BRITISH SPEEDWAY APRIL 17, 2025

(SPEEDWAY 1)

PIRATES DEFEAT CHEETAHS IN THRILLER

POOLE made a strong start to their BSN Series defence with a Super Heat victory following on from a hard-fought 45-45 draw at Oxford.

Zach Cook and Richard Lawson combined for a 5-1 in Heat 15 to bring the Pirates level on the night, with the same combination then following Sam Masters home in the decider, crucially keeping Cameron Heeps at the back.
It gave the visitors two away points to kick off the Southern group, with the Cheetahs restricted to one on their home circuit, ahead of the return fixture on Good Friday.

Cook scored an impressive 13+1 in the main meeting for the Pirates and Lawson chipped in with 10+2, whilst Masters scored 13 for the hosts with Heat 15 being his only defeat of the night.
Said Cook: “It was a close meeting throughout and me and Rich did what we had to do in the last couple of rides, so it is all good.

“It was nice to come here and get the win. Obviously it is early days, and we now need to make Friday count too.
“As for that Super Heat, we just knew that we needed a minimum of second and third, and so when he (Masters) got out in front then it was just a matter of doing what we needed to do.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

LEICESTER take on unbeaten Ipswich tonight (Thursday) in a repeat of last season’s dramatic ROWE Motor Oil Premiership semi-final.
League points are up for grabs on this occasion whereas seven months ago it was the Lions who went into the Grand Final after a tie which went right to the final race.

Ipswich have won all five of their matches so far in 2025 in both league and Cup, including away Premiership victories at Oxford and Birmingham, whilst Leicester suffered their first defeat when they went down 46-44 at King’s Lynn on Monday.
Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “I don’t think anyone would deny this is our biggest challenge of the season – but it’s not a meeting we are worried about, it’s one we are looking forward to.

“Of course Ipswich have started really well, and you can’t ignore the fact they won at Birmingham with Doyley (Jason Doyle) and Emil (Sayfutdinov) only scoring nine points between them!
“But we have a good team as well, and I’ve got to focus on my own riders. Yes they are unbeaten, but we were unbeaten ourselves before Monday, and this should be a really good meeting.

“We want to meet the challenge head-on, and it we ride to our capabilities from one-to-seven, we can win, I have no doubt about that.”
Ipswich boss Ritchie Hawkins said: “It is a place we enjoy riding individually and collectively. All the boys will be excited to get back together and get racing and keep the ball rolling.

“Leicester have also had a good start to the season, and they had a great finish to last year to get to the Grand Final. They are a strong, solid outfit again and they are a team that we know will have great ambitions to not just make the play-offs but to win them.
“It will be a very tough challenge between two of the top teams in the league and I’m sure it will be a close, hard-fought battle and it is one we relish and can’t wait to get stuck into.”

LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Sam Hagon.
IPSWICH: Jason Doyle, Danny King, Adam Ellis, Tom Brennan, Emil Sayfutdinov, Dan Thompson, Jordan Jenkins.
 
(FIXTURES)

THURSDAY APRIL 17:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Leicester v Ipswich 7.30

FRIDAY APRIL 18:
MAXICAB KO CUP 1st round 1st leg: Edinburgh v Workington 7.30
BSN SERIES: Glasgow v Berwick 7.30, Poole (45) v Oxford (45) 6pm, Scunthorpe v Redcar 3pm
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Leicester 12pm, Steelers v Middlesbrough (at Scunthorpe) (follows BSN Series fixture)

SATURDAY APRIL 19:
MAXICAB KO CUP 1st round 2nd leg: Workington v Edinburgh 1pm
BSN SERIES: Berwick v Glasgow 7pm, Plymouth v Oxford 7pm