BRITISH SPEEDWAY JULY 23, 2022

(SPEEDWAY 1)

BRENNAN GETS WILD CARD

REIGNING British Under-21 Champion Tom Brennan has been handed the Wild Card for the SGP2 round at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on August 14.
Brennan, who will defend his national title at Birmingham later that month, gets his long-awaited opportunity at World Under-21 level in the meeting which takes place at 1pm the day after the British Grand Prix.

Track reserves have also been confirmed as newly crowned British Under-19 Champion Leon Flint, and his predecessor Drew Kemp.

(SPEEDWAY 2)

PETERBOROUGH have moved to sign Jake Mulford as a Rising Star following two long-term injuries in that position this season.
The Panthers recently lost Jordan Palin for the remainder of the campaign, whilst Dan Gilkes has been ruled out since the end of April.

Mulford, who was in the King’s Lynn squad for the first half of the season, finished runner-up in Thursday’s British Under-19 Final at Redcar.
Head of operations Dale Allitt said: “This is a good move for Jake and also for Peterborough given the injuries in that position during this season.

“Jake rode superbly by all accounts in the British Under-19 Final, and only just missed out to Leon Flint in the decisive race.
“So he’s very much at the top of that bracket of riders, and what he really needs now is more track time in speedway.
“This gives him the opportunity to get that, and it also means Peterborough have more options in that position, so it’s a good move for all parties.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)

SCUNTHORPE withstood a Leicester fightback to edge out the Lions 46-44 in the Championship Jubilee League on Friday.
The Scorpions were in control at 29-19 up after eight races but the visitors came back to force a last-heat decider, where home No.1 Ryan Douglas took a vital second place behind Richie Worrall but ahead of Kyle Howarth.

Douglas top-scored for the hosts with 16 points whilst reserve Zaine Kennedy chipped in with 12+1. Worrall (11+1), guest Richard Lawson (10+1) and Howarth (10) were all in double figures for the Lions, who gained what could be an important point in the group.

Scorpions skipper Simon Lambert said: “It was good to get a win and three points on the board. We’d have liked to stop Leicester getting a point, but the most important thing was to win, while there was some good racing out there.

“I had a bit of a steady night for myself, but we win as a team and lose as a team. Zaine hit some real good form at reserve, which was good to see, while Dougie was Dougie – he’s one of the best No.1s in the league, if not the best.”

Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “We’re digging in there. We’re not quite at the same level as we have been in the months of May and June, and we won’t be kidded on about that, but we’re working hard and we managed to pull ourselves back in.

“Considering it wasn’t our best performance we’ve got to be happy with that, and it was a good, hard-fought match. Hopefully now if we win our two home matches it will be enough to get us into the Final.

“We know we’re not quite at it, one or two boys are not in the form they were in a couple of months ago, but it was a gusty performance from Max (Clegg) after he struggled last week. He got his just rewards, and I’m well pleased for him.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

EDINBURGH made a winning start to their Championship Jubilee League group with a 51-39 win over Berwick at Armadale.
The two sides meet again tonight (Saturday) at Shielfield Park in a meeting which will be significant for the Monarchs ahead of next week’s clashes with Glasgow.

Sam Masters led the way for the hosts with 13 points and Paco Castagna hit double-figures with 10, whilst Chris Harris racked up 14 for the visitors including wins in Heats 13 and 15.

Edinburgh boss Alex Harkess said: “I was very pleased with how the team performed tonight. With the weather threatening track preparation was difficult and yet it proved to be a good racing surface.
“Staff and riders deserve all the more praise for coming up with such eventful and enjoyable racing.”

Berwick manager Gary Flint said: “It was a pretty familiar story on our visits to Armadale. Even when we made the gate, we left half a gap and Edinburgh were through it.

“Again I cannot really fault the effort of the guys with Nathan (Stoneman) probably having his best showing in Berwick colours but it was another disappointing result at one of our least favourite tracks.

“Tomorrow is another night and I will be looking for a positive response from the Bandits and build up a momentum to take into Sunday’s match at Leicester.”
Both sides make changes on Saturday with Charles Wright coming in at No.1 for Berwick as Harris is racing for GB in the FIM European Pairs at Macon. Edinburgh bring in Lee Complin and Kasper Andersen as Lasse Fredriksen and Castagna are involved in the same meeting.

(SPEEDWAY 5)

BERWICK have vowed to give it everything in the biggest of uphill tasks when they face Leicester in the NDL KO Cup tonight (Saturday – UK time).

A place in the Final against Mildenhall awaits the aggregate winners, and the Lion Cubs appear to be in full control of the tie after winning 63-27 in the East Midlands earlier this month.

The home side bring in Kyran Lyden to guest at reserve as Kieran Douglas is still ruled out following his crash in the first leg.
Bullets boss Gary Flint said: “On paper there’s only one winner. But the Bullets don’t ride on paper and their attitude is ‘let’s get on track and get stuck in.’

“We certainly have riders who can make things happen on track and it is up to the likes of Greg Blair, Kyle Bickley and Luke Crang to set the tone early.
“There’s never a problem with motivation when it comes to the Bullets, sometimes it is quite the opposite, and there’ll be no lack of effort put in from any of the Berwick sides over the weekend.”

(SPEEDWAY 6)

POOLE boss Neil Middleditch has confirmed Chris and Jack Holder will both be racing in his much-delayed Testimonial at Wimborne Road on August 31.
Elder brother Chris first rode for the Pirates in 2008 and was involved in five top-flight title-winning campaigns, whilst Jack followed in his footsteps by joining the club in 2017.

Middleditch said: “I’m really happy to be able to make these two the first to be announced for my Testimonial. They are not just great riders but really good friends too. We go back a long way and they were only too pleased to be included.

“Poole fans won’t need reminding of how good they are, other than to say that Jack has gone on to be a Premiership No.1 and a fully-fledged SGP rider whilst Chris, who captured the World Title in 2012, is still a World-class act wherever he goes.
“It goes without saying I’m delighted that they wanted to be part of it, and I know the fans have been longing to see the ‘Holder’ name back at Wimborne Road.”

(FIXTURES)

SATURDAY JULY 23:
CHAMPIONSHIP JUBILEE LEAGUE: Berwick v Edinburgh 6.30
NDL KO CUP SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Berwick v Leicester (follows CJL fixture)

SUNDAY JULY 24:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Leicester v Berwick 6pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Kent v Oxford 12pm, Mildenhall v Belle Vue 3pm

MONDAY JULY 25:
PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v Peterborough 7.30, Wolverhampton v King’s Lynn 7.30

TUESDAY JULY 26:
CHAMPIONSHIP JUBILEE LEAGUE: Plymouth v Oxford 7pm