NeilWatson

32.........

£5 admission offer in conjunction with the Peterborough Evening Telegraph. Full details at www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk tomorrow.

Qualification now confirmed as follows: - The top team from each group and best runners-up race off in two semi-finals over two legs. - The best runners-up is determined by taking best average MATCH POINTS from completed meetings. - Winners of semi-final then race over two legs in the final to decide League Cup winners.

SCOTT Nicholls and Leigh Lanham have switched venues for the forthcoming British semi-finals. Seven-times Champion Nicholls is unavailable for the Rye House semi-final on April 30 and will therefore race at Sheffield this Thursday, April 24, with Lanham switching to the Hoddesdon event.

If the two legs didn't happen to be on the same day this wouldn't be raising any comment at all.

Rene would be a busy man riding for both teams.... Taking two guest bookings for different teams (albeit on the same day and in return fixtures) isn't unique.....

Max Fricke rides for Edinburgh, is 18 years old, 5.80 average and has been popping in double-figure scores this season. http://www.edinburghmonarchs.co/results/

I'm not aware that a team has any sanction over a legally declared guest Steve!

Or a Coventry promoter calling a Peterborough fan by his name.........

I didn't say he was Dick - read the rule carefully. 17.7.5 A Rider may ride as a Guest (in an Official Meeting) at a Track only once in an 8-day period unless he is replacing the Home Teams #1 or is a NL Rider guesting for the Home Team (my emphasis)

SR 17.7.5 A Rider may ride as a Guest (in an Official Meeting) at a Track only once in an 8-day period unless he is replacing the Home Teams #1 or is a NL Rider guesting for the Home Team

SR 16.2.7 Updated EL / PL MA’s (and a FTDP List) will be calculated on all eligible Meetings up to and including 23rd of each month and issued to become effective from 1st of the following month. SR 17.3.6 A Grading List will be established of eligible Riders on the British Speedway Fast Track Development Programme (FTDP Rider). This Listing will be used by EL Teams to declare Riders for the 6th & 7th positions in the Team Declarations and also for use as Guest replacements. This Grading List will also be revised monthly as per SR 16.2.7.

COVENTRY face a mouth-watering Elite League home season-opener when much-fancied King’s Lynn visit Brandon on Friday (7.30pm). The Buildbase Bees have taken five points from away matches at Swindon and Birmingham to already match their total on the road from the entire 2013 campaign. But they are likely to face the toughest of tests against the Stars, who are tipped to be amongst the title challenges this year and who always perform well at Brandon. In fact, in the six Elite League matches staged between the sides at Coventry since the Stars’ return to the top flight in 2011, there have never been more than six points between them at the end of the meeting. King’s Lynn’s top three consists of two Grand Prix stars, World No.3 Niels-Kristian Iversen and fellow Dane Kenneth Bjerre, as well as long-serving former Bee Rory Schlein – and they also include 16-year-old sensation Robert Lambert in the main body of the team as well as Lewis Kerr at reserve, who was ranked the top rider in the winter draft list. Bees are forced into a change in their top five with Kyle Howarth, so impressive at Birmingham on Wednesday, involved in Premier League Cup action for Workington at Edinburgh. Under the regulations a guest replacement has to be sourced from the Premier League, below Howarth’s converted average, and Bees have moved for Danish rider Claus Vissing who has made a good start to the season with his new club Berwick. Hans Andersen continues to ride through the pain barrier after suffering a knee injury in the opening match at Swindon, whilst Bees have a concern over Jason Garrity who struggled at Birmingham as a result of a heavy crash at Plymouth last Friday. Manager Gary Havelock said: “Five points from two matches has been an excellent start for us, especially thinking back when we were sat on zero last year! “But we know Friday is going to be a very difficult one, King’s Lynn look to have a very good team and they are being tipped for honours so it’s going to be a real test.” Havelock has also praised reserve James Sarjeant for his quick adaptation to the Elite League, with the Storm captain having made a key contribution in both senior matches so far. He added: “Everyone was raving before the season about us having the best reserve in Jason Garrity, but James has just gone about his business quietly and there are a lot of plus points with him.” Friday’s meeting also includes a full second half with the Coventry Mercia-Vikings opening their Midland Development League programme against King’s Lynn. BUILDBASE BEES: Hans Andersen, Ryan Fisher, Kenneth Hansen, Claus Vissing, Chris Harris, Jason Garrity, James Sarjeant. KING’S LYNN: Niels-Kristian Iversen, Nicklas Porsing, Rory Schlein, Robert Lambert, Kenneth Bjerre, Lewis Kerr, Lewis Rose.

SR 16.2.1 ESTABLISHED MAs are calculated on a Rolling basis, for a specified number of applicable Meetings, taking account of the number of Heats and Points (excluding Bonus Points) that a Rider has scored. The applicable Meetings are: Elite League: League Meetings, excluding the Play-Offs Premier League: League Cup mini-League Meetings & regular League Meetings National League: League Meetings, excluding the Play-Offs. NB: (Double) points scored as a TR will count at 50%. FTDP Riders in the EL and all Riders appearing as a Guest or as a #8 are ignored.

Heat 11

http://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/business/business-news/cable-faults-blamed-for-flickering-lights-across-peterborough-1-5977132 Residents across Peterborough have voiced concerns after lights in their homes started flickering. A number of people in Yaxley, Werrington, Longthorpe and even Stamford say that for several days they noticed their lights flickering or even suddenly dimming before brightening again. Some people have taken to the social networking site Facebook to highlight their concerns. But a spokeswoman for UK Power Networks said they had only received two complaints about the problem. She said: “We are aware there have been a number of faults on underground cables in the Peterborough area in the last couple of weeks. “We believe these faults are unrelated. Repairs have been carried out and we are hopeful this has rectified the reported problems, which include lights flickering and brief power interruptions. She added: “We are continuing to monitor the situation and apologise to customers who have experienced problems with their electricity supply. “Regarding the cause of the faults, there can be a number of reasons, such as third party damage or vibrations of the road. “As far as we’re aware we have had two calls with regard to flickering supplies in the Peterborough area in the last couple of weeks - one at the end of March and one on Tuesday night. “Both faults have now been fixed.

Good point! Lager is my tipple....

I wouldn't have thought a temporary bar (even the main bar is only used infrequently) was the right place to keep and serve real ale?

Peterborough at full strength - as we will be for pretty much all home fixtures as we have priority for official fixtures for all team members except Ryan Fisher.

PETERBOROUGH will be the first 2014 visitors to Rye House in Saturday’s East of England Cup clash at Hoddesdon (7pm). The TC Harrison Panthers were overturned by the Rockets in the League Cup at the Showground on their opening-night of the campaign, but recent displays suggest early-season gremlins are now behind them. They were impressive 48-42 winners at Elite League Leicester last Saturday, and were heading for a thumping home win over Plymouth on Tuesday before electrical problems at the stadium caused an early halt to proceedings. Panthers are without two of their regular team members on Saturday as Lewis Blackbird and Joe Jacobs have both been given permission to ride for their top-flight clubs, Eastbourne and Wolverhampton respectively, in Elite League matches. They will operate the rider-replacement facility for Blackbird, whilst Cradley’s promising teenager Danny Phillips gets a run-out at reserve in place of Jacobs. Rye House are unchanged from the team on duty at the Showground last week, as they continue to use rider-replacement for New Zealand GP Wild Card Jason Bunyan. RYE HOUSE: Edward Kennett, Jason Bunyan R/R, Matt Tresarrieu, Jason Garrity, Steve Boxall, Luke Bowen, Simon Lambert. PETERBOROUGH: Ryan Fisher, Lewis Blackbird R/R, Lasse Bjerre, Ulrich Ostergaard, Ales Dryml, Danny Phillips, Oliver Greenwood.

COVENTRY want to put a traumatic start to the season behind them when they launch their Elite League campaign against Birmingham at Brandon on Friday (7.30pm). The club do intend for the meeting to go ahead, with track work having taken place at the stadium this week, and are now counting on some much-needed help from the weather gods. Speedway and stadium bosses will be in contact in the build-up to the meeting, and should the situation change this will be communicated immediately. The match itself is an exciting prospect with the Buildbase Bees being strongly tipped for a play-off challenge this season. The annual survey of journalists in Speedway Star magazine’s pre-season preview has placed Coventry third out of the ten competing teams, and clearly the winter team re-build has generated plenty of respect around the country. The Elite League’s new race format will be in operation for the first time at Brandon, although Birmingham have experience of the changes as they have already raced in the top flight, having gone down to defeat at Wolverhampton on Monday. Bees have elected to deploy Ryan Fisher with Hans Andersen in a strong-looking opening partnership, with skipper Chris Harris taking the No.5 riding position. The Brummies make one change to their regular line-up, having called-up Coventry asset and last year’s Storm No.1 Joe Jacobs to guest for the unavailable Paul Starke, whilst Ben Barker and Edward Kennett provide them with plenty of additional Brandon experience. Bees promoter Mick Horton said: “We can’t wait to get our team on track. We worked hard on building it over the winter, there is a good spirit there already and we know we have to get it right. Hopefully we can do just that against Birmingham. “Obviously we are subject to the weather, and I know a lot of other matches have been called off this week, so we just have to keep our fingers crossed on that.” A full second-half is also planned featuring the riders who will figure in the Mercia-Vikings team in the upcoming Midland Development League campaign. BUILDBASE BEES: Hans Andersen, Ryan Fisher, Kenneth Hansen, Kyle Howarth, Chris Harris, Jason Garrity, James Sarjeant. BIRMINGHAM: Danny King, Adam Skornicki, Ben Barker, Daniel Nermark, Edward Kennett, Simon Lambert, Joe Jacobs.

Kalle rode very well tonight - real shame that the meeting was abandoned. I was looking forward to seeing him in four more races.

PETERBOROUGH are chasing their first League Cup points of the season when they face Plymouth at the Showground on Tuesday (7.30pm). The TC Harrison Panthers slipped to an opening-night defeat at the hands of Rye House last week, but confidence has been boosted by Saturday’s impressive challenge match win at Elite League club Leicester. And now they know they need to show their full potential at home, against a Plymouth team heavily modified from last season. The Devils include a mixture of new and familiar faces, led by Great Britain international Ben Barker who has raced at the Showground for Coventry and Birmingham in recent years. The visitors’ middle-order contains Sam Simota, who rode for Panthers at the start of the 2008 season, and Kyle Newman who had a spell as a doubling-up rider in 2012. For Peterborough, Ryan Fisher faces his former club and reserves Joe Jacobs and Oliver Greenwood will look to continue their encouraging start to the season. Co-boss Trevor Swales said: “Our gating let us down last Tuesday against Rye House but that was much-improved at Leicester. “Losing the first home match was a big blow but we don’t intend to repeat it and we need to get a good home win on the board against Plymouth.” PETERBOROUGH: Ryan Fisher, Lewis Blackbird, Lasse Bjerre, Ulrich Ostergaard, Ales Dryml, Joe Jacobs, Oliver Greenwood. PLYMOUTH: Ben Barker, Roland Benko, Kyle Newman, Rasmus Jensen, Sam Simota, Ben Reade, Kalle Katajisto.

Monday April 7th...

COVENTRY promoter Mick Horton has issued the following statement following the postponement of the Elite Riders’ Championship on Sunday. “I have made the decision today that the teams representing Coventry Speedway will not be taking to the track at Brandon until such time as the stadium bring in the correct and proper track curator to prepare our track. “The track has been totally unacceptable. I am embarrassed and humiliated and I am not prepared to take all of the criticism because this is 100 per cent down to the stadium. “They got rid of our old track curator and brought in a new one and it simply hasn’t worked. I am totally humiliated and can only apologise. “I have told the stadium staff what the situation is – it’s destroying me. We said early this morning that the track should be bladed but they decided to let it dry and pack it, and it was still rubbish. “Television were here and I have taken a lot of criticism, and I know I’m going to get the flak. But I want to make it very clear that this was totally out of my control, this was 100 per cent down to the stadium. “They brought in the track staff and assured Coventry Speedway that this track curator and track staff team was the best that we could get. The rest is history – it has been a total shambles starting on Friday with the Storm match and now on Sunday for a major national event. “There is no way that I will allow a Coventry team on that track until it is correct, and until that time, until it is in a suitable condition to race on, we will decline any further shared events or TV meetings. “In all my years of speedway, this is my lowest moment. I feel absolutely humiliated by something that is totally out of my control.”