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.

DATE: TUE July 15, 2008

BIG EVENT LATEST…

BRITISH Speedway fans are gearing up for a bumper month of top action - including the world's top riders.

Stars from both the FIM Grand Prix series and World Cup tournament will take their place representing their British clubs in both the Elite League Pairs Championship and Elite League Riders' Championship next month.

And both meetings take place within a few days of each other! Swindon host the Pairs event on Sunday, August 17 - with Premier League Birmingham hosting their biggest ever event on Wednesday 20.

British Speedway Chairman Peter Toogood said: "These two Super 7even events will be something special I'm sure.

"The Elite League Pairs is eagely awaited after it was put back from April and Swindon will be the perfect venue for it. I'm sure we will see some top class racing there with the world's top riders.

"I personally like the Pairs event, every club will be represented and these meetings always serve up some termendous action. We've seen it at Premier League level and we will see it in the Elite League event I'm certain."

Stars like Jason Crump, Leigh Adams, Andreas Jonsson, Bjarne Pedersen, Scott Nicholls, Chris Harris and Freddie Lindgren - all members of the current 15-man Grand Prix series - are all waiting to figure.

Full details of the line-ups for both meetings will be issued shortly.

SUPER 7EVEN DATES AND VENUES:
BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: Arena-Essex, Friday April 25 - TAI WOFFINDEN
BRITISH FINAL: Swindon, Thursday May 29 - SCOTT NICHOLLS
PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: Somerset, Friday June 27 - WORKINGTON
PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Workington, Saturday July 26 - 7pm
ELITE LEAGUE BEST PAIRS: Swindon, Sunday August 17 - 6pm
ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS' CHAMPIONSHIP: Birmingham, Wednesday August 20 - 7.30
PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS' CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, Sunday September 21 - 3.30
www.super7even.com or www.speedwaygb.com

ELITE LEAGUE LATEST

BELLE VUE star Jason Crump faces just a week out of action after his World Cup Final injury was confirmed as a broken finger.

Crump said: "It could have been worse than a broken finger so I feel okay that the damage is not much worse than that.

"Everything else is fine so I’ll rest it for a day or two. I’ve been told to strap my fingers together and ride again when I think I can and that won’t be very long."

COVENTRY manager Peter Oakes says he cannot remember a more difficult period with frequent injury problems and also a number of riders displaying inconsistency.

Oakes said: "You almost can't remember people like Billy Janniro and Chris Harris being forced out of meetings because of crashes, and it's happened to them both twice in the last month or so. It's almost unheard of, they've been two iron-men for us.

"But obviously we're not content or happy with the situation, and we've always got to be looking at what we can do in the future."

EASTBOURNE co-promoter Bob Dugard believes his side can still meet expectations this season - helped by a narrow away win at Wolverhampton on Monday.

Dugard said: "We could have had a couple more away wins and that would have put us right up there. The one which sticks out in the memory is when we were winning by ten at Lakeside and let it slip away. We should have won at Belle Vue as well.

"The season has lived up to my expectations apart from those silly slip-ups. Some of it has been beyond our control, because of international fixtures."

IPSWICH manager Pete Simmons says the late-winter signing of Piotr Swiderski - who beat Leigh Adams twice at Foxhall on Monday - has proved to be a key move in their good season so far.

Simmons said: "Piotr has proved that he is not going to be a five-minute wonder by extending his good form into the second half of the season.

"He has settled into the No.1 role better than anyone else, and with Jarek Hampel finding his best touch we are well placed to move further up the table in the weeks ahead."

LAKESIDE'S Elite League challenge received a further boost with a 51-42 away win at Coventry on Monday - their fourth win on the road this season.

The Hammers are also the only club with an unblemished home record, which therefore puts them amongst the favourites to secure a top-two finish.

During the World Cup break, the club also staged a successful Testimonial meeting for club stalwart Paul Hurry, which was won by former Wolverhampton stalwart Peter Karlsson.

PETERBOROUGH manager Trevor Swales wants his riders to raise their game at a time when the club are without No.1 Hans Andersen due to financial problems at the Showground.

Swales said: "We have to believe in ourselves. What I need from the riders is their 'A' game to make sure we come out of these meetings with our heads held high.

"We can't alter what has happened in the background but we must do our bit on the track to make sure the club goes forward because that is of paramount importance."

POOLE star Davey Watt is looking forward to getting back into Elite League action this week after suffering a disastrous World Cup Final with Australia.

Watt said: "I'm a bit frustrated with the way my meeting went. I crashed twice, had problems with the bike, anything that could go wrong went wrong.

"You were just getting thrown all over the place. When you weren't getting thrown all over the place you were struggling to stay on the bike because it was so slippery."

SWINDON promoter Alun Rossiter feels the club's recent capture of Croatian sensation Jurica Pavlic could turn out to be one of the best-ever moves for the Robins.

Rossiter said: "We've been tracking him for a while, but he's done his schooling now, which is why he didn't come out here at the start of the season. He's got great pedigree and it's an exciting move for the club.

"The club is on the way up, there's a huge amount of potential here and that's down to the way Gary (Patchett) and Terry (Russell) are running it. We're a big club, one that's going forward and we look after our riders."

WOLVERHAMPTON are expected to re-open talks with Lukas Dryml after suffering another home defeat at the hands of Eastbourne on Monday.

Promoter Chris Van Straaten said: "It's been difficult to change things around as we have previously explained but the results are depressing and there were aspects of the performance on Monday which were unacceptable as well.

"In the case of Lukas, his knee injury ended our talks but we will talk again this weekend and see where we're at with it all."

PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST

BERWICK were close to a sensational away win on Monday when they pulled back from ten points down at Reading only to lose out 47-46.

Promoter Peter Waite said: "We were really impressive tonight and I have to say excellent value in terms of entertainment for the fans but sadly we just missed out. Adrian (Rymel) was simply superb, and Paul Clews was such a force at reserve."

BIRMINGHAM boss Graham Drury said his side had finally been rewarded for their efforts when they gained an away win at Newcastle on Sunday.

Drury said: "The lads were magnificent and I have to give young Jack Roberts a mention because of his magnificent score. It was nice to be able to give our fans something to cheer about because we had a big following at all three tour meetings."

EDINBURGH reserve Aaron Summers knows the Monarchs are in with a good chance of top honours in his first full season of Premier League racing.

Summers said: "We need to keep the pressure on at the top of the league. We aren't worried about what the other teams are doing or not doing, we're just concentrating on getting on with our own job."

GLASGOW have been given a boost with the news that skipper Shane Parker will make his long-awaited comeback on August 10 in the Premier League clash with Sheffield.

Parker was injured in a crash in May, but of more concern was a recurring chest complaint which the Australian had first suffered over the winter, and that delayed his return to action.

ISLE OF WIGHT promoter Dave Pavitt is backing teenage newcomer Richard Sweetman to adapt to Premier League racing quickly as he comes into the team for the injured Cory Gathercole.

Pavitt said: "This really is an ideal opportunity for us to take a good look at a young rider who is so highly rated and for Richard himself to not only get accustomed to British conditions but to show everyone what he can do."

KING'S LYNN promoter Buster Chapman says the Stars are still very much in the title race after a frustrating weekend saw them limited to one point out of six in two close-fought away matches.

Chapman said: "Because of the rules in speedway it’s always hard to stay competitive year in and year out and to keep on winning trophies. This season has probably not been as good as the last three but if we can be up at the top once again that will be a good achievement, and I believe we can be back up there for the end of the season."

MILDENHALL promoter Simon Barton was satisfied with the efforts of his riders in their away matches at Workington and Glasgow, although the Fen Tigers remain without a League win this season.

Barton said: "It was a difficult time for us to undertake a northern tour with all of the rider problems we have been experiencing, but it was good to see Jan Graversen performing so well on tracks he hadn’t even seen before. I would also like to thank

Marek Mroz for driving all the way from Poland at short notice to take his place in the team."

NEWCASTLE captain Richard Juul issued a clear assessment of the Diamonds' shortcomings after their shock home defeat by Birmingham.

Juul said: "The big problem is we don’t have enough riders who can handle the pressure situations. Jason [King] can come up with the goods in any race he is in and score the important points when he needs to but there is no one else there to take some of the pressure off him."

READING boss Tim Sugar admitted that Berwick had his side more than worried when they mounted a late fight-back at Smallmead on Monday.

Sugar said: "It was a little too close for comfort to be honest and it was getting a bit nerve-racing towards the end. But thankfully Jason Doyle and Mark Lemon did what they had to do in the last race and we got the victory."

REDCAR manager Brian Havelock says the Bears need to put behind them a heavy defeat at Rye House as their recent impressive run came to an end.

Havelock said: "We never got to grips with it, and it wasn’t just one or two of the lads, it was all of them. It was a long journey home. With the class of team we’ve got, we expected better than that."

RYE HOUSE reserve Daniel Halsey says he is enjoying his regular Premier League racing after stepping up from the club's Conference League team as a replacement for Danny Betson.

Halsey said: "Danny had a couple of injuries and wasn't doing as well as we know he can, so that gave me a chance and obviously I jumped at it. I think I'm doing okay, and it's definitely what I want to do so I'm hopeful everything will turn out all right. I'm happy to be in the team."

SCUNTHORPE will be without popular South African rider Byron Bekker for at least a month with a broken collarbone, bringing to an end an unbroken sequence of 153 consecutive appearances.

Promoter Rob Godfrey said: "Hopefully, he will be on the mend soon because he is a tremendous asset to both our sides and very difficult to replace. We’re going to use Darren Mallett on Wednesday at King’s Lynn and we’ll make a decision about Friday in the next couple of days."

SHEFFIELD star Ricky Ashworth says the Owlerton club cannot be ruled out of making a late charge into the Premier League play-offs.

Ashworth said: "We can still reach the play-offs and I want to play my part in making it happen. I think we have a good side and we're all determined to achieve something this season."

SOMERSET promoter Mike Golding is optimistic that the Rebels can overcome the injury absence of second heat-leader Emil Kramer during a busy weekend programme.

Golding said: "It will make our task of recording our fourth away win in the league at Stoke on Sunday all the more difficult as Emil has always performed well in the past at Loomer Road. But this is a Somerset team that knows how to dig deep when the chips are down."

STOKE rescued a point from a 45-45 draw at home to King's Lynn - enjoying a stroke of fortune in Heat 15 when Stars' Kevin Doolan slowed.

Co-promoter John Woolridge said: "We got out of jail a bit with that, but it was always going to be a tough meeting for us."

WORKINGTON skipper Kauko Nieminen is hoping the Comets can double up this weekend in the second major Premier League Super7even event of the season.

Nieminen said: "It couldn't be going better, and this year has been my best in British speedway. Winning the Pairs with Daniel (Nermark) was an awesome feeling, and I just hope we can make it a double in the Fours."

FIXTURE PICTURE...

TUESDAY JULY 22:
PREMIER LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Berwick 7.30

WEDNESDAY JULY 23:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Belle Vue 7.30
PREMIER LEAGUE: Birmingham v Redcar 7.45, King's Lynn v Scunthorpe 7.30

THURSDAY JULY 24:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Swindon v Ipswich 7.30
PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Workington 7.30, Sheffield v Newcastle 7.45

FRIDAY JULY 25:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Wolverhampton 8pm, Lakeside v Ipswich 8pm
PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Redcar 7.30, Scunthorpe v Birmingham 7.30, Somerset v King's Lynn 7.30
CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Plymouth v Sittingbourne 7.30

SATURDAY JULY 26:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Eastbourne v Lakeside 7.30
PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Workington 7pm
CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Redcar v Rye House 3pm
KINGSWOOD TROPHY: Weymouth 7.15

SUNDAY JULY 27:
PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Reading 4pm, Mildenhall v Workington 4.30, Newcastle v Sheffield 6.30, Rye House v Berwick 2pm, Stoke v Somerset 7.30
CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Buxton v Boston 3pm
CONFERENCE LEAGUE KOC: Rye House v Plymouth (follows PL fixture)

MONDAY JULY 28:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Peterborough 7.30, Wolverhampton v Ipswich 7.30
PREMIER LEAGUE: Reading v Glasgow 7.30
PETER CRAVEN MEMORIAL: Belle Vue 7.30

TUESDAY JULY 29:
PREMIER LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Glasgow 7.30

WEDNESDAY JULY 30:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Lakeside v Coventry 8pm, Poole v Eastbourne 7.30
PREMIER LEAGUE: Birmingham v Berwick 7.45, King's Lynn v Mildenhall 7.30

THURSDAY JULY 31:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Ipswich v Lakeside 7.30, Swindon v Peterborough 7.30
PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Newcastle 7.30, Sheffield v Stoke 7.45
SMALLBROOK SPECTACULAR: Isle of Wight 7.30

FRIDAY AUGUST 1:
PREMIER LEAGUE: Somerset v Reading 7.30
SCOTTISH OPEN: Edinburgh 7.30
CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Boston v Plymouth 7.30, Scunthorpe v Sittingbourne 7.30

SATURDAY AUGUST 2:
STEVE HEATH MEMORIAL: Eastbourne 7.30
PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Edinburgh 7pm, Mildenhall v Birmingham 7.30, Rye House v King's Lynn 7pm, Stoke v Sheffield 7.30, Workington v Somerset 7pm
CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Weymouth v Boston 7.15

SUNDAY AUGUST 3:
PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Somerset 4pm, Newcastle v Redcar 5.30
CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Boston v Weymouth 7pm, Sittingbourne v Plymouth 12pm

MONDAY AUGUST 4:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Ipswich 7.30, Lakeside v Eastbourne 7.30, Wolverhampton v Swindon 7.30
PREMIER LEAGUE: Reading v Newcastle 7.30

TUESDAY AUGUST 5:
PREMIER LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Newcastle 7.30

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 6:
SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Lakeside 7.30
PREMIER LEAGUE: Birmingham v Stoke 7.45, King's Lynn v Sheffield 7.30