BRITISH SPEEDWAY ROUND-UP #2
HERE’S the latest news and fixtures from around the tracks up and down the country.
PIC OF THE WEEK…
NEWCOMERS Oxford are the early pace-setters in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership following a 48-42 win last week at Birmingham.The Spires secured match and aggregate points and sit top of the early table with a 100 per cent record from their opening three fixtures.
Photo credit: PHIL McGLYNN
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP…
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
Belle Vue’s German star NORICK BLODORN kept up his impressive start to the season with a score of 9+1 in the Aces’ rain-hit win over Leicester. Blodorn was involved in two 5-1s with skipper Brady Kurtz, providing perfect back-up to the Australian and GB ace Dan Bewley.
BAILEY BACKING ACES
BELLE Vue Rising Star Connor Bailey says the early signs are good after a 51-33 win over Leicester in Monday’s weather-affected clash at the National Speedway Stadium.
Bailey said: “It was a fantastic meeting until the weather came in heavy, but we can be proud of what we achieved against a strong Leicester side.
“I think I was a bit ambitious with my set-ups in my first couple of rides so I made some tweaks and I found something that worked to finish the night off.
“It does put us in a great position for the return leg at Leicester. We’ve got two points for our trouble tonight but we would like to continue to build on that when we go to Leicester.”
EXTRA STEP NEEDED
BIRMINGHAM star Tom Brennan says the Perry Barr side aren’t far from being a competitive force, having come close to some shock results in the early weeks of Premiership action.
Brennan said: “We really need to maintain our belief. We’ve come so close every single time; eight points has been our biggest defeat so far and we’ve faced some very good teams.
“Everybody is working well together, we just need that extra little step now.
“As soon as we can all fire on all cylinders then we’ll be a very different Birmingham team, that’s for sure.”
WITCHES LOOK TO JJ
IPSWICH boss Ritchie Hawkins says the track knowledge of second-string Jordan Jenkins could be key when they visit Cowley – Jenkins’ Championship club – on Thursday.
Hawkins said: “It will be a new track for some of the boys and unusually in speedway the lesser experienced riders will have probably done more laps at the track than the more experienced guys.
“Jordan has raced at Oxford many times and hopefully his knowledge of the circuit can help us.
“I’m sure the top guys will quickly adapt to a different track and Keynan (Rew) has the experience of learning new tracks last year, so it is another for him and hopefully he picks it up quickly because it could be an important role he has now he is down at No.6.”
NEW HOME FOR TOBI
KING’S Lynn captain Tobiasz Musielak is looking forward to making the Adrian Flux Arena his home circuit this season after plenty of success with Sheffield in recent years.
Musielak said: “I am glad to be here. I just want to enjoy my racing, my journey in England, and of course I’ll try to repeat the great meetings I’ve had at King’s Lynn in the past.
“I love the track, and hopefully I’ll be dropping the clutch as quickly as possible and then see you later!”
LIONS FALL SHORT
LEICESTER boss Stewart Dickson admits his side haven’t met expectations in the early weeks of the season, and is targeting a bounce-back at home to Sheffield on Thursday.
Dickson said: “It’s a very significant match this early on in the season. Every meeting is important, and we know they’re a top team and they’ll be coming and looking to get something at Leicester.
“We look a bit wounded at the moment, but my guys will be pumped up for Thursday. We’ll be ready, Thursday is a different night.”
BIG NIGHT FOR SPIRES
OXFORD are building up to another massive night on Thursday as Ipswich provide the opposition in front of what is expected to be another bumper crowd.
Spires manager Peter Schroeck said: “For the neutrals and even our supporters it will be a great spectacle to see the likes of Emil (Sayfutdinov) and Jason (Doyle) on track and we’re looking forward to the challenge.
“It’s good to have Maciej (Janowski) back in the squad after his Polish commitments last week. The boys covered his rides really well which ultimately got us a big win on the road but being back at full strength is an advantage.”
DOUBLE TARGET FOR TIGERS
SHEFFIELD manager Simon Stead wants the defending league champions to continue their upward curve this season – and that means winning the double!
Stead said: “We won the KO Cup in 2022 and we reached the Final last year.
“Before this season got started I spoke about us going one further this campaign – and the only way we can do that is by doing the double.
“We’re feeling good about ourselves, we’ve ran late shows in our first meetings and there have been positives we can bring forward with us.”
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP…
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
NATHAN ABLITT provided real strength at reserve for Scunthorpe in their 52-38 BSN Series win over Redcar last Friday. Ablitt won three of his five races, finishing with an impressive 12-point total as the Scorpions covered for the mid-meeting withdrawal of Michael Palm Toft due to back pain.
BUOYANT BANDITS
BERWICK’S positive start to the season continued with a 48-42 home win over Glasgow and they new prepare for more Scottish opposition this weekend.
Bandits director Jamie Courtney said: “The Scottish section of the BSN Series is always one of the hardest to get out of, but that is certainly the intention over the next couple of weeks. “Edinburgh are here (on Saturday) and that usually fires up one or two of our ex-Monarchs although the same could be said of Connor Coles who will be back at Shielfield for the first time since picking up his two Berwick rider of the year awards.”
FAMILIARITY THE KEY
EDINBURGH promoter John Campbell believes that given better fortune on the injury front, the Monarchs can make a serious bid for Championship honours this season.
Campbell said: “It’s a season that I am greatly looking forward to with an exciting team ready to show us that they can be a match for anyone.
“To a large extent it is our team of 2023 that, through injury, didn’t have the chance to perform to their true capabilities. With captain Paco (Castagna) leading the way I think we’ll see a transformation in performances.
“It’s always good to welcome new riders and it’s nice to have old faces Connor Coles and Justin Sedgmen back on board with the exciting young talent of Max James very much a newcomer for us.”
TIGERS TARGET DOUBLE
GLASGOW manager Cami Brown says the motivation is high at Ashfield to back up last year’s Cab Direct Championship success with more silverware in 2024.
Brown said: “That league win is now in the history books. It was a brilliant feeling and it was important for our fans.
“But now we are super-hungry to back it up. Retaining anything is very difficult but so is winning anything in the first place.
“I actually think winning the title has made us all even more motivated to do it again. People have asked me whether we will relax now we’ve won the league. Not at all. The feeling I get from everyone is that we want that glory again.”
CHEETAHS LOOK TO GO FURTHER
OXFORD are hoping their heavy defeat at Poole on Good Friday proves to be a one-off, as a squad very familiar from 2023 looks to make another bid for honours after their play-off exit last October.
Manager Peter Schroeck said: “Retaining the core of our side from last season was really important. The connection between our riders and the supporters was clear to see, so we couldn’t be happier with the squad we have in place.
“We have unfinished business from the autumn and I know the boys are determined to make a success of this year.”
PIRATES START STRONG
POOLE No.1 Richard Lawson opened his Championship season with a 15-point maximum against Oxford in the BSN Series – and admitted the Pirates’ 61-29 victory did come as something of a surprise.
Lawson said: “I didn’t expect that score against Oxford. I had them tipped as one of the top teams so we definitely laid down a marker tonight.
“The track was well prepared. It’s not massively different to last year and I thought it rode really well. You know, the track guys here do a real good job, and they listen to what we want.”
RAIN, RAIN, GO AWAY!
PLYMOUTH have explained the rational behind postponing their opening two home matches, with unprecedented rainfall making it impossible for the Coliseum circuit to dry after extensive track work over the winter.
They said: “February has been the wettest on record in Plymouth, and March has also been exceptionally wet. The average rainfall in Plymouth in March is between 70 and 80mm but so far this month the city has had 165mm of rain!
“The yearly total so far is 677mm, more than half what we would normally see annually, so you can see what we have been up against!”
BEARS BEATEN AT SCUNTHORPE
REDCAR manager Gavin Parr had no complaints after the Bears went down to a 52-38 defeat at Scunthorpe in their opening BSN Series fixture.
Parr said: “I think they’ve all had decent races and bad races, and gate 4 was so much better than everywhere else.
“But Scunthorpe have just been the better side on the night without doubt.”
SCORPIONS PRAISE FOR TRACK WORK
NEW Scunthorpe manager David Howe paid tribute to the work done on the Eddie Wright Raceway circuit which enable last Friday’s BSN Series match with Redcar to go ahead.
Howe said: “I walked the track with Gavin Parr, the Redcar manager, because we wanted to take a look at the track, before we also got the riders involved. We agreed, at that point, the track was unraceable.
“Rob (Godfrey) and his team then got stuck in. It wasn’t what Rob wanted to do, because it undid some of the work that he’s done in recent weeks, but he did it, and it allowed the meeting to go ahead.”
POSITIVES FOR COMETS
WORKINGTON promoter Andrew Bain says there were plenty of encouraging signs both on and off track from their opening Border Trophy clashes with Berwick, especially at home.
He said: “There was some really good racing from members of our exciting new team. The riders are starting to get dialled in and you can see already how they are coming on.
“Apart from the disappointing result it was a brilliant day overall in fantastic weather, after some very hard work behind the scenes from everybody involved. It was good to see a great turnout and tremendous to see so many people coming through the turnstiles, including fans of several other clubs who chose to spend their afternoon with us.”
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE…
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
Leicester youngster SONNY SPRINGER made hugely impressive home debut for the Lion Cubs in their 56-34 home win over Edinburgh. The 15-year-old was involved in 5-1s in each of his first three rides, and finished with 8+2 from four outings.
PLEASED TO BE A COLT
BELLE Vue newcomer Chad Wirtzfeld enjoyed a positive home debut for the Colts even though the team slipped to defeat against Leicester in their NDL opener.
Wirtzfeld said: “It was a learning curve because I’m not as familiar with the track as some of the other boys but things came together quite well for me because I don’t have a point of reference for this place.
“Because it was so deep, it was much more similar to the conditions I’m used to in Grass Track, which I think is what was throwing the others off, especially early on.”
ACADEMY STILL POSITIVE
EDINBURGH boss Scott Wilson says his side will quickly put their opening-day disappointment behind them after a 22-point defeat at Leicester.
Wilson said: “We never really got a foothold in the meeting, and it was damage limitation by the midway point. Sam McGurk was our bright point, he kept us competitive but he will need his team-mates to give him a lot more support if we are to win matches.
“It’s a good group of boys we have here though, they’ll regroup and look to put things right against Oxford in a couple of weeks.”
DREAM START FOR LION CUBS
LEICESTER have opened the NDL season with two wins out of two, having been successful at Belle Vue on Good Friday and then backed it up with victory over Edinburgh on their own circuit.
Manager Dave Howard said: “It was a great performance, especially considering none of them apart from Joe (Thompson) had ridden the track this season after the changes.
“But everybody was fantastic and it’s great to get a big win, and to get two wins out of two at the start of the season.”
FIXTURE PICTURE…
WEDNESDAY APRIL 10:
BSN SERIES: Poole v Plymouth 7.30
THURSDAY APRIL 11:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: King’s Lynn v Belle Vue 7.30, Leicester v Sheffield 7.30, Oxford v Ipswich 7.30
FRIDAY APRIL 12:
CAB DIRECT KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Scunthorpe v Plymouth 7.30
BSN SERIES: Glasgow v Edinburgh 7.30, Redcar v Workington 7.30
SATURDAY APRIL 13:
CAB DIRECT KO CUP 1st round 2nd leg: Plymouth v Scunthorpe 7pm
BSN SERIES: Berwick v Edinburgh 7pm
MONDAY APRIL 15:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Belle Vue v King’s Lynn 7.30, Birmingham v Leicester 7.30
WEDNESDAY APRIL 17:
BSN SERIES: Oxford v Plymouth 7.30
THURSDAY APRIL 18:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Ipswich v Oxford 7.30, Leicester (33) v Belle Vue (51) 7.30, Sheffield v King’s Lynn 7.30
FRIDAY APRIL 19:
BSN SERIES: Glasgow (42) v Berwick (48) 7.30, Redcar (38) v Scunthorpe (52) 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Oxford 7.30
SATURDAY APRIL 20:
CAB DIRECT KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Berwick v Plymouth (prov) 7pm
BSN SERIES: Workington v Redcar 3pm
SUNDAY APRIL 21:
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Leicester v Middlesbrough 3pm, Oxford v Edinburgh 3pm
MONDAY APRIL 22:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Belle Vue (39) v Ipswich (51) 7.30, King’s Lynn v Sheffield 7.30
WEDNESDAY APRIL 24:
CAB DIRECT KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Poole v Edinburgh 7.30
