BRITISH SPEEDWAY MAY 17, 2026
(SPEEDWAY 1)
HOME TOWN VICTORY
PLYMOUTH opened their home Cab Direct Championship campaign with a hard-fought 49-41 win over Scunthorpe at the Coliseum.
Gladiators star Scott Nicholls celebrated his 48th birthday with another vintage display, scoring 12 points from five rides despite being on the wrong end of a 5-1 in his first outing.
Nicholls dropped just one point thereafter, and twice got the better of Scorpions No.1 Josh Pickering in the closing stages to inflict the Australian’s only defeats of the meeting.
Ben Barker (11+1) and Joe Thompson (10+1) also reached double figures for the home side whilst Pickering piled up 16 for the Scorpions.
(SPEEDWAY 2)
ADAM Ellis has become the second Great Britain rider to qualify for the Speedway Euro Championship Challenge – putting him one step away from the main series itself.
Ellis, who was part of Ipswich’s ROWE Motor Oil Premiership winning squad last season, finished third in his qualifier at French venue Lamothe-Landerron on Saturday.
He put in a consistent display with two wins and three second places to make it through on 12 points, joining treble European champion Mikkel Michelsen (15-point maximum) and his former Swindon team-mate David Bellego (13) on the rostrum.
Ellis and current Ipswich No.1 Tom Brennan, who negotiated last month’s qualifier in Germany, now proceed to the SEC Challenge at Italian venue Lonigo on June 13.
UK regulars Paco Castagna (King’s Lynn/Edinburgh) and Daniel Klima (Plymouth) also competed but missed out with six and five points respectively.
(FIXTURES)
MONDAY MAY 18:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: King’s Lynn (40) v Ipswich (50) 7.30
WEDNESDAY MAY 20:
MAXICAB KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Poole (49) v Oxford (39) 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: King’s Lynn v Leicester 7.30
THURSDAY MAY 21:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Northampton (33) v Leicester (57) 7.30
FRIDAY MAY 22:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Scunthorpe v Glasgow 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Middlesbrough 7.30
