HERE'S the latest news and fixtures from around the tracks up and down the country.
PIC OF THE WEEK...
SAM Masters and Max Fricke were the last heat heroes as Leicester booked their place in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final after a dramatic clash with Ipswich went right down to the wire. With one race of the semi-final remaining the teams were locked at 87-87 on aggregate. But Masters and Fricke stormed to a 5-1 in the final race of the tie against the Witches pair of Adam Ellis and Tom Brennan, and the Lions now await the winners of this week’s semi between Belle Vue and Sheffield before next week’s Final showdown. Photo credit: RICHARD BOETTCHER
ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP...
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK Belle Vue’s JAIMON LIDSEY repaid the faith put in him by Aces boss Mark Lemon with a crucial Heat 15 ride in the first leg of the play-off semi-final against Sheffield, defeating both Holder brothers for a 5-1 with Dan Bewley to take the winning margin up to 12 points. Lidsey scored 11+2 including an on-the-line verdict over Chris Holder in Heat 12.
A TEAM DECISION BELLE Vue boss Mark Lemon admitted his rider selection for the crucial Heat 15 at the NSS on Monday came after extensive consultation with his team. Lemon elected to choose Dan Bewley and Jaimon Lidsey with captain Brady Kurtz sitting out, and they came up trumps with a 5-1 over Sheffield duo Jack and Chris Holder to open up a 12-point lead in the first leg of the play-off semi-final. Lemon said: “There were a lot of combinations and a lot of conversations. Sometimes it comes to you quite easy, and you go ‘bang bang, job done’ but tonight there was a lot riding on it so you want to get it right! “I wanted their feedback to know what they were feeling because it’s not me out there, so I just went with what they felt best.”
STEAD – TITLE DEFENCE STILL ON SHEFFIELD boss Simon Stead insists the Tigers’ strong home form gives them a great chance to overcome a 12-point deficit against Belle Vue and reach the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership Grand Final. Stead said: “Most recently we’ve been really dominant at home and displays have been really good from top to bottom throughout the team. “We will need a team performance, we will need all seven riders to do their jobs on Thursday. “We know it’s going to be tough but I still believe we can do it. We know our mettle at Sheffield, we know how good we are there - but we just need everybody to turn up.”
LIONS AWAIT THEIR OPPONENTS LEICESTER manager Stewart Dickson says he’s enjoying a week off after the drama of the Lions securing their Grand Final qualification over Ipswich last week. Dickson said: “Ipswich put up a great performance and you have to remember they were without their top two riders, but my focus has to be on Leicester, and we’ve done what we set out to do. “I’ll watch the recording of the meeting when I get home, and then I’ll watch Sheffield and Belle Vue knock lumps out of each other in the other semi, and we’ll take who we get. “There’s a bit of relief there, and enjoyment that we can sit back for a bit because it’s been pretty hectic, but I’m really pleased for the club. It’s a big deal for Leicester, we had great backing from the crowd tonight, and now we’ve got two more meetings in the Final to look forward to.”
WITCHES STILL A SUCCESS IPSWICH boss Ritchie Hawkins has reflected on the club’s agonising play-off exit to Leicester and insists it was still a hugely positive campaign at Foxhall only for injuries to derail their trophy bid. Hawkins said: “It is a season of what could have been, but we have provided so many highlights with lots of away wins. “It has been a brilliant team to work with and it has been a great season in lots of ways with these boys. Every single one of them and the mechanics have been superb to work with, so a big thank you to them. “Thank you to our amazing fanbase, their loyal support is unwavering even through the tough times, they are there week in week out home and away. As a club it is amazing to be a part of and thank you to Chris (Louis) for giving me that opportunity.”
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP...
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK Oxford reserve LUKE KILLEEN was the difference in the closing stages of the first leg of Friday’s play-off semi-final at Scunthorpe with a sensational effort to get the better of home duo Jake Allen and Luke Harrison in Heat 14. That gave Killeen a vital 8+1 score including several other important defeats of home riders.
JOSH GOLD IN CLRC EDINBURGH No.1 Josh Pickering secured silverware for himself and the Armadale club with his spectacular victory in the Championship League Riders’ Championship at Redcar. Pickering pulled off a brilliant ride to get the better of Poole duo Richard Lawson and Ben Cook in the Final. And he admitted he was determined to take victory in the major event, especially as he plans to sign out of Championship racing at the end of the season. Pickering said: “It is what I came here for today, it's something I've been targeting all season. “To get it over the line is something special the field was top notch and I had to be sharp to come off the outside there in the Final. ”I’m really, really happy to get it done, it's all I've been thinking about yesterday and coming here it was all I was picturing, so it's worked out well.”
TREBLE TILT STILL ON POOLE captain Ben Cook declared ‘job done’ after the Pirates’ win at Workington on Saturday took them into the Cab Direct Championship Grand Final – meaning they have three trophy deciders to come. Cook, who scored a maximum at the GT Tyres Arena, said: “That's it, job done. That was the goal and on to the Finals now, the most important part and we just need to keep it going. “I enjoyed riding here, the track was really nice and I can't complain at all. We wanted everyone scoring because it is no use just a couple of us doing so if we want to win the three trophies we are after, and today was good on that score.”
GREAT COMEBACK FROM CHEETAHS OXFORD boss Peter Schroeck paid tribute to his team after they came from ten points down to win the first leg of their play-off semi-final at Scunthorpe, as they look to set up a second Final against rivals Poole. Schroeck said: “For the first few races at Scunthorpe, it did look a bit bleak. But we got the boys together after a few races and had a chat. We realised that this is it and we needed to get going and stay in it. “The response from the boys was superb - to come back and win the meeting is unbelievable. This team doesn’t know when to give up. “We went 10 points down and the rules mean we can’t use a tactical substitute in two-legged ties, but we still came back into it, because this team just keeps on fighting until the end. The riders are all proud of what we’re doing at Oxford and I think it shows.”
SCORPIONS NEED TO STEP UP SCUNTHORPE skipper Simon Lambert has called on his team to raise their game when they travel to Oxford this week looking to pull off an upset in their play-off semi-final. Lambert said: “My job now is to keep up the heads of the boys and make them realise that it’s not over yet. If Oxford can come here and win, there’s no reason why we can’t do the same and win at their place. “There was no lack of effort from us tonight. We’ve just got a couple of riders off form at the moment. “When the play-offs come around, you’ve got to step up to the plate. Tonight we haven’t done that, but there’s another chance to do that when we go again at Oxford next Wednesday.”
COMETS TAKE THE POSTIVES WORKINGTON’S bid for play-off glory came to an end when they suffered home and away defeats to Poole in the play-off semi-finals – but manager James Denham insists it’s still been a successful first season back at Championship level. He said: “We were beaten by the better side on the day so credit to Poole and we wish them luck. It was always going to be tough, but we just couldn’t handle their firepower towards the end of the meeting. “But we really shouldn’t underestimate what have achieved this year. Reaching the play-offs in our debut year in the Championship is a fantastic achievement, and also finding riders like Tate (Zischke) and Antti (Vuolas) is a great start for us.”
NEWS IN BRIEF… OXFORD stage the British Under-19 Final at Cowley on Sunday with plenty of home representation including Cheetahs racers Ashton Boughen and Luke Killeen. There will be a new winner for the event which was taken by Dan Thompson at Birmingham last season.
WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE...
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK Edinburgh’s DAYLE WOOD raced to a 14+1 paid maximum in the Monarchs Academy’s 58-31 win over Scunthorpe which also saw them take the aggregate point. He then added 9+1 in the second fixture of the night although it wasn’t enough for a home win over in-form Belle Vue.
DOUBLE DELIGHT FOR COLTS BELLE Vue secured back-to-back away wins with success at both Sheffield and Edinburgh last week to keep alive their hopes of a top two finish. Co-boss Steve Williams said: “Over two days, we’ve taken all the points on offer at Sheffield and now Armadale and we couldn’t ask for more than that. It was a pleasure to be a part of these two huge successes. “Sometimes when you come to places like Edinburgh, where some of the lads have ridden and some haven’t, it’s one thing to pass on information but another to put it into practice. “But the way our lads got stuck in, kept their heads down and pretty much dominated from start to finish is a performance we couldn’t be prouder of.”
ONE OUT OF TWO FOR ACADEMY EDINBURGH moved off the bottom of the NDL table with a win over Scunthorpe in the first half of their double header on Friday, although they weren’t able to repeat the feat later in the evening against Belle Vue. Manager Scott Wilson said: “We haven't won too many matches this year but I did say to the boys on the track walk that with Scunthorpe being understrength we could smell blood and take the aggregate, and they got the lead and kept building on it and building on it so I was really pleased with that performance. "I think the bottom line in the Belle Vue match is we were beaten by the better team, we stuck to our task and didn't give in and we finished strong with the 5-1 but ultimately we were beaten by the better team on the night.”
FIXTURE PICTURE…
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 18: CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Oxford (46) v Scunthorpe (44) 7.30
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 19: ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Sheffield (39) v Belle Vue (51) 7.30
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 20: BSN SERIES SEMI-FINAL 2nd leg: Scunthorpe (49) v Edinburgh (40) 7.30 WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Middlesbrough (37) v Edinburgh (52) 7.30
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 21: WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Edinburgh (34) v Leicester (56) 7pm
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 22: BRITISH UNDER-19 FINAL: Oxford 3pm
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 23: ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP GRAND FINAL 1st leg: TBC v TBC
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26: ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP GRAND FINAL 2nd leg: TBC v TBC
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 30: WSRA NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Belle Vue (50) v Sheffield (39) 7.30 ALAN GRAHAME MEMORIAL 4TT: Birmingham 7.30
