BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAY 14, 2024

(SPEEDWAY 1)

IPSWICH HOODOO ENDS

IPSWICH ended a ten-year hoodoo with a dramatic 46-44 win at ROWE Motor Oil Premiership champions Sheffield on Monday.
The league leaders, who lost the Grand Final at Owlerton last October and had not been victorious in South Yorkshire since 2014, edged a tight contest which boiled up into a tense finale.

Keynan Rew defeated Chris Holder in Heat 12 with Adam Ellis third to put the visitors in front, and the remaining three races were all shared with Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfutdinov keeping Jack Holder at the back in Heat 13 and then Chris in Heat 15, behind the flying Tai Woffinden.

Rew, Sayfutdinov and Doyle all scored 8+1 for Ipswich, whilst Rising Star Dan Thompson collected the Omologato rider of the meeting award for his 7+1 score. Woffinden scored 14 for the Tigers with Chris Holder on 11.
Witches manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “A brilliant result that carries on our terrific start to the season.
“I’m delighted that all seven contributed and we were so solid again. We were criticised heavily last year for being a two-man team, but we are far from that this year.

“There is still more to come from us, and I am not getting carried away with one win at Sheffield at this time of year because I think we will have a lot of tough battles against them this year, but it is nice to go 1-0 up!”
Sheffield boss Simon Stead said: “It’s disappointing, we’re all hurting, but certain parts of the team were far from their best tonight and ultimately, Ipswich capitalised and we got caught short.

“We weren’t fielding our proper 1-7; Luke (Killeen) has come in at super late notice, and we thank him for that, but if Jason (Edwards) would’ve been here and popped out and done his normal thing then that would’ve made the difference.
“We know we need to improve at home, we have to work hard as a team, we’ve not been clicking all at the same time and that showed and that was our undoing.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

BELLE Vue overcame strong resistance from Oxford to notch another home win in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
The Aces won 51-39 at the National Speedway Stadium but that didn’t tell the full story as two late 5-1s in Heat 13 and 15 saw them finally pull clear.
Ben Cook continued his excellent form in his first season with the club as he scored 13 from five rides, teaming up with Dan Bewley (11+3) for maximum points in the last race.

The Spires were limited to just three race wins but did produce a solid display with Craig Cook scoring 8+2 and Maciej Janowski notching 8+1.
Aces skipper Brady Kurtz (9) said: “This was probably one of the toughest meetings we’ve had so far at home, but it’s clear to see why because Oxford have such a strong team both on paper and in practice.
“We knew we had to be on our game but with the weather playing its part once again, it did give us a few headaches and some of the boys did struggle.

“But I think that everyone put their two-cents worth into this meeting and it was so satisfying, after such a closely contested battle, to come away with the win and another couple of points.”
Oxford boss Peter Schroeck said: “We kept it really close until the end of the meeting, when Belle Vue’s big guns came good. It showed how well we did that I couldn’t put in a tactical substitute until Heat 14.

“In that race, I gave Craig a reserve ride, since he was leading Heat 12 for most of that race and was going strong towards the end of the meeting.
“We kept with them for most of the meeting, because we largely avoided last places. Belle Vue were providing heat winners, while we were finishing second and third. It was a solid performance from us.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)

OXFORD Cheetahs racer Henry Atkins is facing a period on the sidelines after crashing out last week against Poole.
Atkins broke a finger in his Heat 8 fall and has been ruled out of the Cab Direct Championship clash with Redcar at Cowley on Wednesday.
Team manager Peter Schroeck said: “Henry is going to have an operation on his finger, and he may need it plated.
“We’ve switched things around a bit by moving rider replacement to No 3. I think we’ve got better cover that way.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 4)

PLYMOUTH have booked Paco Castagna to guest at No.1 in their Cab Direct Championship opener against Workington tonight (Tuesday).
Castagna comes in for the Gladiators with Nico Covatti still unfit to resume racing following his winter crash in Argentina.
Both sides otherwise track their regular line-ups with Plymouth having impressed in their home matches so far.
The Comets, meanwhile, go into the meeting having collected the aggregate point from their recent clashes with defending champions Glasgow.
 
(FIXTURES)

TUESDAY MAY 14:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Plymouth v Workington 7pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 15:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Oxford v Redcar 7.30, Poole v Workington 7.30

THURSDAY MAY 16:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: King’s Lynn (32) v Sheffield (58) 7.30
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Ipswich v Birmingham 7.30