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.
BIG EVENT LATEST
FORMER Premier League Riders' Champion Andre Compton insists there is no pressure on his shoulders in this year's event.
The Sheffield skipper has enjoyed home track advantage in recent seasons - but with that has come the weight of expectation.
Now he's relishing the prospect of lining up at Swindon on Sunday, September 30, for this year's event.
He said: "For the last few years the meeting has been at Sheffield and there's been so much pressure and expectation on me, it's not been an enjoyable experience to be honest.
"I'm glad it's moved from that point of view and I just want to go to Swindon and enjoy myself and s! ee where that takes me. If I win it, great, if not then we just move on to the next meeting.
"It's a meeting I would love to win. When it's on your own track, people mention home track advantage and that you should win it, perhaps if I can win at Swindon it will shut a few people up!.
"But I know it won't be easy because you have top riders in there like Chris Holder who is flying for the Isle of Wight at the minute and, of course, Magnus Zetterstrom of Somerset who won the event at our place last year.
"It should be a good meeting and I'm looking forward to it. My priority is to go there and enjoy myself and hopefully get some reward with a place on the rostrum at least."
DON'T FORGET THE CONFERENCE LEAGUE RIDERS' CHAMPIONSHIP AT RYE HOUSE ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15 AT 7pm - FULL LINE-UP WILL BE PUBLISHED ON WWW.SPEEDWAYGB.COM AS SOON AS IT IS AVAILABLE.
ELITE LEAGUE LATEST...
ARENA ESSEX-LAKESIDE boss Jon Cook is awaiting BSPA approval of a proposed re-declaration of his 1-7 for the Hammers ahead of Friday's home match with Wolverhampton.
Cook said: "Four of our side have important fixtures coming up this weekend with Kris (Kasprzak) and AJ (Andreas Jonsson) in the GP and Lubos (Tomicek) and Ricky (Kling) in the World U-21’s. I wish them all the best of luck and for Kris and Lubos later this month when they attempt to qualify for next year’s GP Series.
"However, the Hammers still need to concentrate on their remaining fixtures and it is disappointing that some of our side will miss important fixtures due to these other commitments. We need to ensure that the Wolves do not repeat their victory here earlier in the season."
BELLE VUE's Antonio Lindback suffered another disastrous evening as he attempts to establish himself with the Aces, pulling out of the heavy home defeat by Swindon with an aggravated hip injury.
Team boss Eric Boocock said: "We knew this was a tall order with Swindon at the top of the table. But we had several riders who were struggling for fitness and they were just too strong for us.
"It was a real blow to lose (Billy) Forsberg because he had such a good meeting for us last week and another strong performance from him would have made it much closer."
COVENTRY co-boss Peter Oakes hailed the impact made by mid-season signing Steve Johnston, with the Australian's score of paid 12 crucial to the Bees' tenth away win of the campaign at Wolverhampton.
Oakes said: "Steve really has added a sharpness and a bit of life into the team, and you've only got to look at the results since he joined us.
"We've had one defeat in 15 matches since he joined, and that can't be a coincidence. He's got that extra experience, he's a bright character and nobody can get too low with him about in the pits!"
EASTBOURNE promoter Bob Brimson was philosophical after watching his team have no answer to Hans Andersen and Kenneth Bjerre, who anchored Peterborough to a win at Arlington with both riders scoring maximums.
Brimson said: "We have to take it on the chin that we got well beaten by a better side, a side going into the play-offs and hitting form at just the right time.
"Bjerre's times were simply remarkable and it was a staggering performance. Hats off to him and Hans Andersen who made us look second best."
IPSWICH's German youngster Tobias Kroner has now moved up into the main body of the Witches' team after a string of impressive scores at reserve.
Kroner said: "I am very happy with my season so far. I wanted to put at least around 1.5 points on my three point average, now I have one around six and I'm very pleased with that.
"I played an important role in this season for the team as I got many rides in most of the meetings and that's what young riders like me need to build up confidence and become a better rider."
PETERBOROUGH star Niels-Kristian Iversen will miss the remainder of the week as he attempts to clear up a long-standing ankle injury ahead of his side's bid to retain the championship.
Iversen said: "There is no way my ankle can stand up to riding the Showground and Reading over here and I will be sitting out of my Swedish club's meeting on Tuesday as well.
"My injury cost the team at Lakeside and I can't let that happen again. I hope taking another week off and getting some specialist treatment will sort the problem out."
POOLE promoter Matt Ford accepts that his side are likely to face an away tie in the play-offs, with two remaining Elite League fixtures set to take place after the cut-off date.
Ford said: "We have not given up on the title. It just looks as though we are away in the semis, not at home. Sadly, we are in the hands of Ipswich and Eastbourne who have specific reasons why they cannot accommodate us before a week Thursday.
"Had the table dictated that wins at both venues would have propelled us into the top two then we would ! have demanded our association fit us in to make sure we had the chance."
READING promoter Malcolm Holloway feels he has booked the right guest in Chris Louis for the Racers' home clash with Peterborough.
Louis stands in for the banned Matej Zagar, and Holloway said: "I'm sure Chris will do a great job for us at No.1, whilst it will do Krzysztof Buczkowski the world of good to have a spell at reserve.
"I'm confident we can show our bouncebackability against the Panthers. I know we came unstuck against Swindon, but the Robins are right at the top of their game and clearly want to win their first league title in 40 years."
SWINDON are assured of home advantage in the semi-finals of the play-offs after demolishing Belle Vue at Kirkmanshulme Lane on Monday - their third away win in four days.
Promoter Alun Rossiter said: "That was our goal at the start of the season. We came here to do a job and now we want to go on and finish in first place in the league.
"Coventry have got to win their matches to pip us and we really would like top spot now, just to finish off a fantastic league season."
WOLVERHAMPTON star Fredrik Lindgren is hopeful of making his comeback against Ipswich next Monday after being ruled out of this week's meetings due to a heavy crash in Sweden.
Lindgren said: "It was one of those crashes where the guys in front of me slowed down and I couldn't avoid Magnus Zetterstrom and I crashed!
"I went to hospital because I was in a lot of pain and I feared something might be broken. I was happy when they told me nothing was broken but my hip, thigh and groin were all badly hurt and badly swollen."
PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST...
BERWICK are likely to be without Michal Makovsky and David Meldrum for the rest of the season, with a doubt over Andreas Bergstrom, after a spate of crashes over the weekend.
Promoter Peter Waite said: "We were looking to have a settled run to the end of the season, but that's been blown out of the water. The team needs patching up and that means it's going to be a busy week."
BIRMINGHAM's meeting next week is on an individual basis - the Alan Pearce Memorial Trophy featuring the stars of tomorrow, taking place on Wednesday, September 12.
Boss Graham Drury said: "Our fans may not have hard of many of them, but the likes of Jay Herne (Phil’s son), Kyle Hughes and Ashley Johnson are very keen to put on a good show. Admission prices are reduced to £10 adults, £5 concessions and children 15 and under free when accompanied by a paying adult."
EDINBURGH chairman Alex Harkness is planning ahead for 2008 after a disappointing campaign which has seen the Monarchs stuck in the lower reaches of the Premier League for much of the year.
Harkness said: "It is fair to say our mind is very much on next season. We drew up a roster of who we want a long time ago, and we are of a frame of mind that we need two top scorers."
GLASGOW skipper Shane Parker accepts that the Tigers now face a tough task in order to reach the Premier League play-offs.
Parker said: "We now have a bit of pressure on us to win at least one more away fixture, although I think we will need two to have a chance. If it is not to be, so be it and we will focus on the Young Shield."
ISLE OF WIGHT manager David Croucher feels the Islanders are still on track for a top four finish, having defeated play-off rivals Workington at home last Tuesday.
Croucher said: "We owed our fans, and indeed ourselves, a good performance tonight following our dismal showing on Monday (at Rye House) and that's just what the team produced. The win has kept us very much on course."
KING'S LYNN manager Rob Lyon admits to being concerned about his side's recent away performances, with big matches to come in the play-offs.
Lyon said: "It's a shame to see us hit a bad patch at what is becoming the most important part of the season. If the play-offs didn't exist then I wouldn't be worried because we would have done enough already to finish at the top of the league, but right now we still have our biggest battles to come!"
MILDENHALL manager Laurence Rogers is awaiting news on injuries to Tom P Madsen and Kyle Legault before finalising his team plans for an important pair of fixtures against Rye House this weekend.
Rogers said: "I will be leaving the decisions on the fitness of both to the medical people and the riders themselves. Both are keen to ride again but know that unless fully fit they will have to be patient and then get back racing when the medics say they can. I will have riders on stand-by for both matches."
NEWCASTLE recovered from a heavy defeat at Rye House to gain some revenge over the Rockets with a win in the reverse fixture at Brough Park.
Team boss George English said: "Rye House are, let's make no bones about this, a very good side indeed. To take a win on the night over the Rockets is a fine achievement and with our revival taking the result down to the last two races it's just what the crowd love, although again as team manager I'd prefer comfortable wins - less stressful!"
NEWPORT promoter Tim Stone says that reserve Barry Burchatt has made excellent progress this season, highlighted by a double-figure display in the Wasps' weekend win over Redcar.
Stone said: "Barry has had a new lease of life since he joined us earlier in the season, and he's done a really good job for us at No.7. Reputations don't mean anything to him."
REDCAR promoter Chris Van Straaten paid tribute to the exploits of James Grieves, who scored a 21-point maximum at Newport - although it was not enough to help the Bears to a win.
Van Straaten said: "There were one or two eyebrows raised when I signed him at the start of the year but he has never let me down whenever he has ridden for me. He was absolutely magnificent, and I hope that some of the younger! riders who found it difficult will have learned something from it."
RYE HOUSE newcomer Stefan Ekberg is delighted to be able to play his part in the Rockets' chase for honours over the closing weeks of the season.
Ekberg said: "My deal with the Rockets came together really quickly. It's good to be able to come in and help, there are really good riders here and I'm just happy to be part of the team."
SHEFFIELD skipper Andre Compton is likely to take the rest of the week off after his involvement in a horrifying crash at Owlerton last week.
Tigers asset Lee Complin, on-loan at Stoke, is on stand-by for the home meeting with the Isle of Wight on Thursday.
Compton said: “I don’t remember much about the crash against Birmingham and I’ve been in a lot of discomfort ever since. I will probably have to miss this week.”
SOMERSET will come up against former Rebels star Glenn Cunningham, who spent five seasons with the club, when Stoke visit the Oak Tree ! Arena on Friday.
The home side will be boosted by the return of skipper Magnus Zetterstrom, who has completed a one-match ban for missing the Rebels' recent away fixture at Newport.
STOKE have been forced into a re-shuffle of their riding order with Lee Complin moving to No.1 under the new September averages.
Manager John Adams said: "We hadn't really wanted to move the team around because it had a balance. But the new averages have dictated Lee and Glenn Cunningham have to go at one and three."
WORKINGTON manager Tony Jackson felt his side had dropped two points in their play-off chase when they were narrowly beaten at Mildenhall on Sunday.
Jackson said: "We really needed five points out of five at the weekend but we only got three of them. It wasn’t a disaster but at this stage of the season, when everything is very tight, it was a bit disappointing."
FIXTURE PICTURE
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 4: PREMIER LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Sheffield 7.30, Mildenhall v Newport 7.30
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 5: SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Poole v Coventry 7.30, Reading v Peterborough 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Birmingham v Edinburgh 7.45, King's Lynn v Stoke 7.30
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 6: SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Ipswich v Coventry 7.30, Peterborough v Wolverhampton 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Workington 7.30, Sheffield v Isle of Wight 7.45
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 7: SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Arena Essex-Lakeside v Wolverhampton 8pm PREMIER LEAGUE: Rye House v Berwick 7pm, Somerset v Stoke 7.30 CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Boston v Rye House 7.30, Boston v Buxton (follows previous match) CONFERENCE LEAGUE KOC: Plymouth v Oxford 7.30 CHALLENGE: Weymouth v Wimbledon 7.15, Bravehearts v Kangaroos (at Edinburgh) 7.30
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 8: PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Newport 7pm, Rye House v Mildenhall 7pm, Stoke v Birmingham 7.30 CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Rye House v Weymouth (follows PL fixture)
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 9: PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Berwick 4pm, Mildenhall v Rye House 4.30, Newcastle v Somerset 6.30, Newport v Sheffield 3pm CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Buxton v Oxford 3pm, Scunthorpe v Cleveland 3pm, Sittingbourne v Plymouth 12pm, Sittingbourne v Boston (follows previous fixture)
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 10: SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Eastbourne 7.30, Coventry v Swindon 7.30pm, Peterborough v Reading 7.30, Wolverhampton v Ipswich 7.30
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 11: PREMIER LEAGUE: Isle of Wight v Redcar 7.30
WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 12: SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Peterborough v Coventry 7pm, Peterborough v Belle Vue (follows previous fixture) PREMIER LEAGUE: King's Lynn v Glasgow 7.30 CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Stoke v Plymouth 7.30 ALAN PEARCE MEMORIAL TROPHY: Birmingham 7.45
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 13: SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE: Coventry v Eastbourne 8pm, Ipswich v Peterborough 7.30 ELITE LEAGUE KOC: Swindon v Reading 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Redcar v Glasgow 7.30, Sheffield v Workington 7.45
FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 14: ELITE LEAGUE KOC: Arena Essex-Lakeside v Eastbourne 8pm, Reading v Swindon 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Edinburgh v Rye House 7.30, King's Lynn v Birmingham 7.30, Somerset v Redcar 7.30 CONERENCE LEAGUE: Oxford v Scunthorpe 7.30
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 15: ELITE LEAGUE KOC: Eastbourne v Arena Essex-Lakeside 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE: Berwick v Edinburgh 7pm CHALLENGE: Workington v Birmingham 7pm CONFERENCE LEAGUE RIDERS' CHAMPIONSHIP: Rye House 7pm GARRY STEAD BENEFIT: Stoke 7.30
SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 16: PREMIER LEAGUE: Glasgow v Birmingham 4pm, Newport v Newcastle 3pm, Rye House v Stoke 2pm CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Rye House v Stoke (follows PL fixture), Scunthorpe v Plymouth 3pm
MONDAY SEPTEMBER 17: SKY SPORTS ELITE LEAGUE PLAY-OFF SEMI FINALS SKY SPORTS ELI! TE LEAGUE: Belle Vue v Ipswich 7.30 BRITISH UNDER-18 FINAL: Wolverhampton 7.30 SIDECARS: Reading 7.30
TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 18: PREMIER LEAGUE: Mildenhall v Glasgow 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE KOC: Isle of Wight v King's Lynn 7.30
