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SPEEDWAY WEEKLY ROUND UP
ELITE LEAGUE LATEST... ARENA-ESSEX promoter Ronnie Russell is urging Hammers supporters to turn out in force against Peterborough on Wednesday despite the clash with football''s Champions League Final. Russell said: ''I thought long and hard about whether to run against the Champions League Final but after talking with various people and after looking at the fans'' response on the website, I decided to give it a go. BELLE VUE promoter Ian Thomas says there must be no let-up from his side as they bid to make the play-offs for a second year on the trot. Thomas said: ''We have made a good start to the season but it''s tight at the top and we can''t afford any slips in our bid for a play-off place. ''We landed our first away win at Oxford last week and have taken three aggregate bonus points out of three which is so important.'' COVENTRY co-boss Peter Oakes felt the Bees'' narrow win over League leaders Peterborough was a good confidence-booster after a run of away defeats. Oakes said: ''It was a fighting performance and I think Peterborough were probably a little flattered by the final margin. ''We dropped half a dozen points through falls, but you can''t criticize people for that because they were trying so hard in tricky conditions.'' EASTBOURNE star David Norris says he is now approaching a good run of form after struggling to find the correct set-ups so far this season. Norris said: ''Ray Maksell and Chris Geer have sweated blood this year for me. Neville Tatum (engine tuner) has worked just as hard. ''We have something now that is just about working. This season my confidence has been low, but I felt confident against Ipswich and rode the bike as well as I have ever ridden it.'' IPSWICH will be making changes to their riding order as Piotr Protasiewicz moves into one of the top two positions in the team, swapping places with Chris Louis from next month. Team boss Mike Smillie said: ''Pepe is likely to start riding at No.1, with Mark Loram staying at No.5. ''We haven''t decided on that yet and much could still happen in the Wolves and Eastbourne meetings, but that is the way it appears at the moment.'' OXFORD promoter Aaron Lanney expects more from his team, particularly on their home circuit where he feels they under-achieved badly against Belle Vue. Lanney said: ''The league table doesn''t lie and the most frustrating aspect for me is that I know the boys can do better. ''I really hope they take my comments on board. I''d like to think I''ve supported the boys as much as I possibly can during the early stages of my promoting career and I want to see passion and loyalty out there on the track.'' PETERBOROUGH expect to have flying reserve Ulrich Ostergaard back in their team for this week''s clashes with Arena-Essex after he missed two matches following a crash at Poole. Team boss Trevor Swales said: ''Having Ulrich back will be a bonus for us, as the way the teams are balanced this year if you have one rider out you are in trouble. POOLE skipper Bjarne Pedersen expects no further problems from his damaged wrist after missing a couple of Pirates fixtures last week. Pedersen said: ''There is no problem with my wrist. I just needed to take a couple of days off because it was very important to get everything sorted out with the injury. READING co-promoter Jim Lynch says it is a case of ''so far, so good'' for the Bulldogs, who have held a top four place throughout the season so far. Lynch said: ''We have to be happy with how things are going so far this season, as we''re still well in the play-off race, but there is still a long way to go. ''Obviously we would like to win something, but the play-offs is a realistic target. However to do that we must keep the home form going, and continue to at least pick up the majority of bonus points.'' SWINDON boss Alun Rossiter hailed his team''s best performane of the season as the Robins beat Coventry by 17 points despite being without Lee Richardson and Renat Gafurov. Rossiter said: ''That was an absolutely awesome performance. They all rallied to the cause, they are a team of tryers and they never gave up. ''I have a big smile on my face and fully justified. That was a massive performance against the odds.'' WOLVERHAMPTON promoter Chris Van Straaten says that skipper Peter Karlsson is in the best form of his career - at the ripe age of 36! Van Straaten said: ''PK really is remarkable. He''s just like a fine wine, he seems to get better with age and he was in unbelievable form. ''Some of the things he does to get past riders around our place are unbelievable and I sometimes wonder how he keeps doing it.'' PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST... BERWICK promoter Peter Waite was unhappy with his team''s performances over the weekend against Stoke in the Premier Trophy when a narrow home win was followed by a heavy away defeat. Waite said: ''Apart from the occasional bright light we weren''t really at the races and I suppose we can only be thankful we could not make the semi-finals, because that show certainly wouldn''t have got us in.'' EDINBURGH youngster Henrik Moller enjoyed the best night of his career when he won his World Under-21 qualifier in Holsted over the weekend. Moller said: ''I didn''t really expect to win it although I hoped I would qualify. I had a couple of new sponsors out to watch me, so they were impressed and now I have to get my feet on the ground and look forward to what lies ahead.'' GLASGOW intend to continue using the rider replacement facility whilst Kauko Nieminen recovers from his broken collarbone. Co-promoter Stewart Dickson said: ''We initially looked at bringing in a short-term replacement, but we have decided to run with rider replacement and hope the rest of the boys can come up with the goods.'' ISLE OF WIGHT manager Martin Newnham felt the Islanders'' 64-32 demolition of King''s Lynn showed they have found their form after a tough start to the season. Newnham said: ''I really cannot praise the team enough, especially when you consider there was a strong body of opinion leading up to the match suggesting that we would lose.'' KING''S LYNN promoter Rob Lyon was relieved to qualify for the semi-finals of the Premier Trophy after a last-heat 5-1 at Newport secured their progression. MILDENHALL promoter Mick Horton is expecting big things from new signing Andrew Moore, who comes into the team at the expense of skipper Shaun Tacey. Horton said: ''I''m sure Andrew will be a huge favourite with the fans. The lad has a lot of experience for his age, he is hugely talented and I look forward to working with him.'' English said: ''With the safety of riders paramount, I don''t think the referee had any alternative but to make the decision he did. The best illustration of what the riders were up against was when Adam McKinna lost all visibility and fell with just a lap to go.'' NEWPORT promoter Tim Stone is taking no notice of a recent big win over Edinburgh ahead of the clashes between the two sides in the Knockout Cup this weekend. REDCAR boss Brian Havelock was pleased with his team''s response to a 70-22 thrashing at King''s Lynn as they picked up a home win over Glasgow 24 hours later. Havelock said: ''We had a talk in the changing rooms before the meeting to try and put things right. I told the lads I was bitterly disappointed and that I didn''t sleep that night, and one or two of the lads said they didn''t either.'' RYE HOUSE skipper Chris Neath says that reserve Luke Bowen could be a key figure for the Rockets in their title defence this season. Neath said: ''Luke needs to slow down a little - he makes me look silly! Seriously, it''s great when he hits the front because he''s not slowing you down, and like Jamie Courtney he''s coming on so well.'' SHEFFIELD promoter Neil Machin says that Kyle Legault needs to re-focus after his World Under-21 disappointment and concentrate on his Tigers displays. Machin said: ''Kyle was devastated and didn''t really want to talk to anyone after the meeting, it''s a real blow to the lad. Hopefully he can rally round and put in a good score for us on Thursday.'' SOMERSET boss Mick Bell says the Rebels can go into their Knockout Cup clashes with Stoke confident of progressing to the next round. Bell said: ''On current form I have to fancy us to go through. It would be great for us to progress but Stoke have got riders in their team who seem to enjoy riding our place. If we can show good all-round form then I see no problems, but Stoke will make it hard for us.'' STOKE manager John Adams said the Potters had got reward for their efforts when they saw off Berwick at home after going down narrowly at Shielfield Park 24 hours earlier. WORKINGTON star James Wright intends to make further progress in the World Under-21 Championship after comfortably progressing from the Sheffield qualifier last weekend. Wright: ''The track was superb and I enjoyed racing on it. My main priority was to qualify, anything else was a bonus so from that point of view I achieved when I went for. It''s nice to be through, and we''ll see that I can do from there.'' FIXTURE PICTURE... TUESDAY MAY 16: SUNDAY MAY 21: SUNDAY MAY 28:
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