BRITISH SPEEDWAY JUNE 24, 2025

(SPEEDWAY 1)
IPSWICH GO TO THE TOP

IPSWICH returned to the top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership with a convincing 54-36 win over Leicester thanks to a hugely impressive start to the meeting.
Tracking their full-strength side for the first time since mid-May, the Foxhall side opened up with three straight 5-1s and led by 20 points after Heat 6.

A landslide victory looked on the cards before the Lions regrouped in the second half of the contest with skipper Max Fricke leading their response towards a respectable scoreline.
Tom Brennan led the Witches’ scoring with 11+1 as he was unbeaten barring a fall in his third ride, whilst Danny King put a weekend crash behind him to score 10+1.
Fricke racked up 16+1 from seven rides for the Lions and Ryan Douglas scored 9+1, being involved in 5-1s in Heats 11 and 12.

Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “I am absolutely delighted to get the win in the fashion we did. I have to admit I was surprised we won so comfortably considering half of the boys are riding injured.
“That leaves you with doubts in your mind over how they are going to perform, but having that one-to-seven back together certainly gave the boys a spark and they seemed to gel.

“There is something special about them when they are all together, even under the circumstances where in reality they are nowhere near 100 per cent fit and could be doing with more time off.”
Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “We were just getting bullied in the first corners. They were making better starts than us but even a couple of times when we did make the gate, the Ipswich riders were going by us as if we weren’t there.

“I did have a few words to say it was getting a bit embarrassing, we’re a lot better than that, and we said we wanted to be competitive in the second half of the meeting at least, to show that it wasn’t the real Leicester away from home.
“Max led from the front and Dougy picked up as the meeting went on, one or two of the other boys had difficult nights, but we can’t make excuses. It hasn’t happened very often, but you’ve got to be on it every match in this league or you’ll get found out to your cost.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

BELLE Vue’s top two of Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley saw their side over the line to victory in a tricky clash with King’s Lynn which the Aces won 48-42.
With two 5-1s in the opening three races the Stars led for much of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership clash in Manchester, with the margin at two points heading into the closing stages.

But Grand Prix racers Kurtz and Bewley combined for 5-1s in Heats 13 and 15 to maintain the Aces’ 100 per cent home record in the league this season.
Kurtz, fresh from winning the Gorzow GP last weekend, raced to a 14+1 paid maximum whilst Bewley missed out in Heat 1 but was then unbeaten on 11+1.

Ben Cook made a successful return for the Stars with 10+1 on his old home track, and Niels-Kristian Iversen picked up nine as they carded a solid scorechart in the absence of flying reserve Jan Kvech.
Aces manager Mark Lemon said: “It was a challenging night. The Stars really put on a show. If they’d had Kvech here at reserve it would have maybe been a tougher assignment.

“The Stars are underrated in my opinion. They are capable wherever they go.
“But when you have Dan and Brady in Heats 13 and 15 in the form they are in, it always fills you with a lot of confidence. They did the job brilliantly.”
Stars boss Rob Lyon said: “I’m proud of the boys again. They really put it to Belle Vue but as at Sheffield, it wasn’t quite enough.
“Those two heats, 13 and 15, they really damaged us. Top riders in both of those teams are very difficult to deal with, but fair play to Belle Vue, they just about had enough in the tank at the end.
“Mark Lemon just said: ‘you probably didn’t deserve that’ – but that’s speedway and that’s the way it goes.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

BIRMINGHAM returned to winning ways in the National Development Trophy as they saw off Plymouth 48-41 at Perry Barr on Monday.
The Bulls raced into a 16-point lead after Heat 8 before being pulled back over the second half of the meeting.
Sam McGurk top-scored for the hosts on 13, whilst reserve Senna Summers was involved in a 5-1 in Heat 2 but took no further part after a crash in his second outing.

Youngster Cooper Rushen guested for the Centurions at No.1 and scored 13+1 from five rides, combining with Ben Trigger (11+1) for 5-1s in both Heats 13 and 15 to narrow the gap.
The sides meet again at the Coliseum tonight (Tuesday) in the return fixture.

PLYMOUTH: Joe Thompson, Morgan Williams r/r, Kai Ward, Mickie Simpson, Ben Trigger, Charlie Southwick, Ryan Ingram.

BIRMINGHAM: Darryl Ritchings r/r, Arran Butcher, Sam McGurk, Max James, Tom Spencer, Senna Summers, Eli Meadows.

(SPEEDWAY 4)

GREAT Britain compete in the first round of the 2025 European 250cc Pairs this afternoon (Tuesday) in the Polish city of Gdansk.
With current British 250cc Champion Cooper Rushen no longer riding 250’s and having moved up to the NDL/NDT leagues, the GB team will be represented by the Nos.2 and 3 from the 2024 British Youth Championship, Seth Norman and Archie Rolph.

Norman was part of the 2024 GB team that claimed the silver medal, and along with Rolph he recently competed in the SGP3 Qualifier in Slovenia.
Ten nations compete this afternoon split into two groups of five, which means GB will be competing against teams from Ukraine, Poland, France and Slovenia.

The series is over three rounds, continuing in Denmark in August and concluding in Slovenia in September.
The Young Lions would like to thank their series sponsors for their continued support which has enabled the supply of tyres for this event and a small contribution to the riders’ travel.

(FIXTURES)

TUESDAY JUNE 24:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: Plymouth (41) v Birmingham (48) 7pm

WEDNESDAY JUNE 25:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: King’s Lynn (53) v Leicester (31) 7.30

THURSDAY JUNE 26:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Oxford v Birmingham 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Sheffield (36) v Leicester (54) 7.30

FRIDAY JUNE 27:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh (40) v Redcar (50) 7.30, Glasgow (45) v Scunthorpe (45) 7.30