BRITISH SPEEDWAY OCTOBER 4, 2025

(SPEEDWAY 1)
 
HAWKINS IN THE COMFORT ZONE

IPSWICH boss Ritchie Hawkins says he’s comfortable to be heading into the first leg of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final on Monday with Dan Thompson returning to reserve.
As a former Leicester rider, Thompson has often been a key figure for the Witches on their visits to the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park, and he scored paid-14 on his last appearance back in August.

Hawkins said: “With the break, we have drifted into the next month and Dan has dropped to reserve. He is probably our best rider around Leicester, so to have him at reserve could be a trump card if he performs as he has done every other time he has ridden there for us.

“Either way I was happy with Dan or Adam (Ellis) at reserve. It doesn’t make too much difference, we are solid from one to seven.
“This is the first leg of what will be two cracking meetings and whatever the result on Monday, the reverse could happen on Thursday.
“It will be 30 great heats between two top teams who both go well on each other’s tracks, it will be a dogfight from start to finish.”
 
(SPEEDWAY 2)

POOLE have been hit by a blow with No.1 Richard Lawson ruled out of their crucial Cab Direct Championship play-off semi-final second leg clash at Redcar on Sunday.
The Pirates hold a narrow six-point advantage going into the meeting but they will race at the ECCO Arena without Lawson who misses the trip on compassionate grounds.

Former Poole rider Adam Ellis, of Premiership Grand Finalists Ipswich, has been booked to make a rare second-tier appearance as a guest.
Promoter Dan Ford told the club’s website: “Richard is our talisman; one of, if not the best riders in the league, and of course he’s a huge miss, especially on a night like this.
“But Adam understands the importance of the occasion and he is absolutely up for the task.”

(SPEEDWAY 3)

BELLE Vue racer Norick Blodorn led Germany to a shock victory in the FIM Speedway of Nations 2 at Torun on Friday.
The top four nations were covered by just four points as Germany ended the domination of hosts Poland in the Under-21 team event which dated back to 2014.

Blodorn scored 24 of their 39 points with Mario Hasul adding 15, whilst Glasgow’s Villads Nagel was part of the second-placed Denmark side, and UK regulars Mitch McDiarmid and Tate Zischke combined to take bronze for Australia.
Great Britain finished in seventh place of the eight competing nations with Dan Thompson putting up a super performance with 23 of their 26 points, and he was joined by Luke Harrison for a maximum advantage over Latvia in their final outing.

Blodorn said: “I am pretty surprised by this, to be honest. Most of the teams were laughing about our line-up, but we did something special.
“For me, it was a goal to get a medal at the end of the season in the under-21 category. It didn’t quite work out in SGP2, but I didn’t expect that it would happen here. I will definitely take it, and I am pretty stoked.”
The senior event takes place at Torun on Saturday with Dan Bewley, Robert Lambert and Tom Brennan defending the title for Great Britain.

(SPEEDWAY 4)

PLYMOUTH host Leicester in the National Development Trophy at the Coliseum tonight (Saturday).
The Centurions lead the Fox Cubs in the table by two points, but the visitors head to Devon with a 16-point advantage for the aggregate point.

Plymouth operate rider replacement for the injured Mickie Simpson with Ryan Ashcroft standing in at reserve, whilst Leicester bring in Ollie Binns for the unavailable Mason Watson, and Harry Fletcher guests for the injured Max Broadhurst.

PLYMOUTH: Joe Thompson, Mickie Simpson R/R, Ryan Ingram, Charlie Southwick, Ben Trigger, Kai Ward, Ryan Ashcroft.

LEICESTER: Will Cairns, Stene Pijper, Ace Pijper, Ollie Binns, Freddy Hodder, Harry Fletcher, Jordy Loftus.
 
(FIXTURES)
 
SATURDAY OCTOBER 4:
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT TROPHY: Plymouth (37) v Leicester (53) 7pm

SUNDAY OCTOBER 5:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Redcar (42) v Poole (48) 6pm
IWADE CHAMPIONSHIP: Kent 12pm

MONDAY OCTOBER 6:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP GRAND FINAL 1st leg: Leicester v Ipswich 7.30