BRITISH SPEEDWAY JUNE 2, 2022

Date: Thursday June 2, 2022

(SPEEDWAY 1)

LEICESTER KEEP TOP OF TABLE POSITION

LEICESTER remain top of the Championship after taking a full four-point haul from a 52-38 win at Birmingham.
The Lions took control with 5-1s in Heats 2 and 4 and secured the result with back-to-back maximum advantages in Heats 13 and 14 to see off a comeback from the Brummies.

Skipper Kyle Howarth scored 13+2 for the visitors and was unbeaten until Heat 15, whilst Nick Morris scored 12, and they also outscored the hosts 15-1 at reserve. Justin Sedgmen won four races for the Brummies as he finished on 13+1.

Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “We rode pretty well, pretty solid on the night, it was a solid team performance from the six riders missing Connor (Mountain), and it was a thoroughly professional job.

“Fair play to Birmingham, they got back into it with clever use of the tactical later on, because I did wonder when Laurence (Rogers) was going to use it, but we got a couple of 5-1s again in Heats 13 and 14 which put it out of their reach.

“Four points keeps us top of the table for that little bit longer, and it was a very pleasing result for us. It wasn’t as one-sided as it looks, but from a Leicester perspective we’re very happy.”

Sedgmen said: “Leicester have got a very strong team and I’d be very surprised if they don’t make the Final.
“No excuses though, it is what it is. The boys tried pretty hard, it was a little bit frustrating.”
 (SPEEDWAY 2)

POOLE made it 23 matches unbeaten at home with a 49-41 win over Edinburgh – who nearly salvaged another away point.
Steve Worrall led the way for the Pirates with 13 points, whilst Richard Lawson scored ten and Ben Cook impressed with 8+3.

The Monarchs’ 41 points was comfortably the best score by a visiting team to Wimborne Road this season, with Sam Masters scoring 15 from six rides and guest reserve Jason Edwards notched 10+1 from seven.

Cook said: “That was a good night for me. I did it the hard way in Heat 14 but three points is three points, it was good, and I am learning every week.
“It was nice too to share in the 5-1 with Stevie over Sam as he is in incredible form this season and he’s not dropping many points, so to get one over him feels pretty good, and Picko (Josh Pickering) is no slouch either.

“It’s always good to get one over the Aussie boys, I’ve just got to make sure I can do it the Finals when they come around.”Monarchs boss John Campbell said: “I think we put on a really good performance in what was a really good meeting.

“I think Stevie Worrall was very harsh in his manoeuvres on the back straight on lap one of Heat 15, and if he hadn’t turned left on Josh then Josh may have got through there to secure us a point.

“I’m sure people would say ‘it’s racing’ but Josh is furious at the end of it. But I think we did well, and Jason Edwards was an excellent guest obviously.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

OXFORD moved up to third place in the National Development League with a 50-39 win over Plymouth at Cowley.
Heat-leaders Nathan Stoneman and Jordan Jenkins led the way for the Chargers with 11+2 and 11 respectively, and Sam Hagon weighed in with 10.
Centurions guest Alfie Bowtell scored 14, being unbeaten after losing out to Jenkins in Heat 1, whilst Richard Andrews collected 11+1.

(SPEEDWAY 4)

IPSWICH have top spot in the Premiership in their sights as they prepare to host rivals King’s Lynn at Foxhall tonight (Thursday).
A win will take the Witches above current leaders Belle Vue, although the Stars have already taken an away victory at the same venue in the League Cup this season.

The hosts welcome back Erik Riss after Longtrack duty, and are waiting on the fitness of Paul Starke who aggravated a wrist injury last week. Ben Barker moves to reserve under the new June averages.

Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We had an important win last week and we need to carry that on this week,“we have improved week on week at home. There were still a few mistakes last week and points we threw away, but we are gradually improving, and we will be looking for a bit more improvement again this week.

“When King’s Lynn came here in the Cup, we had half a team, and we were miles off where we are now. If we carry on how we have been improving, I expect us to win the meeting. If we do that puts us in a decent position going into a couple of away meetings next week.”

Stars manager Alex Brady said: “We went well there last time but even then, I didn’t feel like we won by as many as we should have.
“We came away with three points, but we are going there fully intent on coming back with all four this time.

“They will be a slightly different beast this time with Erik riding, I know he is keen to get one over on us so there will be that extra challenge and a bit of spice, but it is nothing we cannot handle.”

(SPEEDWAY 5)

PETERBOROUGH are still chasing their first Premiership points of the season as they go into tonight’s (Thursday) home clash with Wolverhampton.

The reigning champions have lost all four of their league matches in 2022, three of them away from home, and urgently need to put points on the board to avoid losing touch with the top four.

Jordan Jenkins continues in the Rising Star position for the Panthers whilst Wolves were buoyed by Monday’s excellent home win over Sheffield as they look for a first league away win of the season.

Panthers star Hans Andersen said: “It is the same team, everyone is still enjoying it and we are all in good spirits, but it is a team effort and unfortunately, myself included, some riders have not been getting the scores that are expected from us.

“It is very frustrating because everyone knows what we are capable of. The main thing is to get into the play-offs because everything starts all over again and once you retain your title, everyone will forget about what happened in the early part of the season.

“We just need to get on a good run of form. I have full confidence in this team, I know what all the riders are capable of on our day.”
Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “We need to recover that home defeat to Ipswich – and the sooner we do that, the more comfortable I’ll be and the more sleep I’ll be getting.

“I thought we’d got that in our pockets at Ipswich last Thursday but it just slipped out of our grasp.
“So Thursday at Peterborough presents us with another opportunity and the boys know what they need to do.”

 (FIXTURES)

THURSDAY JUNE 2:
PREMIERSHIP: Ipswich v King’s Lynn 7.30, Peterborough v Wolverhampton 7.30

FRIDAY JUNE 3:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Scunthorpe v Redcar 5pm
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Oxford 1pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP (500cc/250cc): Belle Vue (follows NDL fixture)

SATURDAY JUNE 4:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Leicester 6.30
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Glasgow v Edinburgh 7pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Berwick v Leicester (follows Champ fixture)