BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAY 3, 2025

(SPEEDWAY 1)

BRUMMIES’ TWO SIGNINGS

BIRMINGHAM have made a double signing ahead of their Bank Holiday Monday double against Oxford in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.

The Brummies have signed Paco Castagna and Danyon Hume, both of whom have previously ridden for the club at Championship level.
They have released reserve Antti Vuolas due to current form, whilst Matej Zagar remains unavailable.
Club CEO Nigel Tolley said: “In Paco and Danyon we’ve got two riders who we know will come straight into the team and give it their all from the get go.

“Paco has been keen for a Premiership place for a while now and he’s desperate to grab it with both hands.
“And Danyon is a really nice fit for the No.6 position right now with the way things stand, and he’s hungry to prove a point almost after being let go by Sheffield.
“They’re the sort of characters who will fit into our team straight away, and hopefully they can both play their part as we look to pick up our first league points against Oxford on Monday.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

OXFORD have moved to bring Craig Cook back into the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership as they bid to turn their fortunes after a tough start to the season.
Cook, who had a short-term spell with the Spires in 2024, is set to come in at reserve starting on Bank Holiday Monday when they face Birmingham home and away.

Making way is Latvian youngster Francis Gusts, although the club say they do hope to work with him again in future.
Manager Peter Schroeck said: “When the top five in the team are firing, you are able to carry the reserves until they get into their stride; however, when they struggle you need to have reserves that can score.

“It is not Francis’ fault, he is seeing these tracks for the first time and needs more experience which we cannot give him at the moment.
“Craig did a great job for us covering for injury last year and was keen to return to the club. He has proven point scoring ability at this level and will form a strong partnership with Luke (Killeen) in Heat 2.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

EDINBURGH reserve Victor Palovaara racked up a stunning 19-point haul to steer the Monarchs to a first home win of the season against Berwick.
The hosts got over the line 46-43 in the BSN Series clash when Palovaara won Heat 15 having ridden in each of the last four races, during which time they overhauled a narrow deficit.

Justin Sedgmen picked up 10 points from four rides, whilst Drew Kemp scored 12+1 and Peter Kildemand added 10 for the visitors who were left to rue two costly disqualifications although they did do enough for the aggregate point.
Edinburgh boss Alex Harkess said: “I’m very pleased we won obviously, but we didn’t half make it hard for ourselves. We only had two riders who won a race, but Victor won six of them!
“I was very sorry he didn’t get his maximum because he deserved it. We need improvement elsewhere in the side.”

Berwick manager Stewart Dickson said: “It was frustrating to do so much of the hard work but fail to win the match, but you can’t take anything away from Victor’s performance.
“We did so many good things at Edinburgh, there’s just a few areas to improve and we’ll be up and running properly.”

(SPEEDWAY 4)

REDCAR made it two home wins out of two in the BSN Series despite seeing both reserves crash out of the 51-39 victory over Workington.
Tom Spencer and Ace Pijper were involved in a Heat 2 incident and were withdrawn with ankle and shoulder injuries respectively.

But the remaining Bears did enough to maintain a comfortable advantage throughout the evening, even though they were only able to field one rider in five races.
Skipper Charles Wright dropped a point to Troy Batchelor in Heat 1 but was then unbeaten as he ended on 14, whilst guest Anders Rowe impressed with 11 from four.
Batchelor top-scored for the Comets with 10 from five rides and Tate Zischke added 9+2 from six.
 
(SPEEDWAY 5)

BERWICK host Redcar in the opening meeting of the 2025 MAXiCab KO Cup tonight (Saturday) with the first leg of the quarter-final taking place at Shielfield Park.
The Bandits are in the middle of a busy weekend which also features an important trip to Glasgow tomorrow in the BSN Series.They name a full-strength side with Jack Smith making his home debut, but the Bears are forced into two changes at reserve.

Ace Pijper and Tom Spencer both crashed out of their home win over Workington on Friday, and they are replaced by former Berwick rider Freddy Hodder along with Jody Scott.
Meanwhile another ex-Bandit, Leon Flint, had already been booked to stand in for Erik Riss who is the Wild Card for tonight’s FIM German Grand Prix.

Berwick boss Stewart Dickson said: “We, quite literally, now have to concentrate on the Cup and Redcar who are always a very difficult team to beat around Berwick.”
BERWICK: Craig Cook, Danyon Hume, Sam Hagon, Drew Kemp, Peter Kildemand, Dayle Wood, Jack Smith.
REDCAR: Charles Wright, Jake Mulford, Jason Edwards, Leon Flint, Danny King, Freddy Hodder, Jody Scott.

(SPEEDWAY 6)

WORKINGTON finally kick off their home team campaign today (Saturday) when they host Scunthorpe in the BSN Series.
The Comets lost their opening fixture at Redcar by 12 points last night, whilst the Scorpions are looking to improve on their away displays in the early weeks of the season.

The visitors operate rider replacement for Luke Harrison, who is racing in the FIM European-Under-19 qualifier in Slovakia.
Comets stand-in boss James Wilson said: “Saturday should be a real top-class meeting, Scunthorpe have assembled a strong looking team and a bit like us have opted for two strong reserves, so that will be a key battle to keep an eye on.”
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We haven’t been that strong on our travels so far this season, but a few of our boys haven’t had a lot of meetings and have been a bit race rusty.

“This time, we need to make sure the boot is on the other foot, since Workington’s previous home meeting was rained off and they haven’t ridden as a team at home so far this season.
“It does present us with an opportunity – an away win could make all the difference in our group of the BSN Series.”

WORKINGTON: Troy Batchelor, Jye Etheridge, Tate Zischke, Fraser Bowes, Antti Vuolas, Jacob Hook, Vinnie Foord.

SCUNTHORPE: Steve Worrall, Luke Harrison R/R, Simon Lambert, Connor Mountain, Jake Allen, Declan Kennedy, Zaine Kennedy.

(SPEEDWAY 7)

THE second FIM European Under-19 Qualifier takes place at the Zarnovica track in Slovakia on Saturday afternoon, where Great Britain will be represented by 2024 Finalist Luke Harrison and Ashton Boughen.
Following the disappointment of the elimination of Ben Trigger and Ace Pijper at the first qualifier two weeks ago, both Harrison and Boughen will be intending to make the top eight at this qualifier, which would put them into another European Final taking place in Poland in August.
Similar to the first qualifier, this is another strong line-up which includes four riders from Poland, two from Denmark, two from Sweden, and two from the Czech Republic, as well as Filip Kasan representing his home nation of Slovakia

(FIXTURES)

SATURDAY MAY 3:
MAXICAB KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Berwick v Redcar 7pm
BSN SERIES: Workington v Scunthorpe 3pm

SUNDAY MAY 4:
BSN SERIES: Glasgow v Berwick 6pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: Leicester (38) v Birmingham (51) 3pm

MONDAY MAY 5:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Belle Vue v Sheffield 12pm, Oxford v Birmingham 1pm, Ipswich v King’s Lynn 2.15, Birmingham v Oxford 7.30, Sheffield v Belle Vue 6.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Steelers v Belle Vue (at Sheffield) (follows Prem fixture)