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MDL CITY GEARBOXES Vikings 11 Castleford Kings 25 The chances of a late surge for a MDL play-off place for the CITY GEARBOXES Vikings were well and truly dashed against a powerful Castleford side at Coventry on Friday night. The Vikings had just one heat winner when 16 year old whiz kid James Shanes got the better of Matt Williamson and Lee Geary in heat 4 in the second successive drawn heat. The Kings though dominated proceedings with three maximum 5-1 wins in heats 2, 5 and 6 after an opening 2-4 success when home number one Ryan Terry-Daley had a classic four lap battle with Castleford guest Lee Geary swooping past him on the final bend to take second spot. The Vikings were naturally disappointed to have not only lost the meeting heavily but also to see their play-off chances dashed, co-team boss Laurence Rogers commented , “ We knew we up against it when Castleford declared their team with two National League riders in guest Matt Williamson (Buxton) and the on-form Nathan Greaves (Dudley) along with National League standard riders in Lee Geary and Danny Phillips. But the boys went out determined to do their best and try to pull off a shock win but it was just not to be. They battled hard but the Kings had the upper hand throughout. We must now concentrate on winning the MDL KO Cup when we meet Stoke in September now!” CITY GEARBOXES VIKINGS 11 1. Ryan Terry-Daley 2 2 1 = 5 2. John Markham 0 1’ f/x = 1+1 3. James Shanes 1 3 0 = 4 4. Cam Hoskins 0 0 1 =1 CASTLEFORD KINGS 25 1. Matt Williamson 3 2 2’ = 7+1 2. Lee Geary 1 1’ 2’ = 4+2 3. Nathan Greaves 3 R 3 = 6 4. Danny Phillips 2’ 3 3 = 8+1 Ht 1 : Williamson Terry-Daley Geary Markham 2-4 2-4 66.1 2: Greaves Phillips Shanes Hoskins 1-5 3-9 63.4 3 Phillips Terry-Daley Markham Greaves 3-3 6-12 65.0 4 Shanes Williamson Geary Hoskins 3-3 9-15 66.0 5 Phillips Geary Hoskins Markham (f/x) 1-5 10-20 awarded 6 Greaves Williamson Terry-Daley Shanes 1-5 11-25 63.9

still spaces available

Sean Phillips Adam Extance Lee Springthorpe Rob Shuttleworth David Holt Sam Ward Trevor Bebbington Freddie Owen ---replaced by Adam Portwood MDL GP round at Belle Vue Monday August 19th.

Have a few places remaining for tomorrow ....txt or e-mail me if you want to book.

will check mate.

correct Danny Phillips now is invited as a wildcard to the MDLRC at Leicester on Sat Sept 28th. The winner of the MDL GP will join him along with two nominated riders from each of the7 MDL clubs. The second and third placed rides in the MDL GP will be the meeting reserves and we are hoping to have some 125 and 250 cc demo races. Sponsorship for the MDLRC is available at £35 per race and £50 for the Final along with fuel sponsors per rider and any additional backing. >>e-mail : laurencerogers@blueyonder.co.uk or text 07801429304 or 07510768392 Last year we had enough backing to give each rider a £50 voucher to spend on the Cov-Comp van along with fuel for each rider plus extra backing from Lucas Oil and FB Clutchplates (who sponsored medals for all the riders as well) as well as main backing from D-Star who provided the body colours and prizes . Hopefully we can attract the same as each rider receives no points money or travel expenses. Trophies are again being hand carved in gold, silver and bronze by Mick Chapman Trophies.

Thanks Mike --- no one has sent me details but have now passed on to BSPA for putting on site as well

First Jan O Pedersen Academy School –Leicester Sunday August 18th 11-4 Jan O Pedersen has announced the date and venue of his first British Speedway Academy school for Leicester on Sunday August 18th from 11 till 4 with sign on in the Leicester club bar at 10am. He will be providing tuition throughout the day with one to one sessions working on various aspects. There is a limit on numbers to ensure maximum track time is achieved for each rider. IT IS OPEN TO RIDERS OF ALL AGES and experience. There is a £60 charge for this first school with hopes that eventually enough members will join the Academy Membership schemes to fund costs. Bookings must be made to : laurencerogers@blueyonder.co.uk by e-mail or texting 07510768392 or 07801429304

MDL ..Sat August 3rd Long Eaton 18 ( Lee Springthorpe 7, David Holt 4+2, Lee Gaery 4, Adam Extance 3) Castleford 18 ( Dan Phillips 9, Niall Strudwick 5, Adam Sheppard 2+1, Andy Blackburn 2+1)

Dean added a few more names last night at Wolves ----all sounding good !!

The Jan O Pedersen British Speedway Academy are pleased to announce that the final three places on the scheme have now been offered and accepted by the riders concerned. There was a lot of interest in the chance to be involved and after careful consideration and discussion Jan O has finalised the five who will take part in the inaugural scheme but leaves open the chance for others to join the associate scheme he will be running which has no age restrictions as the main one does. Joining the already announced duo of Coventry Storm’s James Shanes and Dudley Heathens Max Clegg will be Buxton and Berwick’s Liam Carr, Rye House asset Danny Verge and Coventry Storm’s Oliver Greenwood. Jan O commented, “ We had a lot of interest in the Academy and have talked with many riders and their families as well as assessing the candidates in various ways. In the end we have gone for the five we have chosen as young riders in the 16-19 age group who fit the elements we were looking for and have potential to progress with the type of help and support we can offer them.” “We will also be involving riders of any age in the associate scheme and they will receive most of the elements that the five Academy riders are going to get but will not have the academic part with the NVQ qualification. But the number of riders we can support for this is highly dependant on the membership schemes we are running and any sponsorship we can attract. Laurence Rogers is working on this and has had talks with a few potential; backers and has one substantial sponsor lined up. He can be reached through the website : www.speedwayacademy.co.uk , where people can join the membership scheme directly or he van be e-mailed at :laurencerogers@blueyonder.co.uk if any sponsors want more details.” “ I am really pleased with the final five we have chosen for the Academy and have seen all of them ride at some stage recently . I have talked through everything with them and their parents and I am really looking forward to getting this all started now. We are awaiting a venue and a date for an on track get together , which will be open to all comers although to cover costs we may have to make a charge for this unless a big sponsor wants to step in to cover this!” “ I am working on a workshop base where we will conduct that side of the scheme and should have this all in place very soon. We are working on all the elements and will be all ready for the real launch soon . In between I will be working with all five riders on a one to one basis as well. I will look at their fixtures to see where I can maximise my time with them so I can start to analyse individual needs and start planning with them exactly what is required.” “ It is exciting times and we just hope that the fans and sponsors will support us by becoming members then we can extend the scheme even further and start to get British Speedway back on the way to the top again. “

The CITY GEARBOXES Coventry Mercia-Vikings had one of those nights at Leicester on Sunday night as they met the Long Eaton Invaders. Originally scheduled for the Saturday night but postponed and delayed by 24 hours the Vikings lost 16 year old whiz kid James Shanes to a grass track meeting at Ledbury. It was though a case of being down to just two riders and two bikes by heat 3 leaving Cam Hoskins and Martin Knuckey , having his first meeting for six weeks after taking an enforced break from racing, to contest the final three races. Ryan Terry-Daley was forced out of the meeting with a bent bike and elbow injury after he and team mate Hoskins collided in the first bend in heat 2 and to make matters worse it was not his own bike anyway as he was borrowing team coach Paul Quarterman’s machine! Skipper John Markham came in to replace Terry-Daley in heat 3 only to crash and damage his bike when home man Lee Springthorpe drove inside him on the 3rd and 4th bend . This left team manager Laurence Rogers doing a juggling act with his two remaining riders and they kept the Vikings in the hunt right up to the end as they were level at 15 apiece going into the last race. Knuckey made a great return to racing with three fine wins but taking three rides in succession proved too much for the Cornishman and despite leading the final race for almost three laps he was forced to retire unable to hold on to the handlebars. This gifted the Invaders a 5-1 to give them victory 20-16. LONG EATON 20 1. Lee Geary 2 3 2’ = 7+1 2. Lee Springthorpe X 2’ 2 = 4+1 3. Adam Portwood 3 2 3 = 8 4. Adam Extance 0 0 1’ = 1+1 COVENTRY 16 1. Martin Knuckey 3 3 3 R = 9 2. John Markham 1 F = 1 3. Cam Hoskins 1’ 1 1 1 = 4+1 4. Ryan Terry-Daley 2 = 2 Ht 1 : Knuckey Geary Markham Springthorpe (f/x) 2-4 2-4 2 : Portwood Terry-Daley Hoskins Extance 3-3 5-7 3 : Geary Springthorpe Hoskins Markham (fell) 5-1 10-8 4 : Knuckey Portwood Hoskins Extance 2-4 12-12 5 : Knuckey Springthorpe Extance 3-3 15-15 6 : Portwood Geary Hoskins Knuckey (ret) 5-1 20-16

The next Coventry Training School/Open Practice will be on Saturday 10th August from 9.30 till 1.30. Sign on is at 8.30 and rider briefing at 9.15. Cost is £35 with free day licences available. Riders are requested to have their names on the back mudguards. Bookings to be made by e-mail to : laurencerogers@blueyonder.co.uk or by text to 07801429304 or 07510768392 Numbers are restricted to allow as much track time as possible and riders are graded by experience /ability . Cov Comp van in attendance for spares and fuel etc .

MDL : Coventry CITY GEARBOXES Mercia-Vikings 24 Long Eaton SKILLS COACHES Invaders 12 CITY GEARBOXES Vikings 24 : 1. Ryan Terry-Daley 3 3 2’ = 8+1 2. Cam Hoskins 0 1 1 = 2 3. James Shanes 3 3 3 = 9 4. John Markham 1 1 3 = 5 SKILLS COACHES Invaders 12 : 1. Lee Geary 2 2 0 = 4 2. Lee Springthorpe 1’ 0 = 1+1 3. Adam Portwood 2 2 1 = 5 4. Adam Extance 0 f/x 2 = 2 Ht 1 : Terry-Daley Geary Springthorpe Hoskins (f/rm) 3-3 3-3 65.2 2 : Shanes Portwood Markham (15m) Extance 4-2 7-5 64.0 3 : Terry-Daley Portwood Hoskins Extance (f/x) 4-2 11-7 63.8 4 : Shanes Geary Markham Springthorpe 4-2 15-9 64.3 5 : Markham Extance Hoskins (f/rm) 4-2 19-11 67.5 6 : Shanes Terry-Daley Portwood Geary 5-1 24-12 64.4 The CITY GEARBOXES Vikings maintained their quest for a place in the Midland Development League play-offs with a resounding 24-12 win over Long Eaton. It brings them one point behind 2012 Champions Milton Keynes in third place in the table with three meetings remaining at home to Castleford and Kings Lynn and the return away match with Long Eaton. Heat one was a true classic with home No. 1 Ryan Terry-Daley chasing former Viking Lee Geary for the entire four laps before diving inside on the final bend to take the win. Heat 2 saw home skipper John Markham penalised 15 metres for tape touching but in the re-run he chased and passed Invaders debutant Adam Extance whilst James Shanes raced to an untroubled heat win to put the Vikings ahead 7-5. Heat 3 was re-run after Adam Extance fell after being passed by home No. 2 Cam Hoskins. Ryan Terry-Daley shot from the tapes for a fine win with Adam Portwood and Cam Hoskins having a battle behind him for second. Heat 4 was win number two for Vikings 16 year old whiz kid James Shanes whilst John Markham passed and held off Lee Springthorpe for third spot with the 4-2 putting the Vikings ahead 15-9. Heat 5 saw the now traditional John Markham heat win whilst Cam Hoskins lost second spot after a fall on the pits bend but remounted for the point that put the Vikings in an unassailable lead at 19-11. Vikings own turbo twins James Shanes and Ryan Terry-Daley wrapped it all up with a maximum 5-1 heat win recording a full max for Shanes and a paid one for Terry-Daley. The Vikings travel to Leicester now for the return aiming for two more league points to keep the pressure on the MK Knights for the play-off spot with Belle Vue who look to have almost wrapped the top spot up.

DIAMOND H BELLE VUE COLTS 19 Matt Williamson 3 3 3 = 9 David Holt 1 1 2 = 4 Tom Woolley 3 2 0 = 5 Robert Shuttleworth F 1' F = 1+1 KING'S LYNN LIGHTNING 17 Andy Mountain 2 3 2 = 7 Connor Mountain 0 Ex 3 = 3 Nathan Greaves 2 2 1' = 5 + 1 Sam Ward 1' 0 1 = 2+1 Ht 1 - Williamson, A Mountain, Holt, C Mountain (4-2) (4-2) 66.0 Ht 2 - Woolley, Greaves, Ward, Shuttleworth (F) (3-3) (7-5) 67.9 Ht 3 - Williamson, Greaves, Holt, Ward (4-2) (11-7) 67.0 Ht 4 - A Mountain, Woolley, Shuttleworth, C Mountain Ex (3-3) (14-10) 66.6 Ht 5 - C Mountain, Holt, Ward, Shuttleworth (F) (2-4) (16-14) 69.8 Ht 6 - Williamson, A Mountain, Greaves, Woolley (3-3) (19-17) 66.3 The Diamond H Belle Vue Colts completed their home programme of MDL fixtures with a narrow 19-17 victory over a lively King's Lynn Lightning. Matt Williamson opened the meeting with the first of three wins, and with David Holt in third place, the Colts took a first heat 4-2 The Colts gated first in heat 2, with Sam Ward coming to grief and remounting on the fourth bend. Nathan Greaves passed Rob Shuttleworth on the next lap with the Colts rider losing control and falling. Greaves continued to pressure Tom Woolley but could find no way past. Another 4-2 from Williamson and Holt in heat 3 put the Colts 4 points up. An eventful heat 4 was started 3 times. At the first time of asking Connor Mountain got out of shape on the top bend, collecting Shuttleworth resulting in a re-run with the Lightning man disqualified. At the restart Andy Mountain ran into Shuttleworth on the first corner. A re-run with all 3 riders left Shuttleworth's pit crew having to quickly replace a broken clutch lever. At the third attempt Mountain won, with the points shared 3-3. Heat 5 saw the Colts gate on a 5-1, but Shuttleworth then fell, impeding his teammate and allowing Connor Mountain through for a win which set up a last heat decider with the Colts leading by 2. Matt Williamson secured victory for the Colts by completing his maximum in heat 6 despite the strong challenges from Andy Mountain and Nathan Greaves.

Herbie was superb and a great inspiration to his team mates. Working with him and Billy at Kings Lynn and Prague was an honour and I enjoyed each and every second .....well done Team USA --and that includes all mechanics and the backroom team.

Dudley’s Max Clegg announced as second rider in British Speedway Academy Following on from the announcement of Coventry Storm’s 16 year old James Shanes as the first rider for the Jan O Pedersen British Speedway Academy the second rider to be named is Dudley’s Max Clegg. The 16 year old ,who rode for Scunthorpe last year before joining the Dudley Heathens this season, has been showing good form for his side as they vie for a place in the National League play-offs. He ended his debut season with a 4.54 average which so far he has upped to an amazing 7.33 with some excellent displays in Heathens colours. The Brighouse born racer first raced at the age of 7 in the Yorkshire Gras track club but had his first bike, a 50cc Husky , when aged just 3! His best racing moment was winning the 2005 British Grass Track Championship and was runner-up in the 2011 British Junior under 16 500cc Championship. Max is really looking forward to working with the 1991 World Champion, “ I know that Jan O has been a great help to many riders and I know that I can learn a lot from him both about my riding and all the aspects behind the scenes. I want to be successful and realize that help and support from Jan O will help get me there. “ “ I have had a good start to the season but still have a lot to learn and having Jan watching me and giving advice will only be of great benefit . I can’t wait to get it all started.” Jan O believes he has another gem for the Academy , “ like James Shanes I think we have another superb prospect. I have watched him since he signed for Dudley and been highly impressed by him and his riding. He is quite shy really but hopefully we can help him in this aspect as well as the riding, preparation , training , diet, psychology etc of the sport. “ “ The two 16 year olds named so far certainly have caught the eye so far this season and that is a big plus as we have something solid to work with. We are talking with several riders at the moment who are interested in the three remaining places on the Academy and hopefully we can be in a position to announce rider number three very soon!” “But I must again stress the point that the success of the Academy and the supporting scheme is very much dependant on funding and we really need as many fans and sponsors to pledge their support by becoming either Foundation members at £25 or Executive members at £100 –and you can join on-line on the website : www.speedwayacademy.co.uk “ announcements this week on the three remaining places in the main Academy and a substantial sponsorship for the scheme

STOKE Hartshill Cycles went down to a narrow 19-17 defeat against Castleford Kings in the Midland Development League at the Eddie Wright Raceway, Scunthorpe on Friday night. The meeting never had the sides split by more than two points at any point throughout the meeting and the Spitfires managed to draw level at 15 all going into the final heat. Spitfires Shaun Tedham and Lee Payne lined up against Nathan Greaves and Shane Waldron in the best race of the night. The Spitfires pairing made the start and led the opening stages of the heat but Tedham fell under pressure from Greaves who then managed to overhaul Payne on the last corner to give the Kings a 4-2 and a 19-17 victory. Castleford 19: Nathan Greaves 9, Shane Waldron 6, Adam Portwood 4, S Darroch 0 Stoke 17: Lee Payne 9, Shaun Tedham 5, Sam Ward 3+1, Charles Wallace DNR Castleford used Shane Waldron in this MDL meeting. He is ineligible to ride in the MDL having had a NL average of over 5.00. The result of the meeting is amended to : Castleford 13 Stoke 17 with the 6 points scored by the ineligible rider removed from the final score of 19-17.

Another Abandoned Meeting Causes Fixture Backlog for the Invaders With a crash in the match against Newcastle causing the County Ambulance to be called to take Christian Henry to hospital, the Premier League meeting got off to a bad start and heat 2 was also stopped after a crash down on bend 4. The omens were not good for getting the MDL match on however without an interval and the victory parade, it was hoped to sneak in the 6 heats prior to the curfew kicking in. Heat 1 saw a shared heat after Cameron Hoskins fell on bend 4 trying to go underneath the Castleford Kings riders. Heat 2 was a 5-1 to the Invaders with Adam Portwood getting his first win around the Leicester track followed in by Vikings rider John Markham. Proceedings were halted yet again when the paramedics had to attend to an incident near one of the food outlets and when the bikes came to the line in heat 3, it needed a miracle to get in the final 4 heats run but when Adam Sheppard's bike caught fire on the start line, the end of the meeting was called much to the disappointment of all concerned. Thanks must go out to the Leicester promotion and track staff who worked around their normal routine of the victory parade and post match interviews to try and get the meeting finished but it was all to no avail. Heat 1 LeeGeary/Andy Blackburn/Ben Holloway/Cameron Hoskins Time 69.78 3-3 Heat 2 Adam Portwood/John Markham/Dave Lidgett/Adam Sheppard Retired Time 70.44 5-1 Agg 8-4 Meeting abandoned Long Eaton 'Skills Coaches' Invaders Lee Geary 3 Cameron Hoskins 0 Adam Portwood 3 John Markham 2+1 Castleford 'HG Aerospace' Kings Andy Blackburn 2 Ben Holloway 1+1 Dave Lidgett 1 Adam Sheppard Ret

MDL GP Round 2. Sat July 13th. At Stoke : The 2nd round of the Midland Development League Grand Prix at Stoke saw Belle Vue’s David Holt take the honours and the 10 GP points at stake with an unbeaten 9 points. Just back from a bad hand injury he was relatively untroubled in his three outings in a smoothly run meeting. MK Knights Aaron Mogridge claimed second spot with 7 points which included two heat wins and a third in his last ride when he fell chasing Holt with both rides undefeated at that stage, He remounted to get the vital point to add 7 GP points to his tally to put him in overall second spot with 11. Leicester’s Lee Springthorpe though is the current GP leader after two rounds on 12 points with three second spots giving him 6 points in the meeting and 6 GP points. Rookie Rob Shuttleworth’s long trip from Barrow saw him score five including a heat win but he lost out on points when twice falling in his second ride and gives him five GP points. Home rider Sam Ward notched three third places with his 3 point tally giving him 4 GP points whist a trio of riders finished on 2 points in Lawrence Fielding (3 GP points), Sean Phillips (2 GP points) and Trevor Bebbington (1GP point). GP pts 1. Sean Phillips 0 2 0 = 2 (2) 2. Sam Ward 1 1 1 = 3 (4) 3. David Holt 3 3 3 = 9 (10) 4. Lee Springthorpe 2 2 2 = 6 (6) 5. Lawrence Fielding 0 0 2 = 2 (3) 6. Trevor Bebbington 1 1 0 = 2 (1) 7. Aaron Mogridge 3 3 1 = 7 (7) 8. Rob Shuttleworth 2 F 3 = 5 (5) Ht 1 : Holt Springthorpe Ward Phillips 2 : Mogridge Shuttleworth Bebbington Fielding 3 : Holt Phillips Bebbington Shuttleworth (f/rm fell) 4 : Mogridge Springthorpe Ward Fielding 5 : Holt Fielding Mogridge (f/rm) Phillips 6 : Shuttleworth Springthorpe Ward Bebbington GP placings (after 2 rounds) : Lee Springthorpe 12 , Aaron Mogridge 11, David Holt 10, Conor Mountain 10, Adam Portwood 7, Rob Shuttleworth 5, Josh Bailey 5, Sam Ward 4, Freddie Owen 3, Lawrence Fielding 3, Sean Phillips 2, Adam Sheppard 2, Trevor Bebbington1 Next round at Rye House Sat July 27th.

MIDLAND DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE –Friday July 13th COVENTRY “City Gearboxes” Mercia-Vikings 17 Diamond H Belle Vue Colts 19 VIKINGS HIT BY LAST HEAT LOSS : The CITY GEARBOXES Mercia-Vikings were hit by a final race maximum heat win by the table topping Belle Vue Colts at Coventry on Friday night. Leading16-14 after five heats the home side came up against the unbeaten Matt Williamson and Max Clegg but despite all their efforts it was the away dup who sealed the two league points for their side. Heat one was a long drawn out affair with several re-runs and two riders penalised 15 metres after tape offences with home man Andy Braithwaite and Colts David Holt the culprits. Both were perhaps over anxious as both were making their comebacks after injury but had to take their punishments. The resultant 4-2 came after Colts Max Clegg chasing race leader Ryan Terry-Daley hit bike troubles and was out of the race. The Colts pulled it back to all square in heat 2 with Matt Williamson gating like a rocket whilst home rider James Shanes fought his way through the field for 2nd place. Williamson took heat 3 again with a jet like start to hold off Terry-Daley whilst Andy Braithwaite , despite his seat bracket coming adrift, riding a good race to defeat Lee Geary to give a drawn heat and leave it all level at 9 apiece. Heat 4 saw Max Clegg take the win ahead of James Shanes with home skipper John Markham gaining a vital third ahead of David Holt to give another drawn heat at scores at 12-12. Braithwaite , with his seat strapped on, raced to an important and confidence boosting heat win over Geary who threw everything at him whilst Markham held off Holt to give the home a side a vital 4-2 to lead at 16-14. It was all on the last race with former moto-crossser Williamson again fast out of the start followed by Terry-Daley with Clegg and Shanes having a classic battle just behind . It was fast and furious with Clegg making one of his trademark inside bursts to pass the home No.1 and join his team mate for an all important 5-1 despite the home duo throwing everything they had at them. Superb speedway!! Coventry CITY GEARBOXES Mercia-Vikings 17 1. Ryan Terry-Daley 3 2 1 = 6 2. Andy Braithwaite 1 1’ 3 = 5+1 3. James Shanes 2 2 0 = 4 4. John Markham 0 1’ 1 = 2+1 Diamond H Belle Vue Colts 1. Max Cleggg R 3 2’ = 5+1 2. David Holt 2 0 0 = 2 3. Matt Williamson 3 3 3 = 9 4. Lee Geary 1 0 2 = 3 Ht 1 : Terry-Daley Holt (15m) Braithwaite (15m) Clegg (ret) 4-2 4-2 64.2 2 : Williamson Shanes Geary Markham 2-4 6-6 64.2 3 : Williamson Terry-Daley Braithwaite Geary 3-3 9-9 64.2 4 : Clegg Shanes Markham Holt 3-3 12-12 63.2 5 : Braithwaite Geary Markham Holt 4-2 16-14 66.5 6 : Williamson Clegg Terry-Daley Shanes 1-5 17-19 64.6

The first named rider for the Jan O Pedersen British Speedway Academy is 16 year old Coventry Storm rider James Shanes. The Puddletown, Dorset based racer ,who has made the transition from grass track to speedway and has had rave reviews wherever he has ridden, is overjoyed at being selected by the 1991 World Champion, “ I was amazed when Jan O approached me about it and discussed everything with my parents. I am totally new to speedway but have enjoyed every minute of riding for Coventry firstly in the Midland Development League and then after my exams were over in the National League for The Storm.” “At Coventry 7 times British Champion Scott Nicholls has taken me under his wing to mentor and help me after Laurence Rogers arranged this. Now I have the chance to work with a World Champion. This is a dream come true. “ Jan O is pleased with is first capture for the Academy and hope to have all five places filled very soon in readiness for the August start to the scheme , “ I have been keeping tabs on James after Laurence (Rogers) alerted me to him. I watched him at Stoke firstly in a Development League match where he scored a maximum then on his National League debut when he scored paid 10. I have spoken with the family and like his attitude and believe I can really help him. Now we have to confirm the remaining places and should be able to announce the second rider this week whilst we work on the remaining three places.” “At the same time we are getting enquiries in for the secondary scheme we are running for those not eligible for the Academy and will be working on this as well. We had hoped to kick things off with a training session last week but had to postpone this and hope to make an announcement on this after discussions with a few tracks we are talking to.” “The level of support and help for this though will be determined by fans and businesses joining the Membership schemes. We had a slight glitch on the website with this that may have put some people off but it is all up and running and we need as many to join as possible ….so get on www.speedwayacademy.co.uk and pledge your support for British Speedway.

Sean Phillips Sam Ward David Holt Lee Springthorpe Lawrence Fielding Trevor Bebbington Aaron Mogridge Rob Shuttleworth

DIAMOND H BELLE VUE COLTS 23 Max Clegg 3 1' 3 = 7+1 Michael Neale F 2 3 = 5 Matt Williamson 3 3 1 = 7 Robert Shuttleworth 1 1 2' = 4+1 STOKE SPITFIRES 13 Shaun Tedham 2 2 0 = 4 Charles Wallace 1' 0 1 = 2+1 Lee Payne 2 3 2 = 7 Sam Ward 0 0 0 =0 Ht 1 - Clegg, Tedham, Wallace, Neale (F) (3-3) (3-3) 65.5 Ht 2 - Williamson, Payne, Shuttleworth, Ward (4-2) (7-5) 65.7 Ht 3 - Payne, Neale, Clegg, Ward (3-3) (10-8) 65.1 Ht 4 - Williamson, Tedham, Shuttleworth, Wallace (4-2) (14-10) 65.1 Ht 5 - Neale, Shuttleworth, Wallace, Ward (5-1) (19-11) 67.4 Ht 6 - Clegg, Payne, Williamson, Tedham (4-2) (23-13) 64.0 The Diamond H Belle Vue Colts returned to winning ways with a 23-13 victory over Stoke in a match which produced some high quality racing and was much closer than the scoreline suggests. Michael Neale made a terrific start to lead heat 1 for two laps, as team-mate Max Clegg missed the gate and had to battle through. But a mistake from Neale saw him fall heavily on the 4th bend. Matt Williamson made a good start to beat the impressive Lee Payne in heat 2, but Payne claimed the Spitfire's first heat win in the next on his first ever visit to Belle Vue. Max Clegg fell whilst giving chase to Payne, but remounted and made up nearly half a lap to catch and pass Sam Ward for third. Williamson took his second win in heat 4, but the action was at the back as Rob Shuttleworth battled with Charles Wallace before executing a neat pass to put the Colts 4 points up. Neale and Shuttleworth sealed the match with a 5-1 in heat 5 over Wallace who improved with every race. Max Clegg made his only gate of the night to win heat 6 in the fastest time of the match, whilst at the back Matt Williamson tried everything to split Lee Payne and Shaun Tedham, finally getting his reward when Tedham got slightly out of shape on the final bend allowing the Colts rider through for a point.

The CITY GEARBOXES sponsored Coventry Mercia-Vikings raced to their fourth successive away win at Scunthorpe on Friday night against Castleford Kings taking a 20-15 win with a hastily patched up side. Castleford though have questioned the legitimacy of the Vikings side although on the night the confusion was thought to have been cleared up and The CITY GEARBOXES side knew nothing about them riding under protest. The Vikings were hit by late withdrawals from Tommy Fenwick (motors not back from servicing in time) and John Markham (transport problems with his van in the garage). Answering 11th hour rescue calls were Dudley duo Max Clegg and Nathan Greaves. The problem lay in an incorrect and later amended National League declaration where Ryan Terry-Daley had been included in the Coventry Storm 1 to 7 in place of Martin Knuckey but Coventry co-promoter Neil Watson sorted this out with the BSPA offices and the mistake was rectified with a new and correct issue on the Friday. Under the rulings for the MDL a team cannot contain more than two National League riders and Vikings team manager Laurence Rogers was certain his side did not break this rule, “ I would not have taken the offers of help from both Max and Nathan if I knew it was contravening any rules. The new National League team declaration was shown to Richard Hollingworth prior to the meeting and I gave my changes to the referee and the team was not questioned. I was never asked to nominate a rider for his points not to count or knew Castleford were riding under protest until I got home at 1.40am and read an e-mail on my phone which I replied to immediately to all parties. As far as I am concerned my team was legitimate and the result should stand. I am sure that this will be confirmed by the SCB when they look at the full facts.” The meeting started bizarrely with just two riders one from each team as Cam Hoskins had clutch problems probably caused after the initial start had been re-run after first bend bunching that saw the Viking go down. Then Kings Michael Neale’s bike hit ignition problems and both were out of the re-start which saw Matt Williamson take the win ahead of Ryan Terry-Daley. Dan Phillips then held off the challenge of Max Clegg and Nathan Greaves to make it a drawn heat and Castleford take a 6-5 lead. The Greaves / Clegg combination then shot the Vikings into the lead with a 5-1 win to make it 7-10. Dan Phillips took his second win for the home side but Cam Hoskins and Ryan Terry-Daley took a drawn heat to bring the scores to 10-13. Nathan Greaves completed a job well done taking heat 5 and with Cam Hoskins third the Vikings were almost home and dry for the two MDL points at 12-17. Castleford could force a draw if the two Vikings didn’t finish in heat 6 but Max Clegg powered round the Kings duo of Dan Phillips and Matt Williamson on the first bend to race for the win and give the Vikings their win 15-20. CASTLEFORD Kings 15 1. Matt Williamson 3 1 1’ = 5+1 2. Michael Neale N N 2 = 2 3. Dan Phillips 3 3 2 = 8 4. Sam Darroch 0 0 0 =0 CITY GEARBOXES Coventry Mercia-Vikings 20 1. Ryan Terry-Daley 2 1’ 0 = 3+1 2. Cam Hoskins N 2 1 = 3 3. Max Clegg 1’ 2’ 3 = 6+2 4. Nathan Greaves 2 3 3 =8 Ht 1 : Williamson Terry-Daley Neale (ns) Hoskins (ns) 3-2 3-2 2 : Phillips Greaves Clegg Darroch 3-3 6-5 3 : Greaves Clegg Williamson Neale (ns) 1-5 7-10 4 : Phillips Hoskins Terry-Daley Darroch 3-3 10-13 5 : Greaves Neale Hoskins Darroch 2-4 12-17 6 : Clegg Phillips Williamson Terry-Daley 3-3 15-20