BRITISH SPEEDWAY WEEKLY BULLETIN 2024/22

Feature photo by: Ian Charles… BOTH Belle Vue and Sheffield had a win each in their War of the Roses on Bank Holiday Monday. The Aces edged the Tigers 48-42 in a last heat decider in the midday clash at the National Speedway Stadium, but the Yorkshire men gained revenge in the return at Owlerton later in the day. The Tigers were victorious 56-34 in the evening clash and in the process took the aggregate point from the two ROWE Motor Oil Premiership meetings.

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

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP…

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
Taking the award for the second week running, Sheffield’s JOSH PICKERING was simply sensational at Belle Vue on Bank Holiday Monday as he went unbeaten from his first five rides before missing out in Heat 15. He scored 15+1 in the Tigers’ six-point defeat and then contributed 9+2 in the home return as the league leaders took the aggregate point to go five points clear at the top.

TIGERS IN FORM
SHEFFIELD manager Simon Stead said he was highly encouraged by his team’s displays against Belle Vue on Monday – feeling the Tigers are running into form at just the right time.
The defending champions are now five points clear at the top of the table and are continuing to rack up the results despite the injury absence of Tai Woffinden.

Stead said: “Two meetings in one day can be a big ask but I thought the lads dealt with it and handled things superbly.
“To look down that scorechart and see contributions from everywhere was probably the most pleasing thing for myself, and hopefully that gives a couple more of the lads even more confidence at just the right time.”

BRUMMIES WIN AT LAST!
BIRMINGHAM boss Sam Ermolenko summed up the relief in the camp after a 47-43 home win over Ipswich which finally broke a three-month losing sequence.
Ermolenko said: “We went out there, it was even for a while, I was getting a bit nervous there, but I knew that Tom (Brennan) is in form at the minute, Freddie (Lindgren) is just Freddie, Zach (Cook) did good and Michael (Palm Toft), boy did he save us while Leon (Flint) was trying his hardest.
“As a team, the last couple of meetings we tried to gel as best as we can because we know we’ve got the ingredients if we can all just click.”

WITCHES HAVE NO PREFERENCE
IPSWICH manager Ritchie Hawkins says he will take whichever team the play-offs throw at them, and is also hopeful of having at least some of his injured riders back in business by then.
Hawkins said: “I have nothing new to say about Emil (Sayfutdinov), he is still recovering. There is a chance Adam (Ellis) might be fit for Thursday, but his goal is to be fit for Monday. Hopefully Keynan (Rew) will be back for Thursday, that is the plan.
“The play-off picture hasn’t mattered to us over the last week or so once we knew that we weren’t going to win the league. There are pros and cons to racing any of the other three teams, we are happy to go against anyone.”

MIXED DAY FOR ACES
BELLE Vue experienced an up and down run by securing their play-off place with a win at Ipswich, before a narrow home victory over Sheffield and then a 56-34 defeat at Owlerton on Monday evening.
But boss Mark Lemon hopes the meeting in South Yorkshire can still be beneficial to his side if they end up returning later in the year in the play-offs.
Lemon said: “We realised the result was beyond us for a win and we’ve been working as a unit to try and find a better set-up, and I think we’ve got a bit closer to the mark.”

SPIRES MAKE THEIR POINT
OXFORD youngster Ashton Boughen was pleased to play his part as they took the aggregate point from King’s Lynn last Thursday, assisting the Spires’ bid to fend off the Stars for a top five finish.
Boughen said: “It’s good to help the team win the bonus point. I got better as the meeting went on. It was nice to win my last one. It was good team-riding from Charles (Wright) and we got the 5-1.
“I only live five minutes down the road, so this one is a nice drive home! I’ve got some friends and family here today and it’s enjoyable to have a strong finish to the meeting in front of them.”

STRONG NIGHT FOR STARS
KING’S Lynn boss Rob Lyon was satisfied with his team’s home win over Oxford, although a late rally meant the visitors took the aggregate point away from the Adrian Flux Arena.
Lyon said: “I think we were comfortable all the way through and at one point we were chasing the aggregate.
“It got very close at one point but fair play to Oxford, they kept pulling it back.
“But we always felt in control of the meeting, which was the main thing to get another win on the board, so we’re happy with that.”

LIONS ARE COOKING
LEICESTER reserve Craig Cook is looking forward to playing his part in the Lions’ title bid, with their play-off place secured thanks to a win over Oxford last week.
Cook said: “I owed this club to redeem myself from last year. Hopefully I can continue as I have been and do just that.
“We need to take it one meeting at a time and stay focused. All of the boys have been giving it 100 per cent and they are all moving forwards.
“It is good to see Luke (Becker) hitting a bit of form, he struggled for a bit, and the rest of the boys have been fantastic. Let’s just keep plugging away and what will be, will be.”

CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP…

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
Scunthorpe’s Danish star MICHAEL PALM TOFT recovered from a last place in his first ride to reel off four straight wins in the Scorpions’ 49-40 win at Edinburgh which leaves them in a strong position to reach the BSN Series Final when the second leg takes place next month.

SCORPIONS HALFWAY THERE
SCUNTHORPE have one foot in the BSN Series Final after an impressive nine-point win at Edinburgh last Friday in the first leg of the semi.
Manager David Howe said: “I’m very happy. It was a terrific performance by all the lads tonight. We dug in and kept going.
“It was important to stay in contention in the opening four or five races. We did that and then built on that and ended up with a nice margin for the second leg. We do seem to do better on our second trips to away tracks and we proved that again tonight!”

MONARCHS UP AGAINST IT
EDINBURGH trail Scunthorpe by nine points at the halfway stage of their BSN Series semi-final and also have Justin Sedgmen on the sidelines once again after a damaging home leg last week.
Monarchs No.1 Josh Pickering said: “We needed more race wins, we didn’t have enough heat winners and when we did win, it was 3-3s. We lost Sedgy which is no good.
“The track staff did incredibly well to get the match on but then we’re riding on a track which is not what we are used to again. Sometimes it’s easier for an away team to just ride the track as it is than for the home side to chase the setup.”

CHEETAHS WILL PUSH ON
SAM Masters scored a 15-point maximum for Oxford against Glasgow last Wednesday as the Cheetahs took a win which mathematically guaranteed their place in the play-offs.
Masters said: “We had a good win over a strong Glasgow team. It was a good performance not just from me but the whole team and it’s a good score to take up there.
“We want to keep on pushing for the rest of the year. We get on well and enjoy ourselves during meetings and wins come when everyone’s happy. We’re not thinking too much about it – we’re just going to keep on enjoying on doing what we’re doing.”

TOUGH FOR TIGERS
GLASGOW’S play-off equation became even tighter thanks to a 55-35 defeat at Oxford which also means a big job is required to salvage the aggregate point.
Tigers boss Cami Brown told glasgowtigers.co.uk: “We stayed with Oxford in the early stages but we couldn’t get enough heat advantages.
“To be honest we had too many passengers and last places again. That seems to have been our problem all season.
“It’s a very tough place to come right now. The Cheetahs are flying and it was a challenging night for us.

COOK AT THE MAX
POOLE star Zach Cook secured his first paid maximum for the club with a 9+3 haul in the big BSN Series semi-final win over Workington – despite a crash with Sam McGurk in his second ride.
Cook said: “It was a bit of a funny one that, but it is what it is. I got back up and got the paid win anyway so it doesn’t really matter now.
“It was an up and down night but I was making some good starts, I wasn’t too good early on, but a good night and solid team performance, and real good to bounce back.”

COURTNEY STILL POSITIVE
OUTGOING Berwick co-owner Scott Courtney says he can look back on his time in charge with a good deal of pleasure.
Courtney said: “It was never going to be forever but stepping down from this unique club, which continues to punch above its weight while so many others with so much more in their favour in terms of catchment area and access to big business have fallen by the wayside, is a wrench.

“In other ways it’s pretty straightforward, and one thing I am certain of is that the club’s present and future is so much more secure going forward than when we took over.
“Although we haven’t achieved a huge collection of trophies we’ve done lots of progressive, forward thinking, positive things together and I will be forever grateful that I took the opportunity to do my best for my hometown club.”

BEARS GOING FORWARD
REDCAR boss Gavin Parr says the club’s recent Championship Pairs triumph provides a further indication of the progress that has been made in recent years at the ECCO Arena.
Parr said: “We have come a long way in recent times. Kevin Keay took over and started the ball rolling, Ben Duffill kept improving things during his tenure which then built a platform for the current promotion to help us build even further.
“Some people do forget that the club would not have been securing this silverware in previous eras.”

INJURIES COSTLY FOR GLADIATORS
PLYMOUTH captain Ben Barker says the ongoing injury issues for No.1 Nico Covatti, and some problems of his own, have conspired to damage the Gladiators’ top four hopes.
Barker said: “It’s been a tough year without Nico, and I can certainly say if we had a good No.1, we would have been a very good side because we’re so strong at the bottom end.

“We’ve lost three at home this year and I feel we were hard done by at Redcar, a couple of places we’ve been this year we should have won, and I had two meetings here where I only did one ride and we lost by two or four. I am sometimes pretty good around here when I’m dialled in!”

NEWS IN BRIEF…
WORKINGTON’S crunch Championship clash with Plymouth last weekend was an early victim of the weather, and the Comets now prepare for the second leg of their BSN Series semi-final against Poole this Saturday, trailing by 28 points from the first leg.

WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE…

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
Leicester clinched the NDL title in style with away wins at Sheffield and Oxford in the space of four days, and reserve MAX JAMES played an integral part in those results with scores of 14+1 at Owlerton and 16+1 at Cowley, with the Lion Cubs becoming champions for the second time in three years.

HOWARD HAILS TEAM EFFORT
LEICESTER boss Dave Howard paid tribute to the all-round efforts of his Lion Cubs team after they were crowned NDL champions with a perfect record so far of nine wins out of nine, clinching the title with a win at Oxford.
Howard said: “Max (James) and Arran (Butcher) have been great at reserve in these last two matches in particular, but this was about the team overall, and to be unbeaten over the whole season with one match left and to have already won the league is an outstanding effort from the whole team.
“It would be good if we could win at Edinburgh as well on September 20 and complete the season with a 100 per cent winning record, so we’ll see what happens when we go there!”

CHARGERS TAKE THE POSITIVES
OXFORD boss Peter Schroeck says his NDL team have had another excellent campaign even though they missed out on retaining the title at the hands of Leicester.
Schroeck, who congratulated the Lion Cubs on their success, said: “There’s a strong chance that we could finish the season in a very creditable second place. We’ve got one meeting left at Scunthorpe and we’ll be doing our best to win that one.
“I feel there’s a lot of teams who had more experience in their side than us at the start of the season, so I’m delighted how the boys have performed.
“For us, this league is always about rider progression and development. I believe we’re at the forefront of that with the youngsters coming through.”

SMALL MARGINS FOR TIGER CUBS
SHEFFIELD/Scunthorpe co-boss Paul Tatam bemoaned some misfortune at Owlerton last Thursday which cost his side the chance to become the first this season to defeat Leicester.
Tatam said: “In Heat 6, Mickie (Simpson) blew an engine and then Ace (Pijper) crashed in Heat 14 whilst we were on a 4-2 – if those two things don’t happen, we’d have been the first team to beat them.
“Had we gone into Heat 15 four up, I’d have fancied our chances and based on the result, we’d have got over the line. But I couldn’t ask for much more from the lads, it was a great effort all considered.”
 
FIXTURE PICTURE…

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 28:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: King’s Lynn (37) v Belle Vue (53) 7.30

THURSDAY AUGUST 29:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Ipswich (43) v Birmingham (47) 7.30, King’s Lynn (31) v Sheffield (58) 7.30, Oxford (37) v Leicester (53) 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 30:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh (40) v Poole (50) 7.30, Glasgow (40) v Redcar (50) 7.30, Scunthorpe (34) v Oxford (55) 7pm
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Edinburgh 7.30, Scunthorpe v Oxford (follows Champ fixture)
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Belle Vue (prior to NDL fixture) (250cc/125A)

 SATURDAY AUGUST 31:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Plymouth (39) v Oxford (51) 7pm
BSN SERIES SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Workington (31) v Poole (59) 3pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP + WOMEN’S BRITISH OPEN FINAL: Leicester 5pm

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 1:
RICHARD LAWSON TESTIMONIAL: Poole 5pm

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 2:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: King’s Lynn v Leicester 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP FINAL 1st leg: Sheffield v Ipswich 7.30
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Birmingham 7.30

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 4:
CAB DIRECT KO CUP SEMI-FINAL 1st leg: Oxford v Redcar 7.30

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 5:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Leicester v King’s Lynn 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP FINAL 2nd leg: Ipswich v Sheffield 7.30

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 6:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh (40) v Glasgow (50) 7.30
CAB DIRECT KO CUP SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Redcar v Oxford 7.30
 
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7:
NATIONAL LEAGUE RIDERS DEVELOPMENT SERIES: Berwick 7pm

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 9:
ALAN GRAHAME MEMORIAL 4TT: Birmingham v Cradley Select v Wolverhampton Select v Coventry Select 7.30