BRITISH SPEEDWAY JULY 18, 2023

(SPEEDWAY 1)

ACES FIGHT FOR VICTORY

BELLE VUE kept the ball rolling at the top of the Sports Insure Premiership with a hard-fought 49-41 win over Ipswich in Manchester.
The Aces took all three points from the meeting but were made to work for their win in an eventful contest with the points only being secured in the penultimate race.

There was also drama in Heat 13 when Grand Prix stars Jason Doyle and Dan Bewley clashed, with the Ipswich No.1 being disqualified when the home man went down at the start of the last lap.
Charles Wright and Tom Brennan then raced to a 5-1 over tactical substitute Emil Sayfutdinov to clinch the points, before a consolation maximum to the Witches in the finale.

Brennan clocked up 10+4 at reserve for the Aces, whilst Sayfudtinov led the Witches’ scoring with 13+1.
Bewley said: “This was a brilliant result for the boys. I threw a few points away, but I think the secret to the strength of this team is the fact that we can compensate for those who have an off night.
“Ipswich put up a good fight, maybe even more than we were expecting initially, but they are a good team on paper, and they were out to prove a point tonight, so we had to work very hard.

“There were a few close calls and some controversial decisions, but we overcame all of the challenges on the night, and it was real team effort from everyone to win.”
Ipswich stand-in boss Chris Louis said: “I felt for the lads a bit because they hung in until Heat 12 and then it got away from us a little bit.

“We looked like we were bringing it back in Heat 13 with Jason and Emil, but the decision went against Jason. To be fair it was the decision I expected from the ref, that isn’t me saying it was the right decision, I thought Dan went down a bit softly and I feel Jason’s frustration.
“We have seen it so many times the other way round and he keeps getting excluded when he is taken off. I fully understand and appreciate why he was so frustrated after that.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

LEICESTER extended their winning run to a club record seven in succession in the top-flight by overcoming King’s Lynn 54-36 at home.
Max Fricke shattered the track record in Heat 1, taking well over half a second off his previous best, and he reeled off four race wins before being edged out by Nicolai Klindt in Heat 15.

The Stars kept things tight for the first seven races but then conceded three 5-1s in four heats, not helped by Simon Lambert’s disqualification in Heat 8 after a clash with Drew Kemp.
Fricke scored 14 for the Lions with Richard Lawson adding 11+2 and Chris Harris 9+1, whilst Klindt racked up 13+1 for the visitors.

Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “We got there in the end. King’s Lynn put up a good fight, and the scoreline maybe flatters us slightly that we won by 18 points.
“There didn’t look to be that much in it, and we weren’t gating tonight – or King’s Lynn were simply out-gating us for the first few races!

“They came and met us head-on, but we got into the groove and the victory on paper looks a bit more comfortable than what it actually was.”
Stars manager David Hoggart said: “I think the team did better than a lot of people would give them credit for, and if we were going down then we were going down fighting tonight.
“We gave Leicester a bit of a scare in the first seven or eight races without any shadow of a doubt, and it wasn’t easy for them at that point. “Obviously Simon got excluded in Heat 8 which was a bit of hard riding and I think a more experienced rider might have stayed on.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)
 
WOLVERHAMPTON edged out Peterborough at Monmore Green after the bottom club pulled off a major shock by taking the meeting all the way to a Super Heat.
The sides drew 45-45 after 15 races before home duo Sam Masters and Rory Schlein got the better of Niels-Kristian Iversen and Ben Cook in the decider.

The visitors had led for most of the meeting before Wolves drew level in Heat 13, and two shared heats followed with Schlein falling in Heat 15 as Masters took the win – but the home men were fast-starting in the decider.
Masters (10+2) and Steve Worrall (10) top-scored for Wolves, whilst Cook impressed with 10+3 for the Panthers, whilst Iversen picked up 10 and Rising Star Jordan Jenkins notched 9+1 as the visitors came away with a league point.
Wolves boss Peter Adams said: “It’s a bit concerning that we’re not consistently dominant here; some days we are, some days we’re not.

“We weren’t on this occasion and we nearly paid the price.
“But at the end of the day, we’ve retained our unbeaten home record and we got the two points that we would’ve done even if we’d have won by 30.” Cook said: “It was much better from all the boys. I think it surprised us all that we could get it to the last heat decider and then it was a shame we just missed out in the Super Heat.

“The Wolves boys are good around their home track, they’ve done plenty of laps and that makes the result even better for us I think. “It hasn’t been easy this season but we’re all gelling together now and if we could continue that, who knows what could happen and how many more meetings we can win.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

GREAT Britian’s 250cc riders William Cairns and Cooper Rushen competed in the second round of the FIM European 250cc Pairs in Motala, Sweden on Sunday – and after another delayed start due to the bad weather, it was another frustrating meeting for the pair.

The GB team were looking odds-on for a podium finish but again luck was not on their side as both riders took falls when in scoring positions.
To qualify for the finals to be able to achieve a podium finish, the GB team needed to score at least 12 points, but due to losing points with the falls, they missed out by just one point ending the meeting on a score of 11 – and as they did in the first round in Krsko, finished the meeting in seventh position.

There is a seven-week break now until the last two rounds take place at the end of August, but in the meantime both British boys, who qualified for the SGP3 Final last week, will be competing at Belle Vue in the final British Youth Championship round of the 2023 season on Friday prior to the Colts’ NDL Clash with Edinburgh Academy.

(FIXTURES)

WEDNESDAY JULY 19:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Birmingham v Poole 7.30, Oxford v Glasgow 7.30

THURSDAY JULY 20:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R2: Ipswich v Peterborough 7.30, King’s Lynn v Leicester 7.30, Sheffield v Belle Vue 7.30

FRIDAY JULY 21:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Redcar (35) v Scunthorpe (55) 7.30
BSN SERIES FINAL 2nd leg: Glasgow v Poole 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Belle Vue (40) v Edinburgh (50) 7.30
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP (500cc/250cc): Belle Vue 6pm