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
KING'S Lynn have unveiled plans for a video wall to be added to the Norfolk Arena for the opening event of this year's Super 7even series.
The Stars are hosting the Elite League Pairs Championship on Saturday, April 5, which will include several of the world's top riders doing battle.
And a jumbo LED video screen will be available for fans to see replays and interviews with their favourite riders to add to the occasion.
Racing starts at 7pm but gates will open at 4pm with a rider autograph session close to the entrance to the stadium at 5.30. The parade starts at 6.45.
Super 7even series director Jonathan Chapman, who is also co-promoter of King's Lynn, said: "We made good strides forward last season but the time is now right for us to take it on a stage further.
"We're trying hard to enhance the entertainment value of these meetings and we want to provide a better all-round package for the fans to enjoy.
"It worked last season and the areas where we feel we could have done better we are working on to improve.
"The line-up for the Elite League Pairs should be out very shortly and will be released to the official websites and in a full press release from the BSPA press office. It should make interesting reading to say the least!"
The Super 7even series features major events at venues up and down the country - and as soon as Conference League major events are announced these will be included in this column.
SUPER 7EVEN DATES AND VENUES:
ELITE LEAGUE BEST PAIRS: King's Lynn, Saturday April 5 - 7pm BRITISH UNDER-21 FINAL: Arena-Essex, Friday April 25 - 7.30 BRITISH FINAL: Swindon, Thursday May 29 - 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE PAIRS: Somerset, Friday June 27 - 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE FOURS: Workington, Saturday July 26 - 7pm ELITE LEAGUE RIDERS' CHAMPIONSHIP: Birmingham, Wednesday August 20 - 7.30 PREMIER LEAGUE RIDERS' CHAMPIONSHIP: Sheffield, Sunday September 21 - 3.30
BELLE Vue will warm up for the new season with several team practice sessions ahead of their opener on Good Friday.
Manager Chris Morton said: "The practice sessions are important for the team to get to know each other. The two days we have arranged at Belle Vue are especially important because it will give our more experienced riders the chance to show our new signings the best way of handling what can be a tricky track."
NEW Coventry signing Simon Stead is keen to make up for lost time after enduring a disappointing season in 2007.
Stead said: "I want to improve again, last season I tailed off and maybe even went backwards a bit, which I was really disappointed about. I hadn't experienced that before because in every previous season I'd moved forward, so we've changed a lot of things and the move to Coventry has come at the right time."
EASTBOURNE have handed their No.8 position to experienced American rider Brent Werner.
Werner, a former member of the Eagles team, will be racing in the Premier League with Somerset after reversing his retirement from the sport after a disappointing stint with Birmingham last season.
STEVE Johnston returns to Ipswich this season eleven years after his first spell with the club - and says he is delighted to be back at Foxhall.
Johnston said: "I can't wait to get started with Ipswich. I have been mates with Chris (Louis) for many years now, and it was an easy deal for me to complete."
LAKESIDE star Andreas Jonsson made a positive start to the season with second place in Sunday's Diamond Jubilee meeting at Poole, which was won by World Champion Nicki Pedersen.
Jonsson said: "I'm happy with my set up for this early and it was good to be racing, especially against the top riders in the world. I'm looking forward very much to riding for the Hammers and scoring some good points."
PETERBOROUGH manager Trevor Swales believes his riders will benefit from this Thursday's inter-league Challenge fixture at the Showground against Premier League club Mildenhall.
Swales said: "I expect them to give our lower order boys some good competition and hopefully some confidence with a win, but I am taking nothing for granted. They have nothing to lose and the pressure is on us, as a win is expected to be a formality."
POOLE skipper Bjarne Pedersen has given his seal of approval to the much-changed Pirates team which has topped many of the odds compilers' listings ahead of the new season.
Pedersen said: "If I was a promoter, I would pick a team just like this. We have some very young riders and some experienced riders. It's a good combination, and it's as strong as you can get it within the points limit."
SWINDON manager Alun Rossiter is happy to be cast in the role of underdogs this year after his highly-fancied Robins side agonisingly missed out on silverware last season.
Rossiter said: "Everybody is writing us off, which is great news. But we believe it is different. Give us a couple of months to settle, but once that's out of the way we are going to surprise a lot of people."
WOLVERHAMPTON owner Chris Van Straaten is relishing the prospect of renewing the rivalry with neighbours Coventry on Monday’s Monmore opener.
He said: "It hurt to see them doing so well last season, but naturally we offered our congratulations as we are healthy rivals with respect for their management.
"But I could hardly think of a better start to the season than by putting one over my pal Colin Pratt. Hopefully that would set the tone!"
PREMIER LEAGUE LATEST
BERWICK have completed their line-up by signing Austrian star Manuel Hauzinger, who had an impressive spell with Birmingham last season.
Promoter Peter Waite said: "Manu fits the Bandits' racing ethic precisely as I'd want as he's a rider full of determination, and is so very keen to show the rest what he’s capable of in keeping with his vast ambitious nature."
BIRMINGHAM have unveiled the riding order for their opening meeting of the season this Sunday.
Sheffield’s Andre Compton will defend the Alan Hunt Memorial Trophy (6pm) and along with the Brummies riders Elite League stars Steve Johnston (Ipswich), David Howe and Kenneth Hansen (both Wolves) will figure.
Sunday's riding order is: Jack Hargreaves, Kyle Legault, Shawn McConnell, Andre Compton, David Howe, Lubos Tomicek, Phil Morris, Lee Smart, Brent Werner, James Birkinshaw, Jason Lyons, Ulrich Ostergaard, Adam Roynon, Steve Johnston, Kauko Nieminen, Kenneth Hansen. Reserves: Jack Roberts, Adam Lowe.
EDINBURGH's Australian reserve Aaron Summers says he always expected to agree a deal for a full season at Armadale after impressing during a short spell last year.
Summers said: "I had already spoken with Edinburgh about a spot in the team for this season before I left last summer. Since then I was working things out at my end and getting myself sorted out."
GLASGOW star Ross Brady is hoping to be back in action this month after fracturing his collarbone in the build-up to the new season.
Brady has been boosted by the news that it is a clean break and he is now set to undergo intensive laser treatment.
ISLE OF WIGHT co-promoter Martin Newnham believes that his team will again be up amongst the Premier League contenders this season.
Newnham said: "We are very happy indeed with the side we have put together for the new campaign. It's a good combination of youth and experience and, looking at the other clubs in the league, we're confident we'll be right up there."
KING'S LYNN will have former World Champion Jason Crump in their ranks for their trip to Ipswich on Thursday.
The Stars will track their usual team for the home leg of the inter-league Challenge on Wednesday, but will utilise the Australian ace in their No.1 race-jacket for the Foxhall return 24 hours later.
MILDENHALL have handed former Reading rider Shane Colvin a route back into speedway after New Zealander Grant Tregoning was delayed in his home country by visa problems.
Manager Laurence Rogers said: "I have kept in touch with Shane over the past few years, and now the chance has come to bring him in I had no hesitation in offering him the chance as I know he can do a good job for us. He knows that it is only short term but it puts him in the shop window so it’s up to him to show what he can do."
NEWCASTLE manager George English said his riders were fully aware of his feelings after they slipped to a surprise home defeat at the hands of Berwick.
English said: "To actually lose the meeting at home was a bitter disappointment, and as I believe we really had the beating of Berwick in our capabilities it’s an even more devastating result."
NEWPORT's Nick Simmons celebrates his Testimonial meeting at the Hayley Stadium on Sunday (1pm) with Grand Prix stars Chris Harris and Niels-Kristian Iversen amongst the star competitors.
Simmons said: "I wanted to put on a competitive meeting, and I'm sure that will be the case with guys like this. Things have come together really well and I'm looking forward to the day."
READING newcomer Ulrich Ostergaard believes he should settle straight into the Racers team, where he will be expected to produce plenty of big scores this season.
The Danish star said: "This is a new challenge for me and I am looking forward to riding for Reading. I am happy to be riding in the Premier League and I hope I can be one of the top riders. Reading appear to have got a good team and I think we can do well."
REDCAR promoter Glyn Taylor has secured a team sponsorship deal for the first time in the club's history with TLS Vehicle Hire on board at the South Tees Motorsports Parc.
Taylor said: "TLS are a big company offering great support and they’re local, so I couldn’t ask for anything better. It gives us credibility - they are the biggest hire company in the land - which is very important."
RYE HOUSE have re-named their Conference League outfit as the Kart Raceway Cobras, and confirmed the signing of promising New Zealand youngster Andrew Aldridge.
Promoter Len Silver said: "Andrew joins us following advice from ex-Wimbledon star Larry Ross, and I'm flattered that an old rival like Len should think so highly of us."
SCUNTHORPE promoter Rob Godfrey is counting the days to March 20 when the Scorpions open up as a Premier League club against local rivals Sheffield.
Godfrey said: "It's pretty exciting to see all these Premier League sides coming to Scunthorpe. We had one come last year and it was the best meeting we've ever had, now we've got 16 clubs coming here."
SHEFFIELD team boss Eric Boocock says his move to Owlerton has given him new enthusiasm for the sport.
"I'm delighted to be back at Sheffield. I've been involved in speedway since I was 16 and I've never fallen out with it," he says. "I'm more excited about this season than I have been for many, many years. I never lose interest but I get fed up sometimes. It's given me a new outlook, a jump forwards."
SOMERSET have signed 24-year-old German Henning Loof as a late replacement for Tom Hedley, who stunned the club with his decision to stay in Australia and give British speedway a miss.
Promoter Mike Golding said: "I said as soon as I knew that Tom wasn’t going to take up his team place with Somerset that I would not sign a rider just as a 'stop gap' and that whoever I signed would maintain the balance of the team. In Henning I believe that I have got that rider."
STOKE promoter Dave Tattum is expecting a tough test when his team open their season against Newcastle in the Premier Trophy on Saturday.
Tattum said: "Newcastle are generally good visitors to Loomer Road and I expect our first meeting to be a hard one. Nonetheless, we want to get off to a winning start and the riders will have to gel quickly and hit the ground running against a side that has already had a couple of meetings."
WORKINGTON will have a group of sponsors behind the club for the first time this season, having brought on board seven main backers to be known as the Comets' Premier Sponsor Partners.
New owner Keith Denham said: "It's a new concept but an exciting one, and an important one in providing financial back-up to the team for 2008. We want to take the sport forward in Workington and the recruitment of these Premier Sponsor Partners is certainly going to help."
FIXTURE PICTURE
WEDNESDAY MARCH 12: CHALLENGE: King's Lynn v Ipswich 7.30, Poole v Lakeside 7.30
THURSDAY MARCH 13: CHALLENGE: Ipswich v King's Lynn 7.30, Peterborough v Mildenhall 7.30, Sheffield v Coventry 7.45
FRIDAY MARCH 14: CHALLENGE: Coventry v Sheffield 8pm, Lakeside v Poole 8pm SPRING TROPHY 2nd leg: Edinburgh v Glasgow 7.30
SATURDAY MARCH 15: CRAVEN SHIELD: Eastbourne v Swindon 7.30 PREMIER TROPHY: Berwick v Edinburgh 7pm, Stoke v Newcastle 7.30 THAMES VALLEY TROPHY 2nd leg: Rye House v Reading 7pm
SUNDAY MARCH 16: ALAN HUNT MEMORIAL TROPHY: Birmingham 6pm PREMIER TROPHY: Glasgow v Berwick 3pm, Mildenhall v Rye House 4.30, Newcastle v Stoke 5.30 NICK SIMMONS TESTIMONIAL: Newport 1pm
MONDAY MARCH 17: CRAVEN SHIELD: Wolverhampton v Coventry 7.30 CHALLENGE: Reading v Somerset 7.30
TUESDAY MARCH 18:
WEDNESDAY MARCH 19: PREMIER TROPHY: King's Lynn v Mildenhall 7.30
THURSDAY MARCH 20: CRAVEN SHIELD: Peterborough v Lakeside 7.30, Swindon v Eastbourne 7.30 PREMIER TROPHY: Redcar v Stoke 7.30, Sheffield v Scunthorpe 7.45
FRIDAY MARCH 21: CRAVEN SHIELD: Belle Vue v Wolverhampton 11am, Poole v Eastbourne 11am, Coventry v Wolverhampton 8pm, Eastbourne v Poole 7.30, Ipswich v Lakeside 2.30, Lakeside v Ipswich 8pm PREMIER TROPHY: Birmingham v King's Lynn 7.45, Edinburgh v Berwick 7.30, King's Lynn v Birmingham 12pm, Scunthorpe v Sheffield 5pm CHALLENGE: Somerset v Reading 7.30
SATURDAY MARCH 22: PREMIER TROPHY: Berwick v Workington 7pm, Stoke v Redcar 7.30 CHALFONT COACHES TROPHY 1st leg: Isle of Wight v Reading 7.30 CONFERENCE CHALLENGE: Rye House v Arena-Essex 7pm
SUNDAY MARCH 23: ELITE SHIELD: Swindon v Coventry 6pm PREMIER TROPHY: Glasgow v Edinburgh 3pm, Mildenhall v King's Lynn 4.30, Newcastle v Redcar 5.30, Newport v Somerset 3pm CHALFONT COACHES TROPHY 2nd leg: Reading v Isle of Wight 7.30
MONDAY MARCH 24: ELITE SHIELD: Coventry v Swindon 8pm CRAVEN SHIELD: Peterborough v Ipswich 6.30, Wolverhampton v Belle Vue 7.30 PREMIER TROPHY: Rye House v Mildenhall 2pm, Workington v Berwick 7pm CONFERENCE LEAGUE: Scunthorpe v Boston 3pm
TUESDAY MARCH 25:
WEDNESDAY MARCH 26: CRAVEN SHIELD: Poole v Swindon 7.30 PREMIER TROPHY: Birmingham v Mildenhall 7.45, King's Lynn v Rye House 7.30
