BRITISH SPEEDWAY SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

SHEFFIELD ON TOP OF PREMIERSHIP

SHEFFIELD moved top of the Premiership with a 57-33 home win over Belle Vue to set up a play-off showdown with Wolverhampton.

The Tigers will visit Monmore Green in the first leg of the semi-final on Monday, leaving the Aces to tackle Ipswich in the other semi, starting at Foxhall next Thursday.
It was the biggest win of the season for the Owlerton side, who had Tobiasz Musielak (12+1) and Jack Holder (11+1) in double figures as they raced to a ninth home victory out of nine.

The Aces were hampered by the absence of Max Fricke following his crash in last weekend’s Swedish GP, with Brady Kurtz top-scoring on 12 points.
Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “That was really good. Belle Vue have been really dominant of late so to get a win like that over such a good team is obviously pleasing.

“You look through the scorecard and everybody did their bit, everybody chipped in and while we won’t be taking anything for granted now in the play-offs, we are really pleased.”
Belle Vue manager Mark Lemon said: “While this result doesn’t affect our position as regards to the top four, we approach every meeting with the intention of winning and we are disappointed to have fallen short.

 “But at the same time we now know where to shift our focus, and our focus now turns to our semi-final against Ipswich in a week’s time.
“We’ve been saying for a while that we’re not overly concerned about who we meet in the semi-finals, and I think the boys are quite looking forward to this one.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

KING’S LYNN warmed up for the League Cup Final with their best result of the season as they hammered Wolverhampton 63-27 at the Adrian Flux Arena.

The Tigers have agreed dates with Sheffield for the Cup Final, which will take place at Owlerton next Thursday with the second leg in Norfolk on Monday October 3.

Richie Worrall scored a paid maximum (12+3) for the Stars in their big home victory over the play-off qualifiers, whilst reserve Frederik Jakobsen roared to 16+1 from six rides and Nicolai Klindt (12) won his first four before missing out in Heat 15.
Wolves endured a night to forget with Nick Morris top-scoring on six, and they now turn their attentions to Monday’s play-off semi-final against Sheffield.

Stars boss Alex Brady said: “I couldn’t have asked for any more, we were excellent from Heat 1 and maintained it, something that has been a bit of a problem for us throughout the season.
“We have started meetings well before being a bit indifferent in the middle and then going well towards the end, this time we carried the momentum all the way through and it was really pleasing to see.

“I was a bit gutted that Nicolai missed out on his maximum but it was a really good night which stands us in good stead for next week.”
Wolves star Luke Becker said: “When you get beat by that much it’s definitely hard to take but that’s something we’ve got to deal with and move on from pretty quickly.
“We’re going to be doing everything we can to turn this around but the most important meetings are yet to come.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

EDINBURGH kick off the Championship play-off semi-finals by hosting Leicester at Armadale tonight (Friday) – with the tie to be concluded tomorrow.

As league leaders, the Lions chose to face the Monarchs in the last four having won at the Scottish venue earlier in the season, but they are also aware of their opponents’ good record in the East Midlands.

Edinburgh were beaten by just five points when they visited Leicester in the summer, a result also consistent with others they have achieved in recent years.
Monarchs skipper Sam Masters said: “Whatever happened in the league doesn’t mean anything now. I wasn’t at Leicester, and Leicester were at Armadale early when a lot of our boys hadn’t had many laps here yet.

 “I think it will be a different story now, over the two legs I think we pushed them pretty hard at their place as well, so we will be going for it, that’s for sure.”
Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “They’re going to be looking to get as big a lead as they can, and for us the word is character – we need to go out there and show a bit of character over these next two meetings, otherwise our season is just going to fizzle out.
“I’m talking about us collectively in that, I’m not separating myself from the riders – it’s me and the seven riders.

 I’m not all of a sudden detaching myself because we had a bad meeting at Poole (on Wednesday).
“I’m in it with them, and we all need to club together on Friday and Saturday and get ourselves to the Grand Final of the play-offs.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 4)

GLASGOW boss Cami Brown admits his side will need a “top-class performance” if they are to overcome Poole in the Championship play-off semi-finals.

The Tigers stage the first leg at Ashfield on Sunday but will be without injury victims Ulrich Ostergaard and Danyon Hume, with Paul Starke booked to guest at reserve.

Glasgow are seeking to end an 11-year wait for the league title after being defeated Finalists in the last two seasons.
Brown said: “I’m a wee bit nervous but that’s good – I want the riders to have that too, because we ride best when we have that little edge.

“The task ahead is mammoth. Their result against Leicester shows how good Poole are – they only lost by two points away and won by 30 points at home.
“Poole are the only team to take points off us at home. I do think we’re a different side now, but if we’re to overcome them over two legs it’ll take a top-class performance from our guys. All six riders will need to contribute to that.”

(SPEEDWAY 5)

BRITISH Final runner-up Tom Brennan has been handed a call-up to the third round of the FIM SGP2 series at Torun next Friday.

Brennan, who scored nine points in the Under-21 event at Cardiff last month, is first reserve for the competition and will race in Poland in place of injured Swedish rider Gustav Grahn.
It’s set to be a busy period for Brennan, who is involved in domestic play-offs for both Belle Vue and Glasgow, and will also be representing GB in the FIM European Under-23 Team Speedway Final in Tarnow on October 2.

(SPEEDWAY 6)

OXFORD manager Peter Schroeck says the club can be proud of their National Development League efforts – whatever their final play-off destiny.
The Chargers thrashed Kent 60-29 at Cowley on Wednesday to move into the top four, but they will only remain there if Belle Vue fail to take a league point from their trip to Armadale next Friday.

Schroeck said: “I think we deserve for a bit of luck to swing in our favour, because we’ve had our fair share of bad luck over the season.
“It’s a shame we were missing key riders though injury in certain meetings, as otherwise we would already in the play-offs. But there’s no point in ‘what if’s’. “I won’t be following the Armadale v Belle Vue meeting heat-be-heat – I’ll just find out the final result and see whether we’re in or not. 

“Whatever happens, I’m very proud of the boys and how they have developed as riders over the course of the season. And whilst we’ve still got our eyes on the prize for this year, we’re already also looking forward to 2023.”

(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23:
CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF S/F 1st leg: Edinburgh v Leicester 7.30

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 24:
CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF S/F 2nd leg: Leicester v Edinburgh 7pm

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 25:
CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF S/F 1st leg: Glasgow v Poole 6pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Scunthorpe 3pm