Main Man

Peter E Smith could well be my mate Pete Smith from Sheffield who rode for a variety of clubs including Long Eaton, Stoke, Middlesborough , Kings Lynn ??

on its way!!

There are no guests in the Vikings side !!....Conor Dwyer has been a squad member all year and was at the pre-season launch when he was announced as such. Andy Braithwaite came into the squad when Paul Quarterman was injured whilst Josh Bates was added as cover for Dan Greenwood, Tyler Govier was signed when Freddie Owen broke his leg.

David Holt replaces Adam Kirby in Stags side

MIDLAND DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE SHEFFIELD TIGER CUBS 21 SCUNTHORPE STAGS 14SCUNTHORPE STAGS 20 SHEFFIELD TIGER CLUBS 16 After two meetings in two days Scunthorpe Stags Team Manager Richard Hollingsworth is delighted with how the Midland Development League has evolved in 2012. His side won the home meeting 20-16 but lost Thursday night’s meeting in Sheffield 21-14 but he declared “This league is all about getting inexperienced riders track time and if you look at the eleven riders who competed over these two meetings you have to say the league is doing it’s job. There were no riders older than their mid-twenties, none who have already reached their peak and many of them are teenagers. “I feel sorry for all the riders who don’t qualify for the MDL and it can be tough getting a team together at times but to see so many young riders competing makes it all worthwhile. The problem we have at Scunthorpe is that we have so many riders in the National League Saints team that need these meetings. We had Max Clegg riding for Sheffield and Tommy Fenwick heading the Stags tonight but quite often we have Oliver Greenwood and Danny Phillips wanting to ride. I hope the rules can be amended for next season to ensure the league helps these type of riders. “Other than that and a couple of other minor tweaks the league is excellent. I wasn’t totally convinced about its merits last year but the quality of the racing is far superior this year. Tonight I had to swap a couple of riders so the number ones (Tommy Fenwick and Max Clegg) got to face each other for a second time and it also make heat 5 probably the best I’ve seen in the MDL. We had three youngsters, Michael Faulkner, Connor Coles and David Holt swapping places throughout the race and you could throw a blanket over them at the finish. They were all buzzing after that race and it will have done their confidence a world of good. “Tommy Fenwick might be a little older than the others but hasn’t been riding a speedway bike a year yet and he was sub sixty-one seconds tonight. That was an achievement whilst David Holt went sub sixty-three seconds which is pretty good for him. “Next week we go to Coventry on Wednesday which will be a different track for most of the team so that will be another good experience for the riders”. The Stags remaining meetings are: Wednesday 8th August - Away v CoventryFriday 17th August – Home v Belle VueThursday 23rd August – Away v Milton Keynes (at Sheffield)Friday 14th September – Home v Stoke Post match quotes: Richard Hollingsworth (Stags’ Team Manager) – “It’s shame to lose but it’s more important to get these meetings on and give young riders track time. Danny Phillips is just 15 and has only been riding a few months. He was close to sixty-one seconds in heat 5 which shows he is progressing well whilst Adam Kirby did well on his second bike to make the pass on Adam Sheppard in heat 2. “Mike Faulkner stepped in and was on the pace. Thankfully he is okay after his fall and he just needs track time and the same applies to Simon Allan. Simon was beating himself up and wasn’t going to take his last ride. His confidence had gone after his fall in heat 3 but I told him he wasn’t going to regain it sat on his backside. He went out and did four steady laps in heat 6 and he’s started the process of rebuilding his confidence. “He was pleased he’d gone out and as I tell all the lads it’s not about whether the Stags win or lose. It is about learning. When there is plenty of dirt out wide after a Premier League meeting you don’t need riders feeling pressured to go into dirt when you know they don’t have the experience to ride it. That experience comes further down the line and you need to set your bike up differently to ride dirt like that. “Our next meeting isn’t until we go to Sheffield at the end of April but Halifax start their home meetings at the Eddie Wright Raceway on 20th April against Long Eaton and they have some great youngsters in their squad. Connor Coles and Liam Carr are young lads who have a lot of potential whilst another teenager, Rachel Hellowell, just gets faster and faster and is undoubtedly the best female in the country. I think she is going to take a few scalps this year if she takes her speedway seriously”. Full scorers: Sheffield Tiger Cubs 21 – Max Clegg 8 (3 rides), Andy Braithwaite 6+2 (3), Tom Woolley 3 (2), Andy Blackburn 4 (3) Scunthorpe Stags 14 – Oliver Greenwood 6 (3 rides), David Holt 4 (4), Adam Kirby 2 (3), Michael Neale 2 (2). 1: Greenwood, Clegg, Braithwaite, Holt. (3-3)(3-3) Close race between the two Scunthorpe Saints riders competing for opposing sides 2: Woolley, Neale, Blackburn, Kirby. (4-2)(7-5)Adam Kirby shed a chain and fell whilst second on lap three 3: Clegg, Holt, Blackburn, Neale (retired). (4-2)(11-7)Michael Neale suffered an engine failure whilst second on the last lap 4: (re-run) Braithwaite, Holt, Woolley (retired), Greenwood (fell, excluded). (3-2)(14-9)Oliver Greenwood fell whilst second on the third bend of the first running. His Point 2 air bag race jacket worked and he “couldn’t feel a thing” when he landed. Tom Woolley had an engine failure when leading the re-run at the end of the third lap 5: Clegg, Braithwaite, Kirby, Holt. (5-1) (19-10) 6: Greenwood, Blackburn, Kirby (three riders only). (2-4) (21-14)With rain starting to fall the meeting was completed in the nick of time. Andrew Blackburn passed Adam Kirby on the last lap. Scunthorpe Stags 20 – Tommy Fenwick 5 (3 rides), David Holt 5+2 (3), Adam Kirby 6(3), Michael Faulkner 4+2 (3) Sheffield Tiger Cubs 16 – Max Clegg 12 (4), Connor Coles 4 (4), Michael Neale 0 (1) 1: Clegg, Fenwick, Holt, Coles (retired), 60.72 (3-3)(3-3)Max Clegg came from third to finally work his way past Tommy Fenwick after the Scot held him at bay for a couple of laps. Connor Coles suffered an engine failure whilst third on lap three. 2: Clegg, Kirby, Faulkner, Neale (fell, excluded), no time, race awarded (3-3)(6-6)Michael Neale was third when he fell on the last lap 3: Fenwick, Faulkner, Coles (three riders only), 60.90 (5-1)(11-7)Good race for second place with Michael Faulkner doing well to hold off Connor Coles 4: Clegg, Kirby, Holt, (three riders only), 60.28 (3-3)(14-10) 5: Holt, Coles, Faulkner (three riders only), 62.94 (4-2)(18-12)Scunthorpe put Michael Faulkner in for Tommy Fenwick. Fantastic race with the proverbial blanket being able to be thrown over all three riders as they passed and re-passed each other for the full four laps. 6: Clegg, Kirby, Coles, Fenwick, 59.97 (2-4)(20-16)Max Clegg made a fantastic start and Tommy Fenwick took to the dirt to try and get back on terms with him. However, a mistake out in the dirt relegated him to last. Clegg’s last two winning times were better than heats 2 and 8 of the preceding Premier League meeting.

The points scored by Danny Phillps will not count

WEDS 8TH AUGUST 2012 Coventry-Mercia NCA Vikings v Scunthorpe Stags VIKINGS : Conor Dwyer Tyler Govier © Andrew Braithwaite Josh Bates Team Managers : Kelvin Lapworth / Laurence Rogers STAGS : Michael Faulkner Adam Kirby Oliver Greenwood Danny Phillps Team Manager : Richard Hollingworth Following the Elite League clash on Wednesday night (August 8th) between the Coventry Bees and Swindon Robins the Mercia Vikings have an all important MDL clash with Scunthorpe Stags . They are aiming not only to maintain their unbeaten home record but to achieve their first double of the season having defeated them a week last Friday. The league table is the tightest possible with every club still in contention to make the end of season play offs so there is everything to go for in that respect. That though is icing on the cake as the main aim of the MDL is to find young British talent who need track time –which is why losing last Friday’s Godiva Trophy at Brandon to the curfew was a big disappointment to the seven youngsters taking part. The clash marks the home debut of 16 year old Josh Bates who scored a superb 9 point max in the away meeting against the Stags . He rides in the National League for Mildenhall and is a hot prospect for the future who is mentored by former England International rider Louis Carr. Bates is joined by Devonian Tyler Govier –who makes his second appearance in Coventry colours and skippers the side in the absence of Martin Knuckey and local lads Conor Dwyer and Andrew Braithwaite. The Vikings are promoting the sponsorship opportunities to help the Vikings –who are not paid for riding or travel but get a much appreciated £20 voucher from the Nuneaton Speedway Supporters Club every home meeting to spend at Cov-Comp’s spares van. Race sponsorship is just £10 a meeting and meeting sponsorship a bargain £40 a meeting –which will go to help the riders with fuel and oil costs. Also advance warning of the MDL Rider’s Championship at Leicester on Friday September 28th where each club will nominate two riders with two wild cards added to the line-up which will be run on the Grand Prix format. Race sponsors for this are being sought at £35 a race with full meeting sponsor available for £300 plus backing for rider medals and product sponsorship. For both Vikings sponsorship and the MDL Final contact : teamvikingsw@aol.co.uk or laurencerogers@blueyonder.co.uk

The Mercia Vikings present the Godiva Trophy at Coventry tonight, Friday 3rd August, following the Bees v Wolves Elite League clash. It will be contested by six riders over six heats with each rider having four rides. Confirmed are; Conor Dwyer, Cam Hoskins, Adam Portwood, Andy Braithwaite, Lee Geary and Chris Widman. 14 year old Nathan Greaves will be doing demo races in between the heats

EVENT PREVIEW Dirt Track competition to hot up in the Potteries The all action, British Dirt Track championships heads to another new venue, the Loomer Road Stadium, Stoke on Trent and the home of the Stoke Potters Speedway team this Sunday 5th August in the penultimate round of the series, and one in which is crunch time for all of those involved in the title chase, as well as Super Final qualification. The Dirt Track Championships includes racing from Dirt Track Solos (Grasstrack Bikes), Quads and Mini Bikes in an event with over 40, full on, flat out sprint races with all of the riders gunning for glory in the national championships In the QUADZILLA QRA British Quad Oval Championships, which is in its 21st season and one that has been ranked as the toughest ever, it is big track man Lee Hazelwood from Kidderminster who has all the pressure after suffering a poor, by his standards meeting at the small Rye House Circuit in round 4. Hazelwood a former 2 time champion and 2012 round 1 and 3 winner trails series leader the flying Welshman Ben Richmond, and with 2 rounds to go Lee will know it’s now or never if he is to claw back some points to take the title. The battle for the rostrum place is also close between Reading rider Danny Smith who races on a brand new machine this weekend in his aim to top the podium in this round, and Boston’s Nick Wright who has been in excellent form this season and is the surprise package of 2012. Further down the field the competition is all about qualification to the Super Final at Coventry, which will see the top 10 riders in the series after this round going for a prize fund in a highly attractive new competition. Riders looking to cement their place in the top 10 are John Elliot from Reading, Aaron Pole from Leicester and Geoff Glover but they will be chased hard from Sussex based Rob Heath who is looking to make up for missing a round, and Preston’s Lee Baxter. One to watch for the Locals is former Stoke Speedway rider Mark Walsh who has been racing Quads for 12 years and is going all out to impress at his former stomping ground In the M & S Truck Rentals British Dirt Track Solo Championships young Trevor Heath will be looking to continue his stunning form having been unbeaten in his last 10 races, and leads the series by over the Veteran Eric Pike. The battle for second place is where the series competition is at, with both Jon Stevens and young Adam Shepherd both with a chance to reel in Pike with two rounds to go The racing in the Welsh Pitbikes British Dirt Track Mini Bike Championships will be as close and frantic as ever, with the works Stomp rider Luke Coker looking to keep up his consistent form and maintain his lead at the top of the leader board. He will have to watch out for the Welshman Matthew Cole who is getting quicker with every round and currently lies in second in the series. Third place man Wayne Johnstone needs to keep scoring the points as the ever charging and impressive Trevor Heath is going all out to win the event and climb the table. The Minis are another class contesting to qualify for the Super Final with the top 12 qualifying with Ryan Jeffries and Shane Jordon from Oxfordshire looking to cement their top 12 spot’s but with Sussex based Andrew Walker, amongst others, looking to reel them in competition for places will be hot. The racing kicks off at 2.30pm with the turnstiles open at 1.30pm. Catering outlet and bars will be open and with over 40 races it is great value for money with Adults being £10, Concessions £7 Children 12-16 £3 and Under 12’s going FREE. For further spectator info call Paul Oughton on 07917 117007 or email paul@allterrainevents.eu Other information is on www.britishdirttrack.co.uk

EVENT PREVIEW Dirt Track competition to hot up in the Potteries The all action, British Dirt Track championships heads to another new venue, the Loomer Road Stadium, Stoke on Trent and the home of the Stoke Potters Speedway team this Sunday 5th August in the penultimate round of the series, and one in which is crunch time for all of those involved in the title chase, as well as Super Final qualification. The Dirt Track Championships includes racing from Dirt Track Solos (Grasstrack Bikes), Quads and Mini Bikes in an event with over 40, full on, flat out sprint races with all of the riders gunning for glory in the national championships In the QUADZILLA QRA British Quad Oval Championships, which is in its 21st season and one that has been ranked as the toughest ever, it is big track man Lee Hazelwood from Kidderminster who has all the pressure after suffering a poor, by his standards meeting at the small Rye House Circuit in round 4. Hazelwood a former 2 time champion and 2012 round 1 and 3 winner trails series leader the flying Welshman Ben Richmond, and with 2 rounds to go Lee will know it’s now or never if he is to claw back some points to take the title. The battle for the rostrum place is also close between Reading rider Danny Smith who races on a brand new machine this weekend in his aim to top the podium in this round, and Boston’s Nick Wright who has been in excellent form this season and is the surprise package of 2012. Further down the field the competition is all about qualification to the Super Final at Coventry, which will see the top 10 riders in the series after this round going for a prize fund in a highly attractive new competition. Riders looking to cement their place in the top 10 are John Elliot from Reading, Aaron Pole from Leicester and Geoff Glover but they will be chased hard from Sussex based Rob Heath who is looking to make up for missing a round, and Preston’s Lee Baxter. One to watch for the Locals is former Stoke Speedway rider Mark Walsh who has been racing Quads for 12 years and is going all out to impress at his former stomping ground In the M & S Truck Rentals British Dirt Track Solo Championships young Trevor Heath will be looking to continue his stunning form having been unbeaten in his last 10 races, and leads the series by over the Veteran Eric Pike. The battle for second place is where the series competition is at, with both Jon Stevens and young Adam Shepherd both with a chance to reel in Pike with two rounds to go The racing in the Welsh Pitbikes British Dirt Track Mini Bike Championships will be as close and frantic as ever, with the works Stomp rider Luke Coker looking to keep up his consistent form and maintain his lead at the top of the leader board. He will have to watch out for the Welshman Matthew Cole who is getting quicker with every round and currently lies in second in the series. Third place man Wayne Johnstone needs to keep scoring the points as the ever charging and impressive Trevor Heath is going all out to win the event and climb the table. The Minis are another class contesting to qualify for the Super Final with the top 12 qualifying with Ryan Jeffries and Shane Jordon from Oxfordshire looking to cement their top 12 spot’s but with Sussex based Andrew Walker, amongst others, looking to reel them in competition for places will be hot. The racing kicks off at 2.30pm with the turnstiles open at 1.30pm. Catering outlet and bars will be open and with over 40 races it is great value for money with Adults being £10, Concessions £7 Children 12-16 £3 and Under 12’s going FREE. For further spectator info call Paul Oughton on 07917 117007 or email paul@allterrainevents.eu Other information is on www.britishdirttrack.co.uk

a BIG thank you to Jan O + Big Al Grahame along with mechanic Merle Craven as we rebuilt Dan Greenwood'd bike after the heavy crash in heat 6 that saw the air fence do its job but damaged . Dan was under the bikes but somehow escaped injury although his back was hurting after the meeting. The long delay repairing the fence allowed us enough time to strip down the front end and forks on his spare bike and re-fit it to his No. 1 bike with five of us working on it!! It was finished just in time for him to make the re-run ! Been an expensive week for the youngster with a snapped diamond at the Isle of Wight and now a complete front end to replace. The lad rode really well after this and had a tough ht 16 where he chased hard against Heeps, Newman and Kurtz and then gave Lambert a tough battle just losing out to him on the line in heat 19.

Leigh Lanham is 1st reserve

what did Josh Bates do ?

He had snapped the diamond at the IOW on Tuesday and is in the middle of moving so was unavailable so Josh , who was due to have ridden for the Vikings at Belle Vue recently but that fell victim to the rain , was called in and he will be covering for Dan for resat of season ..did a Dan type job too with a superb max including taking heat 1 after being penalised 15 metres

Beaumont Park, Leicester MDL Saturday 28th July 2012 Defending champions Long Eaton moved level on points with Belle Vue at the top of the MDL by beating the Colts 20-16 at Beaumont Park on Saturday evening. Led by Oliver Greenwood's 9-point maximum, the Invaders might've won by a greater margin if Connor Coles hadn't been unlucky enough to fall in two of his three rides, but still had to overcome stiff resistance from the visitors, especially their No.1, 15-year-old Max Clegg, who is surely the most promising young rider in the UK at the present time. Invaders 20 Oliver Greenwood 3-3-3 = 9 Connor Coles F-2-F = 2 Lee Geary © 3-1*-0 = 4+1 Liam Rumsey 1-2*-2 = 5+1 Colts 16 Max Clegg 2-3-3 = 8 David Holt 1*-0-1* = 2+2 Tom Woolley 2-1-2 = 5 MIchael Neale F-F-1 = 1 H1 (Clegg 15m h/cap for tape offence) Greenwood, Clegg, Holt (Coles fell) 3-3/3-3 68.09 H2 Geary, Woolley, Rumsey (Neale fell) 4-2 / 7-5 70.13 H3 Greenwood, Rumsey, Woolley, Holt 5-1/ 12-6 69.03 H4 Clegg, Coles, Geary (Neale fell) 3-3 / 15-9 70.25 H5 Greenwood, Woolley, Holt (Coles fell) 3-3 / 18-12 67.75 H6 Clegg, Rumsey, Neale, Geary 2-4 / 20-16 68.15

Midland Development League Friday July 27th Scunthorpe Stags 8 Coventry Mercia Vikings 20 (amended from 16-20) Scunthorpe Stags 8 Adam Kirby F/X 2’ 3 5+1 Michael Faulkner 1 0 0 1 David Holt 1 1 0 2 Damien Koppe 3 3 2 8 (Points do not count) Coventry-Mercia NCA Vikings 20 Josh Bates 3 3 3 9 max Adam Portwood 2’ 0 1’ 3 +2 Martin Knuckey © 2 1 2 5 Conor Dwyer X 2’ 1 3+1 The Coventry-Mercia Vikings raced to their first away win of the MDL season with a victory over Scunthorpe on Friday night. Although the match finished with a 16-20 scoreline the eight points scored by Australian Damien Koppe did not count as he is ineligible for this league so the amended result shows a victory by 20 points to 8. The win and the resultant two points sees the Vikings leapfrog the Stags into 4th position in the league table and put them in striking distance of making the end of season play-offs. It looked bleak though in the first two heats with no fewer than three exclusions for Vikings riders but they all showed strong resilience and in fact were ahead at this stage despite the setbacks! Heat one saw Josh Bates disqualified for touching the tapes whilst home rider Adam Kirby also earned the wrath of the referee for delaying the start putting both riders on a 15 metre handicap . In the re-run Kirby went down on the first turn in a racing incident with Bates with both going for the same line with Kirby disqualified. In the second re-run young Bates (pictured) , who has now been added to the Vikings squad as cover for No. 1 Dan Greenwood , came through for a superb win followed by team mate Adam Portwood to give the Vikings a 5-1 start. Heat two was initially re-run after Damien Koppe moved at the tapes then in the re-run Conor Dwyer was excluded for not being under power as his bike stopped whilst partner Martin Knuckey was also excluded for his helmet peak touching the tapes …although the tapes seemed to go up on the inside before the outside gate . With Dwyer’s bike out of use Vikings skipper Knuckey went off 15 metres and secured s fine 2nd spot passing David Holt but unable to catch Koppe but the Vikings held a 7-5 lead. The Stags bounced back with a 5-1 in heat 3 to take the lead 10-8 but the Vikings bounced back in the best possible way to regain the lead at 11-15 with their own maximum 5-1 heat success from the impressive debutant Bates and Conor Dwyer who had sorted out his bike gremlins. A drawn heat in the penultimate race maintained the two point lead at 14-16 . The final race saw the two unbeaten rides in opposition in Koppe and Bates and it was the 16 year old Bates who raced from the tapes to hold off the Australian for victory with Conor Dwyer pressing him hard for the whole race. The 2-4 heat score gave a final match result of 16-20 which for league table and statistics purposes was amended to 8-20. JOSH BATES : Born 1/2/96 Barnsley. British Career: 2012: Mildenhall Fen Tigers (NL) Individual Honours 2011: 4th 250cc British Championship 2011: Amateur Scunthorpe Summer Series Champion (250cc) Additional Information Josh had never been on any type of motorbike until the beginning of 2010, when he got his first 125cc speedway bike. After a few months of practicing on this he was ready for a 250cc, which he got in June 2010. After a few more months of practice Josh entered the 2011 250cc British Championship, where he finished 4th overall. As well as competing in the British championship Josh rode in the amateur summer championship at Scunthorpe which he won and he also competed in the 250cc world championship in Sweden. In January 2012 Josh started riding a 500cc for the first time. Josh bates

Sheffield Cubs v Long Eaton Invaders MDL Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield Thursday 26th July 2012 Sheffield Andy Braithwaite 3,0 = 3 Tom Woolley 2*,3 = 5+1 Ben Holloway 1 = 1 Max Clegg 3,3 = 6 Long Eaton Sean Tedham R/R Liam Rumsey 0,1* = 1+1 Conor Coles 2,2,ef = 4 Andy Blackburn 1,1*,2 = 4+1 H1 Braithwaite, Woolley, Blackburn, Rumsey 5-1/5-1 69.6 H2 (3 riders only) Clegg, Coles, Blackburn 3-3 / 8-4 66.3 H3 Clegg, Coles, Rumsey, Braithwaite 3-3 / 11-7 65.5 H4 Woolley, Blackburn, Holloway (Coles ef) 4-1 / 15-9 67.8 OUT OF TIME. MEETING CLOSED. RESULT STANDS 15-9

Belle Vue Diamond H Colts 9 Max Clegg 2 2 4 David Holt 1' 2 3+1 Shaun Tedham 2 D 2 Michael Neale X R 0 Scunthorpe Stags 13 Oliver Greenwood 3 3 6 Sean Phillips F F 1 1 Tom Woolley 3 3 6 Martin Wrathall R 0 1 Greenwood, Clegg, Holt, Phillips (fell), 3-3, 3-3 2 Woolley, Tedham, Neale (fell, excluded), Wrathall (retired), awarded 2-3, 5-6 3 Woolley, Clegg, Neale (retired), Phillips (fell), 2-3, 7-9 4 Greenwood, Holt, Phillips, Tedham (fell, excluded), awarded 2-4, 9-13

MDL Co-ordinator Kelvin Lapworth is delighted to announce that a deal has been done with Leicester speedway to stage the first ever MDL Riders Championship Final on the 28th September. Commented Lapworth , “ Discussions have been in place for the last 2 months with both Alan Jones and David Hemsley of Leicester and this week we were finally given the official go ahead by the BSPA.” “Along with the Grand Final play-off this will be the showpiece of the MDL season and will give 16 of the leagues riders an opportunity to prove who is the best in the league and I'm sure we are in for some very exciting racing. The meeting will take on the GP format with the top 8 riders after 20 qualifying heats going through to the semi-finals and then a grand final. Each of the 7 MDL clubs will nominate 2 riders with 2 wild cards being nominated by the league co-ordinators, and then the 2 reserves will be nominated by Leicester.” “In line with MDL regulations the riders will receive no points money for this meeting, however I am looking for sponsorship. This will go towards covering the rider’s costs and if we raise enough we could use it to provide each rider a voucher to spend on the spares van. Sponsorship can be either for the meeting or per heat. We are also looking for Trophy sponsors and any goods suppliers that want to donate prizes to the top three on the night. Any interested parties can contact Kelvin Lapworth on teamvikingsw@aol.com.” “I can confirm though that the first "wildcard" will be Leicester lad Chris Widman. Widman recently became a victim of the 50 NL meetings rule which makes riders ineligible for the MDL. “ “Chris has been a good servant to the MDL since its formation last year but can no longer ride in it as he has gone over the 50 meetings limit. In giving Chris a wildcard its a reward for his efforts over the last two years and will one last swansong as an MDL rider".

Martin -- I rely on the clubs to supply me with the details except for the Vikings ones and try to get the reports on the bspa site and here on the bsf plus in the Speedway Star

Stoke Spitfires 14 – MK Knights 18 MK Knights secured their 2nd away MDL victory in an eventful clash against Stoke Spitfires at Loomer Rd With rider availabilities an issue on a busy amateur speedway weekend, Knights team manager Richard Ward drafted in guest riders David Holt & Ben Holloway but with Alex McLeod being forced out of the meeting at short notice, it looked like the Knights would have to take to the track with only 3 riders! With Scunthorpe Saints NL fixture at Rye House being called off early, Knights No.1 Ollie Greenwood declared himself available and the Knights took to the track with a full team! With John Markham’s bike failing to get thru the machine examiner, the Spitfires now started the meeting with only 3 riders, his rides due to be taken by the rest of the team! A shared 1st heat was followed by Tedham crashing on the 1st turn of heat 2, Andy Mellish tried to lay his bike down to avoid him but took a nasty spill, injurying his hand! With Tedham exclude & Mellish withdrawn from the meeting on medical grounds (Spitfires now down to 2 riders) Ollie Greenwood & Ben Holloway set off on what looked to be a 0-5 for the Knights, that is until Greenwood picked up some unexpected drive on turn 4 of the 3rd lap, forcing him into the air-fence! Controversially, the exclusion light came on without Ollie being given any chance to re-mount and the race was awarded 0-3, with Holloway taking the win! Heat 3 saw more controversy as Greenwood was excluded under the 2 minute rule, even though he couldn’t get on the track after the pit gate was closed! Despite being given the opportunity to start from 15m, as per MDL rules, the tapes went up and Tedham & Walter raced to a 5-1 over David Holt With heats 4 & 5 shared, Spitfires held a 14-13 lead going into the last heat MDL rules state that no rider can have more than 4 rides and as Tedham & Walter had already had 4 starts, heat 6 saw the Knights pairing of Dwyer & Holloway take to the track un-opposed for a 0-5 to take the meeting win 14-18 Spitfires Shaun Tedham 3 Fx 2* 3 = 8+1 Ross Walter R 3 3 0 = 7 Andy Mellish F ns ns = 0 John Markham ns ns ns = 0 Knights Conor Dwyer 2 2 3 = 7 David Holt 1*1 1* = 3+2 Ollie Greenwood Fx Ex 2 = 2 Ben Holloway 3 1* 2* = 6+2 H1 Tedham, Dwyer, Holt, Walter - 3-3/3-3 H2 Holloway, Greenwood (Fx), Tedham (Fx), Mellish (F- withdrawn) - 0-3/3-6 H3 Walter, Tedham, Holt, Greenwood (ex – 2mins) - 5-1/8-7 H4 Walter, Dwyer, Holloway (3 riders only) - 3-3/11-10 H5 Tedham, Greenwood, Holt, Walter - 3-3/14-13 H6 Dwyer, Holloway (2 riders only) - 0-5/14-18 www.mkknightsspeedway.co.uk

Sheffield Tiger Cubs 17 – MK Knights 19 Following their 2nd away win of the season at Stoke last Saturday, MK Knights followed that up with an exciting 17-19 win against Sheffield Tiger Cubs @ Owlerton Stadium With both teams fielding strong line-ups, the meeting looked to be in doubt as rain continued to fall during most of the Sheffield vs Ipswich Premier League clash but as the rain eased just before the start both teams agreed to press on! Ollie Greenwood showed his intent from the gate in heat 1, leading home Owlerton specialists Max Clegg & Tom Woolley. Heat 2 brought drama at the tapes with Knights guest rider, Shaun Tedham, nearly looping at the start. Conor Dwyer made a great start but all the excitement was at the back as Tedham chased down Andy Braithwaite for 4 laps, finally taking 3rd place with an outside pass on the last band. Conor Dwyer in heat 3 & Ollie Greenwood in 4 protected the Knights 2 point lead with consecutive race wins but the meeting result looked to have turned in heat 5 when Max Clegg & Tom Woolley raced clear for a home 5-1 against Dwyer & Sheppard to open up a 16-14 lead with only 1 race remaining As the rain started to fall for the final heat, Shaun Tedham withdraw from his last ride due to damage sustained to his bike when a chain snapped in in heat 4, Conor Dwyer taking his place. As the tapes rose, Greenwood & Dwyer reached the 1st turn ahead of Braithwaite & Holt and with the rain continuing to fall they managed to feel their way round for 1-5 to clinch the meeting 17-19 and lifting the Knights into 2nd spot in the Midland Development League Special thanks must go to all 8 riders who, despite the conditions, contributed to an exciting meeting and showed how much they have all developed since junior league racing was re-introduced. 6 heats, no falls & no re-starts! Sheffield Tiger Cubs Max Clegg 1 2 2* = 5+1 Tom Woolley 2 2 3 = 7 Andy Braithwaite 0 1* 1 = 2+1 David Holt 2 1* 0 = 3+1 Milton Keynes Knights Ollie Greenwood 3 3 3 = 9 Adam Sheppard 0 0 0 = 0 Conor Dwyer 3 3 1 2*= 9+1 Shaun Tedham 1 R = 1 H1 Greenwood, Woolley, Clegg, Sheppard - 3-3/3-3 67.9secs H2 Dwyer, Holt, Tedham, Braithwaite - 2-4/5-7 67.2secs H3 Dwyer, Clegg, Holt, Sheppard - 3-3/8-10 67.9secs H4 Greenwood, Woolley, Braithwaite, Tedham (retired) - 3-3/11-13 67.6secs H5 Woolley, Clegg, Dwyer, Sheppard - 5-1/16-14 67.8secs H6 Greenwood, Dwyer, Braithwaite, Holt - 1-5/17-19 72.2secs www.mkknightsspeedway.co.uk

Friday 20th July 2012 Coventry Mercia Vikings 19 v Long Eaton Invaders 17 Midland Development League Match The Coventry-Mercia Vikings maintained their unbeaten home record at Brandon Stadium Coventry, with a convincing victory over arch rivals Long Eaton Invaders –the team that took the 2011 Midland Development League title with victory over the Vikings last year in the play off finals. The Vikings went behind 7-5 after two heats but bounced back with a superb maximum 5-1 heat win in heat 3 with local lad Conor Dwyer combining with Adam Portwood to keep Invaders top man Lee Geary behind them. After a drawn heat 4 the home side put themselves in an unassailable position with their second maximum 5-1 heat win in the fifth race. It was Dwyer again who raced to the heat win but it was 16 year old debutant Tyler Govier from Exeter who finished in the vital second spot behind his team mate to make the scores 18-12. The Invaders bounce back in the final heat taking a 5-1 themselves after Vikings skipper Martin Knuckey fell but his side had enough points in the bag to secure victory and gain the two league points to leapfrog the side into 4th in the MDL table. The Vikings have an away meeting at Scunthorpe on Friday before their next home meeting at Brandon on Wednesday August 8th in the return match with the Scunthorpe Saints which follows he Coventry Bees v Swindon Robins Elite League clash. Mercia Vikings 19 Conor Dwyer 2,3,3 = 8 Tyler Govier 1*,1*,2* = 4+3 Martin Knuckey 2,2,0 = 4 Adam Portwood 0,2*,1 = 3+1 Long Eaton Invaders 17 Oliver Greenwood 3,3,3 = 9 Ben Holloway 0,0,1 = 1 Lee Geary 3,1,0 = 4 Liam Rumsey 1,0,2* = 3+1 H1 Greenwood, Dwyer, Govier, Holloway 3-3/3-3 64.8 H2 Geary, Knuckey, Rumsey, Portwood 2-4/5-7 66.9 H3 Dwyer, Portwood, Geary, Holloway 5-1/10-8 65.0 H4 Greenwood, Knuckey, Govier, Rumsey 3-3/13-11 64.7 H5 Dwyer, Govier, Holloway, Geary 5-1/18-12 65.1 H6 (Knuckey fell & remounted) Greenwood, Rumsey, Portwood, Knuckey 1-5/19-17 64.9 Quick report by Vicki Quaterman : great night tonight. vikings won the match against a strong looking Long eaton side 19-17. a brill night of racing. new recruit tyler Govier had some speed on track, looking quicker and more at home with each passing lap. Number 1 for the night conor dwyer top scored for the vikings with 8 points, with tyler, martin and adam all scoring 4. heat 1 got off to a 3-3 start with ollie greenwood making the start and the vikings boys conor and tyler followed in behind. heat 2 saw a 4-2 to long eatons pairing of lee geary and liam rumsey. martin and adam follwed for the 2 points. heat 3 saw some amazing riding from conor and adam to gain a 5-1 with lee geary getting 3rd after suffering bike problems during the race. heat 4 saw another 3-3. again with ollie greenwood taking the win with vikings pairing martin and tyler getting the important 3 points. heat 5 again saw another amazing 5-1 from vikings pairing of conor and tyler with ben holloway getting 3rd over lee geary (who had carbaretter problems). In the last race of the night a 5-1 went to the long eaton pairing of ollie greenwood and liam rumsey, with adam in 3rd place after martin fell on bend 1 whilst in 2nd place. all in all a great nights racing and some amazing team spirt and riding. keep it up boys. NO GUTS NO GLORY!!

British Dirt Track Championships - Round 4 Sunday July 22nd - 11.45am start, Rye House Speedway Stadium, Rye Road, Hoddeson, Hertfordhire EVENT PREVIEW The Dirt Track battle to rage on at Rye House! The battle for British Dirt Track honors continues at the Rye House speedway circuit in Hertfordshire on Sunday 22nd July in what is round 4 of the National Championships which incorporates, Quads, Mini Bikes, Grasstrack bikes and Moto crossers in a packed afternoon of racing. Things are tight at the top of the QUADZILLA QRA British Quad Oval Championships which is in its 21st season, having last visited the Hertfordshire circuit over 10 years ago. The Series leader is fiery Welshman Ben Richmond who holds a 2 point lead over the ultra fast Lee Hazelwood from Kidderminster who took both the round 1 and 3 titles with maximums. These were both at the larger circuits of Coventry and Swindon so things are expected to be closer at Rye House with last years runner up Danny Smith of Reading favoring the technical circuits. Nick Wright from Boston has been impressive this season and if his form continues he will be a spoiler whilst comeback man James Fletcher has been consistently pushing the front runners. Veteran John Elliot cannot be discounted and will be looking to make up for a poor round 3. The Welsh Pitbikes British Dirt Track Mini Bike class is always full of thrills and spills and on a smaller circuit the racing will be very close and incident packed. STOMP works rider Luke Coker leads the series by 15 points over the Welshman Mathew Cole, with the small circuit looking to favour the former. Wayne Johnstone from Uxbridge lies in 3rd position and he will surely be in the mix after an indifferent round 3. Watch out for Round 3 final winner Trevor Heath who is down the order in the series but a potential winner here as well as another STOMP works rider Gary Phelps who had his best ever meeting at Swindon. In the M & S Truck Rentals British Dirt Track Solo class which is competed on Grass Track machines with Speedway back wheels, the favorite must be Round 3 winner Trevor Heath after recording a superb maximum. He has ground to make up on series leader veteran Eric Pike but a good round could see him go top of the leader board. Young Adam Shepherd could also finish the round leading the series. His consistency could be the key. But watch out also for former Wimbledon Speedway rider Jon Stevens and newcomer Tom Meakins who could put the cat amongst the pigeons. There will also be a support MX class where the Moto Cross boys add speedway tyres to their bikes and race flat out for the win. There are still a few late spaces for competitors, so if they would like to race they can do so by texting or calling Gaynor on 07718 208640 or by emailing entries@allterrainevents.eu All in all over 40 races to be enjoyed with plenty of motorsport action to liven up a Sunday afternoon so don’t miss it. Turnstiles open at 11am with a 11.45am first race. Bars and catering facilities will be open. Prices are Adults £10, Concessions (Students and OAPS with ID) £7, Children 12-16 £3 and children 11 and under go FREE. For further spectator info visit www.britishdirttrack.co.uk or call Paul Oughton on 07917 117007 or emailpaul@allterrainevents.eu

Coventry-Mercia NCA Vikings : Conor Dwyer Tyler Govier Martin Knuckey © Adam Portwood Team Manager : Kelvin Lapworth Long Eaton Skills Coaches INVADERS Oliver Greenwood (g) Ben Holloway Lee Geary © Liam Rumsey Team Manager : Steve Cook Demo races after hts 2. 4 and 6 : Nathan Greaves The top two teams from the 2011 Midland Development League lock horns on Friday (July 20th) following the Coventry v Swindon Elite League clash as the Mercia Vikings take on arch rivals Long Eaton. The Invaders currently lie in second spot in the Midland Development League table and aiming for another tilt at the league title again. They have been hit by losing top rider Chris Widman , back in the National League with Buxton, who has become ineligible for the Midland Development League as he has ridden in more than 50 league fixtures at National League level. In his place the Invaders bring in a guest in Milton Keynes and Scunthorpe rider Oliver Greenwood. Vikings own Greenwood, Dan, their number one sits out the fixture as he has a busy spell for his National League outfit Dudley and in his spot dependable local lad Conor Dwyer steps in . Making his long awaited debut is 16 year old Tyler Govier who was signed to replace broken leg victim Freddie Owen –who is hoping to be back on his bike in a short while. Devonian Govier has been scoring good points in the Anglia Junior League for Mildenhall and is involved in the British Under 16 Championship. Skipper Martin Knuckey makes the long journey from his native Cornwall aiming to steady his side towards victory after they became the first team to take a point off league leaders Belle Vue in the Vikings last home match. Completing the NCA Vikings side is 17 year old Adam Portwood who also rides in the Anglia Junior League for Peterborough and looking to get amongst the points against the Invaders. The Invaders, who defeated the Vikings in the MDL play off finals last year, are led by former Mercia skipper Lee Geary who is also a Vikings squad member.