BRITISH SPEEDWAY SOLOS JULY 14
Date: Wednesday July 14, 2021
(SPEEDWAY 1)
JORDAN Jenkins has been declared fit for this Friday’s British Under-21 Final on his home Championship track of Redcar.
Jenkins crashed out of the Bears’ win over Birmingham last week and was initially ruled out of the showpiece event with a fractured wrist.
But the injury is not as serious as first feared and Jenkins has now been given the go-ahead to take his place in the line-up.
Jordan Palin, who had previously stepped into the meeting to replace Jenkins, will now revert to the reserve position.
(SPEEDWAY 2)
BIRMINGHAM stage their first home match for five weeks when they host Scunthorpe at Perry Barr tonight (Wednesday).
The Brummies are still restricted by not being permitted to take cash on the night, a situation which should change next week, with all online ticket sales to be completed by 6pm.
Richard Lawson and Kyle Newman stand in for injured German duo Erik Riss and Valentin Grobauer, whilst the second-placed Scorpions are targeting their first away win of the season.
Birmingham owner David Mason said: “As a club, we’ve got a massive few months ahead – and it’s going to require one huge group effort.
“From us as management to the riders, from our wonderful group of staff and volunteers to all the supporters, we all need to be in this together.
“We need as many supporters on the terraces as we can and we need to get this place buzzing again.
“It has its testing moments, but we still believe that speedway can thrive in Birmingham and that we can continue working towards all of things we have been building over the past three years or so.”
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We’re targeting Birmingham as one of the away meetings that we want to get some points from.
“It is a track we can do well on and the likes of Adam (Ellis), Thomas (Jorgensen) and Tero (Aarnio) all go well there, so there is no reason why we can’t do the business.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
WOLVERHAMPTON have confirmed it’s back to business as usual when they host Ipswich at Monmore on Monday.
Club owner Chris Van Straaten has revealed how pay on the door admission will return by card or cash – but if fans wish to do so they can still order tickets in advance online, and they now have the freedom to move around and watch the racing from their favourite part of the stadium with restrictions easing on that day.
Van Straaten said: “I was delighted and relieved. In some ways it was a big call by the government because of the cases and how the virus is still with us, but we have to move on now with so many people vaccinated.
“It will be nice for people to be able to pick their spot again. We have fans who have stood in the same part of the stadium for years, and this becomes possible again from Monday which is wonderful news.
“We look forward to welcoming everyone here for the Ipswich meeting for what we hope will be the start of an exciting summer of speedway.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
NEWCASTLE have made a second change in their Rising Star position with local youngster Archie Freeman replacing Jack Parkinson-Blackburn.
16-year-old Freeman is in his debut NDL season having joined Armadale after Newcastle ended their involvement at that level, but he now steps up to the Championship and will make his home debut in the big derby clash with Redcar a week on Sunday.
Diamonds manager Steve Pate said: “It’s always a club’s aim to get home-grown young local talent into their top team’s 1-7, and bringing Archie into our side is a key moment in our history for as far as local talent is concerned, he’s certainly one of the best.
“This is a big thing for the club as we always intended to give every chance to the young local lads, and this is very much the right time to bring him on board to progress his future career.
“He’s in for the season now and the other six Diamonds, from skipper Ben Barker to his fellow reserve James Wright, as all as enthusiastic to have young Archie into the side as we are, and have all said they can’t wait to work with him and will guide and advise him as he takes his first races in the Championship.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
REDCAR moved into the top four of the Championship by taking all four league points with a 49-41 win at Kent on Tuesday.
Jake Allen won three races for the Bears and top-scored with 13 points, whilst Drew Kemp proved an astute choice of guest at reserve with 11+2 and James Sarjeant added an impressive 10.
The Kings’ scoring was dominated by two riders with Scott Nicholls dropping just one point to notch 13+1, whilst Paul Starke recovered from a first-ride disqualification to reel off four wins and end on 13.
(SPEEDWAY 6)
PLYMOUTH snatched a dramatic 45-45 Championship draw with Poole thanks to a last-heat 5-1 from Bjarne Pedersen and Jason Crump.
The Pirates led by eight points after Heat 5 but after the Gladiators mounted a comeback it was the two former Poole riders who combined in the decider over Steve Worrall and Danny King.
Pedersen scored 15+1 from six rides for the hosts and Crump added 9+2 on his home debut, with reserve Ben Cook leading the way for the Pirates on 12+1 and Worrall scoring 11+2.
(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY JULY 14:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Birmingham v Scunthorpe 7.30
THURSDAY JULY 15:
PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 7.30, Sheffield v King’s Lynn 7.30
FRIDAY JULY 16:
BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: Redcar 7.30
CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Newcastle 7.30
SUNDAY JULY 18:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Eastbourne v Leicester 3pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Leicester (follows Champ fixture), Mildenhall v Kent 3pm
MATT JONES ANNOUNCED AS CORPORATE PARTNER FOR IKON INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY MASTERS