BRITISH SPEEDWAY APRIL 17, 2023

Date: Monday April 17, 2023

(SPEEDWAY 1)

PETERBOROUGH bid for their first Premiership points of the season tonight (Monday-UK time) – against a Belle Vue side with an outstanding record at the Showground.
The Aces have won on seven of their last eight visits to Alwalton, the only exception coming in the 2021 Grand Final when the Panthers secured the title.

Michael Palm Toft, who was part of the Peterborough team on that night, steps in to guest at No.1 for the home side as they continue to seek a long-term replacement for Nicki Pedersen.
Meanwhile the Aces are at full strength with Jake Mulford back from concussion, having been buoyed by their win at Ipswich last Thursday which kickstarted their season after a slow start.

Panthers boss Rob Lyon said: “It’s another tough meeting, but they’re all tough in this league and that’s why it’s a matter of urgency that we get this No.1 sorted.
“It’s good to have Tofty stepping in on Monday, and as everyone knows he’s a No.1 around Peterborough, so let’s hope he can turn it on and help us to victory.”

Aces No.1 Dan Bewley said: “It’s been a busy few weeks for us, but that result at Ipswich has definitely reinvigorated the boys and we’re feeling confident going to Peterborough.
“Peterborough is a track that I enjoy riding and a lot of the boys have a had good meetings there before, but that has no impact on the here and now.

“The form we found at Ipswich is what we need to be building on and carrying into all our meetings if we want to have a chance at retaining the Premiership title.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

LEICESTER host Ipswich in KO Cup action at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park tonight (Monday) with six points currently between the teams.

The Witches won 48-42 at Foxhall ten days ago thanks to two late 5-1s from their top spearhead of Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov.
Rider replacement will be in operation for the visitors with Erik Riss still ruled out by illness, and the aggregate winners will face Peterborough in the semi-finals.

Lions skipper Chris Harris said: “It’s going to be a tough one. Their top two is fantastic, and Kingy (Danny King) goes well here as well so it’s not going to be easy.
“We can’t take it lightly and we’ve got to make sure we’re all on it, and hopefully we can come out on top.”
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We head to Leicester with a six-point lead, we are not going there to defend it, we are going there to win the meeting.

“We have got a team capable of doing that and we need to get our heads around the track quickly and be on it from the off.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

GREAT Britain are through to the Grand Final of FIME European Team Speedway Championship after finishing as runners-up in Pardubice on Sunday.
Whilst a powerful Danish squad dominated Final B, GB battled hard in a tight contest with the host nation Czech Republic which went right down to the last race.

With Sweden having scored 31 points in finishing second in Final A, the remining Grand Final place would go to Sunday’s runners-up if they exceeded that total.
Going into the crucial Heat 20, GB and the Czech Republic were both on 30 points, before Belle Vue’s Dan Bewley won the race ahead of the hosts’ Vaclav Milik, to take GB past the 31-mark and back ahead of the Czechs.

Bewley scored 14 points, with GB’s other contributions coming from Adam Ellis and Tom Brennan both on eight, and Richie Worrall with three.
They now face Denmark, Poland and host nation Germany in next Saturday’s Final at Stralsund.
 
(SPEEDWAY 4)

MILDENHALL had three unbeaten riders in a 60-29 win over Kent to move into the NDL Knockout Cup Final.
Alfie Bowtell went through the card with 15 from five rides and skipper Lee Complin added 13+2, whilst youngster Ben Trigger collected his first paid maximum with 10+2.

Rhys Naylor top-scored for the Royals with 9+2 but they were hit by the withdrawals of Nathan Ablitt and Joe Alcock after falls early in the meeting.
Fen Tigers boss Jason Gardner said: “It’s very satisfying to see all the lads contribute good points totals, and of course the highlight was Ben’s first paid maximum for us.

“Now we have a Cup Final again to look forward to later in the year, and it’s back to Kent again next Sunday to get back to NDL action.”
Kent manager Jamie Willis said: “We don’t know the full extent of the injuries at the moment, and hopefully they will be back fit for next Sunday.

“It was very tough, and unfortunately we were down to three riders because Rhys got hurt in his last one and Sam (Woolley) was feeling the effects of his crash as well, so it was one of those days.”

(FIXTURES)
 
MONDAY APRIL 17:
PREMIERSHIP R1: Peterborough v Belle Vue 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP 1st round 2nd leg: Leicester (42) v Ipswich (48) 7.30

TUESDAY APRIL 18:
BSN SERIES: Plymouth v Oxford 7pm

WEDNESDAY APRIL 19:
BSN SERIES: Birmingham v Scunthorpe 7.30, Poole v Plymouth 7.30
CHALLENGE: Oxford v Swindon Select 7.30

THURSDAY APRIL 20:
PREMIERSHIP R1: Ipswich v Sheffield 7.30, Leicester v Belle Vue 7.30