BRITISH SPEEDWAY SEPTEMBER 9, 2025

(SPEEDWAY 1)

ACES HOLD THE ADVANTAGE 

REIGNING champions Belle Vue will take a six-point lead to Ipswich on Thursday for the second leg of their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off semi-final.

The Aces provided 11 of the 15 race wins in Monday’s opener at the National Speedway Stadium, but they were held to a 48-42 result after a determined showing from the league leaders.
Ipswich led early on after a 5-1 in Heat 2, and even when Belle Vue went six up at the halfway stage, the visitors cut the gap back to two points with a crucial series of wins from Tom Brennan and Jason Doyle.

The Aces’ top duo of Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley took 4-2s in Heats 13 and 15 but were denied full rewards as Emil Sayfutdinov finished ahead of Bewley in the first of those, with Doyle defeating Kurtz in the finale.
Bewley scored 13 points with Kurtz on 12 and Zach Cook won three of his four rides to finish on 11, whilst Doyle raced to 11+2 for the Witches with all of his team-mates chipping in.

Belle Vue manager Mark Lemon said: “We didn’t get the lead we wanted, but we can still go there and reach the Grand Final.
“We’ve been here before and it’s not unfamiliar to us. We are under no illusions, we need a big performance on Thursday.
“The boys are capable of it and I’m backing them, and I’m sure the fans are too.”

(SPEEDWAY 2)

IPSWICH manager Ritchie Hawkins says he left Manchester on Monday satisfied with his side’s overall position in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership play-off semi-final.
The Witches went down 48-42 at Belle Vue in the first leg but battled throughout the meeting to contain the home side and prevent major damage.

Hawkins was especially encouraged by the fact that they did not fall away in the closing stages as has been the case on previous visits to the National Speedway Stadium.
He said: “Obviously we would have liked to done even better but overall, I am really happy with the lads and the way they rode.

“They stuck in the meeting and bounced back after Heat 8 in the second half of the meeting to keep it level from then on.
“There were a lot of 3-3s where we filled in the minor placings and I think that really showed our battling qualities and determination. There was a lot of team riding, and we had our sensible racing heads on.
“It leaves things finely poised for Thursday. It was a great battle between two great sides and there was some great racing, and I’m sure Thursday will be the same.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

DEFENDING Cab Direct Championship holders Poole launch their play-off campaign with a home semi-final clash against Redcar tonight (Tuesday).
The sides finished second and third in the regular league table, separated by four points, and previous meetings this season saw the Pirates win 51-39 at home whilst the Bears edged a 46-44 victory on Teesside.

Poole name a full-strength side whilst Redcar bring in Nick Morris to guest for the unwell Erik Riss, and Jody Scott is back from weekend international duty.
The second leg of the semi-final takes place at the ECCO Arena on Sunday, with the aggregate winners facing Glasgow or Edinburgh in the Grand Final.

Pirates promoter Dan Ford said: “This is going to be a massive tie for us. Redcar have always been one of the more fancied sides in this year’s title race and they have proved that by reaching the play-offs.
“They have been hit through the loss of Erik Riss but they are still a team that earns respect, and I really believe that every point in the 30 heats of semi-final racing which we are facing are all crucial.

“We cannot afford to drop any silly points as we want to be in that Grand Final to face one of the Scottish sides.”
Bears skipper Charles Wright said: “All of the boys seem to be going well at the minute and we have a good guest in Nick Morris, so hopefully we can do a job at Poole.“Poole are as good around the ECCO Arena as they are around Wimborne Road, so hopefully everyone does their job when it comes to the crunch.”

POOLE: Richard Lawson, Tobias Thomsen, Lewis Kerr, Zach Cook, Anders Rowe, Paul Starke, Will Cairns.

REDCAR: Charles Wright, Jake Mulford, Jason Edwards, Nick Morris, Danny King, Jody Scott, Ace Pijper.

(FIXTURES)

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 9:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF S/F 1st leg: Poole v Redcar 7.30

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 10:
MAXICAB KO CUP SEMI-FINAL 1st leg: Oxford v Redcar 7.30

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 11:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF S/F 2nd leg: Ipswich (42) v Belle Vue (48) 7.30