BRITISH SPEEDWAY JULY 26, 2024

(SPEEDWAY 1)

TABLE TOPPER IPSWICH CONTINUES ITS DOMINATION

IPSWICH collected their sixth away win of the season in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership with a 49-41 victory at King’s Lynn.
The Witches are four points clear at the top of the table having maintained their dominant record at the Adrian Flux Arena, where they are now unbeaten in eight successive league matches.

Emil Sayfutdinov and reserve Keynan Rew both scored 13+1 with Sayfutdinov dropping his only point to Jan Kvech. Ipswich skipper Danny King weighed in with 12, including four race wins.
The Stars were well served by a hard-working Niels-Kristian Iversen who scored 15+1 from seven outings, and Kvech picked up 9+1.

Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “Away wins are always great, and it is another one here. I felt it was a meeting we should win, but it was one we could certainly slip in, and not.
“I think it was vital for our league position, keeping a cushion at the top, and I felt the boys battled really hard and I am really happy with all of them.

“Emil was class again and Danny started the meeting on fire, and he flies around this place so I kind of expected that from him. After a couple of tough rides, it was great to see him win heat 15 and finish with another win.”
Stars boss Rob Lyon said: “Any defeat is always disappointing, but it was backs to the wall with the team we had out, with all due respect to the boys we brought in.

“Everybody gave it a lot of effort, and with some decent races from most of them, but it’s tough to ride against a team that are top of the league and the way they’re set up with the best rider in the league.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

SHEFFIELD closed the gap at the top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership with maximum points from a 50-40 win over Oxford.
It was a third victory in the space of a week for the Tigers, who were taken down to the wire for the aggregate point before clinching it in Heat 15.

They required a 3-3 from that race and went slightly better as Chris Holder won the race whilst brother Jack passed Chris Harris for third place.
Chris kept up his strong Owlerton form with 14+2 whilst Jack scored 11+1 and Josh Pickering collected 12 as the home side covered Tai Woffinden’s injury absence with rider replacement.

Maciej Janowski scored 12+1 for the Spires and Harris added 10, but they are now only one point ahead of Leicester in the race for the top four.
Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “Running rider replacement always puts a little bit of extra pressure on the team, but the lads responded well and they did a great job between them to score nine points covering Tai’s rides.
“All of the boys had at least one paid win so I was really pleased on that front.

“It’s been a really good week for us taking maximum points from three meetings in seven days, so let’s just keep plugging away and keep doing what we’re doing.”
Oxford manager Peter Schroeck said: “We were a bit unlucky to lose the aggregate point. Rohan (Tungate) has been fantastic this season, but mechanically he had issues today.

“Maciej was on it, despite it only being the second time he’s been to this track. He’s really got dialled in on the British tracks as this season has progressed and this meeting was further proof of that.
“The boys all battled today, down to the two lads at reserve who were so close to extra points at times. We gelled really well as a team and worked together. It was would have been nice to pick up a point but it wasn’t meant to be.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

LEICESTER raced to a 55-35 win over Belle Vue to move to within a point of the top four in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
The Lions secured their biggest victory of the season in a meeting which saw the Aces suffer a major blow when Dan Bewley was ruled out after a crash in Heat 6 when he clipped a falling Max Fricke and went into the fence.

The visitors held an eight-point deficit until the final third of the meeting but the Lions then pulled clear to take match and aggregate points.
Sam Masters led the way for the hosts with 13 points from five rides, whilst Craig Cook notched 10+1 against his old club. Belle Vue skipper Brady Kurtz scored 12, and Ben Cook won two races to finish on 10+1.

Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “Losing Dan did impact them a bit, but I don’t think it takes anything away from us. It might have been 14 or 16 points rather than 20, but I can only look at it from my point of view.
“For me, the plus points were Luke Becker now finding the consistency we want, and Craig Cook now getting the hang of the track, and that’s coming. He’s getting there.

“We have now got a bit of momentum. I think we’ve had it for the last couple of weeks in fairness, but you can feel it, and folk are beginning to buy into what we’re doing.”
Belle Vue CEO Mark Lemon said: “Track conditions early on were challenging. It’s always difficult at this time of year to get the moisture levels right.

“Max Fricke unfortunately made a mistake, which is rare for him, and that had a knock-on effect for Dan. He took a pretty heavy knock to the whole body and unfortunately was ruled out.
“It’s hard to put the finger on why our away for has eluded us this year. We have some quality riders in our team, but at the same time it does demonstrate the competitive nature of the league.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

CAB Direct Championship leaders Poole head to Glasgow tonight (Friday) in a repeat of last season’s Grand Final.
The Pirates’ last trip to Ashfield saw them go down to a 14-point defeat which they were unable to turn around in the return at home.

But the Dorset side head the standings in 2024 whilst the Tigers are looking to break into the top four, with Anders Rowe coming in for the hosts to guest for the unwell Steve Worrall.
Meanwhile Pirates star Tom Brennan makes his first return to Glasgow having been part of the club’s title win last season, whilst Ashton Boughen guests for Tobias Thomsen who suffered a left ankle injury in a crash at Wimborne Road on Wednesday.

Poole promoter Dan Ford said: “Glasgow have a solid proven record, especially around Ashfield but no doubt Tom will be able to share some tips across the team.
“Richard (Lawson) has had some good results there and young Sam (Hagon) of course was crowned British U21 title at the venue, whilst Vinnie (Foord) was also impressive in that meeting, so we have every right to be positive and certainly not fear them.”

(SPEEDWAY 5)

SCUNTHORPE meet Workington in a fascinating clash of two sides currently in the Cab Direct Championship play-off places tonight (Friday).

The Scorpions return to the Eddie Wright Raceway after a heavy defeat at Poole in the Cab Direct KO Cup on Wednesday, but their home form has been strong and a win could take them top of the table depending on results elsewhere.
Meanwhile the Comets travel with a 12-point advantage for the aggregate point, and they bring in Jason Edwards to guest for the injured Tate Zischke.

Scorpions promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We’re targeting all three points against Comets, including the aggregate point.
“First things first, we want to make sure that we win the meeting, but beyond that we’ll be looking to overturn the 12-point deficit from the clash at Workington.
“That’s not going to be easy, since the result earlier in the season against the Comets at the Eddie Wright Raceway was 49-41 to us.
“I’ve said all along that I want a top two finish, and taking all three points off Workington would be an important part of that. “

(SPEEDWAY 6)

EDINBURGH and Berwick have the opportunity to climb the Cab Direct Championship table when they meet twice this weekend, starting at Armadale tonight (Friday).

The Monarchs are just ahead of the Bandits in the standings and they operate rider replacement for Justin Sedgmen who was injured in the win over Workington last week.
Meanwhile the Bandits bring in Ben Barker and Joe Thompson for both matches, as they come in to replace injured duo Rory Schlein and Bastian Borke.

Monarchs manager Alex Harkess said: “Injuries have made things very difficult for Berwick for sure. I’m sure they had put a good team together, but they’ve not had any benefits from it because they have very seldom had the team racing as a complete team.

“We know ourselves when that kind of thing happens it is very difficult to build momentum. But you just have to get on with it, and in the two matches this weekend, we will be going to both of them looking for points, there is no doubt about that.”
Berwick boss Stewart Dickson said: “No question we need to raise our game from Wednesday night at Oxford.
“I think having Joe Thompson with us this week is a great bit by business the club and gives us a solid reserve, while Ben Barker will bring his swashbuckling approach to the weekend.
“It’s a big ask to cover for Rory, especially at Armadale, but we have riders who go well there. They just have to produce it on the night.”

(SPEEDWAY 7)

MIDDLESBROUGH host Oxford in the WSRA NDL at Redcar tonight (Friday) with the defending champions forced into three changes.
Jody Scott and Ashton Vale are both ruled out by injury whilst Jason Garrad is on Championship duty with Glasgow. Max Perry, Matt Marson and flying youngster William Cairns come in as guests.

The Tigers are at full strength and No.1 Jake Mulford is expecting the visitors to pose a real threat.
Mulford said: “I think the Chargers will be our toughest test so far, especially with Oxford tracking William Cairns as a guest. However, I’m sure if we stick together as a team then we will be okay.

“The later heats of Tigers meetings haven’t really been going to plan recently as we haven’t scored as many points as we would have liked to score.
“If we can start becoming more consistent in the later heats then that can be the difference maker for the side.”

(SPEEDWAY 8)

THE 2024 British Youth Championship for the 500cc and 125cc Support classes gets underway at Redcar this evening (Friday).
The Support class will be on at 7pm prior to the Middlesbrough v Oxford WSRA NDL fixture, and the 500cc class will be on after the conclusion of that match.

The man of the moment William Cairns makes his debut in the 500cc class along with fellow NDL riders Stene Pijper and William Hocaniuk.
Jack Crewe, Ryan Ingram, Hayden Watts and Liam Cox are all making their Youth Championship debuts, whilst Jamie Etherington and Lee Harrison step up from the 250cc and 125cc classes respectively.

In the 125cc Support class Adam Sidyk, Charlie Fletcher and Jack Scully-Syer will be competing against female riders Jessica Cox and Tia May Brant.
The Young Lions would like to thank their Series sponsors, the Members of the BSP Ltd and the Redcar promotion for their continued support of the British Youth Championship.

(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY JULY 26:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30, Glasgow v Poole 7.30, Scunthorpe (39) v Workington (51) 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Middlesbrough (34) v Oxford (55) 7.30
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Redcar (500cc) (follows NDL fixture) / (125cc support) 7pm

SATURDAY JULY 27:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Edinburgh 7pm, Workington (29) v Poole (61) 3pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Workington (follows Champ fixture) (500cc/125cc support)

MONDAY JULY 29:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Birmingham v Belle Vue 7.30, King’s Lynn (32) v Sheffield (58) 7.30