BRITISH SPEEDWAY WEEKLY BULLETIN 2025/15
Feature photo by: JACK CUPIDO… BERWICK’S narrow Cab Direct Championship victory over Edinburgh on Saturday was marred by a crash involving captain Danyon Hume in what turned out to be the final race of the night.
The Bandits took a 37-35 win with the action brought to a halt after Heat 12 due to the curfew as Hume was treated and then taken to hospital with back injuries.
HERE’S the latest news and fixtures from around the tracks up and down the country.
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP LATEST
WITCHES WIN A THRILLER
IPSWICH held on to win a last-heat decider at Oxford on Monday to go one point clear at the top of the standings, with Emil Sayfutdinov taking the vital second place in the last race after Jason Doyle had been disqualified.
Manager Ritchie Hawkins said: “It was a tough meeting, we started off superbly, but they came back into it, and we got over the line in the end.
“It is another away win on the board, and we got the result we needed so I am happy with that. All the boys contributed again which is really pleasing to see so I leave here happy.
“Danny (King) touched the tapes in his last ride when he was desperate to make up for a fall earlier on and we had a couple of crashes, but I put that down to them putting everything in it to win.
“I would rather the boys were out there doing that and giving everything to get in front rather than settling for a third place. I can’t fault them at all tonight; they have all scored and we have come away with a win.”
KURTZ ROLL GOES ON
BELLE Vue skipper Brady Kurtz was unbeaten for a fourth successive meeting at the National Speedway Stadium with his paid maximum against Birmingham in a 60-30 win on Monday.
Kurtz said: “One of my goals is just to remain focused and concentrate on doing my job in the leagues.
“It’s been going good so far. It was a great performance from the whole team.
“Obviously Birmingham are not the strongest opponents. But these are the important ones which you need to win and not slip-up which we almost did against King’s Lynn the other week.
“Our home form has almost been perfect but the away meetings can do with a bit of work.”
STEAD HAPPY WITH TEAM EFFORT
SHEFFIELD boss Simon Stead was satisfied with a 50-40 home win over Birmingham on a tricky night with No.1 Jack Holder having been ruled out due to a family emergency.
Stead said: “I think as a whole they all chipped in and did their bit.
“Yes, Chris (Holder) and Picko (Josh Pickering) are the standout ones with Anders (Rowe) also doing really well but Lewi (Kerr) had a good night despite a couple of unfortunate ones when he was having clutch trouble and he was in points scoring positions in those but finished with a great race win.
“Sedgy (Justin Segdmen) came to the party when we really needed him to in Heat 14 and a special mention for Will (Cairns) stepping in for us in a difficult position.”
KEMP STARS FOR LIONS
LEICESTER reserve Drew Kemp hit double figures in the 53-37 win over King’s Lynn last Thursday to keep the Lions looking good for a play-off place.
Kemp said: “It was a really good win for the guys tonight. I think King’s Lynn are on our tails and chasing us for that play-off spot, so to get one over on them was a good result for us.
“I think we’re all coming into form how we should be, Joe (Thompson) is chipping in with points and making some good starts, Max (Fricke) is as good as ever and we’re all pretty consistent.
“That’s what we need and what we were lacking at the start of the year, but we all seem to be finding our feet and I think it shows.”
SPIRES’ MIXED EMOTIONS
OXFORD boss Peter Schroeck was proud of his side’s efforts in pushing title-chasing Ipswich all the way at Cowley on Monday – before just falling short by two points.
Schroeck said: “We got back into the match and to lose by two is very frustrating, but we’re just doing our best and I’m just happy I’ve still got all the riders after what happened in Heat 15!
“A couple of weeks ago everyone wrote us off, but we started fixing ourselves against Birmingham and that was a good exercise to put the show on tonight.”
BRUMMIES OUTPOWERED IN MANCHESTER
BIRMINGHAM were only able to provide one race winner in their 60-30 defeat at Belle Vue on Monday, in contrast to a battling effort at Sheffield four nights earlier which had seen them only go down by ten points.
Manager Chris Adams said: “I expected a bit more, but as we saw again tonight we were just second out of the gates all night, and on the back foot straight away.
“It’s a difficult track to come to, and they tried as best they could, but unfortunately today it just wasn’t good enough.”
TOUGH WEEK FOR LYNN
KING’S Lynn boss Rob Lyon admitted the absence of injured duo Ben Cook and Jan Kvech, and with skipper Nicolai Klindt required to race in Poland, left his side facing an uphill battle at Leicester last Thursday.
Lyon said: “It was a creditable effort, and without being too defeatist we were trying to be realistic. It was damage limitation, and we had to try and keep it as close as possible.
“I felt we did as good a job as we could, to be fair. There were a couple of unlucky situations with Richard (Lawson) having an engine problem when he was in a good position, and the referee’s call in Heat 13.
“Generally it wasn’t too bad, the boys tried hard with what we had, and they put on a respectable show.”
THE WEEK AHEAD…
LEAGUE leaders Ipswich host Belle Vue in a huge clash at Foxhall on Thursday… Meanwhile fourth-placed Leicester look to boost their play-off hopes when they host Oxford… Monday’s schedule sees all of the top three in action as Ipswich visit King’s Lynn in the East Anglian derby, Sheffield take on Oxford in the televised encounter, and Belle Vue will attempt to keep building home momentum against Leicester.
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP LATEST
DREAM DEBUT FOR CAIRNS
POOLE newcomer Will Cairns made a spectacular debut with two race wins in the Pirates’ 57-33 win over rivals Glasgow at Wimborne Road.
Cairns, who scored 8+1 in total, further endeared himself to his new home crowd by running a complete lap of the circuit to enable the Pirates fans to share the celebrations.
He said: “I didn’t have the best of nights last night in Poland but tonight was much better. Ever since Press and Practice it was like, this is where I want to be.
“I love the track and just feel at home all the time. I made it and hopefully may it live on.”
GLASGOW’S GATING WOE
GLASGOW boss Cami Brown was in no doubt over the department his team had lost out in during their heavy defeat at Poole last week.
Brown said: “Poole were hammering us out of the gates. The boys were making all the changes they could to claw some of it back.
“We were too soft off the start in the first few races. We needed to improve, it was embarrassing.
“We had a team meeting and we told the guys: ‘we are better than this, so go and show them that’.”
ALLEN GLAD TO BE RACING
SCUNTHORPE star Jake Allen was pleased to put a tough period off-track behind him and make a strong contribution to a vital away win for his side at Plymouth on Saturday.
Allen said “I’ve been off the bike for a month. There’s been some family issues for my partner and myself.
“My thanks to Rob Godfrey (promoter) for his understanding during a difficult time. Everyone has been really understanding. It’s good to be back at a racetrack, rather than a hospital.
“Family comes first. When it’s that close to home, you don’t want to be anywhere else. But now I can fully focus on racing again and the rest of the season.”
THOUGHTS WITH INJURED HUME
BERWICK captain Danyon Hume has undergone successful surgery on his back after suffering two fractured vertebrae in his crash against Edinburgh on Saturday.
The meeting was abandoned after the Heat 12 accident when Hume was collected by the bike of opponent Jonatan Grahn in an unfortunate ending to a thrilling race.
Posting to Facebook following the crash, Hume’s partner Jade said: “Obviously the news is not what we want but we are thinking positive at the moment.
“We would both like to thank everyone, all Berwick management, the track staff, ambulance crew, our friends, family and all the fans at Berwick Speedway.
“Everyone rallied around and helped with everything.”
MONARCHS MISS OUT
EDINBURGH went down by two points at Berwick with the meeting cut short with three races remaining due to Danyon Hume’s crash.
Monarchs skipper Paco Castagna admitted the attention to Hume’s injuries was of over-riding importance when compared to the result.
He said: “We pulled back the gap and once the track settled down we all drilled in and scored the points, so I was happy to see that.
“I think if we finished the meeting we may have won but it was a very bad crash and that takes priority after that.”
RISS RULED OUT
REDCAR star Erik Riss has been sidelined by the health issues which blighted him in 2023, which also has an impact on his Premiership club Oxford.
Riss said: “Unfortunately, since last Sunday, I’m experiencing a recurrence of previous health issues which are causing severe discomfort and are impeding my vision.
I am currently in the process of seeing various medical professionals, with the hope of finding answers so that I can receive the appropriate treatments and return to racing soon.”
THE WEEK AHEAD…
OXFORD are back in action after a mini-break from Championship racing when they host Berwick on Wednesday… After two rain-offs in succession, Edinburgh get back to Armadale as they take on Redcar on Friday, whilst at the same time Scunthorpe seek to complete a rapid double over Plymouth… leaders Poole are scheduled to travel to Workington on Saturday.
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BULLS TAKE SUPER HEAT WIN
BIRMINGHAM rounded off their home NDT programme with a hard-fought win over Kent at Perry Barr which went right down to a Super Heat after a 44-44 draw.
Skipper Darryl Ritchings said: “For me coming back after missing two meetings with the boys, it’s been nice to get back and as a team to take them to a Super Heat, that’s fantastic.
“It’s a real shame this is the last (NDT) meeting at Perry Barr for us, but all of the boys are still riding and we’ll go again at their place.”
ONE POINT FOR EAGLES
KENT have turned their attention to a big clash with leaders King’s Lynn later this month after coming away from Birmingham with a vital point on Monday.
The Eagles are still unbeaten in the NDT but lost out in a Super Heat at Perry Barr when guest Freddy Hodder was disqualified after home rider Tom Spencer came down.
Manager David Graveling said: “While we were disappointed with the super heat outcome, particularly Freddy’s disqualification in the final race, we respect the referee’s decision, as that’s part of the sport.
“Despite the circumstances we take away a well-earned point and look ahead with confidence to our upcoming meeting at King’s Lynn on July 16.”
THE WEEK AHEAD…
ONE fixture in the WSRA National Development League this weekend as Leicester host the Steelers at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park on Sunday… meanwhile in the NDT Plymouth take on leaders King’s Lynn at the Coliseum on Saturday.
FIXTURE PICTURE…
WEDNESDAY JULY 9:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Oxford v Berwick 7.30
THURSDAY JULY 10:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Ipswich v Belle Vue 7.30, Leicester (49) v Oxford (41) 7.30
FRIDAY JULY 11:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh (40) v Redcar (50) 7.30, Scunthorpe (47) v Plymouth (42) 7.30
SATURDAY JULY 12:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Workington v Poole 3pm
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: Plymouth v King’s Lynn 7pm
SUNDAY JULY 13:
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Leicester v Steelers 3pm
MONDAY JULY 14:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Belle Vue (30) v Leicester (60) 7.30, King’s Lynn v Ipswich 7.30, Sheffield v Oxford 7.30
WEDNESDAY JULY 16:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Poole (48) v Edinburgh (42) 7.30
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: King’s Lynn v Kent Eagles 7.30
THURSDAY JULY 17:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Oxford (32) v Belle Vue (58) 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Ipswich (42) v King’s Lynn (48) 7.30
FRIDAY JULY 18:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh (44) v Plymouth (46) 7.30, Glasgow v Redcar 7.30, Scunthorpe (35) v Poole (55) 7.30
SATURDAY JULY 19:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Plymouth 7pm, Workington v Scunthorpe 3pm
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Middlesbrough (42) v Oxford (48) 3pm
SUNDAY JULY 20:
BRITISH YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP: Kent 12pm
MONDAY JULY 21:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2: Birmingham v Oxford 7.30, King’s Lynn (42) v Belle Vue (48) 7.30, Leicester v Sheffield 7.30
