BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAY 3, 2022

(SPEEDWAY 1)

IPSWICH CHASING BARKER

IPSWICH have moved to sign Ben Barker as a replacement for Cameron Heeps ahead of their Premiership opener on Thursday.

The Witches face Belle Vue at Foxhall and have reacted to a disappointing League Cup campaign, where they lost all four of their group fixtures.
Promoter Chris Louis said: “When we looked at what was available here, Ben was the obvious choice really. He knows Ipswich, he knows the club, he knows the track because he has been with us a couple of times before.

“You know you are going to get 100 per cent, he doesn’t know any other way and he feels like the right fit.

“We need to fill that one position; we need consistent points from that position that we weren’t getting, and he is probably the right man to do that.
“We thank Cameron for all of his efforts this season and wish him the best for the rest of the campaign.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

KING’S Lynn have confirmed Danish star Niels-Kristian Iversen has agreed to extend his stay with the club.

Iversen initially re-joined the club on the eve of the season as cover for fellow Dane Peter Kildemand, who was suffering from injury, and he will now remain in Stars colours for the upcoming period.

Manager Alex Brady said: “We’ve been lucky enough to extend Niels’ short-term deal on a temporary basis.

“Niels is happy to do it, and the club are happy to keep him here, as am I because he’s been excellent for us, and his professionalism is second to none.

“So as it stands he’ll stay with us for the time being, and there’s no deadline placed on that. He’s doing a great job, and hopefully he can continue to do that for us deep into the season.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)

BELLE Vue slammed reigning champions Peterborough 64-26 in a remarkable start to the Premiership campaign in Manchester.

Brady Kurtz scored a 15-point maximum for the Aces, who started with four successive 5-1s as the Panthers also suffered a succession of problems.

Max Fricke added 12+1, only being beaten in the last race, and Matej Zagar made a successful return with 10+1. Chris Harris was the Panthers’ only race winner on a dismal day for the visitors.

Zagar said: “I was really looking forward to today’s meeting and this was a very important result for us. Peterborough are the reigning champions, so we did feel a little pressure to start with.

“But our desire to win was very strong, especially after such a tough start to the season in the League Cup, and all the boys scored well and our efforts paid off.

“For me, it was a big relief to start off with a good performance and like I said it was important for the team to get off to a strong start in the league.”
Panthers boss Rob Lyon said: “It was the worst nightmare in some ways. Everything went wrong today, we were out-ridden, out-gated, and we weren’t quick enough.

“I think sometimes you have to hold your hands up and say we were beaten by a better side, and that was clearly the case today.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

WOLVERHAMPTON had three unbeaten riders with Ryan Douglas, Sam Masters and Nick Morris all hitting maximums in their win over King’s Lynn.

Wolves took the honours 53-37 with Douglas scoring 14+1 from five rides, with his fellow two Aussies both scoring paid maximums from four rides in their Premiership opener.

Thomas Jorgensen racked up 14 points for the Stars from seven-ride schedule after the visitors were hit by illness which forced skipper Josh Pickering to withdraw – whilst Niels-Kristian Iversen and Richard Lawson were also below full fitness.

Douglas said: “That was a great meeting for us. We definitely thought it was going to be tough; they were unbeaten, so we came in knowing we had to be good.

“We all rode well and also showed that we’re a good team and it’s definitely a good confidence booster for our boys.”
Stars boss Alex Brady said: “It was a tough one. We came into the meeting full of confidence after the League Cup campaign, but it just wasn’t our night.

“Thomas was brilliant value, and I was really pleased for him because he’s had a bit of an indifferent start – a good one and then a couple of bad rides, so he’s not quite performed how he’s wanted to.

“He’s a confidence rider, so this meeting will do him a power of good, and if there’s one positive we can take from tonight it’s his performance.”

(SPEEDWAY 5)

POOLE promoter Danny Ford is targeting another victory in Devon tonight (Tuesday) as the reigning Championship holders visit Plymouth.
The Pirates have already won at the Coliseum this season in the KO Cup but the Gladiators have since picked up positive results at home.

Chris Harris stands in at No.1 for the injured Edward Kennett for the hosts, who also have two guests at reserve with Jason Edwards and Ben Morley replacing the unavailable Henry Atkins and injured Dan Gilkes.

Ford said: “We can obviously take heart from our Cup victory there earlier this season, but there is no doubt that Garry May will have his side fired up for this one.

“In that Cup fixture I don’t think we saw the best of Danny (King) as, unusually for him at the Coliseum, he didn’t record a race win and scored just five points.

“They also had Dan Gilkes on fire that night, scoring 16 points and his injury at the weekend will come as a huge blow for them, and we can only wish Dan a very speedy recovery.”

(FIXTURES)

WEDNESDAY MAY 4:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Birmingham v Scunthorpe 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Oxford v Berwick 7.30

THURSDAY MAY 5:
PREMIERSHIP: Ipswich v Belle Vue 7.30, King’s Lynn v Wolverhampton 7.30, Sheffield v Peterborough 7.30

FRIDAY MAY 6:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Plymouth