BRITISH SPEEDWAY AUGUST 13, 2024

(SPEEDWAY 1)

LIONS RUNNING RAMPANT

LEICESTER extended their unbeaten run in in regular ROWE Motor Oil Premiership fixtures to seven matches with a dramatic 46-44 win at Birmingham.

The Lions have made the most of their matches in hand on Oxford and have now opened up a six-point gap on the Spires as they chase the play-offs – and in fact they are now only five points off the top.
Ryan Douglas was the hero at Perry Barr as he held off a hard-charging Fredrik Lindgren in Heat 15 with skipper Max Fricke maintaining third place for the 4-2 they needed to snatch victory.

Douglas, with 12 points, won four of his five outings as the Lions also collected the aggregate point, whilst Zach Cook collected 12 from six for the Brummies.
Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “I knew it was going to be tough here, and it was a good team performance, and very pleasing because halfway through it was getting to the stage of could we hold on for a point, never mind three.

“Credit to the lads for showing the determination to get us over the line, because no matches are easy in this Premiership and that was a toughie tonight.
“Birmingham will feel absolutely gutted, I know I would if I was in their shoes. I thought they raced really well, and we had to pull all the stops out to get the win.”

Brummies manager Sam Ermolenko said: “We tried everything we could but we just lost grip of the track a little bit, it was difficult for some of the boys.
“We had the choice of gate positions for Heat 15 thinking that was going to be it.
“Their boys got out in front though and with Freddie, you can tell he’s a world class rider. He put everything he had into that but the track didn’t give him enough out there to be able to give him that nice pass he was looking for.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

BELLE Vue increased the pressure at the top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership with a 53-37 win over King’s Lynn at the National Speedway Stadium.
The Aces suffered an early shock when the Stars raced into an early six-point lead, but the home side were back level after Heat 5 and they then pulled clear with a strong finish to the meeting.

Dan Bewley (12) missed out in Heat 1 but was then unbeaten, whilst Brady Kurtz (12+1) was heading for a paid maximum until he lost out to Niels-Kristian Iversen in Heat 15.
Iversen and guest Chris Harris both scored 11 for the Stars, whose play-off hopes are now all-but extinguished.
The Aces are now only three points off the top of the table and effectively one win away from securing their play-off place.
Bewley said: “This was a pretty good meeting for the boys. King’s Lynn got off to a pretty decent start but we got dialled in and settled down and things were much better for us after that.

“We expected a tough night, especially when they’ve got riders like Chris Harris guesting at No.2 but I think we showed, again, our capabilities and it was good to get another win at home.
“For me, I feel like my away form has been better than my home form this year so it was a real boost for me to score as well as I did, but I think when you’re having a good time the result reflects that.”

Stars manager Rob Lyon said: “I think the boys put a good shift in tonight. We fell away in the last couple of heats, so the score probably doesn’t reflect the effort they put in.
“At the end of the day it’s difficult to beat these guys on this track, their top four are immense around here and they deserved the win.
“We were good value, and it was only in the last couple of heats that we fell away. I’m proud of them, they rode well as a team – and you never know, we might get the aggregate point at King’s Lynn!”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

SPEEDWAY supporters are invited to Clevedon Salerooms on Thursday (August 15) where they can be a part of hit BBC One series The Travelling Auctioneers.

Fans of the old Bristol Bulldogs, and speedway followers generally, will have the opportunity to bid on a collection of speedway memorabilia from the estate of local, Maurice Washer, an FA linesman and referee for over 50 years and speedway fan.
His collection of British Speedway memorabilia includes programmes, ephemera and Bulldogs membership bars and pins dating back to the 1950s.

The Travelling Auctioneers are coming to Clevedon Salerooms on Thursday, 15 August, for this exciting auction with the hit BBC One series.
With Izzie Balmer at the rostrum, this is a day that collectors and enthusiasts won’t want to miss.
The auction starts at 10.30am at Clevedon Salerooms, Kenn Road, Clevedon, Bristol BS21 6TT – alternatively, supporters can register to take part online at https://www.clevedonsalerooms.com

(FIXTURES)

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 14:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Edinburgh 7.30, Poole (45) v Oxford (45) 7.30

THURSDAY AUGUST 15:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Ipswich (37) v Leicester (53) 7.30, Oxford v King’s Lynn 7.30, Sheffield (47) v Birmingham (43) 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 16:
CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRS: Oxford 7.30