BRITISH SPEEDWAY APRIL 21, 2023

(SPEEDWAY 1)

ACES ON TOP

BELLE Vue moved to the top of the Premiership table with victory in a Super Heat after a dramatic 45-45 draw at Leicester.
The defending champions fought back from six points down with two races remaining at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park, with Dan Bewley passing home star Nick Morris in Heat 15 for a 4-2 to level the scores.

Bewley and guest Ryan Douglas then combined over Morris and Richard Lawson in the decider to give the Aces two league points for the third time in eight days on the road, whilst the Lions had to be content with a single point.
Douglas (11+1) and Bewley (11) led the way for the Aces over the regular 15 heats, whilst Morris top-scored for the hosts with 11.

Bewley said: “This last week has been a brilliant comeback for the team and to be honest I thought the job tonight was finished a lot earlier than it ended up being.
“I saw Charles [Wright] at the pit gate and I thought they were going to give me the ‘bumps’ but as it turned out it was because we had to face the Super Heat.

“It’s the first time I’ve ever done one and this was a fantastic result for us, and I also want to add how great the track was. I really enjoyed riding it and they’ve done a very good job with the remodel.”
Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “I hate saying it but you’ve got to give credit to the away team. If it had been me, and my team had managed to pull six points back in the last two races, I’d have been jumping for joy.

“All in all it was a decent meeting, the track rode a wee bit slicker than I thought it would, but there are no excuses. It was a good, close contest and we get a point – but we wanted the other point as well!”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

IPSWICH edged out Sheffield 47-43 in a classic contest at Foxhall with Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov combining for a 5-1 in Heat 15.

Tigers guest Scott Nicholls had rolled back the years with a stunning performance, defeating the Witches’ top two in Heat 13 which at that stage kept the visitors two points ahead.
But the home side levelled in the penultimate race as key reserve Danyon Hume headed up a 4-2, and although Nicholls hit the front in the last race – which would have set up a Super Heat – Doyle charged through at the start of lap three and Nicholls fell as Sayfutdinov also came through.

Doyle (13+1) and Sayfutdinov (11+2) led the scoring for the Witches, whilst Nicholls (11) and reserve Lewis Kerr (10+3) were in double figures for the Tigers.
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “I’m delighted to get the win against a very strong team. At this stage of the season any victory against strong teams like Sheffield are good ones.

“Missing Erik Riss is making it hard now, and I’d have taken a four-point win at the start of the night to be honest.
“Obviously there were some top performances again tonight from our heat leaders, but Danyon was also very good for us. He’s gone up a level these last two meetings this week. That’s probably him having more time on the bike, as he’s coming back from injury from last season.”

Sheffield manager Simon Stead said: “I actually think the final result probably flatters Ipswich a little bit; it was a really, really tough ride by Jason in Heat 15 with Scotty coming down as a result of that.
“So yes, disappointed to fall a little bit short but what this result does do is sets up a really tasty tie when they come to Owlerton next month.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

EDINBURGH and Berwick kick off a crucial weekend of BSN Series action with tonight’s (Friday) meeting at Armadale.
The sides also meet at Shielfield Park tomorrow and with Glasgow already in a strong position in the group, the Monarchs and Bandits both need two good results.

Both teams are at full strength with the visitors set to look to Rory Schein, an Edinburgh rider in the early 2000s, for track knowledge.
Monarchs boss Alex Harkess said: “Berwick will be looking to prove a point after their home defeat last Saturday, but we are looking to take as much as we can out of the weekend.

“The target is the maximum five points. We have to win the home leg. All season home legs are very important and we have to be winning them.
“We welcome Rory once again. He’s been very good round Armadale for years and I’m sure he will be quite happy to come back.”

Schlein said: “The Glasgow defeat hurt, and it will continue to hurt until we get that win on the board.
“I said to the Courtneys (Berwick owners Scott and Jamie), Dewsy and Flinty (team manager Gary Flint and his fellow promoter Steve Dews) after Saturday’s match that the only way we will get over this is to go out and get a result.
“It is that simple, I cannot put it any other way. Everyone now has a point to prove. We have to show the fans that this hurt, and we need to show against Edinburgh that this isn’t going to happen again.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

SCUNTHORPE look to complete a quickfire double over Birmingham tonight (Friday) and enhance their chances of BSN Series qualification.
The Scorpions won at Perry Barr on Wednesday and victory tonight plus an aggregate point at Redcar next Friday would confirm them as Northern group winners.

Jason Edwards continues as a guest at reserve for the injured Zaine Kennedy, whilst the Brummies bring in Zach Cook for shoulder injury victim James Wright.
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We’re confident of victory over Birmingham at the Eddie Wright Raceway.
“But we certainly won’t take anything for granted, since they’ve got a couple of ex-Scorpions in their line-up who can score around our place. I’m expecting it to be another night of some fabulous racing.

“We know what we need to do to reach the knockout stages of the BSN Series and I feel we’re fully capable of doing that.”

(SPEEDWAY 5)

POOLE boss Neil Middleditch has warned his side to be ready for a greater challenge in the weeks to come.
The defending Cab Direct Championship holders have made a dominant start to 2023 with home and away wins over Oxford in the BSN Series and then a rampant victory over Plymouth on Wednesday when they dropped just one point in the first eight races.

Middleditch said: “We made it look easy tonight, but we are going to have some tough matches to come, don’t worry about that. It is not going to be like this every week.
“I have to say though, watching that I was left wondering at one stage whether we could go through the card with 5-1s after that tremendous start, as it was beginning to look that way.
“I just can’t praise this team enough.”

(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY APRIL 21:
BSN SERIES: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30, Scunthorpe (49) v Birmingham (41) 7.30

SATURDAY APRIL 22:
BSN SERIES: Berwick v Edinburgh 7pm

MONDAY APRIL 24:
PREMIERSHIP R1: Belle Vue (55) v Peterborough (35) 7.30, Wolverhampton v Leicester 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP 1st round 2nd leg: King’s Lynn (32) v Sheffield (58) 7.30

TUESDAY APRIL 25:
BSN SERIES: Plymouth (30) v Poole (59) 7pm