BRITISH SPEEDWAY AUGUST 2, 2024

(SPEEDWAY 1)

OXFORD’S DRAMATIC WIN

OXFORD remain in the top four of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership after a 46-44 win over Birmingham in a meeting which ended in high drama at Cowley.

The Spires were always set to take the aggregate point, but the Brummies looked set for their first away victory as the two top-flight newcomers put on a thrilling contest.
Fredrik Lindgren and Tom Brennan gave the visitors a two-point lead with a 5-1 in Heat 13, which was maintained when the next race was shared, but Brennan was then disqualified from Heat 15 after a clash with Erik Riss.
And in the re-run, Maciej Janowski squeezed around Lindgren on turn two to join Riss for a 5-1 which turned the match back in the Spires’ favour.

Janowski (11+1) and Riss (11) led the scoring for Oxford, with those scores matched by Lindgren (11+1) and Brennan (11), and the Spires are now two points ahead of Leicester albeit having raced four more matches.
Riss said: “We had to win tonight, because to make the play-offs, the minimum we need is to win every meeting at home. It was probably closer today than it should have been.

“You want to pinch wins like we did tonight away from home – around your home track it should be more comfortable. It was stressful, but we got the win and that’s all that matters.
“In Heat 15, there were a few people from the Birmingham side in the pits saying I went down without a touch, but I certainly felt something and the replay showed that there was contact. I wouldn’t have fallen without it.”

Brummies boss Sam Ermolenko said: “Because BSN were there, I was able to see the referee’s call on Heat 15 – and I disagree with him.
“Riss was trying to hold onto his position and put his leg out. I wouldn’t have minded getting beat if it was fair – but what I saw was unfair.
“It’s just really difficult to accept because to do all of the work to get ourselves into that position and to have a referee make a decision like that, it deflated everything.”
 (SPEEDWAY 2)

SHEFFIELD and Leicester fought out a 45-45 draw in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership at Owlerton – with the defending champions adding the extra point by winning the Super Heat.
Max Fricke and Luke Becker completed the Lions’ comeback from six points down to all-square in the night with a 5-1 in Heat 15, and with the aggregate point already in the bag it gave them two most useful league points towards their play-off chase.

But it was the Tigers who took the spoils on the night as Holder brothers Jack and Chris combined against Fricke and Becker in the additional race, leaving them four points behind league leaders Ipswich with six matches remaining.
Jack Holder scored 13 and Chris Holder 11 across the regular races, with Fricke (12+1) and Becker (11+1) leading the Lions’ scorechart.
Said Chis Holder: “It was a really tough one. Again, the track was a bit tricky for us so we weren’t our dominant selves how we have been in the past.

“Hopefully next week we can put a few points on the board earlier on and give us a bit of a buffer because that was real tight.
“Luckily we had the gate choice (in the Super Heat) which was pretty important and we got the job done.”
Fricke said: “If you’d have told us we would come away with this result before the meeting, we would’ve taken it.
“Plusses and minuses but the home boys are good here, especially when it comes to Heat 15 and they know their way around.
“But it’s great for Leicester, everyone rode well and to come away with a draw, we’re pretty happy.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)

IPSWICH march on at the top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership thanks to an emphatic 57-33 win over local rivals King’s Lynn at Foxhall.
The depleted Stars put up some early resistance with Jan Kvech winning his opening two rides, and the scores were level after six races.

But the Witches dominated the second half of the meeting with Emil Sayfutdinov scoring a 12-point maximum, whilst Danny King (10), Adam Ellis (9+4) and Keynan Rew (9+1) were also in the major points. Kvech (11) and Niels-Kristian Iversen (10+2) hit double figures for the Stars, who have two home matches next week as they look to put pressure on the top four.
Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “We got the result in the end, the first third of the meeting was really close and I thought we looked a bit sluggish and rusty in the first bit of the meeting.

“The boys then got dialled in and we dominated after that. King’s Lynn put up a good showing to start with and maybe it wasn’t quite as comfortable as the scoreline suggests.
“We have all needed to contribute to cover Jason (Doyle) and other injuries this season and we certainly did tonight. On a personal note I was delighted with Jordan’s (Jenkins) last two rides, two of the best he has had with us and hopefully that is a big confidence boost for him.”

King’s Lynn boss Rob Lyon said: “I thought we did really well in the first half of the meeting considering what we’d got tonight, and as a team we held in there quite well.
“But as always is the case with these type of meetings when you are under-strength, you lack quality in areas where you need it, and you’re going to run out of steam which is obviously what happened. I would say it’s pretty much a predicted type of scoreline.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

SCUNTHORPE and Edinburgh have agreed dates for their BSN Series semi-final showdown.
The first leg will take place at Armadale on Friday August 23 with the return at the Eddie Wright Raceway a fortnight later on Friday September 6.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “There’s going to be plenty of excitement at the Eddie Wright Raceway in the next few weeks as the season starts to build up to a climax.
“The BSN Series semi-finals against Edinburgh are going to be two classic meetings.  Monarchs are out of the reckoning for silverware in the other competitions so will keen to get through, while we will be putting in everything in our own attempts to the reach the final.”

The other BSN Series semi-final features Poole and Workington, with the first leg at Wimborne Road on Wednesday August 21 and a date is awaited for the return.

(SPEEDWAY 5)

REDCAR and Workington go into the first of two crucial Cab Direct Championship clashes at the ECCO Arena tonight (Friday) with play-off qualification on the line.
The two sides also meet in Cumbria on Saturday and if either side can take maximum points it would have major significance in the race for the top four.

Workington retain fourth place heading into the weekend, just ahead of Glasgow and Redcar, with the Bears one point behind but having raced one more fixture.
They bring in Danyon Hume to guest for Connor Bailey, whilst another ex-Redcar rider Jordan Jenkins guests for the Comets in place of the injured Tate Zischke, and Paul Starke makes his debut.
Bears boss Gavin Parr said: “If we are going to make the play-offs we will probably need to win our last four matches, starting against Workington.

“If we are to beat the Comets all seven lads will need to be on their game, something which I don’t think we have had many times this season.
“Workington have also strengthened up by bringing in Paul Starke at reserve and I know it will be a difficult match for us but I’m hoping we can rise to the occasion.”
Comets manager James Denham said: “The next few fixtures are crucial for us, we have to secure as many points and aggregate points as we can this month.

“Bringing in Paul will hopefully be a boost to the team and enable us to score that few more points that’s needed from reserve.
“We have won there and they have won here this season, so it’s a really tough couple of matches coming up and one that’s hard to predict.
“But our attitude for both meetings is it that we need to win, and after last week’s defeat at home to Poole the lads were disappointed but immediately determined to put it right this weekend.”

(SPEEDWAY 6)

SCUNTHORPE head into a busy run of four Cab Direct Championship matches in eight days when they host Plymouth tonight (Friday).
The Scorpions are looking to enhance their position in the play-off places as they face back-to-back clashes with Gladiators before taking on leaders Poole home and away next week.
The hosts are at full strength and looking to make it ten wins out of ten at the EWR this season, whilst the visitors had a debut to new signing Patrick Baek with rider replacement in operation for the injured Nico Covatti.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We’re in a good position at the moment, but we need to keep up the momentum and not only ensure our place in the play-offs, but to finish as high as possible and keep up our aim of finishing in the top two.
“We’ve beaten Plymouth well at the Eddie Wright Raceway once this season. No doubt Gladiators will be aiming to make more of a fight of it this time around, but we’d like to build up a nice lead for the return fixture down there on Saturday.
“The meeting at Plymouth is intriguing, since they’ve dropped the experienced Kyle Newman and replaced him with a new Dane. Newman scored double figures against us at Plymouth earlier in the season and his absence is likely to work in our favour, and we’ll also be looking to emerge from that meeting with a victory.”

(SPEEDWAY 7)

BELLE Vue hand a debut to new signing William Cairns when they host Oxford in the WSRA NDL at the National Speedway Stadium tonight (Friday).
Cairns has impressed hugely in guest appearances for other clubs since turning 15, but he now makes his bow for the Colts.
Jack Shimelt, the rider Cairns replaced, is also back in the team as a guest for the injured Chad Wirtzfeld (arm), whilst rider replacement is in operation for Luke Muff, who has a broken wrist.

Alex Spooner is back in the sidelines for the Chargers with a shoulder injury, with youngster Jamie Etherington taking his place, whilst Max Perry comes in for Jason Garrad as they defend an advantage of nine for the aggregate point.
Colts co-boss Steve Williams said: “When we went to Oxford, the boys put in a brilliant shift and essentially dominated the second half of that match, so there’s no reason we can’t finish the job.

“Being without both Luke and Chad will be a challenge, but in the same breath the Chargers are also missing two of their usual riders, so both teams remain balanced in that respect.
“We’re fast approaching the end of our season now and we have an excellent opportunity to put some big points on the board and close the gap on the top three.”

(SPEEDWAY 8)

BRITISH Youth Championship racer Jamie Etherington has secured his first team place in the WSRA NDL with Scunthorpe/Sheffield.
15-year-old Etherington, who was runner-up to William Cairns in last weekend’s Youth rounds, comes into the line-up in place of the retired Sheldon Davies.

Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “Jamie has come on strong this season. He comes highly recommended from Neil Vatcher, who is the manager of the British Youth set-up.
“He will come into our joint WSRA National League side with Sheffield as a 3.00 rider at reserve.
“The league is about giving opportunities to young riders. I’m sure Jamie will progress very quickly, and we’re delighted to have added him to our side.”

(SPEEDWAY 9)

THE Belle Vue round of the 2024 British Youth Championship for the riders in the 500cc and 125cc support classes takes place at the National Speedway Stadium this evening (Friday) prior to the Colts’ WSRA NDL fixture against Oxford.
British Youth boss Neil Vatcher said: “All credit to the Belle Vue promotion for their continued support for British Youth Speedway, as a week ago I thought that we would have too many heats to be able to run this event prior to the Colts fixture.

“But Mark Lemon reassured me that we are able to start at 6pm and the Colts fixture would not start until 8pm, therefore allowing us to run our 19 qualifying heats and two finals in two hours, which if all goes well will not be a problem.”
Following last week’s two fantastic rounds at Redcar and Workington, this promises to be another all-action round with new Colts signing William Cairns aiming to win his third consecutive round and put some points between him and the chasing pack for the 2024 British title.

Fellow NDL riders William Hocaniuk and Stene Pijper are expected to be Cairns’ biggest challenge for this year’s title as well as Jamie Etherington who claimed both runners-up positions last weekend.
A fantastic turnout of 13 riders in this class which also includes the impressive 14-year-old Ryan Ingram and Lee Harrison, Laylen Richardson and Billy Budd who will be all out to showcase themselves to the watching NDL clubs.
The 125cc support class has six competitors for this round including three female riders, Tia May Brant, Jessica Cox and Chole Davis, as well as last weekend’s winners Jack Scully-Syer and Charlie Fletcher, with Rhys Harrow competing for the first time in 2024.

(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY AUGUST 2:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Edinburgh OFF, Redcar v Workington 7.30, Scunthorpe v Plymouth 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Belle Vue (40) v Oxford (49) (follows Youth Championship)
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Belle Vue 6pm (500cc/125cc support)

SATURDAY AUGUST 3:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick (37) v Oxford (53) 7pm, Plymouth v Scunthorpe 7pm, Workington v Redcar 3pm

SUNDAY AUGUST 4:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE INDIVIDUAL SERIES: Leicester 3pm