BRITISH SPEEDWAY SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

(SPEEDWAY 1)

OXFORD TRACKING TOWARD GRAND FINAL

OXFORD remain on course for the Cab Direct Championship Grand Final after defeating Redcar 53-37 in their Group B clash at Cowley.

The Cheetahs now require the aggregate point from their trip to Glasgow on Tuesday, which would be secured with 41 points on the night, to make themselves uncatchable.
Lewis Kerr top-scored with 13+1 from five rides whilst skipper Scott Nicholls registered a 12-point maximum from four, and Sam Masters weighed in with 10+1.

Guest Leon Flint scored 11 for the Bears and Danny King notched 10+1 but their hopes of a place in the Grand Final are now officially over.
Oxford boss Peter Schroeck said: “We knew Redcar wouldn’t throw the towel in after we made a good start, and so that proved to be the case.

“We had to work hard for every point but personally I see it as perfect preparation for the biggest fixture of the club’s new era on Tuesday when we travel to Glasgow. It could be a huge night in our history so all our focus is on doing the job in front of us.
“We’ve got the win, which is great. But we need to pull together one final time to complete the next step on our journey this season.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

BELLE Vue captain Brady Kurtz insists his side will be fired up for a big win against Ipswich in tonight’s (Monday – UK time) decisive play-off semi-final second leg in Manchester.
The defending Sports Insure Premiership champions face Ipswich who travel with an 18-point lead after a superb performance to win 54-36 at Foxhall last week.

But ironically the Witches’ first visit to the National Speedway Stadium this year saw them on the end of a 55-35 defeat, whilst their second appearance was closer at 49-41.
Belle Vue continue to operate rider replacement for the injured Charles Wright, whilst the visitors expect to welcome back Jason Doyle, and Jack Smith continues as a guest in the Rising Star berth.

Kurtz said: “We didn’t get stuck in as much as we should’ve done on Thursday and they got the better of us, but it’s only half-time and there’s no reason to suggest we can’t repay the compliment.
“We know how good we are at home; we know how passionate our supporters are and we firmly believe that we can still get this done and make the Grand Final.

“We’ve not given up, far from it. We want to retain our title, we know we’re capable of retaining our title and, hopefully, we can show everybody we mean business in these play-offs.”
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We need to attack from the off, I think it is going to be a very tough meeting.
“Belle Vue are going to be determined, they do not want to lose their title in the semi-final this year. They are very good around there, so we know we need to attack them, and we will need to fight for every point.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)

WOLVERHAMPTON and Sheffield kick off their Sports Insure Premiership semi-final when they meet in the first leg at Monmore Green tonight (Monday – UK time).
It’s the sixth time in seven seasons that Wolves have qualified for the play-offs but they are searching for their first league title since 2016 – and it was the Tigers who knocked them out at the equivalent stage last year.

Wolverhampton have hit at least 50 points in each of Sheffield’s visits to the Black Country so far this season, and promoter Chris Van Straaten is looking for something similar once again on Monday.
“It goes without saying that we would like to establish a healthy lead to take into the second leg,” he said.
“For me though, the team that Sheffield will be putting out hasn’t made them any weaker.

“They’ve made some good signings and they’ve got at least one adequate guest coming into their team.
“We are feeling good though, and we’ve got one or two riders in particular coming into form at just the right time – but it’s what the team do overall and collectively that matters most though.”
Wolves are at full strength whilst Sheffield include Robert Lambert, Richard Lawson and Drew Kemp to replace injured trio Tobiasz Musielak, Tai Woffinden and Claus Vissing.

Tigers co-promoter Damien Bates said: “For me, all the pressure and expectation should be on Wolves because they’re racing with their regular 1-7 who’ve been together from press day.
“So we’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain in a way.
“But one thing’s for certain, Steady (Simon Stead – team manager) will make sure each and every one of those riders who are representing Sheffield over the two legs know how much this means to us and the supporters and we’d love to cause an upset with the odds stacked against us.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 4)

GREAT Britain finished on the podium in third place at Sunday’s FIM Long Track of Nations in Roden.
Host nation the Netherlands won the meeting which was subject to a near three-hour delay due to track conditions, but did boil up to a dramatic finale.
GB secured their third place as Chris Harris won their ‘B’ Final clash with Finland, whilst Zach Wajtknecht crucially battled past his opponents to add the extra points required, with Andrew Appleton completing the trio who were managed by Paul Hurry.

The ‘A’ Final looked to be heading the way of Germany when World Champion Martin Smolinski and Ipswich and Redcar racer Erik Riss made the start, but Romano Hummel completed a stunning unbeaten performance for the Dutch by passing both for the lead, whilst team-mates Dave Meijerink and Mika Meijer supplied the additional points for overall victory.

(FIXTURES)

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 25:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Belle Vue (36) v Ipswich (54) ; 1st leg: Wolverhampton v Sheffield 7.30

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 26:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP B: Glasgow (40) v Oxford (50) 7.30

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 27:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP A: Poole v Edinburgh 7.30
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP B: Redcar (35) v Glasgow (55) 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