BRITISH SPEEDWAY APRIL 16, 2026
(SPEEDWAY 1)
CHEETAHS’ WINNING RETURN
OXFORD made a successful return to Cowley with a 51-39 over Poole to keep their BSN Series hopes alive.
Reserve Dayle Wood was the hero for the Cheetahs with a stunning 10+2 haul, unbeaten in his first four rides, as the hosts put the match beyond their opponents inside the first ten races.
At that stage they led 39-21 before a Pirates revival over the closing stages cut the gap with the aggregate point in mind.
Home skipper Sam Masters scored 14 from five rides, dropping his only point to Richard Lawson in Heat 13, with Pirates skipper Zach Cook top scoring on 11+2 from six rides.
Wood said: “That’s something I’ve been waiting for a long time, and it shows on my day that I can beat anyone.
“It’s the best I’ve scored at this level and I’m very happy with that. I’m going to build on it and keep working hard and take it from there.
“Tonight was one of those nights when everything was working well. We didn’t change a thing on my bike – I just went out there and enjoyed riding it. Speedway becomes easy when it’s like that.”
Lawson said: “The track caught us all out. We got it back to 12 points in the end. Of course we can do that at home.
“I’ve got faith in everyone to do that, but it is just a shame that, no matter where we go, this was just not a Pirates score. So it is disappointing and we will need to bounce back.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
SHEFFIELD and Leicester clash in the Premiership KO Cup at Owlerton tonight (Thursday) as the race for Northern section qualification intensifies.
The Tigers collected three points from their matches with Belle Vue, and they know a win and the aggregate point against the Lions would be enough for them to reach the Final.
For the defending holders, who defeated Sheffield on the way to the silverware last season, the equation is somewhat more complex as they require the aggregate point and a race points swing across the meetings tonight and back in the East Midlands next Thursday after a heavy Easter Monday defeat at Belle Vue.
Both sides name unchanged line-ups with Leicester’s Nick Morris making his return to Owlerton after racing for Sheffield in the closing stages of last season.
Tigers skipper Josh Pickering said: “Leicester were our bogey team last year but it’s a track I enjoy going to, it’s a track we know we can go well at. But let’s try and make life a bit easier for ourselves by picking up a nice win at home.
“We all chipped in against Belle Vue and we’re going to need more of that, but we’re looking forward to it.
“The crowd was absolutely packed out against Belle Vue; to see those sorts of numbers was unbelievable at Sheffield, and hopefully that can continue on Thursday and going into the rest of the season.”
Lions boss Stewart Dickson said: “The performance at Belle Vue has given us a bit of a mountain to climb, but I didn’t want to over-react or go mad about it at the time.
“We won the home match, which was important being the first one of the season, but the bottom line is we are the holders of this particular trophy, and we’ve now got one hand having fallen off it with what I consider to be the toughest team in the group, Sheffield, still to race.
“We will need to go there and put on a full team performance and look to score as many points as possible to give ourselves a chance at home next week.”
SHEFFIELD: Jack Holder, Anders Rowe, Chris Holder, Leon Flint, Josh Pickering, Jye Etheridge, Luke Killeen.
LEICESTER: Ryan Douglas, Dan Thompson, Nick Morris, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson.
(FIXTURES)
THURSDAY APRIL 16:
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP (NORTH): Sheffield v Leicester 7.30
FRIDAY APRIL 17:
MAXICAB KO CUP Q/F 1st leg: Redcar v Edinburgh 7.30
BSN SERIES: Glasgow v Berwick 7.30
SATURDAY APRIL 18:
BSN SERIES: Berwick v Glasgow 7pm, Workington v Scunthorpe 3pm
