BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAY 5, 2026
(SPEEDWAY 1)
ACES’ PERFECT HOME RECORD
BELLE Vue made it two home wins out of two in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership as they defeated newcomers Northampton 53-37 in Manchester.
The Foxes made a fast start to the meeting and led by four points after Heat 5, but the Aces turned things around with Matej Zagar crashing out for the visitors.
A run of two 5-1s and a 4-2 in the last three races made the final margin more convincing as Brady Kurtz and Dan Bewley teamed up for two maximum advantages.
Kurtz scored 13+1 and Bewley 12+2 for the home side, whilst ex-Aces star Jaimon Lidsey made a strong return to the National Speedway Stadium with 11, and Nicolai Klindt picked up 9+1.
Aces boss Mark Lemon said: “We know with Bank Holidays they can throw curve balls, so that’s a challenge, but one nice thing about our team is we don’t panic.
“We get our heads down and work through it, and it comes good in the end. A 16-point win is great, and it could possibly have been a 20-plus win.
“I don’t think the scoreline flattered us, I think it was a pretty gritty performance, but we were all disappointed not to see Matej continue because he’s great to watch around here, and we wish him well.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
IPSWICH enjoyed local derby success over King’s Lynn with a 50-40 win at Foxhall in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
Richard Lawson defied the stress of a van breakdown to score 14 points for the Witches, with he and Tom Brennan (12+2) only being denied maximums in the last race by Stars No.1 Max Fricke.
The home side went 16-points up at the halfway stage before the visitors staged something of a recovery including a 5-1 from Fricke and youngster Cooper Rushen over Tobiasz Musielak.
Fricke scored 12 from six rides for the visitors but they only managed three race wins, with 16-year-old Rushen picking up 6+3.
Ipswich boss Paul Hurry said: “There were a few little fiascos before the meeting. Richard’s van broke down.
“Richard is Richard – even if the applecart is falling apart around him, he still goes out there and does his job. You can’t fault him for that.
“I got a phone call at 7am to say, ‘Paul, my van has broken down.’ Very kindly, his Poole teammate Fraser Bowes brought him and his equipment up, which I would like to thank him for.
“He had emptied the van in a rush and, on the way up, Richard realised he had forgot to put his boots and race suit in.
“We had to phone around and we found some. Cameron Heeps had sold an old Ipswich suit to someone, and they said they were more than happy for Richard to use it to get us through.
“Fortunately, he keeps his head. Nothing really flusters him, and he went out there and did the job.”
King’s Lynn manager Rob Lyon said: “It felt a bit like a battle today if I’m honest, and again we started so slowly.
“We’d talked at length about how we needed to make sure we stayed with them in the first four or five heats, but it nearly mirrored what was going on in the first (KO Cup) meeting.
“We were really struggling at the midpoint of the meeting, but we did get it together towards the end, and it was a case of damage limitation really to make it as respectable as possible to give us a chance for the aggregate point.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
LEICESTER No.1 Ryan Douglas raced to a 15-point maximum as they opened their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership campaign with a 57-33 win over Northampton.
Douglas went through the card with five wins out of five against injury-hit opponents, with the home side pulling clear with 5-1s in Heats 11, 13 and 14.
Kyle Howarth also hit double figures with 11 points from four rides and skipper Sam Masters picked up 9+2, but a Heat 10 crash for Dan Thompson provided an injury concern.
Troy Batchelor scored nine from six rides for the Foxes, who were without middle-order duo Niels-Kristian Iversen and Matej Zagar, the latter having crashed out at Belle Vue earlier in the day.
Lions manager Stewart Dickson said: “It was a pretty good night with some good racing, and Northampton kept us honest in the first eight or nine races.
“We came into our own in the second half of the meeting, so I’ve got to be pleased and it’s a good start to the league campaign.
“Dougy was excellent, I know there was talk in the winter that he maybe wasn’t a No.1 in this league, but as far as I’m concerned he’s still getting better and I still don’t think he’s reached where he can get to. It was a fantastic 15-point maximum, and I’m pleased for him.”
Foxes boss Chris Adams said: “It’s been a tough day, and I haven’t known having two away meetings on a Bank Holiday Monday before!
“At Belle Vue we were only six points down with three heats to go, and we got punished in the last three, but we had a pretty decent meeting there really although the scores don’t reflect it.
“In the evening at Leicester we knew it was going to be hard having lost Matej, and also with the reduced facility guest for Niels, but we tried our best. We made some good gates but we were just making some silly mistakes in the first corner and Leicester punished us for it.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
NORTHAMPTON Foxes have suffered a second injury blow as their ROWE Motor Oil Premiership league campaign got underway on Bank Holiday Monday.
Already without Niels-Kristian Iversen, who is still advised not to fly after a punctured lung, the Foxes saw Matej Zagar crash out of a 53-37 defeat at Belle Vue in his second ride.
Hospital x-rays revealed Zagar suffered a broken ankle in the crash in Manchester, which will mean he faces several weeks out of action.
Co-promoter Paul Hunsdon said: “It’s a major blow for us, and you only had to look at how badly we were affected in the middle-order at Leicester with both Matej and Niels out.
“We’ll be discussing as a promotion and management what our options are for cover, and we’ll update everyone as soon as possible with what we choose to do.”
(SPEEDWAY 5)
DAN Thompson faces a period on the sidelines after it was confirmed he suffered a broken collarbone in his crash on Bank Holiday Monday.
Thompson came to grief in Heat 10 of Leicester’s 57-33 win over Northampton, landing heavily on his shoulder when he fell on the fourth bend.
He was able to walk off the track but was clearly in pain, and although there were hopes that nothing was broken, hospital x-rays confirmed the bad news which also comes as a blow to his Championship side Edinburgh.
Thompson said: “Unfortunately I can confirm I’ve sustained a broken collarbone.
“I’m absolutely gutted. I’ll need some time to recover properly. At this stage there’s no clear timescale on a return.
“Thank you to everyone for the kind messages and support – it really means a lot.”
(FIXTURES)
WEDNESDAY MAY 6:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Poole v Redcar 7.30
THURSDAY MAY 7:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Sheffield v Ipswich 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP (SOUTH): Northampton (40) v King’s Lynn (50) 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 8:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Workington 7.30, Glasgow v Plymouth 7.30, Redcar v Poole 7.30
