BRITISH SPEEDWAY APRIL 11, 2025

(SPEEDWAY 1)

 LIONS ROAR TO VICTORY

LEICESTER edged out defending ROWE Motor Oil Premiership champions Belle Vue 46-44 in a dramatic finale at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park.
The Aces hit back from a ten-point deficit in mid-meeting with back-to-back 5-1s to force a last heat decider where they were two points adrift.

Dan Bewley and skipper Brady Kurtz made the start and looked set to clinch a match-winning maximum – but Lions captain Max Fricke surged under Kurtz on the third bend, forcing his rival wide which enabled Luke Becker to also make it through for a 3-3.

Fricke led the Leicester scoring with 12+1 whilst Kurtz on 12+1 and Bewley with 11 were the top scorers for the Aces.

Said Fricke: “It’s always tough when you’ve got a last heat decider, and to start behind I thought I’d got my work cut out, but we were able to pull it off in the end and Luke was able to get through.
“When it’s a pair riding in front it’s always difficult to make a pass, but I was able to make a bit of speed and get down the inside, and just make enough room for Luke as well.
“It was good to come away with a win. We started really well and then we kind of tailed off in the middle, so we need to pick up that, but we had a bit of misfortune along the way as well.”

Belle Vue manager Mark Lemon said: “To come away from Leicester with that result, we are pretty happy. 

“The final race was two GP boys out there going hammer and tongs. That’s what you expect. There was a lot riding on it. 

“Obviously Max didn’t want to let his team down. It’s racing, we’ll come back and fight another day.”

 (SPEEDWAY 2)

 IPSWICH recorded another huge home score with a 65-25 beating of Oxford at Foxhall to continue their 100 per cent start to the season.

The Witches had racked up 67 points in their opening Foxhall outing against Belle Vue, and they went close to that total in their first ROWE Motor Oil Premiership encounter on their own track.

Skipper Danny King scored a 14+1 paid maximum from five rides, with Jason Doyle (9+3) also unbeaten from four outings – whilst the remaining members of the Witches’ top five were all in double figures.

The hosts recorded nine 5-1s, including three on the trot in the first three races of the meeting, and they limited the Spires to just two heat wins.

One of those came in Heat 4 where Latvian youngster Francis Gusts held off Emil Sayfutdinov for the visitors’ big highlight of the night, whilst Charles Wright was their other winner and ended with nine.

Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “Everyone was getting 5-1s and winning races whilst having fun and working together as a team. It was another superb night for the boys and a brilliant result, I hope everyone has gone home happy with another win.

“It is great to start so strongly at home and it is a massive boost going into the season.

Tougher tests will come, and teams will improve and I’m sure when Oxford come again, they will be a lot better than they were tonight, and the same goes for Belle Vue.

“At the moment, we haven’t been tested at home, but we will be, and it will get a lot harder as the year progresses and riders get into form.

“We can’t be getting carried away, but the early signs are good, and confidence should be up.”

 (SPEEDWAY 3)

SHEFFIELD again displayed strong home form with a 57-33 win over King’s Lynn headlined by a 15-point maximum from skipper Josh Pickering.

The Tigers made it two ROWE Motor Oil Premiership wins out of two on their own circuit whilst the Stars slipped to defeat by the same margin as their loss at Belle Vue 72 hours earlier.

Pickering raced to five straight wins whilst No.1 Jack Holder also went through the card with 13+2, and Chris Holder (13+1) and Anders Rowe (10+1) were also in double figures.

King’s Lynn reserve Chris Harris collected 11+2 from seven rids, whilst Richad Lawson was the visitors’ only other race winner as he ended with 10+1.

Pickering said: “I did think it was going to be a lot closer to be honest with you.
“They’ve got a stacked side the whole way through and they can be very strong – but it just goes to show you how good we are.

“We all hit the ground running, which is what we have to do, and to pull an early lead on King’s Lynn, that was very important. I’m very proud of the boys.”

Stars boss Rob Lyon said: “It’s always a hard place to come to. They’ve got a powerhouse team, even with the situation they have being without Tai (Woffinden).

“But they deserved to win and were the far better team. Their boys were gating off every single gate, which was a bit of a mystery from our perspective.
“It’s frustrating, it’s hard to put into words to be honest, but we move on and we’ve got Leicester on Monday in an important home meeting.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

GLASGOW hold a four-point advantage over local rivals Edinburgh ahead of the second leg of the Scottish Cup at Ashfield tonight (Friday).
The Tigers were victorious in last week’s opener at Armadale, but boss Cami Brown is warning his side to beware of a Monarchs backlash in the return.

The visitors hand a debut to Polish racer Oskar Polis who missed the first leg, but captain Paco Castagna is absent due to the Italian Championship, with Drew Kemp stepping in to guest.

Brown said: “The Monarchs will arrive at our place really wanting to get revenge. They won’t have liked being beaten at Armadale. 

“They can sometimes ride Ashfield better than their own place. We cannot underestimate how good they can be. They also have a strong reserve in Victor Palovaara who knows Ashfield very well. 

“The early signs are good. We already have one trophy in the cabinet, let’s hope more are to come starting with the Scottish Cup on Friday.”

GLASGOW: Chris Harris, Ashton Boughen, Dan Thompson, Leon Flint, Kyle Howarth, Freddy Hodder, Max Perry.

EDINBURGH: Justin Sedgmen, Jonatan Grahn, Kye Thomson, Oskar Polis, Drew Kemp, Victor Palovaara, Max James.

(SPEEDWAY 5)

REDCAR open their home campaign with the Tyne/Tees Trophy as they take on a Newcastle Diamonds Select at the ECCO Arena tonight (Friday).
The North-East rivalry was always a strong one prior to the closure of Newcastle three years ago, and a team with plenty of Diamonds connections has been compiled to take on the 2025 Bears.

Erik Riss misses out for the hosts with a shoulder injury after a crash in the Championship Pairs last weekend, with Dan Gilkes – who rode for Redcar last season – coming in to guest.

Bears racer Jason Edwards said: “Competitive laps are what we need at this stage of the season, it’ll be good to get together as a one-to-seven, and it will be great preparation for the Scunthorpe match in the BSN Series next week.

“The Newcastle meeting gives us the opportunity to test some different things and they have a solid side, which makes it a good test for us at the start of our season.”

REDCAR: Charles Wright, Jake Mulford, Jason Edwards, Danny King, Dan Gilkes, Tom Spencer, Ace Pijper.

NEWCASTLE SELECT: Steve Worrall, Ben Barker, Simon Lambert, Connor Mountain, Lewis Kerr, Danny Phillips, Alfie Bowtell.

 (FIXTURES)

FRIDAY APRIL 11:

SCOTTISH CUP 2^nd leg: Glasgow (47) v Edinburgh (43) 7.30

TYNE/TEES TROPHY: Redcar v Newcastle Select 7.30

SATURDAY APRIL 12:

WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Middlesbrough 7pm

SUNDAY APRIL 13:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: Kent Eagles v Leicester 12pm