SPEEDWAY NEWS AND FIXTURES
01 May 2005 - British Speedway Promoters Association

TONY RICKARDSSON produced an awesome performance to win the opening Grand Prix of the 2005 season - and then revealed that he almost pulled out before it started.

Rickardsson had a back injury two days before the meeting in Poland that he was prepared to pull out. He said: ''I am so pleased to have got through the meeting. I was worried before the start as it is tough having seven rides.''

Grand Prix points: T.Rickardsson (Sweden) 25, L.Adams (Australia) 20, J.Crump (Australia) 18, A.Lindback (Sweden) 16, G.Hancock (USA) 11, N.Pedersen (Denmark) 10, J.Hampel (Poland) 10, A.Jonsson (Sweden) 8, R.Sullivan (Australia) 7, T.Gollob (Poland) 6, S.Nicholls (Great Britain) 6, L.Richardsson (Great Britain) 5, B.Pedersen (Denmark) 4, T.Chrzanowski
(Poland) 4, K.Kasprzak (Poland) 4, H.Andersen (Denmark) 2.

EDWARD Kennett made home advantage count to win the British Under-21 title at Rye House. Kennett top scored in the 20 qualifying races with 13-points and Chris Schramm joined him in the final on 11. Daniel King and Richard Hall qualified through the semi-final. Kennett kept his cool to win the final ahead of Schramm with Hall third after King was excluded for causing the stoppage of the first staging.

FINISHING ORDER: Edward Kennett (13), Chris Schramm (11), Richard Hall
(10) Daniel King (10), Daniel Giffard (10), Steve Boxall (11), James Brundle 10, Tommy Allen 9, Ben Wilson 8, Adam Roynon 6, Jason King 5, Jamie Robertson 5, William Lawson 3, Tom Brown 3, Danny Norton 2, Luke Priest 1, Chris Johnson 0, Simon Lambert 0.

OXFORD are set to end their search for a new signing by making an announcement over the next 24-hours. Promoter Nigel Wagstaff has hinted that the rider could be a surprise name who has raced in Britain before. Wagstaff said: ''It''s obvious that we need to strengthen the team and the man in question is more than capable pf doing that. We just need to tie up some loose ends.''

(FIXTURES)

SUNDAY MAY 1:
PREMIER TROPHY: Glasgow v Newcastle 3pm
CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Boston v Weymouth 6.30, Mildenhall v Armadale 5pm CONFERENCE TROPHY: Buxton v Scunthorpe 3pm BRITISH SIDECAR CHAMPIONSHIP: Newport 2.30

MONDAY MAY 2:
SKYBET ELITE LEAGUE: Ipswich v Peterborough 3.15, Wolverhampton v Eastbourne 7.30, Poole v Swindon 7.30 PREMIER TROPHY: Exeter v King''s Lynn 7.30, Newcastle v Glasgow 5.30, Reading v Somerset 6pm, Workington v Stoke 7pm. PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Hull 11am CONFERENCE LEAGUE KNOCKOUT CUP: Rye House v Newport follows PL meeting CONFERENCE TROPHY: Scunthorpe v Buxton 3pm, Weymouth v Wimbledon 4pm

WEDNESDAY MAY 4:
SKYBET ELITE LEAGUE: Arena Essex v Swindon 7.45, Peterborough v Belle Vue 7.30 PREMIER TROPHY: King''s Lynn v Newport 7.30 CONFERENCE CHALLENGE: Wimbledon v Ex-Wimbledon 7.30

www.british-speedway.co.uk

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