BRITISH SPEEDWAY AUGUST 29, 2022

(SPEEDWAY 1)

CHASING THE PLAY-OFFS

BELLE Vue and Wolverhampton both have the chance to secure their Premiership play-off places in a big Bank Holiday double-header encounter.
The sides meet at the National Speedway Stadium at midway with the return at Monmore Green at 8pm.

Wolves are second in the table on 30 points, with 35 required to guarantee a top four finish, whilst the Aces are one point behind on 29 with two matches in hand.

Belle Vue are also defending a 100 per cent home record with a string of big wins around their own circuit in recent weeks.
Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “Monday could be a very significant day for us. We are somewhat comfortable in the top four right now but here is our opportunity to consolidate that spot once and for all.

“Two meetings in one day is always challenging on both man and machine, but we are equally pumped up for both legs of this Bank Holiday double with a huge crowd expected to see a great event.”

Wolves promoter Chris Van Straaten said: “This is one fixture both sets of supporters always really get into and they’re usually very entertaining fixtures in terms of action on track and scoreline.

“With the business end of the season approaching, the team know the job they need to do during these final few weeks of the regular season.
“It goes without saying that we would rather get our place booked in those play-offs sooner rather than later, and one final home win on Monday would go a long way to helping us reach that goal.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

PETERBOROUGH and Sheffield have both called upon guest assistance ahead of their clash at the East of England Arena today (5pm – UK time).

The Panthers, who lost at home to King’s Lynn on Thursday, bring in Stars rider Richard Lawson to replace the injured Michael Palm Toft, with Lawson having scored 13+1 in that meeting.

The home side also operate rider replacement for Ulrich Ostergaard, whilst Nicolai Klindt replaces Adam Ellis for the Tigers.

Panthers boss Rob Lyon admits it’s been a tough title defence, with issues over form and latterly injuries effectively scuppering their hopes of mounting a serious play-off bid.

He said: “Michael is having more treatment in Denmark next week, but we had a chat about things after Thursday’s meeting and we think he needs to get another x-ray while he’s out there to make sure there’s no other damage.

“Benjamin (Basso) is still struggling with his shoulder too, but hopefully he’ll be okay after a weekend to rest because to give us a fighting chance we certainly need him, and Hans (Andersen) should be okay after that crash on Thursday.”

Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “I’m sure the expectation will be for us to go there and claim maximum points, and of course that’s our aim as a group as well, the same as it is every meeting we go into.
“But we know it’s going to take a professional performance from the get-go and our lads need to go out there and do everything they can to get the job done and edge us closer to those play-offs.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

MILDENHALL took another big step towards the NDL play-offs with a 55-32 win over Oxford at West Row.

The Fen Tigers completed the double over the Chargers to move above them into the top four, and still have a match in hand on the Cowley club.
Reserve Josh Warren piled up another big score with 14+3 whilst Jason Edwards (12+1), Alex Spooner (12+1) and guest Lee Complin (11+1) were also in double figures. 

Henry Atkins scored 10+1 for the Chargers and Sam Hagon added 10, with the visitors badly missing No.1 Jordan Jenkins and the still sidelined Nathan Stoneman.

Fen Tigers co-boss Jason Gardner said: “I’m so chuffed – this week couldn’t have worked out better. Today was another all-round team performance and to get results of these magnitudes against one of the division’s top sides really shows we’ve hit a great vein of form at exactly the right time.
“There’s no complacency possible – we still need maximum points against Berwick and Plymouth in next Sunday’s double header and that’s what we need to concentrate on right now.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

KENT kept their outside hopes of an NDL play-off place alive with a 47-43 win over revitalised Plymouth at Iwade.
Recent signing Max Clegg completed another 15-point maximum for the Royals, and his 4-2 in the final race with Ben Morley (11+1) secured victory after the Centurions took the match into a last-heat decider.

Adam Roynon and guest Nathan Ablitt both scored 11 for the visitors, with reserve Rhys Naylor adding 10+2.
The result leaves the Royals still sixth in the table, seven points behind fourth-placed Mildenhall but they do have two matches in hand.

(FIXTURES)

MONDAY AUGUST 29:
PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 12pm, Peterborough v Sheffield 5pm Wolverhampton v Belle Vue 8pm

TUESDAY AUGUST 30:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Plymouth v Redcar 7pm

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31:
BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: Birmingham 7.30
NEIL MIDDLEDITCH TESTIMONIAL: Poole 7.30