BRITISH SPEEDWAY WEEKLY BULLETIN 2025/11

Feature photo by: IAN ADAM… Title holders Poole moved to the top of the Cab Direct Championship table with a statement 47-43 victory at Glasgow on Friday.
The Pirates put in their best performance of the season to take the spoils over their rivals, who slipped up at home just 48 hours after an away win at Oxford.
Richard Lawson scored 9+1 for the Dorset side after being disqualified from Heat 1 for breaking the tapes, whilst Anders Rowe and Lewis Kerr both also scored nine, with Kerr and Paul Starke collecting the match-clinching 4-2 in Heat 14.

GRAND PRIX COUNTDOWN
BELLE VUE CEO Mark Lemon admits he is “extremely proud” to be staging the two ATPI FIM Manchester Grand Prix events.
The National Speedway Stadium will host the biggest two meetings of the season in Britain on Friday and Saturday night.
It’s a sell-out for the second event but there are still tickets available for Friday.
The best 16 riders in the world will be battling it out in Manchester including Brits Dan Bewley, Robert Lambert and Charles Wright.

Work has begun to prepare the stadium and Lemon is excited by the prospect of two epic occasions.
He said: “This has been 10 years in making. Now we are just days away from the inaugural Grand Prix meetings in Manchester.
“We are extremely proud to be staging the biggest two speedway events of the year.
“This is testament to the passion of our owners Tony Rice and Robin Southwell, the continual support from Manchester City Council and the loyal backing of our principal partners ATPI.

“We have a sell-out crowd on Saturday and with only a few hundred tickets left for Friday night.
“The temporary stands have gone up. With a full house of fans almost all the way around the stadium, this place generates a sensational atmosphere.
“The National Speedway Stadium always serves up the best action in the world.
“It has produced some outstanding racing as we saw last month in the British Championship final.

“Now we’ll have the best 16 riders in the world slugging it out for two Grand Prix rounds and that’s a mouthwatering prospect.”
Belle Vue’s home star and World No.4 Dan Bewley is seeking to defend his British Grand Prix title which he won last year in Cardiff.
Bewley is chasing a third home GP win on the circuit which he started his speedway career on back in 2016.

Home No.1 Australian Brady Kurtz is currently in second place in the World Championship standings in his debut campaign.
World No.2 Robert Lambert will want to repeat his sensational performance for Great Britain which won the gold medal in last year’s Speedway of Nations in Manchester.
Former British Champion and Stockport-based Charles Wright, is also the wild card for both events.
For all raceday tickets and information, please go to: www.bellevue-speedway.com.

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LIONS WIN IT FOR LUKE
LEICESTER captain Max Fricke says injured team-mate Luke Becker was in everyone’s thoughts as they defeated Sheffield at the Hydroscand Arena on Monday.
Becker is sidelined after suffering three fractured vertebrae in a crash in Poland on Sunday, but Fricke led a 56-34 win with a faultless 18-point maximum.
He said: “All the boys are working hard and I think we’re heading in the right direction.
“We’re spewing that we’re missing Luke, but I think that this was a good display to kind of do it for him and hopefully we can carry this form on throughout the season.”

STARS HOLD ON TO WIN
KING’S Lynn boss Rob Lyon admitted the strength of Birmingham duo Tobiasz Musielak and Matej Zagar made Monday’s clash at the Adrian Flux Arena a tricky encounter.
Lyon said: “Musielak and Zagar did the majority of the damage for them, and they are quality riders who have been around a long time, and we all know that riders seem to come back here and haunt us as Tobi did tonight.
“Luckily though we had enough in the tank to get us over the line, and Bomber (Chris Harris) did Bomber things in Heats 14 and 15 to win the match for us.”

STEAD – LET’S LOOK AHEAD
SHEFFIELD boss Simon Stead is delighted to see the back of visiting Leicester for the time being after successive heavy defeats in the East Midlands in both league and KO Cup, including a 56-34 reverse in Monday’s televised encounter.
Stead said: “I don’t want to put too much importance on this result because we’ve had a really good start to the season and in the league we’ve been standing pretty strong.
“Am I disappointed? Of course I am. But the fixtures are coming thick and fast now and for me, it’s important we look forward to the next one which takes us to Ipswich on Thursday night.”

BIG NIGHT AHEAD FOR WITCHES
IPSWICH boss Ritchie Hawkins is relishing the prospect of a home clash with play-off rivals Sheffield this Thursday, even though they go into the meeting without injured duo Jason Doyle and Dan Thompson, who are replaced by Sam Masters and Connor Mountain respectively.

Hawkins said: “Every meeting against Sheffield is tough and we had a great battle up there a few weeks ago and hopefully that will be replicated again on Thursday for the fans.
“We are keen to come away with three points and they will see it as an opportunity to get a win at Ipswich, and we need to get the ball back rolling after a few tough meetings recently.”

ACES LOOK FOR KURTZ COMEBACK
BELLE Vue boss Mark Lemon admits it wasn’t ideal to be missing captain Brady Kurtz for their defeat at Birmingham last week.
Kurtz crashed in the recent Czech Republic Grand Prix and was unable to take part in any of his scheduled meetings around Europe, including a Polish Ekstraliga fixture for Wroclaw and his GP Qualifier on Saturday.
Lemon said: “It’s obviously never ideal to lose someone of Brady’s calibre. He’s our captain and such a talisman.
“But naturally he needs time to be 100 per cent. It was a nasty incident in Prague.”

BRUMMIES WILL CHASE AGGREGATE
BIRMINGHAM boss Chris Adams says an encouraging performance at King’s Lynn on Monday, despite the loss to injury of Jason Edwards, gives them the chance to challenge for the aggregate point later this month.
After the 49-40 defeat where Tobiasz Musielak and Matej Zagar rode strongly, Adams said: “Nine points, we can soon pull that back, make no mistake about that.
“But we’ll have to keep our wits about us because there are no easy matches.”

THE WEEK AHEAD…
IPSWICH have reclaimed top spot in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership after Sheffield’s defeat at Leicester, and the top two meet at Foxhall on Thursday… meanwhile Oxford and King’s Lynn both look to make ground on the play-off places as they clash at Cowley… Monday night’s action sees Sheffield head to Birmingham for the first time this season, whilst league points are on offer in the latest local derby clash between King’s Lynn and Ipswich.
 
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PIRATES LOOK TO MAINTAIN FORM
POOLE promoter Danny Ford was delighted to see his side come away from Glasgow on Friday with an impressive win – and now he wants to back that up in another big Wimborne Road clash with Redcar this week.
Ford said: “We have two evenly matched sides going head-to-head on Wednesday and it is going to be very tough.
“Poole fans need no reminding just what Danny King is capable of around here and he has great support from both Charles Wright and Erik Riss.
“I have to say I was proud of the whole team on Friday at Glasgow. I don’t think many sides will go there and get a result and now we have those points in the bag we really need to focus on cashing in on our home matches.”

TIGERS BID TO BOUCE BACK
GLASGOW boss Cami Brown says his team will come back stronger from a disappointing home defeat to Poole – which had the effect of cancelling out an excellent win at Oxford 48 hours earlier.
Brown said: “All the boys gave it 100 per cent but Poole were just the better side on the night. Their top five were far more solid.
“I have to give credit to Max Perry who battled really hard for four points. Overall, we weren’t good enough on the night. We will bounce back.”

SCORPIONS BOSS PRAISES SKIPPER
SCUNTHORPE promoter Rob Godfrey was rewarded for retaining faith in captain Simon Lambert, who raced to 13 points in the Scorpions’ win over Berwick on Friday.
Godfrey said: “Simon Lambert was back to being the real Simon Lambert – the rider we all know he is. At the start of the season, he changed all his gear and he was lost.
“But I saw something which made me realise it was the bikes, not him, that was the problem.
“It’s probably the first time this season he’s looked completely like himself. He was calm and collected and looked good on the bike. It wasn’t just the races he won, he was also battling for every point and took third on the line in one race.”

MPT SATISFIED WITH DEBUT
EDINBURGH newcomer Michael Palm Toft scored five points on his debut in the win over Oxford last weekend, which was his first meeting of the 2025 season.
The Dane will move away from the No.1 position in the Monarchs order the next time they race as prolific reserve Victor Palovaara shoots to the top of their averages.

Palm Toft said: “It was a bit of a funny day, ups and downs, finding my groove. I said from the start I just needed a couple of meetings and we’ll get back into it.
“I was there or thereabouts. You always know what you are going to get from Sam when he comes back here, and they had loads of other riders who have ridden this track before, so it was a good win.”

HEEPS TARGETS RETURN
OXFORD star Cameron Heeps has praised the safety measures in place at Cowley after walking away from a frightening accident recently, with generous supporters raising over £3,000 to assist with repairs.
Heeps said: “The air fence and fence behind it both did their job. The fence behind was strong enough not to completely break, but weak enough to have plenty of give. It was the perfect mix.

“They did a great job when they re-built the track when speedway came back – they knew what they were doing and it was spot on.
“My brain wants to get back racing, but my body is telling me to hold on a bit! I took a pretty big hit, and I’ll come back when I’m feeling comfortable.”

COMETS SEEK CONTINUITY
WORKINGTON’S promotion have issued a statement to supporters following the postponement of last Saturday’s home clash with Poole due to a forecast of heavy rain, leaving them yet to race a league match this season.
They wrote on their website: “We too are finding the stuttering start to the season incredibly frustrating and appreciate the riders have currently found it difficult to find any form.

“Please be assured everyone is working hard both on track and behind the scenes and once we have some continuity, we are able to produce the results expected.
“In the meantime, we sincerely hope we can count on your continued support when our season recommences and we look forward to seeing you all trackside very soon.”

RAIN A PAIN FOR GLADIATORS
PLYMOUTH suffered the immense frustration of a postponement around scheduled start time of their home match with Redcar due to a heavy downpour.
Writing on the club website, promoter Mark Phillips said: “At 6pm I started to grade the top surface when the heavens opened.

At this point I requested extra time in the hope of getting the meeting on to avoid wasting the costs and time of the supporters who attended and the subsequent costs of our medical staff, and the travel costs for the club, of both ours and the away team’s travel.
“The club were given until 7pm to complete the work. We tried, but the storm shower at 6pm proved to be the undoing.
“I am disappointed at the postponement as for the last three seasons, with the exception ironically of the Redcar meeting in 2024, all of our weather decisions and cancellations have been justified 100 per cent.”

BANDITS MISS OUT
BERWICK were beaten by ten points at Scunthorpe in a meeting which saw home No.1 Steve Worrall crash out in the first race.
Bandits boss Stewart Dickson admitted an element of frustration that only three of his riders were able to get to grips with the Eddie Wright Raceway, with all but seven of their 40 points coming from Craig Cook, Drew Kemp and Peter Kildemand.
Dickson said: “Overall I would have to say it was a decent effort against a side with a dominant home record but by the same token three riders not beating an opponent was poor.”

THE WEEK AHEAD…
A BIG clash of two play-off chasers at Wimborne Road on Wednesday with Poole facing Redcar in the only Cab Direct Championship fixture this week.

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THE WEEK AHEAD…
MIDDLESBROUGH look to build on their big home win over the Steelers when they host Edinburgh on Sunday in the WSRA NDL… meanwhile in the NDT, Kent Eagles are back in action at Iwade as they host Plymouth with the Centurions racing their first fixture in the competition.
 
FIXTURE PICTURE…
 
WEDNESDAY JUNE 11:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Poole v Redcar 7.30

THURSDAY JUNE 12:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Ipswich (44) v Sheffield (46) 7.30, Oxford (31) v King’s Lynn (59) 7.30

FRIDAY JUNE 13:
FIM GRAND PRIX OF GREAT BRITAIN, MANCHESTER: Belle Vue 7pm

SATURDAY JUNE 14:
FIM GRAND PRIX OF GREAT BRITAIN, MANCHESTER: Belle Vue 7pm

SUNDAY JUNE 15:
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Middlesbrough (42) v Edinburgh (48) 3pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: Kent v Plymouth 12pm

MONDAY JUNE 16:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Birmingham (29) v Sheffield (61) 7.30, King’s Lynn (37) v Ipswich (53) 7.30

WEDNESDAY JUNE 18:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Oxford (40) v Edinburgh (50) 7.30, Poole (44) v Berwick (46) 7.30

THURSDAY JUNE 19:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Leicester v Belle Vue 7.30, Sheffield v King’s Lynn 7.30

FRIDAY JUNE 20:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Glasgow (50) v Plymouth (40) 7.30, Redcar v Edinburgh 7.30, Scunthorpe (41) v Oxford (49) 7pm
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Steelers v Oxford (follows Champ fixture)

SATURDAY JUNE 21:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Redcar 7pm, Workington v Plymouth 3pm

MONDAY JUNE 23:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Belle Vue v King’s Lynn 7.30, Ipswich v Leicester 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: Birmingham v Plymouth 7.30

TUESDAY JUNE 24:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: Plymouth v Birmingham 7pm