HERE'S our latest news and fixtures from around the tracks up and down the country.

PIC OF THE WEEK...

IPSWICH remain top of the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership after an incredible comeback from 14 points behind to win at King’s Lynn on Thursday via a Super Heat. But the result came at a big potential cost for the Witches, who saw Jason Doyle withdrawn from the meeting with cracked ribs and a sore shoulder after an horrific Heat 4 crash.
Photo credit: DEREK LEADER

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP…

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
His team have been badly hit by injuries but EMIL SAYFUTDINOV has been sensational for Ipswich with a 17+1 paid maximum at King’s Lynn, followed by playing his part in a victorious Super Heat – and if that wasn’t enough, he took eight rides at Birmingham on Monday and piled up 19 points in the main meeting before also winning the Super Heat race.

WITCHES UP AGAINST IT
IPSWICH still lead the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership table – but with Jason Doyle, Danny King and Adam Ellis all currently in the sidelines, it’s been a difficult week for boss Ritchie Hawkins.
He said: “We lost the aggregate point (at Birmingham), but it is not vital to us with our position in the league - but if we now start to struggle because we have lost a lot of riders then come the end of the year, this lead we have pulled out over the other teams will soon vanish.
“At the moment, it is not a concern, we have had a great start to the season in the league and we now focus on the cup where hopefully we get through on Thursday and then by the time the league action resumes, we hopefully have some bodies back in the side.”

FAST FREDDIE ON HIS WAY!
BIRMINGHAM have given their season a fresh boost with a Bank Holiday Monday win over Ipswich backing up the news that World No.2 Fredrik Lindgren is to join the club from next week.
And now there’s a big decision for team manager Sam Ermolenko and the remainder of the Brummies’ management to take in terms of who makes way for the Swede.
Ermolenko said: “They were showing signs that any single one of them can do it in any race, I still would like even more consistency, but it was a good, solid win and we’ll take it.”

COOK BACK WITH LIONS
LEICESTER announced a team change shortly after defeating Oxford 54-36 on Monday, with Craig Cook returning to the club in place of Drew Kemp.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “Craig has been in good form this season. He’s up to almost a nine-point average again in the Championship, and you don’t get that sort of average if you’re not racing well.
“I know speedway meetings aren’t won on paper, but being able to bring him in at reserve could be the catalyst for our season taking off.
“Monday night was good but it was only one meeting, and Craig could provide us with the scoring power that we’re looking for at that end of the team.”

TIGERS CLOSING IN
SHEFFIELD made the best of conditions in Manchester on Monday with a big away win over Roses rivals Belle Vue, bringing them right into contention towards the top of the league after Ipswich were beaten later in the day.
Manager Simon Stead said: “It was really convincing and the way we were going, had the rain not come in and spoiled things I think we would’ve carried on and increased that points haul.
“It’s a hard one because I’m pleased with the result but I’m disappointed with the circumstances surrounding the rest of the carry on.”

WEATHER WOE FOR ACES
BELLE Vue missed out on the chance to reclaim top spot in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership when they lost a curtailed home fixture against Sheffield 35-25, with a halt being called with five races remaining.
CEO Mark Lemon said: “The weather for speedway this season has been testing on many of an occasion so we can all feed bitter frustration at the way the day panned out. If we can be guilty of anything, it’s trying too hard to see the meeting reach a heat 15 conclusion.
“There was plenty of speculation that it was risky to begin with, but the showers were intermittent and when the sun did come out it was a beautiful and warm day.
“Our fans showed their patience as we tried our hardest to complete 15 heats. Sometimes you just must accept defeat that things don’t go always go your way, today was one of those days.”

SPIRES STILL HOPEFUL
OXFORD boss Peter Schroeck believes the aggregate point is still not out of the question for his side despite a 54-36 defeat at Leicester on Monday.
Schroeck said: “We stopped Leicester pulling away too much more at the end of the meeting, to give ourselves some chance of the aggregate bonus point.
“Our main aim next Monday when Leicester return to us and we host them at Oxford Stadium will be to make sure that we beat them on the night. It’s always important to bounce back after a tough result and that’s exactly what we will be looking at doing next Monday.”

STARS TAKE CONSOLATION
KING’S Lynn saw a 14-point deficit go to waste in the second half of a dramatic clash with Ipswich – and having drawn the meeting 45-45 to take a league point before losing out in a Super Heat, captain Nicolai Klindt admitted the overall mood was one of disappointment.
Klindt said: “It’s very disappointing. I wouldn’t say we had it in the bag because as everyone knows Ipswich are so strong from one to seven, even without Jason Doyle and we wish him all the very best.
“We knew we had everything on the line in the last few heats, and I think where we lost it was when (Benjamin) Basso crashed. That was a very important point.”

CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP…

PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
RICHARD LAWSON raced to a 15-point maximum for Poole in their 58-32 BSN Series home victory over Plymouth which makes the Pirates strong favourites to qualify for the semi-finals as winners of the Southern group.

MIDDLO PRAISE FOR LAWSON
POOLE boss Neil Middleditch hailed his No.1 Richard Lawson after a 15-point maximum in the BSN Series win over Plymouth at the head of a strong all-round team performance.
Middleditch said: “Richard proved yet again he is just a points machine. He is such a great bloke.
“He just loves his speedway so much, he is brilliant. Just turns up, goes out there and does his stuff and is supportive in the pits too.
“He is so happy in his work and I have always said, if you are happy in your work then it is more than half the battle, and that feeling goes beyond Richard as we have a full set of riders who are so good to work with.”

COOK WINS IT FOR COMETS
WORKINGTON boss James Denham says he always had faith in skipper Craig Cook to do the job and secure a narrow victory over Oxford in a thriller at the GT Tyres Arena.
Denham said: “We had to dig deep in the end but I knew that putting Cookie in Heat 15 he would produce the goods and get us the win, and so it proved.
“Credit to Oxford for putting up a worthy fight, it created a thrilling end to the match with some sensational racing.
"We've got a couple of weeks off now before our home match against Plymouth and most of our riders will be riding elsewhere, whether it’s on the continent or in the Premiership, which is important for them in a period of downtime to keep race fit and be ready to go once again.”

KERR BACK FOR BANDITS
BERWICK have been boosted by the news that Lewis Kerr will be back fit to take his place in the team this week.
Kerr’s recent comeback from a fractured ankle saw him crash out of the home win over Plymouth days ago, but he will now return for the trip to Poole on Wednesday and a Shielfield clash with Scunthorpe on Saturday.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “Having Lewis back is a boost as he was in great form before his injury.”

CHEETAHS GETTING CLOSER
OXFORD boss Peter Schroeck said there was plenty to take from a 46-44 defeat at Workington on Saturday, where his side nearly completed a dramatic late comeback.
Schroeck said: “It’s a long drive home from Workington. Some highly fancied teams have had to do that this year after being battered, but we can drive away with our heads held high, because very few teams will get that close here this year.
“I believe the Cheetahs are really coming together as a team. This was our strongest away performance of the season and everything is moving in the right direction.”

BROWN KEEPS THE FAITH
GLASGOW boss Cami Brown has stressed he’s still determined to bring more success to Ashfield this season despite a trying time in the opening couple of months.
Brown said: “We’ve had so many highs with the Tigers including winning the league title at Poole. But you have to deal with the tougher times as well.
“It’s fair to say this season has been hard. We’ve lost Lee Complin through a ban and results haven’t been what we would have hoped.
“But we certainly won’t lie down and accept second best at Glasgow. My job is to get results and that’s what I’ll always aim to do.”

LEARNING CURVE FOR MAX
EDINBURGH youngster Max James says he has to take the rough with the smooth in his debut campaign at this level, having already produced several promising rides for the Monarchs.
James said: “One of the most important things for me to focus on is moving forward and not getting my head down if I don’t do as well in a meeting as I would have liked.
“The team really help with that. They are always helping with advice or answering questions and we also have a laugh as well.
“The fans as well, they are all really friendly so I just need to make sure I am learning, enjoying the positives to keep confidence up and learning if there are negatives.”

NEWS IN BRIEF
REDCAR have announced the signing of Dan Gilkes who returns to the Championship after missing out on the second tier in the early weeks of the season. Gilkes replaces Jonas Knudsen for the Bears and will make his debut in their trip to Scunthorpe on Friday… PLYMOUTH returned to a full one-to-seven at Poole last week but an update is now awaited from the Gladiators on Nico Covatti who took only two rides at Wimborne Road… SCUNTHORPE are back in home action this Friday when they face Redcar at the Eddie Wright Raceway, before making the trip to Berwick 24 hours later.

FIXTURE PICTURE…

WEDNESDAY MAY 29:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Oxford v Edinburgh 7.30, Poole (46) v Berwick (44) 7.30

THURSDAY MAY 30:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Sheffield (45) v Birmingham (45) 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP Q/F 2nd leg: Ipswich (48) v Leicester (42) 7.30

FRIDAY MAY 31:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Scunthorpe (46) v Redcar (44) 7.30
BSN SERIES: Edinburgh (45) v Glasgow (45) 7.30

SATURDAY JUNE 1:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Scunthorpe 7pm, Redcar v Glasgow 5pm
BSN SERIES: Plymouth (32) v Poole (58) 7pm

SUNDAY JUNE 2:
BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: Glasgow 2pm

MONDAY JUNE 3:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Oxford (36) v Leicester (54) 7.30
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP S/F 1st leg: Birmingham v Ipswich (or Prem R2) 7.30

TUESDAY JUNE 4:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Plymouth v Redcar 7pm

WEDNESDAY JUNE 5:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Oxford v Scunthorpe 7.30, Poole v Redcar 7.30

THURSDAY JUNE 6:
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP S/F 2nd leg: Leicester/Ipswich v Birmingham 7.30; 1st leg: King’s Lynn v Sheffield 7.30

FRIDAY JUNE 7:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Edinburgh v Oxford 7.30, Scunthorpe v Berwick 7.30
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Middlesbrough v Belle Vue 7.30

SATURDAY JUNE 8:
ATTIS INSURANCE SPORTS DIVISION BRITISH FINAL: Belle Vue 7.30

MONDAY JUNE 10:
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R1: Ipswich (46) v Sheffield (44) 7.30

TUESDAY JUNE 11:
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP: Plymouth (42) v Berwick (47) 7pm