BRITISH SPEEDWAY AUGUST 29, 2024

(SPEEDWAY 1)
 STARS’ WIN COMES WITH A TEAM EFFORT

KING’S Lynn kept up their strong late-season form with a 51-39 win over Belle Vue at the Adrian Flux Arena.
Richard Lawson again proved to be a perfect guest for the Stars with 16 points from six rides, and he was only denied a maximum by Dan Bewley in the closing stages of Heat 13.

Skipper Niels-Kristian Iversen added 11+2 for the home side, who did threaten the aggregate point before the Aces secured some reward, which means a top three finish is all-but confirmed for the Manchester side.
Bewley scored 14 points for the visitors with Jaimon Lidsey on 11+1, and with their regular campaign now at an end the Aces await play-off details.

King’s Lynn manager Rob Lyon said: “It was a great team effort again, every single rider played their part, and that’s what you need to win speedway meetings.
“Richard led from the front, the others followed, and 51 points is a great result.”

Belle Vue boss Mark Lemon said: “We came here obviously to get the aggregate point, but we were hoping to get a win to hopefully stay second, and we’ll just have to watch the other events unfold now.
“The main thing was to get through unscathed. We missed Brady (Kurtz) even though the rider replacement rides went quite well, but we didn’t have enough firepower at the bottom end.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

SHEFFIELD have the opportunity to secure top spot in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership tonight (Thursday) – if they can win at King’s Lynn.
The aggregate point could also be enough for the Owlerton outfit – something they are major favourites for having beaten the Stars 58-31 in the Steel City last month.

But they need to improve upon their previous visits to the Adrian Flux Arena this season as they have suffered two defeats in Norfolk so far.
King’s Lynn have Jan Kvech back at No.1 and bring in Ben Cook and Connor Mountain as guests, whilst the Tigers operate rider replacement for the injured Tai Woffinden and Joe Thompson again steps in as Rising Star.

Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “King’s Lynn had always been a happy hunting ground for us but our two visits there so far this year have been a bit more difficult.
“We lost by ten in the Cup and 12 in the first league meeting and on both occasions we just struggled with set-ups from the off and struggled to get into our stride.

“But we’ve come a long way as a group throughout the course of August I feel so it will be interesting to see how we go there on Thursday.”
Lynn manager Rob Lyon said: “Hopefully we can pull off another home win, we’ve had two good results here against Sheffield this year, so a third one would be nice.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

OXFORD wrap up their first season back at ROWE Motor Oil Premiership level when they face Leicester at Cowley tonight (Thursday).
The Spires have missed out on the play-offs following the Lions’ recent burst of form, but they are keen to end on a high after a series of exciting meetings at their Sandy Lane base.

Both teams declare full-strength line-ups with Rohan Tungate due back for the Spires, whilst the Lions are currently nine matches unbeaten as they continue to chase a top two finish.
Spires manager Peter Schroeck said: “Our season has not been a disaster by any means – there are two other teams in the league who would gladly have swapped our season for theirs.

“There’s been tremendous entertainment in the Spires meetings at Oxford, which have been well supported by the fans, and we’ve put in the building blocks for future success.
“The Lions have been in great form lately, but we’d love to put an end to their winning run and finish the season for Spires on a high.”

Leicester boss Stewart Dickson said: “I’m really pleased for the supporters and our owner Paul Cairns that we’ve got ourselves into the play-offs, and the riders have worked hard and got the results they deserve.
“Obviously we have our aspirations to go further but I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves at the moment, as we still have three league matches remaining.
“We want to finish as high as we can and then the play-off schedule will take care of itself. Oxford is the next meeting and it’s a chance for us to keep the momentum going, but I’m sure they’ll be keen to finish with a win after missing out on the play-offs.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

IPSWICH look to build momentum ahead of the Cup Final and ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-offs when they host Birmingham at Foxhall tonight (Thursday).
The Witches have lost their last five matches having suffered an injury crisis, but they do have Keynan Rew back at reserve after missing the defeat at Perry Barr in the reverse fixture on Monday.

The home side bring in Scott Nicholls once again to guest at No.1 with Troy Batchelor replacing Adam Ellis, and rider replacement is in operation for Emil Sayfutdinov.
Brummies call up Antti Vuolas for Wiktor Lampart, and they use rider replacement again for Piotr Pawlicki.
Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “It is our last league meeting of the year and overall, it has been a very good season. The last couple of weeks have been tough but we want to end the season on a high and win at home.

“I’m sure everyone will be coming out to support the boys again and we need a win to get out of this losing streak before the cup final.”
Birmingham CEO Nigel Tolley said: “We’ve given Ipswich plenty to think about the other two times we’ve been there already this year, particularly in the first half of meetings.
“So hopefully we can use the positives from Monday to help us go there and attack them in a similar way from the off – and hopefully finish it off in the second half of the meeting as well.”

(FIXTURES)

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 (54) v Oxford (36) (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

PREMIERSHIP COVERAGE

THE first leg of the Premiership KO Cup Final between Sheffield and Ipswich at Owlerton next Monday (September 2) will be shown FREE TO ALL on a delayed basis.
In a joint venture between BSP Ltd and BSN, the clash of the Tigers and the Witches – which is a repeat of the 2023 Final won by Ipswich – is to be made available to view via the BSN website shortly after the conclusion of the meeting, with a free pass available to all.

The decision has been taken following the addition of September 2 as a live fixture date for Eurosport’s coverage of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership, which will feature the meeting between King’s Lynn and Leicester.
That date was added to the schedule following a rain-off earlier in the summer, which means it is not possible for a live stream broadcast to be made at the same time.

With the likely clash already known, BSN therefore added an extra league fixture from Sheffield to their own schedule in order to meet their seasonal total for subscribers, and the first leg of the KO Cup Final will now be a bonus for all speedway fans to enjoy.
The meeting will be shown via the BSN website shortly after the conclusion of proceedings at both Owlerton and the Adrian Flux Arena, and it will be available to view right through to the start of the second leg, which will be live for BSN subscribers and individual purchases.

Premiership CEO Phil Morris said: “We’ve been working on this ever since we knew we were going to need September 2 for a TV date, but we’ve had to wait to confirm it in case next Monday was needed for any more league matches.
“Thankfully we’ve had a clear run with the weather over recent weeks so we are on schedule and the Cup Final can take place as planned next week.

“I think this is a terrific solution which means nobody loses out, because BSN have delivered their contracted number of meetings for subscribers, and this is therefore a bonus for everyone.
“It means we can give something back to the supporters, both meetings will be available on the same evening, and if people wish to avoid the score from Sheffield until watching it, they can do so.
“My thanks to everyone for their co-operation in making it possible.”
Full details of how to watch the FREE stream next Monday, which will require viewers to sign up to the free pass, will be available from https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk