BRITISH SPEEDWAY SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

(SPEEDWAY 1)

GORDON KENNETT, 69, DEAD

BRITISH Speedway is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of former World No.2 Gordon Kennett at the age of 69.
Kennett represented numerous clubs during a highly successful near 25-year career, but he is best remembered for his time with Eastbourne.

He made his Eagles debut in 1970 and went on to have three spells with the Sussex side, racing for them in a total of 13 seasons becoming a long-serving No.1 and captain, and the club’s all-time top scorer.
Individually he finished a brilliant second in the 1978 World Final at Wembley, just one point behind winner Ole Olsen.
And the same season saw him secure World Pairs glory for England at Chorzow, teaming up with Malcolm Simmons to edge out New Zealand in a run-off for the title.
Kennett retired after a stint with Wolverhampton in 1993-94 but remained a regular visitor to speedway and still enjoyed riding bikes.

British Speedway sends our condolences and best wishes to Gordon’s family and friends at this very sad time.

(SPEEDWAY 2)

SHEFFIELD were restricted to a 48-42 home win by Ipswich on Monday leaving the Premiership KO Cup Final intriguingly poised at the halfway stage.
The Witches in fact raced into an early four-point lead at Owlerton before the Tigers hit back strongly and extended their advantage to eight.

But this was clipped back in the final race with a 4-2 from Emil Sayfutdinov and Jason Doyle at the end of a fierce night of racing, with the return taking place at Foxhall on Thursday.
Josh Pickering top scored for the home side with 11+1 and skipper Kyle Howarth impressed with 10. Danny King hit 10 for the Witches and Sayfutdinov recovered from a slow start to post nine.
Tigers boss Simon Stead said: “I would’ve liked more, but we haven’t got more.

“We got caught a little bit early on but we did respond to that – it would’ve just been nice to have finished a little bit stronger.”
Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “I was really pleased with the boys; we got a bit beat up with Erik (Riss) and Keynan (Rew) having crashes and we could have let it fall away, but we stuck in there and come away six points down.

“At the halfway stage, six points isn’t drastic and is certainly something we are confident in overturning.

“I think it was a meeting that provided everything which a Cup Final should. Nobody moaned about the rain, and everyone carried on and racing like that in the rain was brilliant to see. It leaves things evenly poised and exciting going into Thursday.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

PETERBOROUGH kept up their strong run at the end of the season with a 54-36 win over play-off qualifiers Wolverhampton.
It was a fourth successive victory in the Sports Insure Premiership for the Panthers, who achieved the result without Artem Laguta who had pulled out with an ankle injury.

Vadim Tarasenko starred again for the hosts with 13 points whist Niels-Kristian Iversen added 11 and reserve Ben Cook (10+2) was only denied a paid maximum by a chain failure on the last bend of Heat 14.
Luke Becker scored 11 for Wolves as the visitors were restricted to just two race wins.
Panthers boss Rob Lyon said: “Obviously it was a bit of a dead rubber for Wolves, but we wanted to win and keep the run going.

“It’s a strange situation because we couldn’t buy a win for the first two-thirds of the season, and now we’re winning in a canter, and you can see that with the team we have now.
“It’s been a pleasure, very enjoyable, and I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve said if we’d had this team and the start of the season we’d be in the play-offs – but that’s speedway.”

Wolves manager Peter Adams said: “We’re in the unusual position here where, arguably, the best team in the league aren’t going to be in the play-offs.
“They rode very well did Peterborough, but for us now it’s just about staying as healthy as we can. We now look forward to the matches that are really going to matter.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 4)

BELLE Vue and Redcar have suffered a blow ahead of their play-off campaigns with Charles Wright hurt after a crash in Poland.
Wright was making his debut for Ekstraliga giants Wroclaw in their play-off clash with Torun on Sunday, ironically deputising for the injured Tai Woffinden.
But he crashed heavily in Heat 10 and was taken to hospital for surgery after suffering a broken collarbone along with back and rib injuries.

Belle Vue kick off their Sports Insure Premiership play-off campaign against Ipswich next Monday (September 18) and will need to operate the rider replacement facility.
Meanwhile Redcar’s first match in their Cab Direct Championship play-off group is next Tuesday (September 19) when they travel to Glasgow, and the Bears will be assessing their guest options.

(SPEEDWAY 5)

PETERBOROUGH will host King’s Lynn in the final Sports Insure Premiership fixture of the regular campaign on Thursday.
Neither side have qualified for the play-offs but the Panthers are finishing the season in tremendous form after a run of home wins.
Premiership CEO Phil Morris said: “I’d like to place on record my thanks to (owner) Keith Chapman and his colleagues at both clubs for agreeing to race this fixture on Thursday.
“I appreciate Peterborough have had a very busy schedule with Monday-Thursday meetings over the last few weeks, but it was important for the integrity of the league to complete the fixtures this week if at all possible.

“We really didn’t want this match to be taking place whilst the play-offs were on, or even after they have been finished, so our thanks to all for their co-operation.”
Peterborough have confirmed they also intend to stage a Farewell Meeting later this month with the East of England Arena set to be unavailable for speedway next year as a planning application is pursued.

(SPEEDWAY 6)

 MILDENHALL and Leicester have agreed dates for the NDL Knockout Cup Final which will take place next month.
The Lion Cubs booked their place in the Final, which is a repeat of last season’s decider, by defeating Workington on Saturday.

The first leg of the Final will take place at Mildenhall’s West Row stadium on Sunday October 8 (4pm) with the return in the East Midlands on Saturday October 14 (7pm).
Mildenhall boss Jason Gardner said: “It’s a great climax of the season for the team, and make no mistake about it, we are determined after all that’s gone before – last season and this – to lay to rest the ‘bogey team’ tag that Leicester have had over us.  “Anything can happen in speedway over two legs and we are keen to bring a trophy back to the club.”

(FIXTURES)

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 13:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP A: Poole v Scunthorpe 7.30
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP B: Oxford v Glasgow 7.30

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14:
SPORTS INSURE PREMIERSHIP ROUND 2: Peterborough (46) v King’s Lynn (44) 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP FINAL 2nd leg: Ipswich (42) v Sheffield (48) 7.30

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 15:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF GROUP A: Edinburgh v Scunthorpe 7.30

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 16:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Berwick (29) v Belle Vue (61) 7pm, Workington (40) v Kent (50