BRITISH SPEEDWAY WEEKLY BULLETIN 2023/26

Feature photo by: Stephen Waller…

IPSWICH secured their first full team silverware since 1998 with victory over Sheffield in the Premiership KO Cup Final. It also fulfilled a lifetime dream for Witches skipper Danny King who grew up wanting to win a trophy with his boyhood club.

HERE’S our latest news and fixtures from around the tracks up and down the country.

SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP NEWSROUND…

INJURIES FOR ACES
BELLE Vue have injury concerns heading into the play-offs with Charles Wright and Norick Blodorn on the sidelines.
Wright was hurt in Poland earlier this month whilst Blodorn crashed out of the weekend SGP2 event in Denmark and would have missed the scheduled play-off semi-final first leg against Ipswich on Monday.

Aces CEO Mark Lemon said: “Unfortunately, as luck always seems to have it, the pre play-offs injury jinx has struck us again to prevent Charles and Norick from taking their place, and we of course wish them a speedy recovery.
“And while this may put us in a slightly different light – going from favourites to underdogs it certainly doesn’t take anything away from what is expected to be a tense semi-final.”

DOYLE RULED OUT
IPSWICH star Jason Doyle has been ruled out of the home leg of their play-off semi-final against Belle Vue on Thursday.
Doyle is still recovering from his heavy crash at Vojens last weekend, and Chris Harris will step in to guest at Foxhall.
Manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “We head into play-offs without Jason, and obviously he will be a big miss to us as he has been the rock of our side for the last two years and has been absolutely instrumental in making the play-offs over the last two seasons and winning the Knockout Cup.

“Now we host the first leg, and the emphasis is on trying to build up as big a lead as possible. We need another performance like we have had recently but we are racing against the reigning champions and a side that have got the better of us this year, and everyone else.”

TOBI BLOW FOR TIGERS
SHEFFIELD star Tobiasz Musielak has been ruled out for the remainder of the season after a crash in Poland last Sunday.
It’s another blow for the injury-hit Tigers who go into their play-off semi-final against Wolverhampton next week off the back of losing the KO Cup Final to Ipswich.
Manager Simon Stead said: “We know we need to be better as we look towards the play-offs and there’s a lot we need to work on.“We’ve been unsettled losing Jack (Holder) and then Tai (Woffinden) to injury but we need to overcome that. I believe we’ve still got it in us, we just didn’t show it against Ipswich.”

PANTHERS END ON A HIGH
PETERBOROUGH completed their Premiership campaign with a fifth straight win – and a sixth in all competitions – when they defeated King’s Lynn 49-41.
It was the last scheduled league match at their iconic East of England Arena which is subject to potential development despite substantial opposition to the scheme.

Manager Rob Lyon said: “Credit to the fans for sticking by the club and the team this year, and walking through the grandstand afterwards it was almost like we were in the play-offs because in the last few weeks there’s been such a feel-good factor for everyone.
“It’s a good way to finish the season, and we’ve got to take as many positives as we can out of it.”

LAMBERT STARS FOR STARS
ROBERT Lambert rounded off his late-season stint with King’s Lynn with a spectacular paid maximum in last Thursday’s 49-41 defeat at Peterborough.
Stars boss David Hoggart said: “I’ve been working the reserves so hard, both they and their machinery is tired but they did a great job for me tonight, and obviously Robert and his team are class.

“He’s got his family around him, expertise supporting him, and he’s been a breath of fresh air in terms of what he’s brought to us – and he’s brought everyone else on. He’s focused on winning his races but he’s also focused on winning for the team as well, and he’s given us more than we expected.”

ELSEWHERE… WOLVERHAMPTON return from a fortnight’s break as they go into their play-off semi-final against Sheffield. It’s a repeat of the 2022 clash between the same clubs, in which the Tigers got off to an ideal start with a 47-43 win in the first leg at Monmore Green, and then raced to an emphatic 61-29 victory in the return at Owlerton.

THE WEEK AHEAD… IPSWICH host Belle Vue in what has become the first leg of their play-off semi-final on Thursday… The tie will then be completed in Manchester on Monday September 25, whilst on the same date the first leg of the Wolverhampton v Sheffield semi-final takes place.

CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP NEWSROUND…

DREAM START FOR SCORPIONS
SCUNTHORPE are off to a flyer in Group A of the play-offs after picking up a point at Poole last Wednesday followed by an emphatic home win over Edinburgh.
Jake Allen scored a 12-point maximum against the Monarchs and this Friday’s home clash with Poole now looks critical for the group.

Allen said: “Our spirits are high heading into next weekend. Arguably we’ve done the harder work against Poole by going to their place and coming out of it at 45-45.
“On Friday, we’ll just focus again on scoring as many points as we can and that would be enough to not only win the meeting but take the aggregate bonus point and take three points off Poole.”

WINNING START FOR CHEETAHS
OXFORD opened their play-off campaign with a 50-40 win over Glasgow in a hard-fought contest at Cowley.
Skipper Scott Nicholls said: “We wanted as many points as we could get tonight, to take up to Glasgow when we go up there. Having been just two points up at the interval stage with just a few races to go, a 10-point win is a very impressive margin.
“Glasgow threw everything at us in the closing stages, including putting a tactical substitute in Heat 14. They tried to put pressure on us, but we’ve taken both the two points tonight and left ourselves in with a good shout for the aggregate point.”

PIRATES ON THE BACK FOOT

POOLE promoter Dan Ford has stressed there’s no room for error in their remaining play-off fixtures after Scunthorpe’s super show at Wimborne Road last week saw them take a vital point.
Ford said: “Although we took the win, the point that Scunthorpe picked up has put considerable pressure on us now and effectively we need to win our remaining three meetings, starting with the Monarchs.

“We really put Edinburgh to the sword when they visited us in August and there is no doubt we have to replicate that performance on Wednesday night. On paper you would have us down for a win but as we saw against Scunthorpe, teams are visiting us looking to raise their game, so nothing can be taken for granted.”

TIGERS – TOO CLOSE TO CALL!
GLASGOW boss Cami Brown has emphasised the important of the aggregate point in the play-offs – with the gap to Oxford being ten points following last week’s match at Cowley.
Brown said: “It was disappointing to let it slip towards the end of the meeting. We trailed by just a couple of points after Heat 11, so we’re a bit frustrated by that.

“But it’s very much on a knife-edge really. The aggregate bonus point will be crucial and we are very capable of overturning that deficit at Ashfield later this month. But it’s going to be very hard. We’ve just beaten Oxford at Ashfield 51-39 a few days ago, so it just shows how close it will be.”

MONARCHS LOSE OUT
EDINBURGH suffered a tough start to their play-off campaign with a hefty 59-31 defeat at Scunthorpe, putting them on the back foot in the group.
Skipper Josh Pickering scored 15 of the Monarchs’ points but he lacked support at the Eddie Wright Raceway.
Pickering said: “It was a quick-run meeting as always at Scunthorpe and I didn’t really know what the score was early on as I was changing things.
“But it wasn’t good enough, we got going a little in the last few heats but as I said it wasn’t good enough.”

ELSEWHERE… REDCAR are now scheduled to race their four play-off Group matches over an eight-day period, starting at Oxford on Wednesday, with their first home match being the return against the Cheetahs on Friday… A date has also been agreed for the first leg of the re-arranged Scunthorpe/Redcar KO Cup semi-final, which will take place at the Eddie Wright Raceway on September 29.

THE WEEK AHEAD… Group A of the play-offs continue with Poole hosting Edinburgh on Wednesday, before the Pirates travel to Scunthorpe on Friday in what could prove a pivotal fixture… The Scorpions then visit Edinburgh in a re-arranged fixture on Saturday… Meanwhile in Group B, Oxford look to complete a 100 per cent home record when they host Redcar on Wednesday… the return fixture takes place at the ECCO Arena on Friday… Glasgow then take on Redcar in a rearranged fixture on Saturday afternoon (2pm).

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE NEWSROUND…

TOP TWO CLASH
LEICESTER and Oxford both have two league matches remaining in the regular campaign starting with their clash in the East Midlands on Saturday.
The Lion Cubs officially need one more point to confirm a top two finish, with the Chargers needing two, although that position may have changed prior to the meeting as Mildenhall travel to Edinburgh on Friday needing a win to remain in contention.
Oxford then round off their league programme at home to Edinburgh next Wednesday (September 27) with Leicester hosting Mildenhall on September 29.

FEN TIGERS STILL BELIEVE
MILDENHALL boss Jason Gardner is targeting a win at Edinburgh on Friday to maintain their hopes of an unlikely move back into the top two of the NDL.
Gardner said: “We have a very solid top five and by pulling together I’m sure we can deliver just the result we need to keep pressure on Oxford who have two matches like us to go in the chase for the play-offs. 
“It’s certainly a long shot that we can make the top two but a win on Friday will certainly show both Oxford and our great rivals Leicester that we really mean business.”

COLTS ARE POSITIVE
BELLE VUE co-boss Graham Goodwin wants to take the good points out of a season which saw his side put in a strong NDL campaign but miss out on a top-two finish.
Goodwin said: “It is disappointing to think that an expected third-place finish in the league overall isn’t enough to get us into the play-offs. “But unfortunately our luck and our steam seemed to run out against Leicester, but we cannot allow that to detract from a good season in general and we still have one match remaining.”

THE WEEK AHEAD… Leicester host Oxford on Saturday in a clash of the clubs favourite to complete qualification for the Grand Final… meanwhile Mildenhall are still in with an outside chance, and the Fen Tigers visit Edinburgh on Friday.

ELSEWHERE… The top riders in the league compete in the National Development League Riders’ Championship at Workington on Sunday.

FIXTURE PICTURE…

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 20:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP A: Poole v Edinburgh 7.30
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP B: Oxford v Redcar 7.30

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 21:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 1st leg: Ipswich v Belle Vue 7.30

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 22:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP A: Scunthorpe (45) v Poole (45) 7.30
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP B: Redcar v Oxford 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Edinburgh (41) v Mildenhall (48) 7.30

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 23:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP A: Edinburgh v Scunthorpe 7pm
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP B: Glasgow v Redcar 2pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Berwick (29) v Belle Vue (61) 7pm: Leicester (39) v Oxford (50) 7pm

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 24:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Workington 2pm

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 25:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Belle Vue v Ipswich; 1st leg: Wolverhampton v Sheffield 7.30

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 26:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP B: Glasgow v Oxford 7.30

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 27:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP B: Redcar v Glasgow 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Oxford (57) v Edinburgh (32) 7.30

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 28:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Sheffield v Wolverhampton 7.30

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 29:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP A: Edinburgh v Poole 7.30
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP SEMI-FINAL 1st leg: Scunthorpe v Redcar 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Leicester (46) v Mildenhall (44) 7.30

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 30:
STUART ROBSON FAREWELL: Redcar 5pm