BELLE VUE skipper Brady Kurtz says he was proud to lead the club to yet more major silverware as they clinched the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership last Friday.
Kurtz captained the Aces to their Grand Final victory over Sheffield to add to their title triumphs of 2022 and 2024, both of which had been secured away from home.
He said: “I think it’s been a massive effort from the whole club – from Lemo (Mark Lemon) to the fans, the team, the volunteers, the track staff, everyone has put a massive effort in to get this over the line.
“It’s always tough when the play-offs come. You don’t really know what to expect, but fair play to the whole team because we really stuck together.
“We did the business against Ipswich home and away, and then at Sheffield was the big one for us and I’m super proud of the team’s efforts, the whole lot of them.
“Congratulations also to Sheffield for making the Final, that’s a credit for any club to get to the Grand Final and they fought their way in through the semis in the best of styles.”

SILVER FOR SHEFFIELD
SHEFFIELD manager Simon Stead took a philosophical view after seeing his team beaten in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final by Belle Vue.
It was another strong campaign for the Owlerton club but Stead admitted they hadn’t quite been able to get on terms with their Roses rivals.
He said: “I think a silver medal is probably as good as we could’ve hoped for with the season that Belle Vue have had; they’ve been absolutely unbelievable all season and credit to them.
“They’ve been at the top all year and you can’t take anything away from them.
“We can’t really have too many complaints; it’s a shame we couldn’t run Belle Vue closer than we did but as I said, we’ve been beaten by the better team and that’s just how it is.”

CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP LATEST

FIVE LINED UP FOR BANDITS
BERWICK have already named five signings for the 2027 season including four riders who were part of their MAXiCab KO Cup winning side this year.
Skipper Jye Etheridge, Nick Morris, Jordan Jenkins and Reid Battye will all be back with the Bandits whilst Drew Kemp makes a return after spending the second half of this year with Workington.
Jenkins said: “The phone’s been pretty busy, and that is a bit of a confidence boost.
“But in the end it was a pretty easy decision to return to Berwick in 2027.”
The signings are subject to approval as the regulations for next season await ratification.

CHEETAHS NAME TWO
OXFORD skipper Sam Masters will be back to lead the Cheetahs again next season with Luke Killeen also lined up for a Cowley return.
Both riders have been integral parts of the set-up at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium in recent years, and Masters says familiarity is one of the key factors behind his return.
He said: “I’m not one to change teams and I don’t like changing teams. I was with Edinburgh for eight years and next year is my fifth season with Oxford.
“Oxford is such a good club and it was always in my heart to come back here. I get on with everyone here and I enjoy it. I’m already looking forward to next year with Oxford.”
The signings are subject to approval as the regulations for next season await ratification.

SCORPIONS LOOK AHEAD
SCUNTHORPE promoter Rob Godfey says it’s time to look forward despite a controversial end to their campaign.
The Scorpions finished as runners-up in the Cab Direct Championship after losing out in a dramatic Super Heat decider at Poole which resulted in a protest from the Lincolnshire club.
Godfrey said: “The boys pulled together to get the results when we really needed them to. Josh Pickering has been a superb skipper and all the rest of the lads have chipped in with vital contributions.
“I promised that if we didn’t win the league this season, that we would next year, and that’s what we are still planning to do.”

BEARS THANKS TO JAMIE
REDCAR’S directors have paid tribute to outgoing co-promoter Jamie Swales as they look to appoint a replacement at the north-east club.
Swales’ final meeting in charge was the Teesside Silver Helmet at the ECCO Arena on Saturday with Drew Kemp taking the honours.
The Bears’ directors said: “Jamie has done a great job as promoter here, which is why we are so sorry that he feels it’s time to take a rest and concentrate on his career away from speedway.
“Thankfully he will still be around the scene and you never know, after a break he may well return, but in the meantime the club are working on a replacement to work alongside Leanne (Swales) and Keith (Miller) in the promotional team.”

WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE LATEST

HOW IT STANDS
EDINBURGH’S 53-37 win at Leicester on Saturday saw the Monarchs Academy complete the remarkable feat of winning all 10 of their league matches this season, meaning they ended the campaign with a maximum 25 points. The result was also enough to secure runners-up position for the Monarchs Academy on race points difference.

PERFECT TEN
EDINBURGH boss Scott Wilson praised the winning mentality of his team after they completed a clean sweep of NDL wins at Leicester on Saturday.
Wilson said: “It feels amazing. Obviously we knew we had won the league a couple of meetings ago and the goal immediately became, ‘can we go unbeaten?’
“Everybody was really motivated and we saw that tonight. Leicester are a very, very good team but we did it convincingly.
“All the way to Heat 15 we were still passing and we were just so driven. To win the championship and go unbeaten, I’m just very proud of the entire group.”

BOSS PROUD OF LION CUBS
LEICESTER manager Jen Crossland said she was delighted with her team’s efforts to secure runners-up spot in the NDL despite a late season injury crisis which left them without three riders.
Crossland said: “On and off the track they’ve been absolutely amazing and I seriously can’t be any prouder of every single one of them. They’ve done fantastic, and that is the future of British Speedway.
“Development is why we’re in this league, which is exactly why we brought in Emerson Betty at the end, and we will hopefully have some news coming out in the next few weeks which will be really exciting for Leicester and the supporters.”

FIXTURE PICTURE…

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 21:
HARBOUR MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Poole – OFF