BRITISH SPEEDWAY JUNE 2, 2023

(SPEEDWAY 1)

TIGERS ROAR TO VICTORY

SHEFFIELD ran riot at King’s Lynn with a huge 59-31 away win to move back into the top four of the Sports Insure Premiership table.

The meeting marked the UK debut of new Stars signing Artem Laguta but that was overshadowed by the Tigers, who extended their stunning record of success at the Adrian Flux Arena.
Former King’s Lynn rider Lewis Kerr and Polish ace Tobiasz Musielak both scored 13+2 paid maximums whilst Jack Holder was also unbeaten with 12 from four rides, including the move of the night to pass Laguta in Heat 6.

Laguta top-scored for the Stars with 9+1, but they were able to provide just three race wins on their own circuit.
Sheffield manager Simon Stead said: “We needed that. We’ve had a few fixtures away from home where we haven’t performed as we should have done.

“But we were dominant and back to something like what I know we’re capable of.
“There was a lot of talk about Artem and them in the build-up, it’s great to see him in British Speedway and fair play to King’s Lynn because they’ve pulled one out of the bag there.
“But we needed to remove ourselves from that hype, get off on the front foot, come here and do the job, and we’ve done just that.”

Stars boss Alex Brady said: “We started terribly. The track tonight was what six of the boys had asked for, the starts were grippier and it’s really disappointing from my perspective that we couldn’t make the starts.
“The track was fast and we just couldn’t make ground up. Overall it was a really, really disappointing night and I’m sorry to everyone who came because it’s not the way it should have gone.
“Sheffield had some outstanding performances, but we weren’t good enough either, and for me personally it’s a long look in the mirror this weekend about where we go from here.”

 (SPEEDWAY 2)

IN-FORM Wolverhampton moved to the top of the Sports Insure Premiership table with a hugely impressive 51-39 win at Ipswich.
The away victory also gave the Monmore side the aggregate point as they dominated the second half of the meeting, taking the lead with a 5-1 from Rory Schlein and Zach Cook in Heat 9.

Cook, who scored 10+3, was then involved in further maximums in Heats 12 and 14 before Ryan Douglas (12+1) and Sam Masters (10+1) put the icing on the cake with a 5-1 over the powerhouse home spearhead of Jason Doyle (13) and Emil Sayfutdinov (10+1).

Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “I half expected it to be honest, because we appear to be in something of a hot streak and we’ve got guys who can deal with their top two.
“To some extent we were concentrating on the races that they weren’t in because we thought they would be the races we could gain an advantage.

“Looking back, to restrict a team like that to just two heat advantages in the entire match was a tremendous effort.”
Witches manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “It was a very bad night; we were not good enough. We threw too many points away at the start of the meeting and made too many mistakes, which we were punished for by the end of the meeting.

“I’m sure we will get criticised and that is part of it, that’s fine, we were not good enough and maybe it is deserved tonight.
“It is early days but also, we have lost two at home already so we can’t be leaving ourselves too much to do in the second half of the season to try and chase the play-offs.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)

SCUNTHORPE hand a debut to new signing Drew Kemp in tonight’s (Friday) Cab Direct Championship clash with Redcar.
The Scorpions are looking to build on last week’s impressive win at Edinburgh, but the Bears also come into the meeting in good form having put Glasgow out of the KO Cup with wins in both legs.

With Erik Riss still on the sidelines, former Scunthorpe man Steve Worrall comes in to guest for the visitors.
The two sides were evenly matched in the BSN Series earlier in the season, but Scorpions promoter Rob Godfrey believes his recent transfer move could prove to be a game-changer.

Godfrey said: “With the arrival of Drew Kemp, I truly believe we have a team now that can win the league. It’s going to be a very exciting few months ahead!
“Meetings between Scunthorpe and Redcar at the Eddie Wright Raceway always seem to be packed with excitement. It was true for our Good Friday clash with Bears in the BSN Series, and it’s almost bound to be the case again.

“We beat Bears by 50-40 on Good Friday, and I’d like to see another comfortable home win for Scorpions, because aggregate bonus points are all-important in the league this season.”
Redcar co-promoter Jamie Swales said: “The boys are starting to ride like we know we can and to be honest, despite the blip against Poole, everything has been going in the right direction for a while.
“Stevie hasn’t let us down so far and he is a No.1 coming in at No.3, so that’s helpful. He’s also an ex-Scunthorpe rider so I’m sure he will do a good job for us.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

GLASGOW bid to bounce back from their KO Cup disappointment when they host Birmingham in their Cab Direct Championship opener tonight (Friday).
The Ashfield side have declared a full-strength side whilst the Brummies have been forced to change their plans after new signing Dan Thompson suffered concussion earlier this week.

Thompson is out for 12 days and having not made an appearance for the club, they have reverted to their previous declaration which means they operate rider replacement for broken foot victim Stefan Nielsen.
Birmingham boss Laurence Rogers said: “Of course it’s a massive blow and piece of bad luck to have Dan taken away from us before he’s even raced for the Brummies, but we just have to knuckle down and get on with it.
“Glasgow is never an easy place to go to, but they were beaten by Redcar on Tuesday night so that shows they’re far from unbeatable.
“Of course, it requires a full team effort, but I think our heat-leaders can have a big say in a fixture like this.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 5)

EDINBURGH boss Scott Wilson expects their most difficult home match of the season so far when the Monarchs Academy host Oxford tonight (Friday).

The Armadale side have won both of their outings on their own track so far, with Adam Roynon unbeaten in both meetings.
They are forced into a change at reserve with Bailey Fellows stepping in for Kyran Lyden who suffered a dislocated shoulder at work yesterday.

Wilson said: “Oxford will present our toughest test of the season at Armadale so far. They bring a strong heat-leader trio of Championship riders – and Premiership in Jordan Jenkins’ case – so our heat-leaders will have to be at their best.
“The match could be won and lost in the second string and reserve berths, our lads in these positions haven’t all clicked at the same time so far – we will need them to.”

Meanwhile the Chargers hand a debut to new signing Kelsey Dugard, whilst Cumbrian moto-crosser Mark Parker comes in at reserve for the injured Luke Killeen.
Manager Peter Schroeck said: “Home meetings are your bread and butter. It’s away from home where points really count, and this weekend is a good opportunity to start climbing the table.

“Edinburgh and Berwick are both specialist tracks but are a total contrast to one another. We’ll go from a tight and technical circuit on Friday to one of the fastest tracks in the country a day later.
“That in itself presents its challenges, but it’s a great learning curve for the boys and we’ll be giving it our best shot to bring home some points.”

(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY JUNE 2:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Birmingham 7.30, Scunthorpe v Redcar 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Oxford 7.30

SATURDAY JUNE 3:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Berwick v Oxford 7pm, Leicester v Belle Vue 7pm, Workington v Mildenhall 3pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh 1.30

SUNDAY JUNE 4:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Mildenhall (38) v Belle Vue (52) 4pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Workington 12pm

MONDAY JUNE 5:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R1: Belle Vue (49) v Ipswich (41) 7.30