BRITISH SPEEDWAY SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

(SPEEDWAY 1)

OLSEN HAPPY WITH CARDIFF TRACK

BRITISH Grand Prix track builder Ole Olsen says he was pleased with the way the Cardiff circuit handled Wednesday’s test event.
The former World Champion and his Speed Sport team are responsible for the mammoth job of converting the Principality Stadium into a speedway venue, and he admits they faced huge challenges in 2022 – with those circumstances not being repeated ahead of Saturday’s big event.

Olsen said: “I was very pleased with it. We had 12 heats on it, and it was quite satisfactory. This is how we used to have it and I look forward to a good meeting on it.
“This is an organic material. Last year, it was 40 degrees, and it was just really hot in here. The moisture was just ridiculous.
“Water is always the key to it. We need to put plenty of water on, but not too much because then it gets too soft.

“The material has been tightly controlled. We have re-sieved and screened it all. All the material that came in is nice and it has come out well. “I am very excited. I think we can expect a fantastic meeting. Of course, the riders will control that, but I know they all want to win.
“It’s a big event and Cardiff is something special. If you win in Cardiff, you have done something really big. I look forward to exciting racing, but hard fighting. They do fight hard these days.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)
 
SHEFFIELD clinched their place in the Sports Insure Premiership play-offs with a 57-33 win over King’s Lynn at Owlerton.
The Tigers made it seven home wins on the bounce and an incredible 16 unbeaten against the Stars both home and away.
No.1 Tobiasz Musielak scored a paid maximum (10+2) with Josh Pickering top scoring on 12+1. Kyle Howarth (10+1) and new signing Chris Holder (10) both weighed in with double figures, whilst Robert Lambert picked up 13 for the visitors.

Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “I think the team display was really good and the new lads really integrated well.
“Chris was on fire and had three really solid race wins. It was unfortunate for Claus in his first one when he had an engine failure whilst out front or that would’ve been another couple of points on his tally.
“It was great to have seven riders back, it was a great performance as well and we cemented ourselves in the play-offs which is what we were all aiming for.”

Stars skipper Simon Lambert said: “We’re a bit of a patched up team at the minute but we’re here, we’re giving it a go and we’re trying to put a show on.
“I had a good night, Robert (Lambert) had a good night but the other boys struggled, I do think Connor (Mountain) was worth more though.
“We’ll keep going though and we’ll keep battling on in these final two meetings we’ve got.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

GREAT Britain’s William Cairns and Cooper Rushen produced another sensational performance in the final round of the FIM European 250cc Pairs with their second podium finish of the week.
The British duo were the highest scoring pair outside of a team involving a Polish rider at Bydgoszcz, with Poland again finishing top of the podium on their home circuit, whilst a mixed nation team which included home rider Pawel Sitek along with Hungarian Zoltan Lovas just pipped the GB team to the A Final by one point.

The magnitude of Cairns’ and Rushen’s success cannot be more highly acclaimed as they outscored both Denmark and Sweden – the two nations who finished the series second and third respectively – in their group, and qualified for the B Final, which was a race-off for third and fourth place against the surprise team of the day, Slovenia.

GB missed out on the gate pick and were forced to go from gates 2 and 4, and after two laps it looked as if the Slovenian rider Sven Cerjak had won it, until Rushen steamed inside him entering bend three, with Cairns following him through to clinch a second podium finish in the four-round series.
The winners of the series were Poland, with Denmark claiming the runners-up spot, Sweden were third and GB had to settle for a fifth-place finish overall.
 
(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 1:
CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRS: Oxford 7.30

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 2:
FIM BRITISH GRAND PRIX: Cardiff 5pm

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 4:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R2: King’s Lynn (39) v Ipswich (51), Peterborough (42) v Sheffield (48) 7.30, Wolverhampton (51) v Leicester (39) 7.30

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 5:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Oxford (45) v Scunthorpe (45) 7.30, Plymouth v Berwick 7pm