BRITISH SPEEDWAY MARCH 28, 2023

Date: Tuesday March 28, 2023

(SPEEDWAY 1)

A SUCCESSFUL RETURN BY EMIL

EMIL Sayfutdinov made a triumphant return to British Speedway with a 14-point haul in Ipswich’s 48-42 win at Peterborough.
Sayfudtinov dropped just one point from five rides and combined with Witches No.1 Jason Doyle for 5-1s in Heats 13 and 15 as the visitors completed a comeback having been six points down with five races remaining.

But the success for Sayfutdinov was in stark contrast to a disastrous start for new Peterborough No.1 Nicki Pedersen, who crashed out of the meeting in Heat 1 when he hit the fence on the exit of the second bend.
The Danish superstar walked away from the incident but was withdrawn with lower back pain.

Doyle scored 10+4 for the Witches, being involved in all four of the Witches’ maximum advantages, whilst Benjamin Basso scored 13 for the Panthers and was the only rider to take points off the Ipswich top two.
Witches boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “I’m delighted to get an away win on the board early because it gives us a really good start to the league season. I was really happy with all seven of them, obviously there is room for improvement, clearly at the bottom end but there was also a lot of positive rides from them.

“Peterborough was a nice one to come back to for Emil and everyone really, it is always nice place to go. It suits Emil and he was rapid, and it was great to see. Him and Doyley are class, it is far from a given that they are going to do the business in Heat 13 and 15 but they did tonight.”
Panthers manager Rob Lyon said: “We got four paid five from Nicki’s rides, and that would have been tough against any of the other sides, let alone Ipswich.
“We just ran out of steam towards the end, but I think if you look at the rest of the team we did okay. The boys rode well at times, but we lacked that extra bit we needed at the end.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

SHEFFIELD completed a stunning early season double over Premiership champions Belle Vue with a 47-43 win at the National Speedway Stadium.
The Tigers led for much of the meeting in Manchester and secured their victory with a 4-2 in a last-heat decider as Tobiasz Musielak took the win with Jack Holder adding third place.

And the result also gave Simon Stead’s side the re-introduced aggregate bonus point, and a maximum of five points out of five from their opening two matches.
Holder (11) and Musielak (10+1) top-scored for the visitors whilst Aces skipper Brady Kurtz notched 11 and Jaimon Lidsey chipped in with nine.
Stead said: “We’re obviously delighted with how we’ve started the season – two really good results against a very good Belle Vue team.

“I’m proud of how the lads have applied themselves – it’s early doors and we can’t get carried away, but it’s a really positive start.”
Lidsey said: “A few of the boys were struggling tonight. Dan [Bewley] had a bit of a shocker but he’s not one to settle for that, we all know what he can do around the NSS and I’m sure he’ll bounce back.
“There’s a long way still to go this year and I think once we’ve ironed out these early snags, we’ll be back on top and we’ve got a couple of weeks now to regroup before the next one.”

 (SPEEDWAY 3)

BERWICK star Jye Etheridge has declared himself fit for the Bandits’ season-opening KO Cup trip to Redcar on Friday.
Etheridge suffered a dislocated shoulder after an awkward fall in his first ride of Sam Masters’ Testimonial at Wolverhampton, and he withdrew from the remainder of the meeting and was seen wearing a supportive sling.

But whilst he has also pulled out of Steve Worrall’s Testimonial at Poole on Wednesday as a precaution, he insists he’ll be ready to race at the ECCO Arena.
Etheridge said: “All good. It did kind of come out but it feels OK today (Monday) and I’ll be racing at Redcar on Friday night.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

STEVE Worrall has secured the services of World No.4 Fredrik Lindgren for his Testimonial Meeting at Poole on Wednesday.
Swedish superstar Lindgren, who raced in two UK meetings last weekend, has agreed to step in following the withdrawal of Jye Etheridge who suffered a shoulder injury last Sunday.

Worrall said: “I’m absolutely over the moon to confirm that Freddie has accepted a late invitation.
“He will race for the Belle Vue Aces against Poole, so to make sure things are balanced I’ve shuffled the riding order of both teams to ensure a good, close meeting.”
 
(FIXTURES)
 
WEDNESDAY MARCH 29:
STEVE WORRALL TESTIMONIAL: Poole Select v Belle Vue Select 7.30
CHALLENGE: Oxford v Swindon Robins Select 7.30

THURSDAY MARCH 30:
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: King’s Lynn v Sheffield 7.30, Leicester v Ipswich 7.30

FRIDAY MARCH 31:
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Redcar v Berwick 7.30