BRITISH SPEEDWAY SEPTEMBER 10, 2024

(SPEEDWAY 1)

WITCHES TAKE ADVANTAGE INTO LIONS’ DEN

IPSWICH have an eight-point lead to take to Leicester on Thursday with their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off semi-final perfectly poised at the halfway stage.

The Witches won the first leg 49-41 at Foxhall which resulted in mixed emotions as they had raced into a 16-point advantage after ten races only for the Lions to battle back strongly in the closing stages.
Guest Jan Kvech scored 10+1 for the home side with fellow stand-in Tom Brennan and captain Danny King both notching nine.

Lions skipper Max Fricke (10+1) recovered from a slow start to the meeting to dominate his latter rides, and his 5-1 with Sam Masters (10) in the final race of the night could yet prove vital.
Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “It was good to get our first win for a while by eight points and all the boys contributed. It felt a lot more like a performance we had earlier on in the season with everyone chipping in with points, and it was much-needed tonight.

“We built a big lead early on, but we knew they would come back strong as the track slickened off a bit and they had the better gates in the latter stages of the meeting.
“Heat 15 is a bit of a blow to us, but we go into Thursday in a decent position being eight up and ready to fight for a place in the final again.”

Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “We tried to keep it together and not let it get totally out of reach, and the 5-1 in Heat 15 was pivotal because I would have been happy to walk away with a 12-point gap, I was thinking that was as good as we could get.
“We didn’t race well but that’s taking nothing away from Ipswich, they did race well. They asked questions of us, and we didn’t quite have the answers.
“But the tie is still bubbly for Thursday. We need to ride better, Ipswich were the better side tonight, but we’ve kept the tie alive for the second leg.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

POOLE promoter Dan Ford says the hurt of last season is spurring his side on as they chase a trophy treble at Championship level.
The Pirates won the BSN Series in 2023 but missed out in both the Cab Direct Championship and KO Cup Finals – and they are again involved in all three at the business end of the current campaign.

They kick off their league play-off semi-final at home to Workington on Wednesday – the club they recently defeated at the same stage of the BSN Series.
Ford said: “We always seem to be the team that other clubs want to see fail and our opponents raise their game when they meet us in these play-offs.

“But as we have said all season we, as a club, still feel we let our fans down last season in the critically important meetings, and desperately want to redress the balance this time around.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

WORKINGTON manager James Denham says his side should embrace the challenge of being underdogs in the Cab Direct Championship play-offs.
The Comets have enjoyed a hugely successful return to the second tier at their new home of the GT Tyres Arena, overcoming several injury problems to secure a place in the top four.

They are without three of their regular riders as they prepare for a semi-final clash with Poole, but Denham insists there’s still lots to race for, starting at Wimborne Road on Wednesday and then back in Cumbria for the deciding leg on Saturday.
He said: “This is what we have been aiming for all season. From the beginning, I said we just need to take it on a meeting-by-meeting basis, build the team spirit and most of all go out there and enjoy it.
“That will not change for Poole this week. The main thing is that the lads are relaxed, and they just need to enjoy it.
“We are ready for the toughest of tests this week, there’s no doubt Poole will be favourites – but that suits us.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

THE third and final round of the European 250cc Pairs takes place in Prague this afternoon (Tuesday) where Great Britain are currently in second place after claiming fantastic podium positions in both Rounds 1 and 2 in Gdansk and Krsko respectively.
It is sure to be a tense afternoon for the team of William Cairns, Cooper Rushen and Seth Norman in a meeting where the British team have everything to race for.

Poland are all set to claim the European Championship having already won both Rounds 1 and 2, and thereafter it looks like Great Britain, Slovenia and Denmark will be battling it out for the silver and bronze medals, with GB going into the meeting just one point ahead of Slovenia and three points in front of Denmark.
Sweden, Germany Estonia and the host nation Czech Republic will also be competing.
Scores after Round 2: Poland 20, Great Britain 14, Slovenia 13, Denmark 11, Sweden 7, Germany 7, Czech Republic 4, Estonia 2.

(FIXTURES)

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 11:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 1st leg: Oxford v Scunthorpe 7.30, Poole v Workington 7.30

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 12:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Leicester (41) v Ipswich (49) 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Sheffield v Belle Vue 7.30

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 13:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Scunthorpe v Oxford 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Edinburgh (33) v Scunthorpe/Sheffield (57) 7pm, Edinburgh (34) v Belle Vue (56) (follows previous fixture)