BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAY 28, 2024

(SPEEDWAY 1)

THREE FORMER CHAMPS CLASH IN BRITISH FINAL OPENER

THE draw has been made for the 2024 Attis Insurance Sports Division British Final to take place at Belle Vue on Saturday June 8.
And three former champions are set to clash in Heat 1 to give the national championship an explosive start.

Treble winner Chris Harris, 2016 champion Danny King and Grand Prix star Robert Lambert are all in the opening race, joined by Ben Barker who finished in a superb third place last year.
Defending champion Dan Bewley has been drawn at No.11 whilst Tai Woffinden’s first appearance since 2015 sees him line up at No.8, which means an immediate clash with 2021 winner Adam Ellis and another former champion Craig Cook in his first ride.

2019 winner Charles Wright meets 2020 champion Rory Schlein in Heat 4, with that race also including in-form Tom Brennan who was runner-up two years ago.
DRAW: 1 Ben Barker, 2 Robert Lambert, 3 Chris Harris, 4 Danny King, 5 Craig Cook, 6 Connor Mountain, 7 Adam Ellis, 8 Tai Woffinden, 9 Lewis Kerr, 10 Steve Worrall, 11 Dan Bewley, 12 Richard Lawson, 13 Rory Schlein, 14 Tom Brennan, 15 Charles Wright, 16 Kyle Howarth.
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

BIRMINGHAM gave their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership season a real kickstart with a 49-41 win over leaders Ipswich at Perry Barr – and they also took the aggregate point.
The Brummies, who have Swedish superstar Fredrik Lindgren joining them from next week, took advantage of the Witches’ injury problems and put up a strong display with their full team contributing.

Emil Sayfutdinov put on a sensational showing for Ipswich with 19 points from seven rides, and with the aggregate scores level a Super Heat was required – and whilst Sayfutdinov won the race, Brummies duo Tom Brennan and Steve Worrall crucially finished ahead of Witches guest Nicolai Klindt.
Worrall top-scored for the home side with 10+2 whilst Wiktor Lampart impressed at reserve with 10 as the Brummies took their second win of the season.

Birmingham manager Sam Ermolenko said: “I didn’t think we’d get all three league points to be fair, but the boys raced for it and everybody performed well.
“Alright, Ipswich came without Jason Doyle and a few other of their bigger names, and that may have been a whole different story.

“But at the end of the day, they had their opportunities and they were very clever with making sure that at the end of the meeting they had some strength there – but our boys matched it.”
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “We battled really hard and clearly, we are a depleted side. Birmingham had a great opportunity to beat us tonight and they really took it and rode really well.

“We kept it tight for most of the meeting but had a blip in the second half of the meeting and couldn’t pull it back.
“Emil was superb, and I think it is the first time he has ever done eight races in a meeting before. To only drop two points from eight heats is superb and he looked brilliant, and it is much needed at the moment, so that is very positive going forward.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 3)

LEICESTER moved back into the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off places with an impressive 54-36 home win over Oxford.
Captain Max Fricke scored a 14+1 paid maximum for the Lions, and he combined for three 5-1s with his regular race partner Richard Lawson, who scored 9+2.    

Erik Riss (8+1) and Chris Harris (8) were top scorers for the Spires, who now face an uphill battle for the aggregate point when the sides meet again at Cowley next week.
Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “It was a good response from last Thursday (at Sheffield). I thought we were due a good performance, and whilst I don’t like singling anyone out when your No.1 is going well it’s infectious and it runs through the team.

“Max and Richard set the tone, which was very pleasing, and everyone was nice and bubbly which is good to see.
“We had a very causal track walk, up until around the last 30 seconds when I went a wee bit heavier on them with what I expected, and I’d like to think I got a response to that.”

Spires manager Peter Schroeck said: “We were well short of what we wanted from tonight, but it was all about the starts. We just couldn’t get it right at the starts or on the first corners. The Leicester team were simply the better team tonight around their own track – we couldn’t match them.
“I can’t criticise our boys for effort, because they were all putting in their all, but we were left chasing them and also picked up too many last places.
“We stopped Leicester pulling away too much more at the end of the meeting, to give ourselves some chance of the aggregate point.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

SHEFFIELD moved to within four points of the top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership after winning a weather-affected derby clash at Belle Vue on Monday lunchtime.
The Tigers ended the Aces’ unbeaten home record with a fast-gating performance to win 35-25, with the result called after ten races.

Rain before and during the meeting caused delays, and the efforts of the Aces’ track staff to recover the circuit from another heavy downpour after Heat 10 proved to be in vain.
Sheffield manager Simon Stead said: “First and foremost, rider safety has to come into play; the referee (Dave Watters) gave Belle Vue adequate time to do as much as they could to try and make the track safe and raceable.

“Unfortunately, after a long, long wait that wasn’t the case but if we focus on the positives we’ve come to Belle Vue and we’ve got a win.”
Belle Vue CEO Mark Lemon said: “If we can be guilty of anything, it’s trying too hard to see the meeting reach a Heat 15 conclusion.

“All indications after Heat 10 suggested the weather had cleared up and that no further rain was forecast, the sun shone just 10 minutes after the last downpour whilst the track was undergoing remedial works and the forecast indicated that all showers had passed.
“I feel I’ve spent my entire season to date looking at weather forecasts and I don’t think we’ve got many wrong. Sometime your luck runs out and things don’t always go your way, and that was today.”
 
(FIXTURES)

WEDNESDAY MAY 29:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Oxford v Edinburgh 7.30, Poole (46) v Berwick (44) 7.30

THURSDAY MAY 30:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Sheffield (45) v Birmingham (45) 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Ipswich (48) v Leicester (42) 7.30

FRIDAY MAY 31:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Scunthorpe (46) v Redcar (44) 7.30
BSN SERIES: Edinburgh (45) v Glasgow (45) 7.30