BRITISH SPEEDWAY MARCH 26, 2025

(SPEEDWAY 1)

INSPIRING PERFORMANCE BY THE SPIRES

OXFORD manager Peter Schroeck says he took encouragement from the performances of the club’s new signings in Monday’s KO Cup defeat at King’s Lynn.

The Spires went down by 16 points to give themselves a recovery job in their home leg on Thursday, but they at least pegged the Stars after a slow start to the meeting – with Latvian youngster Francis Gusts scoring 7+1 on his debut, and Peter Kildemand adding six.
Schroeck said: “It didn’t look so good early on, but we had a talk together and we then did much better for the rest of the meeting.

“The boys thought the King’s Lynn track was much grippier than it actually was, and it took us a while to get the set-ups right. We had some good races, while the performance of Francis was the highlight – he took a 5-1 with Maciej (Janowski) and then gave Chris Harris a real race a couple of times.

“We’d have loved to have it closer, but we certainly saw positives, in particular the performances of our incoming riders, Francis and Peter.
“It was the Bomber (Harris) show. He wanted to make a statement, which is what we expected. When you take him away, it was pretty level between the two teams.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

CHRIS Harris has reflected on a dream debut for King’s Lynn in Monday’s 53-37 KO Cup win over his former club Oxford.
Harris admitted his gating could have been better, but it hardly mattered as he pulled off a six-ride 17+1 maximum in trademark style with numerous dashes from the back to thrill the crowd at the Adrian Flux Arena.

He said: “Points wise it was pretty good! I made some good moves from the back, it would be nice to make some gates to make it a bit easier for myself, but racing wise it was great.
“Fair play to the Oxford riders, they were giving us room, and it was a good meeting for myself.

“I’m sure it was entertaining although it doesn’t always go as smoothly as tonight, but if I can have a season like that I’ll be happy!
“It was about the whole package. I felt good on the bike, the bike was working well, and the track allowed me to produce some good racing because it gave some racing lines. It’s all clicked well.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)

BELLE Vue skipper Brady Kurtz insists his side will still do all they can to make progress in the KO Cup when they head to Ipswich on Thursday.
The Aces slipped to a shock 50-40 home defeat in the first leg as their recent Cup jinx continued, and now they face the toughest of tests at Foxhall to remain in the competition.

Kurtz said: “Every single year we stand on the track before and say this year we’ve got to get through the first round. It doesn’t seem to be really.
“But it’s not over yet. The home leg was never to be. Thursday we’re going to have to do something really special. It’s possible.
“We can turn a 10-point loss around in three heats. We need to really dig in. I’m quite looking forward to it.
“It’s been a tough start but every year has been and we always pull through. So let’s hope we can do that again.”

(FIXTURES)

THURSDAY MARCH 27:
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Ipswich (50) v Belle Vue (40) 7.30, Leicester (57) v Birmingham (33) 7.30, Oxford (37) v King’s Lynn (53) 7.30

MONDAY MARCH 31:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: King’s Lynn v Belle Vue 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: Birmingham v Leicester 7.30