BRITISH SPEEDWAY JULY 14, 2023

(SPEEDWAY 1)

HARRIS HALF-WAY THERE IN TITLE CHASE

GREAT Britain’s Chris Harris leads the FIM Long Track World Championship at the halfway stage after a second successive victory in Round 3 at Marmande.
Harris overtook one of his title rivals, Martin Smolinski, in a spectacular Final at the French venue to take over at the top of the standings by one point.

And there was a second British rider on the rostrum with Zach Wajtknecht continuing his own run of consistent performances in third place.
Wajtknecht is now third overall, three points behind Harris, with the top three having broken away in the race for the World crown with three rounds remaining.

(SPEEDWAY 2)

BRITISH Youth 250cc Riders William Cairns and Cooper Rushen compete in the SGP3 Final in Malilla, Sweden this afternoon (Friday).
Both riders successfully negotiated their semi-finals on Wednesday with Rushen scoring 13 points, ending up on the rostrum in second place whilst Cairns, who competed in the second semi, won four of his five qualifying heats to make it two Brits in the Final.

As well as the SGP3 today, the inaugural SGP4 is also taking place in Sweden on the newly designed 190cc motorcycles, and Great Britain have one representative in the shape of newly crowned British 125cc Champion Oliver Bovingdon.
British fans can watch the SGP3 Final live on Discovery+ at 14.55.

 (SPEEDWAY 3)

BRADY Kurtz was the Belle Vue hero with a Heat 15 win over the Ipswich top two to seal a 46-44 away win for the defending Sports Insure Premiership champions.
The Aces skipper got the better of the previously unbeaten Jason Doyle and Emil Sayfudtinov in the last race as the visitors won at Foxhall for the second time this season.

Reserve Tom Brennan also played a vital role with 11+2 from five rides, whilst Doyle (14) and Sayfutdinov (12+2) again dominated the scoring for the Witches as their play-off hopes took another big hit.
The home side had gone into a six-point lead following a delay caused by rain showers, but Brennan was involved in three Belle Vue 5-1s in the second half of the meeting.

Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “To win on the road as much as we have done this season is a real credit to the boys, and tonight’s performance was exceptional.
“What I like about this team is how when one has a poor night the rest step up to compensate, as they did for Dan [Bewley] who had a poor night by his standards.

“Seeing Tom Brennan go out there and do what he did was simply brilliant to watch. He’s really come of age recently and has great composure on the bike.”
Ipswich promoter Chris Louis said: “It is obvious we have got holes in the team which we have been aware of for weeks, but it is very difficult to find solutions right now out there, there is a lack of options.

“Emil and Jason have done everything for the team all year, they are completely faultless and have been all year. It is a shame because they have kind of been a bit let down by the team we have got, but we have got to continue to bang in the points.
“We understand now that we need someone to slip up really badly which is unlikely to happen, but we can’t throw the towel in, and we need to keep looking for results.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

BIRMINGHAM boss Stewart Dickson says he shares supporters’ frustrations – but insists he wants to use the positives from Wednesday’s home defeat to help the team move forward.

The Brummies were hamstrung throughout their 53-36 loss to Glasgow when No.1 racer Nick Morris was deemed unfit to race shortly before scheduled start time after failing to comply with the Alcohol and Doping test procedure, for which he has now been suspended pending an SCB Court hearing.

Dickson said: “Ultimately it wasn’t the result we wanted, but under the circumstances and when you consider the fact there’s still a fair bit to go yet with a top six finish and a play-off place a real possibility, it’s important we don’t dwell too much on certain events.

“We need to keep that positive mindset and do everything we can to get that feeling back that we all had after that home win against Berwick.“I feel for the owners of this club and it goes without saying I really felt for the supporters who were dealt that body blow when the announcement was made about Nick.
“They were badly let down through no fault of their own and totally unforeseen circumstances, and it’s down to the rest of us now to pick up the pieces do all we can to give them something to cheer about between now and the end of the season.”

(FIXTURES)

FRIDAY JULY 14:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Plymouth OFF
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP S/F 1st leg: Scunthorpe v Redcar OFF

SATURDAY JULY 15:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Plymouth 6.30
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP S/F 1st leg: Redcar v Scunthorpe 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Berwick (29) v Belle Vue (61) (follows previous fixture), Edinburgh (37) v Workington (53) 7pm

SUNDAY JULY 16:
BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: Glasgow 2pm