WELCOME to the latest edition of the weekly BSPA bulletins keeping you in touch with news, views and fixtures from the tracks up and down the country.
Please note this is our final weekly bulletin of the 2007 season. Daily news updates will, however, continue throughout the winter in the build-up to the 2008 campaign.
ELITE LEAGUE LATEST…
ARENA ESSEX-LAKESIDE boss Jon Cook is pleased with the progress made at Purfleet this year - after a win over his old club Eastbourne secured fifth place in the Elite League table.
Cook said: "It was a great win for us tonight and overall it's a fantastic achievement for us to finish fifth in the league. It's only our first season and to be up there already is great - we can't wait for next year."
BELLE VUE promoter Chris Morton has praised the efforts of Kevin Doolan, the Australian having been one of the bright spots of a disappointing season for the Aces.
Morton said: "It has been a fine year for Kevin, who has really justified his decision to move back into the Elite League after riding for the Aces a few years ago."
COVENTRY star Chris Harris says the treble-chasing Bees need to be fully aware of Swindon's threat in this week's Knockout Cup Final - the Robins having nearly snatched the Craven Shield at Brandon last week.
Harris said: "It was very hard work and fair play to Swindon who got their set-ups right, out-trapped us and pushed us all the way.
"It was a good wake-up call ahead of next week as well, and I'm sure it will give them confidence, but we know we can do it there as well."
EASTBOURNE captain Nicki Pedersen has hinted that a return to Arlington would be his first choice for next year, after speculation that he could return to parent club Wolverhampton.
The World Champion said: "We read a lot of rumours about what is going on in the UK, and honestly I haven't decided anything at all.
"But I can't see any reason to go to Wolverhampton. I feel at home at Eastbourne and I see myself having a testimonial here, but you never know what is going to happen."
IPSWICH star Robert Miskowiak has agreed a new contract with the club for the 2008 season.
Miskowiak said: "I have said I would only race in England for Ipswich and that is how I feel.
"I signed my contract for 2008 on Friday, but as yet I have no idea if any club in Poland wants me. But I don't worry about that now, I love Ipswich and hope I can keep on improving."
PETERBOROUGH will complete their Elite League season with a home match against Belle Vue, to be staged at King's Lynn due to the unavailabity of the Showground.
Panthers boss Trevor Swales said: "We want to end the league season with a win. We're unbeaten at home and, although this isn't at the Showground, it's a home fixture and we want to win it.
"The BSPA originally insisted they wanted us to ride at Peterborough, and we did as well, but we just couldn't get a date. It would have been nice to say cheerio to our fans but hopefully they'll come and watch us at King's Lynn."
POOLE star Jason Crump says that finishing adrift in third place in the Craven Shield Final was not a pleasant experience for the Pirates riders.
Crump said: "It was always going to be hard after we fell so far behind in the opening two legs. We just haven't had a good year, and there is nothing more I can say really.
"I was probably ordinary tonight (in the third leg), especially in my last race. I guess we were all a bit off key because we knew as a team we were really out of it."
READING promoter Malcolm Holloway has hit out at former Grand Prix rider Matej Zagar for his continued absence from the Racers team in the closing stages of the season.
Holloway said: "He said he had got concussion and had hurt his leg, then I turned on the telly to watch the Grand Prix and there was Mr Zagar, so I was left very disappointed.
"Basically he has let us all down, me and Mark Legg especially as it was he who had to buy him with the Reading assets. He has also let down the team and the paying public, which I think is unfair."
SWINDON promoter Alun Rossiter says his side can still finish the season with silverware having taken heart from their Craven Shield Final third leg display at Coventry - the team who they face again in the Knockout Cup Final.
Rossiter said: "It was a gutsy and brave performance, I was so proud of the lads. At the end of the day, it was a case of being so near and yet so far. Effectively, we lost it at Blunsdon the night before, when we didn’t make home advantage count.
"We must do better this time around at the Abbey and then repeat the same determination that we showed at Brandon in the Craven Shield, when we go there for the second leg of the Knockout Cup Final on Friday. It would be great if we could end the season with something to show for our efforts."
WOLVERHAMPTON star Freddie Lindgren was in a jubilant mood after getting the call for a permanent spot in next year’s Grand Prix series.
He said: "I said last week I felt ready for it but I didn't know whether I would get the call, thankfully I did and I can now start planning for next season. I'm thrilled to be in the series, but obviously it's going to be hard for me as well because I don't know how I will perform on a consistent basis.”
PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST…
BIRMINGHAM are expecting a bumper crowd for the Jack Young Shield Final second leg with Redcar at Perry Barr on Sunday (6pm).
Mercom Brummies boss Graham Drury said: "Sunday will be good, we're bringing the curtain down on the season with a big firework display and hopefully we will have the Jack Young Shield to celebrate as well. It's a fantastic way to end the season for us."
KING'S LYNN manager Rob Lyon says that if his side to hold on to the Knockout Cup title for a third consecutive season against Somerset in this week's Final it would be a considerable achievement.
Lyon said: "It's probably the hardest cup to hold on to as over the three seasons our team has changed, and one slip up means you are out of the competition. We have fought for it the whole way and now we have the chance of making history."
REDCAR overcame the injury absence of rising star Josh Auty to book their place in the Jack Young Shield Final, where they will face Birmingham.
The Bears led Workington by ten points from the first leg of their semi-final, and went down by just four at Derwent Park with skipper Gary Havelock and James Grieves both scoring twelve points.
They stage the home leg of the final on Thursday with the return on Sunday at Perry Barr.
RYE HOUSE are the 2007 Premier League Champions after a display of awesome home strength saw them overcome Sheffield in the Final.
Tommy Allen, Tai Woffinden and Stefan Ekberg were all unbeaten by an opponent as the Rockets secured their second title in three years with a 69-23 win over the Tigers, having lost by just nine points in the away leg.
SHEFFIELD co-promoter David Hoggart has paid tribute to new league champions Rye House after the two sides clashed in the Grand Final.
The Rockets blasted away the South Yorkshire side 69-23 in the second leg at Hoddesdon.
Hoggart said: “Congratulations to Rye House, they’re a great team and they are worthy winners. We have it our best but it wasn’t enough.”
SOMERSET host an international select side in a challenge match at the Oak Tree Arena on Thursday.
The select will include Poole’s Danish Grand Prix star Bjarne Pedersen – and Californian Brent Werner comes out of retirement to race in the meeting.
STOKE host a benefit meeting for paralysed ex-Potter Garry Stead at Loomer Road on Saturday. The line-up includes Premier League Riders’ Champion James Wright and Reading’s Mark Lemon, who is also a former Stoke rider.
There will also be a series of matchraces featuring retired stars Les Collins, Alan Grahame and Gary O’Hare.
WORKINGTON team manager Tony Jackson was ‘gutted’ after seeing Redcar end their Jack Young Shield hopes. The Comets went down by six-points on aggregate after a tense battle over two legs.
He said: “Naturally we're disappointed to miss out on a place in the final against Birmingham. We had a little bit of bad luck in both legs against Redcar but ultimately it was the absence of Ulrich Ostergaard from the second leg that proved too much to cover for.”
CONFERENCE LEAGUE LATEST…
SCUNTHORPE completed back-to-back Conference League title wins as they defeated Oxford by a 35-point aggregate margin in the Grand Final.
Chairman Rob Godfrey said: "What a team we have. They just get better and better and without Josh (Auty), Andrew (Tully) and Richie (Dennis) we’ve won the Play-Off Final.
"I’m just delighted we’re ending our time in the Conference League on a high and now we’ve just got to take on those Plymouth Devils (in the KO Cup) and claim the grand slam."
FIXTURE PICTURE…
TUESDAY OCTOBER 23: ISLAND SPEEDWAY CHAMPIONSHIP: Isle of Wight 7.30
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 24: MIDLAND SHIELD 2nd leg: Birmingham v Wolverhampton 7.45 PREMIER LEAGUE KO CUP FINAL 2nd leg: King's Lynn v Somerset 7.30
THURSDAY OCTOBER 25: ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP FINAL: Swindon v Coventry 7.30 YOUNG SHIELD FINAL 1st leg: Redcar v Birmingham 7.30
FRIDAY OCTOBER 26: SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Peterborough v Belle Vue (at King's Lynn) 7.30 ELITE LEAGUE KO CUP FINAL: Coventry v Swindon 8pm CONFERENCE LEAGUE KO CUP FINAL 1st leg: Plymouth v Scunthorpe 7.30 CHALLENGE: Somerset v International League Select 7.30 BRITISH UNDER-15 FINAL: Oxford 7.30
SATURDAY OCTOBER 27: ACE OF HERTS: Rye House 7pm GARRY STEAD BENEFIT: Stoke 7.30
SUNDAY OCTOBER 28: DIAMOND JUBILEE BRANDONAPOLIS: Coventry 1pm YOUNG SHIELD FINAL: Birmingham v Redcar 6pm CONFERENCE LEAGUE KO CUP FINAL 2nd leg: Scunthorpe v Plymouth 3pm PREMIER LEAGUE CHALLENGE: Oxford v Somerset 7.45 HEATHERSFIELD GOLDEN HELMET: Glasgow 3pm
MONDAY OCTOBER 29: TYNE/TEES TROPHY 2nd leg: Redcar v Newcastle 7.30
TUESDAY OCTOBER 30: HALLOWEEN TROPHY: Scunthorpe v Sheffield 7.30
