BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAY 26, 2022

(SPEEDWAY 1)

BRITISH FINAL SPONSORSHIP

THE 2022 British Final at Belle Vue will again receive title sponsorship from Sports Insure.
The dedicated sports specialists offer extensive and much valued backing to speedway and will once more put their name to the flagship event at the National Speedway Stadium later this summer.

The Sports Insure British Final Championship takes place on Monday August 1, with Sheffield star Adam Ellis set to defend his title.
And in a further boost for the event, this year’s winner is set to receive a Wild Card for the FIM British Grand Prix at Cardiff.

The sport returns to the Principality Stadium on August 13 after the GP was cancelled due to the pandemic in the last two seasons, meaning Charles Wright was the last rider to secure a British GP Wild Card following his national title victory in 2019.
British Speedway would like to offer our sincere thanks to all at Sports Insure for their continued backing of the sport, and for their British Final sponsorship.

(SPEEDWAY 2)

POOLE moved level on points with Championship leaders Leicester thanks to an emphatic 55-35 win at Birmingham on Wednesday.
The Brummies held their opponents for the first half of the meeting and trailed by just two points going into Heat 8, which provided a turning point as the previously unbeaten Stefan Nielsen fell with the Pirates taking a 5-1 in the re-run.

The visitors then extended their advantage for the remainder of the contest, with heat-leaders Danny King, Richard Lawson and Steve Worrall scoring 12, 11+2 and 10+1 respectively.

Guest Tom Brennan picked up 10+1 for the hosts including an impressive Heat 13 win, but No.1 Claus Vissing failed to score after suffering a neck problem when he became entangled in the tapes in Heat 1.

Pirates co-promoter Danny Ford said: “Just like they did in our home match, Birmingham made things tough for us early on as they stuck to us and didn’t allow us to build up a lead.
“I don’t think the final score truly reflected the tightness of the meeting. But I was pleased to see our lads dig deep and kick on as the meeting progressed, as I had hoped.

“It was a solid team effort and it was good to see both Ben (Cook) and Nathan (Ablitt) return a couple of decent performances especially after they had tough ones at Glasgow, as it will serve as confidence boosters for them.”

Brummies boss Laurence Rogers said: “We were in there with a chance at just two points down. But we just fell apart really, and Stefan coming off in Heat 8 affected us and Poole pulled away.
“I genuinely thought that we could’ve pushed them to the end up until then, but they’re strong all the way through and it wasn’t to be.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

SHEFFIELD host Belle Vue in a clash of the top two teams in the early Premiership table at Owlerton tonight (Thursday).
The Tigers had the better of the Roses clashes in the League Cup earlier in the season, but the Aces made an impressive start to league competition before losing at King’s Lynn last week.

Matej Zagar is back from injury for the Manchester side, who continue to operate rider replacement for broken collarbone victim Jye Etheridge.
Sheffield skipper Kyle Howarth said: “We’ve already beaten Belle Vue a couple of times this year but even with the team they had then, we still thought they’d be a bit stronger than they were.

“They’ve brought Zagar in and they’ve definitely picked up, haven’t they? So we know it’s going to be tough but as we always say, as long as we ride how we know we can and as long as everyone does their jobs, then we know we can beat them again.”

Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “It’s fantastic news for us to have Matej back for this fixture. It does bulk up our strength, and you feel things will be much closer for us than they were last time we were there.

“Obviously we are still compensating for Jye’s injury absence, but the boys have already proved they can cover the No.2 rides very well and produce great results.

“Sheffield will be confident, I’m sure, especially on home shale. They’ve had a brilliant first few weeks of the season so we will need to give it everything we’ve got.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

IPSWICH bid to bounce back from last week’s home defeat when they take on Wolverhampton at Foxhall tonight (Thursday).
But the visitors are also out to avenge a previous result as the Witches were victorious when the sides met at Monmore earlier in the month.

The home side are set to welcome Paul Starke from injury, but must operate rider replacement for Erik Riss who is on FIM Long Track duty. Joe Thompson continues at reserve for Wolves with Leon Flint sidelined.

Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “It is important to get back on track at home and get another win on the board, we need that to give us a good start to the league campaign.
“It’s glaringly obvious where we need to improve, we need to cut out the silly errors that we are making.”

The visitors put in an impressive display to win at Sheffield last week, although the result wasn’t quite enough to see them secure League Cup progression.
Boss Peter Adams said: “It was a terrific performance and it was a good measure of just where we’re at at the minute.
“There were a huge amount of positives to be taken from it, and we will take plenty into our upcoming Premiership matches.”

(SPEEDWAY 5)

PETERBOROUGH have added Jordan Jenkins to their squad to take a Rising Star position. Jenkins joins the Panthers in place of long-term injury victim Dan Gilkes, and is set to line up in their next Premiership match at King’s Lynn on Monday with fellow Rising Star Jordan Palin sitting out that meeting.

Boss Rob Lyon said: “We looked at what was available and felt that Jordan Jenkins was probably the best option for us.
“I know him from No Limits (training) days and so on, so it did make sense and it was just a shame he had an injury last week which meant he couldn’t ride on Monday in the Pairs.

“With Jordan Palin, it’s just a couple of matches that we’ve rested him for, and that’s what the No.7/No.8 scenario is all about this year.
“It provides some competition, and hopefully Jordie will come back all guns firing, and we’ll see him back in the team in the future.”
 
(FIXTURES)

THURSDAY MAY 26:
PREMIERSHIP: Ipswich v Wolverhampton 7.30, Sheffield v Belle Vue 7.30

FRIDAY MAY 27:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Birmingham 7.30
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Redcar v Berwick 7.30, Scunthorpe v Leicester 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Armadale 7.30

SATURDAY MAY 28:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Glasgow 7pm
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Leicester v Scunthorpe 7pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 3: Edinburgh 2.30

SUNDAY MAY 29:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Newcastle v Redcar 4pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP Round 4: Glasgow 2pm