BRITISH SPEEDWAY APRIL 2, 2024

(SPEEDWAY 1)

OXFORD’S FLYING START TO SEASON

OXFORD’S dream start to life in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership continued with a 48-42 win at Birmingham.
The Spires secured match and aggregate points and sit top of the early table with a 100 per cent record from their opening three fixtures.

They overcame the absence of No.1 Maciej Janowski due to Polish commitments to produce a strong all-round showing at Perry Barr with Australian Champion Rohan Tungate enjoying his best display so far with 14+1 from six rides, whilst Charles Wright (11+2) and Chris Harris (10+1) were also in double figures.

The Brummies’ scoring was dominated by Scott Nicholls in the final appearance of his short-term stint, as he racked up 15+1 at reserve, whilst Tom Brennan totalled 13+1 including wins in the last two races.
Spires manager Peter Schroeck said: “We knew the team was more than capable of winning this meeting, and we couldn’t be happier with the result.

“Our maximums were really crucial. To post four 5-1s away from home is good going, and we needed them as Birmingham had strengths in their side too.
“From the day Oxford returned to track we’ve always said avoid last places, and we did that well – and I’m proud of Ashton (Boughen) too for showing real resilience in his final ride for winning back what turned out to be a crucial point.”

Brummies boss Sam Ermolenko said: “I’m disappointed, but my seven riders are equally disappointed, it got away from us. Last week we were making starts, this week we weren’t.
“With Oxford, the size of the tracks we’ve got are similar and Oxford probably had a little bit of a closer set-up than Sheffield.
“Some of my riders don’t need me to tell them that we need more from them so I explained to the guys, keep your heads up, think about it and we’ll see what we can do next.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

PREMIERSHIP Knockout Cup holders Ipswich are in a strong position to progress to the semi-finals after winning 48-42 at Leicester on Easter Monday.
The Witches recovered from conceding a 5-1 in the first race and hit back immediately with Rising Star reserve Dan Thompson instrumental on his old home track.

Thompson was unbeaten in his first three rides of what was a tight contest for most of the evening, before Emil Sayfutdinov and Jason Doyle extended the first leg advantage with a big 5-1 in Heat 15.
Doyle (11+1) and Sayfutdinov (11) led the scoring with Thompson adding a vital 9+1, whilst Sam Masters (10+1) and Richard Lawson (9+2) were best for the Lions.
Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “I’m absolutely buzzing with tonight, Leicester are a very good team and it is as tough a draw as we could have got.

“To win the first leg by six points, I am delighted with that and the start to the season we have had.
“Emil struggled at the start, but we covered that well and Dan Thompson has started the season absolutely flying and showed his liking for Leicester again tonight.”

Masters said: “We were up against a really tough team and it’s disappointing that we lost by six.
“But when Emil and Doyley are on it like that they’re hard to beat, and especially in Heats 13 and 15 they’re always going to be strong.
“You need to get a lead on them early, and we didn’t have that tonight unfortunately.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

BELLE Vue established an eight-point lead over Sheffield on Easter Monday to leave their Premiership KO Cup tie finely poised ahead of the second leg.
The Aces won 49-41 at the National Speedway Stadium with their second strings and reserves coming to the fore whilst Tai Woffinden shone for the Tigers.

The former World Champion won four races and finished with 13+1 as his team had to battle to remain in touch, even with the Aces’ top two of Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley not recording their usual high scores.
Jaimon Lidsey collected 10 points with Norick Blodorn (9) winning three races, whilst reserves Connor Mountain and Connor Bailey outscored their counterparts 12-2.

Kurtz (6+1) said: “This was a very important result for us. We knew Sheffield weren’t going to make it easy and there were a couple of moments where we almost tripped up.
“It wasn’t perhaps my finest hour. We made quite a few changes to the bike and eventually found something that worked, but that’s one of the great things about this team.

“We’ve got the guys there who can step up and fill in the gaps when others are struggling, and with that in mind we can feel pretty good about going to Sheffield on Thursday.”
Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “It could’ve been better, but it could’ve been a lot worse as well.
“We knew it was going to be a tough test because it’s a tough place to come to. “Collectively we’ve kept it within eight and I can’t fault any of them for effort. I think eight points down going into the home fixture keeps it mouthwatering for both parties.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

POOLE manager Neil Middleditch says even he was shocked by the impressive start the Pirates made to the new season on Good Friday.
The Dorset side roared to a 61-29 win over Oxford in the BSN Series to set down a marker for the campaign, and Middleditch is already delighted with the atmosphere within the side.

He said: “Nobody could have seen Friday’s result coming, and whilst one meeting doesn’t make a season, the signs are really good. “My old mate Peter Schroeck wasn’t too happy with the size of the result, but he did say fair play to our lads as they deserved it.

“Already we have got a good team spirit here this season with all the riders gelling and talking to each other, with the experienced boys like Richard (Lawson), Ben and Zach (the Cook brothers) all freely passing on their knowledge to the youngsters. “That is what it is all about. There is no ‘I’ in team and we showed on Friday it is all about an all-round team performance, and that is something to build on.”

(FIXTURES)

WEDNESDAY APRIL 3:
BSN SERIES: Oxford (29) v Poole (61) 7.30

THURSDAY APRIL 4: 
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: King’s Lynn v Birmingham 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Ipswich (48) v Leicester (42) 7.30, Sheffield (41) v Belle Vue (49) 7.30

FRIDAY APRIL 5:
BSN SERIES: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30, Scunthorpe v Redcar 7.30

SATURDAY APRIL 6:
BSN SERIES: Berwick v Glasgow 7pm, Workington v Scunthorpe 3pm

SUNDAY APRIL 7:
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Leicester v Edinburgh 3pm