BRITISH SPEEDWAY SEPTEMBER 13, 2024

(SPEEDWAY 1)

LIONS CLAW THEIR WAY TO VICTORY

LEICESTER are through to the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final after a dramatic clash with Ipswich went right down to the wire.
With one race of the semi-final remaining the teams were locked at 87-87 on aggregate, and with the Lions never having led overall throughout the tie.

But just as they had done at Foxhall on Monday, Leicester duo Sam Masters and Max Fricke roared from the gate in Heat 15 to seal their side’s progression with a 51-39 win on the night and by four points on aggregate.
Fricke scored 13+3 for the hosts with Masters and Richard Lawson both on 11+1, whilst Tom Brennan was a superb guest for the Witches with 11+1 in a meeting which featured a succession of incidents, falls and talking points after rain during the afternoon.

Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “I’ve got to give credit to all six of my riders for doing the job, because everybody put something on the scorechart, which was so important.
“Reaching the Final is a big, big achievement for the club, it’s great for me personally but it’s about the riders and supporters, and it’s been a really good night.

“Ipswich put up a great performance and you have to remember they were without their top two riders, but my focus has to be on Leicester, and we’ve done what we set out to do.”
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “My first emotion is immense pride. To be a part of it this season has been an honour. The whole camp has worked so hard, the guys who have come in have fitted in really well and enjoyed the atmosphere and that is something we strive for.

“Track conditions were difficult but both teams went out there and put on the best show you could in the circumstances.
“I think it was a great showcase for play-off speedway and massive congratulations to Leicester, they are a great bunch of boys who I have a lot of respect for and good luck to them in the Final. I am sure whoever they are up against will face a very stern test.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

SCUNTHORPE and Oxford make a second attempt to kick off their Cab Direct Championship play-off semi-final at the Eddie Wright Raceway tonight (Friday).
With Wednesday’s clash at Cowley postponed the Scorpions now host the first leg and will be keen to build an advantage to take back down south next Wednesday.

The hosts are at full strength whilst Oxford are boosted by the return from injury of Cameron Heeps, and Dan Gilkes guests for Jordan Jenkins. Jody Scott once again steps in at reserve for the Cheetahs.
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “The Oxford riders will be familiar with our track, having been here only a fortnight ago for the final Cab Direct Championship league fixture of the season when they gave us a very close match and pushed us all the way to a last heat decider.

“We know it’s not going to be easy against the Cheetahs – when is a semi-final of any competition ever easy?
“But the goalposts have moved since Wednesday’s postponement, in that the talk early in the week was all about us keeping it close at Oxford to set things up for this evening, whereas now it’s all about us building up a lead for when we go back there next week.

“Oxford scored 43 points here two weeks ago and I’m sure they will be aiming for something similar and will be delighted if they can get it. For our part, we want to make sure we win firstly, and secondly, build up as big a lead as we can.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

THE draw has been made for the British Under-19 Final at Oxford on Sunday September 22.
Pre-meeting favourite Ashton Boughen competes in Heat 1 as he is drawn at No.2, whilst amongst the other fancied competitors Boughen will meet his Spires/Cheetahs team-mate Luke Killeen as early as Heat 6.

Luke Harrison, who this week qualified for the European Under-19 Final alongside Killeen and Boughen, has been drawn at No.14 meaning he will compete in the last heat of the day.
Meanwhile the the Pijper brothers, Stene and Ace, have been drawn at 12 and 13 respectively, and 15-year-old sensation William Cairns is at No.9.
Middlesbrough’s William Hocaniuk and Scunthorpe/Sheffield racer Jamie Etherington will be the reserves at numbers 17 and 18 respectively.

DRAW: 1 Sam McGurk, 2 Ashton Boughen, 3 Freddy Hodder, 4 Jody Scott, 5 Sonny Springer, 6 Luke Killeen, 7 Ben Trigger, 8 Vinnie Foord, 9 William Cairns, 10 Ashton Vale, 11 Max Perry, 12 Stene Pijper, 13 Ace Pijper, 14 Luke Harrison, 15 Senna Summers, 16 Max James. Reserves: 17 William Hocaniuk, 18 Jamie Etherington.

(SPEEDWAY 4)

BIRMINGHAM and Poole star Tom Brennan has received a call-up to compete in the fourth and final round of the Speedway European Championship (SEC).
The meeting takes place at the iconic Slaski Stadium in Chorzow, Poland on Saturday September 21.
Brennan was named as the third substitute for the series having just missed out on full qualification after losing a run-off with Polish rider Bartlomiej Kowalski at the qualifier in Mureck, Austria in May.

However he now gets his chance following last weekend’s injury to Mikkel Michelsen, as first substitute Jacob Thorssell is already competing and Kowalski, who was next in line, is the Wild Card for the event. 
It’s a big opportunity for the in-form Brennan to compete on a top stage again following his recent Wild Card appearance at the British GP in Cardiff, and also scoring an 18-point maximum for Great Britain in their European Pairs Qualifier in Stralsund, Germany last month.

(SPEEDWAY 5)

BELLE Vue secured a 50-39 win at Sheffield on Thursday to boost their hopes of a top three finish in the WSRA NDL.
Youngster William Cairns was again in brilliant form at Owlerton with 18 points from seven rides, and captain Freddy Hodder added 13+1 for the Colts. Nathan Ablitt led the way for the Tiger Cubs with 14.
Colts co-boss Steve Williams said: “Considering a lot of the boys had never seen the track before, they put in a cracking shift and we rode collectively as a solid team. We are very proud of them.

 “We were optimistic going into the match but you at the Sheffield team and they’ve got pedigree, with the likes of Nathan Ablitt and Ace Pijper so we knew it’d be challenging.
“After that first 5-1 (in Heat 1) we were a bit concerned, but the boys pulled together almost immediately. They didn’t falter and they never looked back after that.”

(SPEEDWAY 6)

EDINBURGH host a double header of WSRA NDL action at Armadale tonight (Friday) with an earlier start time of 7pm.
The Monarchs Academy host the Scunthorpe/Sheffield team in the opening fixture before then taking on Belle Vue, and two wins would see them climb the league table.
The Stags bring in Danny Phillips and operate rider replacement with Nathan Ablitt and Luke Harrison are on Championship duty, whilst in the second match the Colts have Sam Hagon back after missing Thursday’s win at Sheffield.

The visitors also call up Billy Budd to race at No.2 as their regular stand-in Jack Shimelt is ruled out after a crash at Owlerton.
Edinburgh boss Scott Wilson said: “The plan will be to get off to a good start against Scunthorpe, to secure a morale boosting win in the first meeting. If we can do that then we can go into the Belle Vue match full of confidence.
“Belle Vue will be a tough nut to crack however, as they track the top man in the league in Sam Hagon with his 11-point average, and a rider who will probably end up with an 11-point average, reserve William Cairns.

“We saw William’s undoubted class at Belle Vue the other week where scored an 18-point maximum.”
Colts co-boss Steve Williams said: “We’re delighted to have Sam Hagon back with us. It was frustrating to be without him at Sheffield but the circumstances were what they were, and the rest of the boys rallied together to get a fabulous result at Owlerton.

“It certainly has boosted our confidence ahead of the Edinburgh match. We have a very strong aggregate lead but we want to take all three league points if we can.
“If we can finish our last two matches strongly, we can finish the year joint second with Oxford. Edinburgh is a track we are quite fond of, and I have faith the boys can deliver.”

(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 13:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 1st leg: Scunthorpe v Oxford 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Edinburgh (33) v Scunthorpe/Sheffield (57) 7pm, Edinburgh (34) v Belle Vue (56) (follows previous fixture)

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 14:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Workington v Poole 3pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh 1.30pm

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 15:
CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP: Redcar 3pm
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow 2pm