BRITISH SPEEDWAY LATEST ROUND-UP APRIL 16, 2024

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

Feature photo by: STEVE DIXON… LEAGUE champions Sheffield snatched a 46-44 victory at Leicester courtesy of a last-heat 5-1 from the Holder brothers Jack and Chris. The Australian duo turned it around against Lions pair Max Fricke and Ryan Douglas in the decider as the Tigers took the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership points.

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP…

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
BELLE Vue captain BRADY KURTZ kept his excellent start to the league season going with a 14-point haul in the Aces’ win at King’s Lynn. Kurtz dropped his only point to Vadim Tarasenko in Heat 11 and has won 11 of his 15 races in the Premiership so far in 2024.

WITCHES STAY UNBEATEN
IPSWICH made it four wins from four in all competitions this season with a 48-42 win at Oxford as Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov combined for a trademark 5-1 in Heat 15.
And manager Ritchie Hawkins admits he couldn’t be happier with the way his side have started the campaign.
Hawkins said: “We didn’t run many last places which makes you solid, we had a solid middle order led by an amazing top two. Dan (Thompson) is flying as a Rising Star, and it is great to see.
“It has been an amazing start to the season, as good as we could have hoped for. We are already gelled from last season but there is more to come I think from most of the side.
“Other teams will improve as well and there are a lot of solid, good-looking teams about and I’m sure the season will be full of twists and turns.”

HOLDERS INSPIRE TIGERS
JACK Holder combined with brother Chris for a Heat 15 5-1 at Leicester to turn an eventful contest the Tigers’ way, as the defending champions secured a 46-44 victory.
Said Jack: “I’m not really in the groove yet but I felt much more like myself and it was back to true form like I know.
“It’s always good riding with your brother in the team and to seal the deal with him was so good.
“It was good to get an away win and hopefully we can build on this and we look forward to finally riding at our home track for once.”

SPIRES MAKE A CHANGE
GERMAN international Erik Riss is looking forward to making a fresh start in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership having agreed a deal to replace Nicolai Klindt at Oxford.
Riss said: “I’m pleased to sign for Oxford which is a club I’ve enjoyed visiting since the track reopened in 2022.
“There’s always a real buzz at Sandy Lane so be in the home end of the pits will be special and I’m looking forward to meeting our supporters when King’s Lynn visit next week.”

BIG WIN FOR ACES
BELLE Vue manager Mark Lemon was delighted with his side’s efforts to come out on top in a close contest at King’s Lynn last Thursday.
Lemon said: “I couldn’t have been prouder of how the team performed at the Adrian Flux Arena. It was a truly exciting match and they rode superbly.
“Things were close. One minute we’re leading, the next they’re leading and it came down to crunch time before we managed to beat off their challenge.
“There were times when luck went against us, for example Jaimon Lidsey suffering a chain malfunction with the chain itself twisting a link and I’ve never seen that before in all my time. You feel that things could have been much more comfortable without that, but that’s racing.”

STARS LOOK TO RESOLVE ISSUES
KING’S Lynn boss Rob Lyon is confident his side can work through their early issues after a home defeat to Belle Vue – and he believes they haven’t been helped by previous postponements.
Lyon said: “There are a few issues to sort out after a couple of meetings, but it’s early days yet. It’s a fine line between getting it right and getting it wrong, but it will work itself out over a period of time.
“I do feel we could have done with a couple of meetings before we met Belle Vue. If we’d had Birmingham and Leicester early doors I think we would have been sitting quite nicely, but that’s the way it goes and you can’t help the weather.”

LIONS BOOSTED AT BRUM
LEICESTER’S 43-29 win at Birmingham on Monday showed the all-round ability of the team, according to manager Stewart Dickson who had been frustrated by previous inconsistency.
Dickson said: “I think we began to see signs of what this team is capable of tonight.
“I know it’s only one result, and one swallow doesn’t make a summer, but there was a glimpse of what this team can do when they collectively all score.
“Any manager will tell you it’s difficult to get all seven firing, but I felt I got close to that tonight, and hopefully this is the start of things coming together.”

BRUMMIES’ GATING WOE
BIRMINGHAM CEO Nigel Tolley pinpointed his side’s failings from the gate which played a big part in Monday’s heavy home defeat to Leicester.
Tolley said: “I’d say it was us who weren’t sharp out of the gates rather than them being sharp out of the gates. We weren’t getting the gates, just like we didn’t in the last meeting.
“We really packed down the track on Sunday because we were watching the weather forecast very closely and we thought we were going to get more rain beforehand than we actually did.
“So the track was a bit ‘follow the leader’ and because we couldn’t get the gates, we therefore weren’t getting the points.”

CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP…

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
WORKINGTON skipper CRAIG COOK inspired a sensational Comets comeback at Redcar, scoring 12+2 after breaking the tapes in his first race. Cook won Heat 13 ahead of the Bears’ top two of Charles Wright and Danny King, and then teamed up with Troy Batchelor for the match-winning 5-1 in Heat 15 after Wright had crashed out.

BATTLING BANDITS WIN AGAIN
BERWICK made it two wins out of two at home in the BSN Series, although they were taken down to a last-heat decider in an eventful clash with Edinburgh.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “I warned during the week that Edinburgh would be no pushovers and that’s exactly how it turned out.
“We were mot making starts and I think the rain 20 minutes before the start made for conditions that suited Edinburgh in the early stages.
“But I’m happy with the way the boys hung in there and kept battling away before Rory and Richard saw us home.”

CONSOLATION FOR COLES
EDINBURGH reserve Connor Coles says he was content with his full debut for the Monarchs, scoring 4+1 at former track Berwick after their meeting at Glasgow 24 hours earlier had been abandoned.
Coles said: “Josh (Pickering) was fantastic to only get beat in Heat 15 all night and I think we all had our moments in the team, it shows what is needed to win and you can’t afford any slip-ups.
“I was happy enough with my own performance, I was a little annoyed in the heat I got passed I thought it was Lasse (Fredriksen) behind me but overall, I was happy enough.”

RAIN WRECKS TIGERS OPENER
GLASGOW boss Cami Brown was delighted with positive signs from their curtailed home opener against Edinburgh, which will have to be re-staged after the weather intervened with just six races completed.
Brown said: “We made a brilliant start and led by 10 points but Edinburgh came back at us. It was shaping up to be a huge meeting. But the rain just poured down. It was such a shame.
“I was really impressed by James (Pearson) and Ace Pijper. The youngsters really got stuck in and Steve Worrall was super-classy. It’s a real blow the rain ruined it.”

PALM TOFT THE MAX MAN
MICHAEL Palm Toft roared to a 15-point maximum in Scunthorpe’s Cab Direct KO Cup demolition of Plymouth, with the Scorpions running up a 61-29 win in the first leg.
Palm Toft said: “We want to progress in the Knockout Cup, so the plan was to beat Plymouth at home, and build up a comfortable lead to take down there, so we don’t have to overwork it when we go there down. We’re not taking it for granted, there’s still a job for us to do at Plymouth, but it’s a nice position to be in.
“At this stage of the season, every meeting is really valuable. There’s nothing like being at the start with three other rides and racing for four laps. Practice is helpful, but you get in a routine and bad habits riding by yourself and there’s no substitute for racing.”

COMETS COMEBACK STUNS BEARS
WORKINGTON promoter Andrew Bain admitted he was proud of his side for their incredible result at Redcar, coming from 12 points down to snatch a 46-44 win in the BSN Series.
Bain said: “This was a brilliant result for us. Every single one of our riders contributed tonight and rode fantastic.”
“This shows what we can do! Celina (Liebmann) was fantastic and she fought hard for every point, but our captain (Craig Cook), Troy (Batchelor) and Claus (Vissing) led from the front showing and passing on their experience of the British tracks.
“Now we focus onto Saturday at home and I’m sure the Bears will be out for revenge, so it will definitely be worth getting to the GT Tyres Arena to witness some first-class Championship racing.”

NEWS IN BRIEF
POOLE have quickly re-arranged last week’s postponed BSN Series group fixture against Plymouth which will now take place on Wednesday May 1… the Pirates will also travel to OXFORD on Wednesday May 8 in another re-arranged fixture, whilst dates are awaited for the PLYMOUTH home fixtures in the Southern group of the competition.

WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE…

ACADEMY ALL SET FOR CHARGERS
EDINBURGH face NDL champions Oxford home and away this weekend, starting at Armadale on Friday, with manager Scott Wilson keen to bounce back from an opening defeat at Leicester.
Wilson said: “It was always going to be a difficult fixture to open with, proved by Leicester’s convincing win away to Belle Vue the previous week.
“Taking on a strong side on their own patch was difficult enough but of course it was our first outing and with Press and Practice being rained off the lads had had very little track time, so there was a fair degree of rust.
“Hopefully we have shaken that off and we can get ourselves up and running with a win and take a lead down to Oxford for the return fixture on Sunday.”

FIXTURE PICTURE…

WEDNESDAY APRIL 17:
BSN SERIES: Oxford v Plymouth 7.30

THURSDAY APRIL 18:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Ipswich (48) v Oxford (42) 7.30, Leicester (33) v Belle Vue (51) 7.30, Sheffield v King’s Lynn 7.30

FRIDAY APRIL 19:
BSN SERIES: Glasgow (42) v Berwick (48) 7.30, Redcar (38) v Scunthorpe (52) 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Oxford 7.30

SATURDAY APRIL 20:
CAB DIRECT KO CUP Q/F 1st round 2nd leg: Plymouth (29) v Scunthorpe (61) 7pm
BSN SERIES: Workington (46) v Redcar (44) 3pm

SUNDAY APRIL 21:
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Leicester v Middlesbrough 3pm, Oxford v Edinburgh 3pm

MONDAY APRIL 22:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Belle Vue (39) v Ipswich (51) 7.30, King’s Lynn v Sheffield 7.30

WEDNESDAY APRIL 24:
CAB DIRECT KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Poole v Edinburgh 7.30

THURSDAY APRIL 25:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Ipswich v Sheffield 7.30, Leicester (43) v Birmingham (29) 7.30, Oxford v King’s Lynn 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Sheffield v Middlesbrough 7.30

FRIDAY APRIL 26:
CAB DIRECT KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Glasgow v Oxford 7.30, Redcar v Workington 7.30
BSN SERIES: Edinburgh (43) v Berwick (47) 7.30

SATURDAY APRIL 27:
CAB DIRECT KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Berwick v Scunthorpe/Plymouth 7pm (prov)

MONDAY APRIL 29:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Birmingham v Belle Vue 7.30

TUESDAY APRIL 30:
BRITISH UNDER-21 QUALIFIER: Plymouth 7pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 1:
CAB DIRECT KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Oxford v Glasgow 7.30
BSN SERIES: Poole v Plymouth 7.30