BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAY 3, 2024

(SPEEDWAY 1)

WITCHES GO TO ANOTHER LEVEL

IPSWICH are back on top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership after winning 47-43 at Leicester on Thursday.
The Witches achieved the result as a six-rider team with skipper Danny King sidelined, as they held the lead for most of the meeting before being taken to a last-heat decider.

The Lions needed a 5-1 from that race to level the scores and force a Super Heat, but Emil Sayfutdinov and Jason Doyle secured a 3-3 behind home captain Max Fricke.
Doyle top-scored for the visitors with 15+1 from six rides whilst reserve Keynan Rew made a key contribution with 11+2. Fricke dropped just one point with 15+2 for the hosts, and Richard Lawson picked up 10+1.
Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “A brilliant performance and I am absolutely delighted with the whole camp; it was a proper team effort.

“All the mechanics played a vital role tonight, all helping each other with covering R/R, it was a proper team effort, and it was everything I want to see in an Ipswich side.

“Doyley has been terrific all season and he was again tonight. Keynan was superb, he was the main factor in us winning the meeting. We know he has the potential and he showed it tonight and it looks like British racing is starting to click for him now.”
Fricke said: “We always know when Ipswich come to town that it’s going to be a tough one, and we pulled a few points back towards the end but not quite enough.

“The track was little patchy early on, and after a couple of heats they tried to smooth it out a bit and make it more consistent, but overall it was just a bit of a tough night for everyone.
“I think everyone got caught out a bit early on. Later on in the meeting it came to us a bit, but we just need to try and get everyone scoring a bit more consistently.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

CHAMPIONS Sheffield raced to a 49-41 win over Oxford in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership despite a stunning Spires debut from new signing Craig Cook.
The former British Champion racked up 16 points from six rides at reserve, including a Heat 15 victory over Jack Holder and Tai Woffinden.

But a 3-3 from that race was enough for the Tigers to secure the aggregate point as the home duo got the better of Rohan Tungate.
Woffinden led the way for the hosts with 12+1 whilst both Jack (11+2) and Chris (10) Holder were in double figures, and Tungate picked up ten for the visitors.

Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “It did feel like we’d got it under control, but when they’ve got somebody like Craig going so well who they could essentially put in anywhere they wanted, that made it quite difficult to manage.
“So the fact that Craig has done what he’s done and we’ve still managed to come out on top and get the aggregate bonus point was everything that we needed.
“We knuckled down and with their strength in depth I thought everyone did their bit, and like I say it’s great that we’ve come out on top.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)

POLISH racer Patryk Wojdylo scored a six-ride paid maximum for King’s Lynn as they secured a 49-41 win over Birmingham for their first points of the season.
Wojdylo racked up 17+1 for the Stars in a meeting which saw them lose No.1 Tobiasz Musielak with a shoulder injury after a heavy Heat 6 crash which also forced the withdrawal of Brummies reserve Vaclav Milik.

The visitors led after Heat 9 and were only two points adrift with two races remaining, but Wojdylo teamed up with Benjamin Basso for a 5-1 in Heat 14 to clinch the match, and then completed his maximum after a great battle with Tom Brennan in Heat 15. Brennan scored 13+1 for the visitors and he too was unbeaten before the final race, whilst Niels-Kristian Iversen picked up 11 for the Stars and Steve Worrall carded 10 for the Brummies.

King’s Lynn boss Rob Lyon said: “It’s been an eventful night, but it’s good to get two points on the board. It probably should have been a little easier, but a win is a win.
“It’s a bit bitter-sweet with Tobi’s injury, but our boys all chipped in at certain times and Patryk did his best to get us over the line!

“Hats off to him, he practiced yesterday and it paid dividends. He got set up and he was absolutely outstanding. All the boys put a shift in, but he was the star of the show and it was a good team effort in the end.”
Birmingham manager Sam Ermolenko said: “I felt pretty darn good up until the last two heats where, unfortunately, we just didn’t have enough strength in the end to finish the deal.
“But when you consider that the riders we signed as our top two didn’t score a point, I think we did okay.
“Some of the European riders will come to King’s Lynn and it can be quite an intimidating track, and I think it showed its true colours like that with those guys.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

GLASGOW launch their defence of the Cab Direct Championship title when they host Workington at Ashfield tonight (Friday).
The Tigers again have to bring in guests at reserve with Freddy Hodder and Jack Smith standing in for Ace Pijper (injured) and Lee Complin (suspended), having seen their Cup hopes dashed at Oxford on Wednesday.

Meanwhile Antti Vuolas is ruled out for the Comets with concussion, and Dan Thompson comes in to guest.
The visitors are led by former Glasgow No.1 Craig Cook, who has made a tremendous start to the season, and also include another ex-Tiger in Claus Vissing.
 
(SPEEDWAY 5)

REDCAR and Scunthorpe meet at the ECCO Arena tonight (Friday) as both look to make a flying start in the Cab Direct Championship.
The Bears were boosted by their Cup win over Workington last week, whilst the Scorpions endured a tough weekend in two competitions but have already tasted success at the Teesside venue this season.

Erik Riss comes in for the home side as a guest for the injured Danny King, whilst the Scorpions track Ashton Boughen at reserve with Nathan Ablitt still sidelined.
Redcar manager Gavin Parr said: “After the Workington performance, I’m hoping we can carry that performance forward against Scunthorpe.

“Several of our riders have gained huge amounts of confidence from the match against the Comets, which can only bode well for us.
“The BSN Series match wasn’t a complete disaster, we led for 13 heats and had a last heat decider so let’s see if we can turn the tables on the previous match against the Scorpions.”

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “I still believe that we have a good side this season that can challenge for silverware. The nucleus of the team is there and so is the belief.
“We’ve already enjoyed a win at Redcar this season. Bears will, of course, be out to stop us doing that again, but we have the belief that we can go there and get a good result to launch our league campaign.”

(SPEEDWAY 6)

EDINBURGH bid to pull back a nine-point deficit when they host Poole in the second leg of their Cab Direct KO Cup tie at Armadale tonight (Friday).
The Monarchs performed strongly in Dorset last week to limit the Pirates to a 49-40 victory, and they will now look to turn the tables in their favour on home territory.

The hosts are unchanged from their impressive win over Berwick last Friday, with the visitors also at full strength as they seek a semi-final place.
Edinburgh star Justin Sedgmen said: “I think looking at the Poole side and the Berwick side on paper they are pretty similar – they have good heat leaders and reserves, so I think the key matchup might be in the middle.

“If Kye (Thomson) and Paco (Castagna) do like they did last week and can outscore Zach Cook and Tom Brennan then we have a real good chance of getting through.”
Pirates promoter Dan Ford said: “We stated at the time that we were looking for a decent lead to take with us into the second leg but Edinburgh did well to keep us in check and that means the tables are turned on Friday and we just have to stop them eating into that lead.
“I certainly believe it is do-able but there is no doubt we have to be on our A-game, and the same is true over the course of our forthcoming three matches.”
 
(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY MAY 3:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Workington 7.30, Redcar v Scunthorpe 7.30
CAB DIRECT KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Edinburgh (40) v Poole (49) 7.30

SATURDAY MAY 4:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Poole 7pm
CAB DIRECT KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Workington (38) v Redcar (51) 3pm
BSN SERIES: Plymouth (44) v Oxford (46) 7pm

MONDAY MAY 6:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Belle Vue (43) v Birmingham (47) 12pm, Ipswich v King’s Lynn 2.15, Oxford v Leicester 7.30