BRITISH SPEEDWAY SOLOS JULY 6
Date: Tuesday July 6, 2021
(SPEEDWAY 1)
IPSWICH ended their run of seven straight defeats by winning 48-42 at bottom club King’s Lynn on Monday.
Craig Cook made a successful return to the Adrian Flux Arena with 12+1 against his former side, and reserve Paul Starke racked up 14+2 as he took extra rides after Andres Rowe crashed out.
But the Witches were left frustrated in their bid for all four league points by two late 4-2s for the Stars, who lost their fifth successive home match. Richard Lawson top-scored with 12.
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “I’m pleased to get the win but disappointed not to take four points. With the run of form we have been in and our injuries, the bigger picture is that it is another point dropped.
“Starkey (Paul Starke) was really good, and he put in a massive shift doing seven rides again. It was vital that he did that after losing Anders.
“He had a dislocated knee about a month ago and it popped out again tonight. I didn’t think he was fit enough to carry on and the doctor agreed with me. He needs a bit of recuperation, and I can’t see him being fit for Thursday, but I hope he will be back after that.”
King’s Lynn manager Peter Schroeck said: “We got close but we didn’t have enough strength as a team. You only have to look at the scorecard for the weak links in the team and we certainly couldn’t match their reserves.
“It’s so disappointing but we have to keep going to try and put it right.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
WOLVERHAMPTON extended their winning home start by defeating Sheffield 48-42 in the return of Premiership action to Monmore Green.
The result moved Wolves to within five points of leaders Peterborough, whilst the Tigers salvaged what could prove to be a crucial league point, despite having been 37-23 down after ten races.
Sam Masters led the way with 10+1 for the home side, all of whom won at least one race, whilst Troy Batchelor’s (11+1) three victories were integral to the Sheffield comeback.
Masters said: “We haven’t raced here for a long time and the last time we did, it was against them so we didn’t really have any advantage over them going into this.
“We got the job done though and we beat a good team so we can’t complain. We’ve still got a lot of home meetings to do and surely we should get plenty of points from those so we’re sitting in a pretty strong position right now.”
Tigers boss Simon Stead said: “I’m not delighted because I think we could have done better and should have done better.
“But the fact is that we have got a point out of the meeting when actually at one stage it did look dead and buried.”
“We did well early doors containing them, we then sort of lost the set-up a little bit and they hit us hard. We had a chat between ourselves though, we knew if we got it right we could be stronger at the end of the meeting, and that’s how it proved.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
LEICESTER have pulled off the signing of Hans Andersen as the first part of a double transfer swoop.
Andersen heads into the Championship with the Lions after racing for the club in the top-flight in 2018, with the title holders making their move after Ty Proctor quit recently – and to accommodate the change, they have also released Josh Bates.
Promoter Stewart Dickson said: “The thing I liked was that sometimes when you contact a rider, you get a lukewarm feeling. When I dealt with Hans, he was up for it straightaway.
“He’s ridden with Nick Morris before at Swindon, he’s been about the scene for a while and I’m sure he’ll slot into our team perfectly.
“We decided to go down the route of a double change because we knew Josh was struggling with his shoulder, and we did expect him to be out longer and would be needing more treatment, so that’s when I got the go-ahead and started talking to Hans.
“I want to thank Matt Ford at his parent club Poole for permission to speak to him, and also a massive thanks to our owners because I went to them almost cap in hand again, and once again they’ve backed me, and they’ve backed the club.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
EASTBOURNE defend a healthy first leg advantage when they visit Kent in the second leg of their KO Cup tie tonight (Tuesday).
The Eagles were 58-32 winners at Arlington last month and are strong favourites to progress, but are also targeting a win on the night.
Kent continue to operate rider replacement for the retired Tom Bacon and also intend to hand rides to Ryan Kinsley at No.8 after a previous plan to use Jake Mulford was scuppered – because he has his driving test today!
(FIXTURES)
TUESDAY JULY 6:
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP 2nd leg: Kent v Eastbourne 6.30
WEDNESDAY JULY 7:
CHAMPIONSHIP KO CUP 2nd leg: Birmingham v Redcar OFF
THURSDAY JULY 8:
PREMIERSHIP: Ipswich v Belle Vue 7.30
SEAVEY’S USAC NATIONAL DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP