WEEKEND PREVIEW: Elite League round 2 and Bank Holiday individuals

It’s a busy bank holiday weekend of racing coming up, with three individual events taking place on Saturday and Elite League round 2 commences on Sunday.

Wednesfield host the Girls Dash Trophies (2pm) and Christine Ellis Memorial (4pm) on Saturday afternoon. Lauren Hookway was victorious in the Girl’s Dash last year with Michelle Whitehead and Charlie-Jane Herbert filling the podium. Paul Heard was the 2014 Christine Ellis Memorial winner, followed by Ben Mould, who was the winner of this year’s dash and triple British champion Andy Angell in third.

Other Saturday racing sees Stockport host the annual Dave Bliston Memorial individual and Kesgrave Pumas do battle against Great Blakenham in South East Youth league. On Sunday, Coventry host round 2 of their successful Coventry League, with a match up between Earlsdon Hammers V Leicester Monarchs V Coventry Devlins V Birmingham Monarchs.

Elite League

Newport v Horspath
Newport lost heavily to Wednesfield Aces in round one two weeks ago. Champions Horspath may not have been entirely convincing in their victory against Poole, but a sign of a good team is one that can win when not at their best. As always, it’s difficult to predict who will race for the Hammers, Lukas Nowacki is most likely to make the trip of their Polish contingent. Newport will hope to see Jack Harold back in Elite League action after missing the first round.

Sheffield v Poole
Sheffield overcame a difficult opening tie away at Ipswich in round one. Pawel Idziorek raced to a maximum for the Stars and was awarded the match race trophy, which didn’t take place. Sheffield will have much the same team as they welcome Poole to Cookson Park, as their racing moves across the City while building work takes place at the Graves. Poole came close against Horspath with big performances from Gluchowski, Harris and Wheeler. More of the same will see them push the Stars all the way, should be a decent match.

Wednesfield v Ipswich
Ipswich travel to many people’s title favourites Wednesfield for their round two action. The Eagles were well beaten last year and if the Aces’ form is anything to go by in round one, they could have another tough day on their hands. You can never write off the Suffolk team though, they’ve got a squad full of good, young riders and a solid team from 1-8. Matt Hill has emerged through the ranks and produced some lightning gates as he impressed against Sheffield. Wednesfield are packed to the brim with quality as Ricki Johnson, Matt Smith and Bobby McMillan all join the Aces’ ranks, adding to their already strong Midland League side, making Ashmore Park a difficult place for any team to go to.

Safe journey to all travelling and enjoy your bank holiday weekend!