BRITISH SPEEDWAY WEEKLY BULLETIN 2023/19

Feature photo by: Colin Poole…REDCAR ended Oxford’s unbeaten run last week in the Cab Direct Championship with a 48-42 win in a thriller at the ECCO Arena.

Danny King was the Bears hero in a last heat decider as he defeated Sam Masters with Charles Wright in third place ahead of Oxford guest Benjamin Basso. The Cheetahs did gain some consolation though picking-up the aggregate point.

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

SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP NEWSROUND…

WOFFY JOINS TIGERS
SHEFFIELD have swooped to sign triple World Champion Tai Woffinden as an injury replacement for Jack Holder, who broke his wrist in the World Cup Final at Wroclaw.
Woffinden last raced in the Sports Insure Premiership in 2016 when he helped Wolverhampton to the league title.
Said Woffinden: “Steady (Simon Stead) jumped on the phone and said that Jack was going to be out and asked if I wanted to fill in.

“One positive thing is that the boys that I have spoken to about racing in England, no-one has had a bad thing to say whereas five or six years ago that was a different story.
“So it’s all cool, the boys are super-positive about everything and I’m looking forward to having some fun.”

WITCHES HOPES STILL ALIVE
IPSWICH manager Ritchie Hawkins was delighted to see his side kick on for a convincing victory at Leicester – and says they must now keep on winning with two more big away matches coming shortly.
Hawkins said: “The win was the main thing, away from home we need to win the meetings. The aggregate point doesn’t really matter, if we won by two or 16 because we have to win the home meetings.

It doesn’t make a great deal of difference, but it was good to put in such a commanding victory.
“One thing that was a massive difference was that after the interval we kicked on and were superb, whereas previously we have always dropped away at that point so that was a massive difference.”

LIONS – A BLIP?
LEICESTER boss Stewart Dickson says the reaction of his side will be all-important at home to Sheffield on Thursday after their eight-match winning run was ended by Ipswich.
Dickson said: “We did everything the same, the track preparation, the track walk, the chats we had, and we just found ourselves in the wrong place at the wrong time, and even when we did gate we were getting passed.
“Maybe it’s a wake-up call, and now we need to come back on Thursday night and show that it was a one-off, and that will be a test for all of us, myself included.”

FLYING RYAN AT THE MAX
WOLVERHAMPTON boss Peter Adams praised Aussie star Ryan Douglas for his sensational paid maximum at Peterborough on Monday, with Wolves racing to a huge 56-34 win.
Adams said: “He was playing with the opposition and that’s not the first time I’ve seen him ride like this. He was brilliant from start to finish but this was a great team effort.
“It was a magnificent performance, probably our best of the season. Although we had a bit of a scare early on when they took that four-point lead, we soon got back into it and we were dominant from four heats in right to the finish.”

PANTHERS BOSS MYSTIFIED
PETERBOROUGH manager Rob Lyon was left baffled by his team’s display in a heavy home defeat to Wolverhampton – which came just four days after a morale-boosting victory at King’s Lynn.
Lyon said: “It’s a bit mystifying that we were very inconsistent tonight, and we were second best.
“Fair play to Wolves, they were the much better team tonight and hats off to them.
“There are seven more meetings at home so hopefully they can get that consistency in their riding and pull some wins off.”

MORE PROBLEMS FOR STARS
KING’S Lynn suffered another nightmare 24 hours with a shock home defeat to Peterborough followed by the news that Thomas Jorgensen’s season is over after a serious crash at Edinburgh.
Speaking after the loss to the Panthers, manager David Hoggart said: “I’m not going to make any excuses, we weren’t good enough and we couldn’t get out of the starts to save our lives tonight.
“Later in the meeting Richard (Lawson) and Nicolai (Klindt) did a great job in Heats 13 and 15, but really the rest of them didn’t make a decent start all night to be honest.”

LEMON PROUD OF ACES
BELLE Vue boss Mark Lemon put national loyalties aside to praise two of his riders’ involvement in Great Britain’s World Cup effort.
Aces stars Dan Bewley and Tom Brennan were both involved in the GB side who took silver in Wroclaw – with Lemon’s own Australia side missing out on the rostrum in an epic Final.
Lemon said: “Congratulations to GB on their silver medal at the weekend. Even as Team Australia boss, it was still a proud moment to see two of our Aces on the podium.”

THE WEEK AHEAD…  THE race for the Sports Insure Premiership play-offs hots up with Ipswich looking to build on their win at Leicester as they visit King’s Lynn on Thursday and Peterborough on Monday… the Lions will try to bounce back when they host Sheffield on Thursday, and they then travel to Wolverhampton on Monday in a Midlands derby at Monmore Green.

CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP NEWSROUND…

CHEETAHS HAVE RIGHT MENTALITY
OXFORD boss Peter Schroeck says the reaction to the Cheetahs’ first defeat in the Cab Direct Championship will be all-important.
And Schroeck says he’s encouraged by the mood in the cap after a 48-42 loss at Redcar in a terrific ECCO Arena encounter.
He said: “Naturally the boys were gutted the winning run ended at Redcar on Friday. But to me that’s a positive sign – there’s a real drive within the squad to win every meeting we race and that’s a mentality we can use to our advantage.”
 
BROWN – KEEP BUILDING!
GLASGOW boss Cami Brown is urging his side to build on the momentum of Sunday’s exciting home win over reigning champions Poole.
Brown said: “Tom Brennan had a tough night. But he’s had a really high-pressure two days after racing in the World Cup final for Great Britain. There’s no surprise he might be a bit jaded.
“But the other boys stepped up. A special mention for Sam Hagon and Connor Coles who came in and did a fabulous job.
“It’s always good to beat Poole. Now we need to kick on and find some momentum.”

FLINT HANGS TOUGH
BERWICK skipper Leon Flint held his nerve in a crucial Heat 15 to secure a dramatic 46-44 victory over Redcar at Shielfield Park.
Flint said: “We knew Redcar would come hard in the closing stages and it was a case of gritting our teeth and doing the hard yards.
“I knew that Charles was not too far behind me but there was no way I was going to give up that second place. All seven Bandits had worked far too hard not to bring it home.”

HAVVY – NO REGRETS
POOLE boss Gary Havelock was satisfied with his side’s efforts at Glasgow on Sunday, although the reigning champions just missed out 46-44 after a sterling comeback.
Havelock said: “It was a case of could have, would have, should have when you look back and we had to use two riders who hadn’t scored previously coming in together in Heat 14. I suppose people will say I should have made a change earlier to get their rides out of the way, but I don’t regret it even in hindsight.
“You just look at Heat 1. We were on a 5-1 and Bomber [Chris Harris] came down and the re-run ended up as a 4-2 to them. You change those scores around to how it was, and we would have won.”

HIGH HOPES FOR MAX
MAX Clegg will return to Edinburgh’s senior team this week as an injury replacement for Lasse Fredriksen – and he’s confident he can hit the ground running.
Clegg said: “I’ve been in the team with Picko (Josh Pickering) and Craig (Cook) before and I know most of them. I feel the team is really strong and I think we can finish the season off really well. Anything’s possible, I’m confident.
“Poole won’t be an easy meeting on Friday but then no meeting’s easy, is it? I’m confident, especially at home against anyone we have to race. We need the whole team to click.”

BRUMMIES CHASE ONE MORE
BIRMINGHAM manager Stewart Dickson is still looking for ways to improve the Brummies’ side – taking some encouragement from a 12-point defeat at Scunthorpe last Friday.
Dickson said: “If you ask me, the scoreline slightly flatters Scunthorpe a little bit – either we fell away or they turned the screw, realistically you could look at that either way.
“But overall I was more pleased with the performance – I just think we’re perhaps one rider short of where I want this team to be.”

PLENTY IN RESERVE
SCUNTHORPE boss Dave Peet feels a change in riding order this month, with Connor Mountain moving into the top five and Drew Kemp dropping to reserve, will maintain the Scorpions’ overall strength.
Peet said: “Drew can’t buy any luck at the moment. It’s not through lack of effort, while speedway is a confidence game and I’m sure Drew’s move down to reserve in August is going to see him knocking up the points in the same way as Connor – one good meeting and Drew will be fine.
“We always set up this team to have one strong reserve, but by the end of the season, we’re going to have two, because Nathan (Ablitt) is improving week-by-week.”

BEARS STILL AIM HIGH

REDCAR became the first team to defeat Oxford in the Cab Direct Championship this season with a 48-42 win at the ECCO Arena.
And promoter Jamie Swales says the Bears are still chasing top spot with a consistent run of form required to climb further.
He said: “It’s going to be hard, but we do still aim to top the table and beating the league leaders helps our cause!
“Nevertheless, as long as we finish in the top six, we are mainly focused on hitting form come the play-offs.”

THE WEEK AHEAD…  LEADERS Oxford are back in action at home against Scunthorpe on Wednesday… the rest of the chasing pack have some important fixtures with Glasgow travelling to Redcar on Friday… Poole host Edinburgh on Wednesday before making the trip to Armadale on Friday in the return fixture and then move on to Berwick on Saturday in a Northern tour… the Bandits visit Scunthorpe on Friday.

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE NEWSROUND…

A THREE-MAN SHOW!
EDINBURGH’S two reserves and Max Clegg accounted for a massive 40 of the Academy’s 46 points in a narrow home win over Berwick.
With problems elsewhere in the side Clegg, Dayle Wood and Mickie Simpson stepped up to secure the victory, with Simpson recording a career-best 16 points.

Manager Scott Wilson said: “Max again led us superbly, he is our ‘Mr Reliable’. It speaks volumes for his progress that Dayle scored double figures tonight and nobody is surprised.
“The hero of the night was Mickie! His inside passes off bend four were reminiscent of some Monarchs’ stars of the past. A match-winning performance.”

CONSOLATION FOR BOXALL
STEVE Boxall made an excellent return to action for Berwick at Edinburgh – but it wasn’t quite enough for the Bullets to take an away victory.
Manager Scott Courtney said: “We worked hard and scored solidly throughout without being able to land the killer punch.
“Steve has had a night to remember, and we were making the starts but that little bit of trackcraft makes all the difference at Armadale, and we couldn’t contain their reserves.”

LUKE WHO’S BACK
OXFORD are set to welcome back Luke Killeen after his lengthy injury absence, as he now reclaims his place in the line-up for both the Chargers and the Cheetahs.
Manager Peter Schroeck said: “It’s been a really frustrating period for Luke, but we’re delighted to have him back in the squad.
“He’s itching to get going and having him in the pits will be a real boost for the team.”

THE WEEK AHEAD…  A BUSY Sunday in the NDL sees Mildenhall clash with Leicester in a repeat of last season’s Grand Final, with both clubs in contention again… meanwhile Workington visit Kent at midday… the Comets are also in action at Leicester on Saturday with the Lion Cubs leading 53-37 in their KO Cup semi-final.

FIXTURE PICTURE…

TUESDAY AUGUST 1:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Plymouth v Edinburgh OFF

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 2:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Birmingham (47) v Plymouth (42) OFF (Now Wed Sept 6), Oxford (45) v Scunthorpe (45) 7.30, Poole v Edinburgh 7.30

THURSDAY AUGUST 3:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R1: King’s Lynn (38) v Ipswich (52) 7.30
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R2: Leicester v Sheffield 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 4:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Poole 7.30, Redcar (39) v Glasgow (51) 7.30, Scunthorpe (43) v Berwick (47) 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 5:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick (36) v Poole (54) 7pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Leicester (53) v Workington (37) 7pm

SUNDAY AUGUST 6:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Kent v Workington 12pm, Mildenhall v Leicester 4pm

MONDAY AUGUST 7:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R2: Peterborough (36) v Ipswich (54) 7.30, Belle Vue (40) v Sheffield (50) 7.30
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R1: Wolverhampton (41) v Leicester (49) 7.30

TUESDAY AUGUST 8:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Plymouth v Berwick 7pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Oxford v Kent 7.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 9:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Birmingham v Redcar 7.30, Poole (38) v Oxford (52) 7.30

THURSDAY AUGUST 10:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP R2: Ipswich v King’s Lynn 7.30, Sheffield v Leicester 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 11:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow v Plymouth 7.30, Redcar (47) v Edinburgh (43) 7.30, Scunthorpe (41) v Poole (49) 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 12:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick (42) v Birmingham (48) 7pm

NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Berwick (42) v Leicester (47) (follows previous fixture), Workington v Kent 3pm

MONDAY AUGUST 14:
SPORTS INSURE BRITISH FINAL: Belle Vue 7.30

TUESDAY AUGUST 15:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Plymouth (41) v Redcar (48) 7pm