BRITISH SPEEDWAY JULY 19, 2022

Photo by: Les Aubrey

(SPEEDWAY 1)

IPSWICH TRIPLE TREAT

IPSWICH completed a hat-trick of Premiership Pairs wins at Wolverhampton on Monday and now lead the series by 12 points with two rounds remaining.

The Witches defeated Belle Vue in the Final at Monmore with both of their nearest challengers, King’s Lynn and Sheffield, failing to make the closing stages.

Their semi-final against the hosts was resolved when Wolves’ Nick Morris fell on the second lap, whilst in the Final Jason Doyle and Troy Batchelor got the better of Belle Vue duo Max Fricke and Brady Kurtz, with Fricke having raced to a 20-point maximum in the qualifiers.

Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “Three wins on the bounce puts us in a great position in the standings and it was another great night at Wolves.
“We have had three wins from three there this year, and it carries on our great form and that buzz around the club at the moment.

“Doyley was superb as he has been every meeting and Batch carried on his great form from Thursday and stepped it up with a superb start in the Final. As a pairing they have two wins from two in the Pairs which shows they love racing together.

“We are 12 points clear in the standings now and tonight really went our way with other teams too.
“12 points can vanish in one meeting, so we need to make sure we carry on at Sheffield and get some more points on the board there so that we go to the final round at Belle Vue in a strong position.”

Wolverhampton promoter Chris Van Straaten said: “I’d like to thank everyone involved for helping make tonight run as smoothly as it did.
“The track staff did a brilliant job, especially considering the extreme weather conditions, and we saw some great speedway.

“I’d like to also thank the supporters who attended the meeting; it wasn’t a comfortable night for anyone with the temperatures, but we really appreciate those who came and joined us trackside.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

PLYMOUTH’S Danish duo Hans Andersen and Michael Palm Toft have both been ruled out of tonight’s (Tuesday- UK time) Championship Jubilee League clash with Poole.

With Edward Kennett still missing, the Gladiators have booked Richie Worrall and Lewis Kerr to guest, and will operate rider replacement for Andersen who suffered a shoulder injury at Sheffield last week.

The Gladiators go into the meeting after a home win but then an away defeat to Birmingham, whilst the Pirates race for the first time in the competition.
Palm Toft’s initial injury occurred when he clashed with Richard Lawson when the teams met in the league at Wimborne Road recently.

Lawson said: “I suppose you could say I may not be the most popular guy down there now but you know, if you are not getting a boo or a cheer then it can be a bit boring.

“If they want to boo me then it’s fine by me, it will just serve to spur me on that bit more.
“We need to keep the momentum going after Wednesday. We said after our draw at Berwick that those two points could be the ones that gave us the lift that we needed, and we are looking to carry it on for the rest of the season. It did against Glasgow, and we just have to keep it going.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

OXFORD and Birmingham meet for the first of two meetings in 24 hours starting at Cowley tonight (Tuesday – UK time).
The Cheetahs are racing in the Championship Jubilee League for the first time whilst the Brummies picked up three points from last week’s matches against Plymouth.

Paul Starke is again ruled out for the hosts, who operate rider replacement, whilst Birmingham’s various gaps are plugged by Tom Brennan, Paco Castagna and Jason Edwards.

Oxford co-manager Peter Schroeck said: “Last week was a huge disappointment. The Championship is now out of our reach, but tonight we have the opportunity to start fresh in the Jubilee League.

“Birmingham have experienced a challenging year, but we know when the team clicks they’re very capable of pulling a result out of the bag which we need to be aware of.

“With only six fixtures in the group stage, it’s critical to win all your home meetings and target away points where possible. This is an important two days for the team, and we’re determined to right our wrongs from last Wednesday.”

Brummies boss Laurence Rogers said: “Two wins would be ideal as we’re in quite a strong group alongside Plymouth and Poole as well and to have any chance of progressing, we almost certainly need an away win somewhere.
“Oxford is one place we’ve already won at this year and looking at the line-ups, I believe we can go there and push them all the way again.”
 
(FIXTURES)

WEDNESDAY JULY 20:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Poole v Scunthorpe 7.30
CHAMPIONSHIP JUBILEE LEAGUE: Birmingham v Oxford 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Oxford v Leicester 7.30

THURSDAY JULY 21:
BRITISH UNDER-19 FINAL: Redcar 7.30
PREMIERSHIP: Ipswich v Sheffield 7.30