BRITISH SPEEDWAY MARCH 31, 2026
(SPEEDWAY 1)
NORTHAMPTON SEVEN NAMED
NEWCOMERS Northampton have named their full one-to-seven for their entry into the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
Australian star Jaimon Lidsey will race at No.1 for the Foxes, with the former World Under-21 Champion having previously spent his entire British career with Belle Vue.
Danish duo Niels-Kristian Iversen and Nicolai Klindt make the move to Brafield and will be set for a rapid return to their former home track of King’s Lynn in Northampton’s opening fixture on April 20.
Meanwhile Slovenian star Matej Zagar is reunited with team manager Chris Adams after the two worked together at Birmingham last season.
The Foxes have also recruited former Swindon title-winner Troy Batchelor who steps back into the top-flight, along with fellow Australian Kye Thomson, whilst British Under-19 Champion Luke Harrison takes the Rising Star berth.
Northampton’s opening home meeting is scheduled for Thursday April 30 when they face Ipswich in the Premiership KO Cup.
(SPEEDWAY 2)
BELLE Vue kicked off their home campaign with a 48-42 win over Sheffield in the first match of the Premiership KO Cup.
The Aces were taken to a last heat decider but Dan Bewley and Brady Kurtz raced to a 4-2 over Josh Pickering and Jack Holder to put themselves on the board in the Northern section.
The home side had to cover for the loss of Norick Blodorn, who fell heavily in Heat 1 after being collected by Holder who was attempting to pass, but reserve Tate Zischke stepped up with an impressive display.
Zischke scored 10+2 from seven rides to back up Kurtz with 12 and Bewley with 11+1, whilst Leon Flint starred for the visitors with 8+1 including a win over Kurtz in Heat 10, but Holder suffered mechanical trouble prior to Heat 13.
Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “It was a great performance tonight. It’s always tough to get the first meeting out of the way, you really just want to get a win and that’s what the boys did.
“It was quite gritty behind the scenes. Brady was under the weather, Will (Cairns) had a mechanical nightmare, and obviously Norick took that bang in his first race and had to pull out.
“That put some pressure on the boys but Tate stepped up and did a really good job, which we were really pleased to see.”
Sheffield manager Simon Stead said: “For an opening night display, overall I think there are reasons to be encouraged and there are definitely positives we can take moving forward.
“I think the performances of the lower end of the team was the most pleasing aspect for sure.
“And when you consider a few of the teething problems a few of our other lads had, on most other nights we’d have been walking away with a win in the bag.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
LEICESTER have handed a recall to Joe Thompson in their Rising Star berth after Dan Gilkes was ruled out at the start of the season.
Gilkes suffered a knee injury last year and will not be fit for the Lions’ initial fixtures, so Thompson – who took over from Gilkes for the majority of the campaign – once again steps in for his local club.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “We’re all absolutely gutted for Dan, especially after the hard work he’s put in to get back to racing.
“But at the same time we appreciate his honesty in being clear with ourselves and also Poole that he isn’t ready at the moment.
“We’ve brought in Joe for an initial 28 days, and we’ll reassess the position before our league matches when we should know more about Dan’s situation.
“We’d like to welcome Joe back. He will now be one of the more experienced Rising Stars in the league, and I’m sure it will also help him to have his brother in the same team.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
POOLE are working on securing a temporary replacement for Dan Gilkes as they prepare to launch their season on Good Friday.
Gilkes was due to make his Pirates debut in their BSN Series clash with Plymouth but after practice sessions at Wimborne Road and Leicester he has taken the decision that is not fit at this stage as he recovers from his 2025 injury.
Pirates promoter Dan Ford said: “Dan has been working really hard to be ready, but after a couple of practice sessions last week he feels he’s just not quite where he needs to be yet. There’s been a lack of track time for everyone with the weather, so it’s been difficult to get fully up to speed.
“We appreciate his honesty, it’s better to make this decision now rather than risk coming in underprepared at the start of the season.
“We’ll look to bring Dan into the side once he’s fully fit, and in the meantime we are working on a temporary replacement. We’re confident the rider we’re speaking to is more than capable of doing a job for us, and we hope to be in a position to confirm that shortly.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)BERWICK newcomer Victor Palovaara says he’s looking forward to his new opportunity after illness wrecked the closing stages of his 2025 season.
Palovaara racked up big points for Edinburgh in the Cab Direct Championship in the first half of the campaign especially, and is now making the move to Berwick – who kick off their campaign at his old home track on Good Friday.
He said: “I thought I was not going to get a team at all, the phone just didn’t ring. Perhaps people were a bit worried about how I finished the season, and looking back it was probably a mistake to return when I wasn’t anywhere near recovered from the pneumonia.
“That definitely affected me badly, but I just wanted to get back on a bike and race.
“After the way I started the season I found people saying, ‘oh he’s not had a good night’ but when I checked my programme I’d scored 11 points!
“Berwick’s not a track I’ve ridden a lot – or been successful around for that matter – before, but that’s part of the challenge and one I am really excited about. It is a very different track to Edinburgh but similar in that there is a big home advantage once you get dialled into it.”
(SPEEDWAY 6)
OXFORD skipper Sam Masters says the prospects for the revamped Cheetahs look good heading into the new Cab Direct Championship campaign.
The Cowley club failed to reach the play-offs last season with Masters lacking in top-end support, but that issue looks to have been addressed with the signings of Erik Riss and Anders Rowe.
Masters said: “It’s an honour to be captain of the Cheetahs again this season and I think we’ve got a team who can do it this year.
“Last season was tough towards the end of meetings. But this season, in Anders and Erik, we have two riders capable of joining me and scoring points in the big races, and I’m convinced that Luke (Killeen) and Mitch (McDiarmid) will also be stepping up.
“Dayle (Wood) and Darryl (Ritchings) are also at a club where we can help them progress. If we can all step it up like I think we can, we’ve got one hell of a team.
“We can only take one step at a time, which is to keep progressing in all the competitions and make sure we get into the play-offs at the end of the season.”
(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY APRIL 1:
CHALLENGE: Oxford v Coventry Select 7.30
THURSDAY APRIL 2:
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP (NORTH): Sheffield (42) v Belle Vue (48) 7.30
FRIDAY APRIL 3:
BSN SERIES: Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30, Poole v Plymouth 6pm
