Former Workington Comets rider Charles Wright has been talking up Belle Vue’s chances in their top of the table Premiership clash tonight with Ipswich.
The 33-year-old Wright had four seasons with the Derwent Park club and has risen steadily through the ranks to be among the top-ranked British riders.
A former British champion, he says of tonight’s clash at the National Speedway Stadium: “Ipswich aren’t top of the table for nothing, and with the way they’ve strengthened up they will have a different team dynamic to the one we previously met.
“I raced with Rohan Tungate in my Somerset and Peterborough days. He’s a quick rider who knows his way around our track, so we’ll need to be strong from the start for this one.
“But we know we can win against Ipswich. We have done it before. They’ve only made two changes and we’re pretty confident at home, so it’ll be an exciting night for sure.”
The Aces defend their 100 per cent home record and go into the meeting five points behind the Witches with a match in hand.
Tungate and Aaron Summers come into the Ipswich team as they cover for injury to Erik Riss and suspension to Ben Barker, with the Foxhall club chasing a fifth away win of the season.
Ipswich manager Ritchie Hawkins is also a former Workington rider and he said: “We went well at Belle Vue earlier on in the year, but they were a little bit understrength.
“We have made some changes and have a full one to seven again which will be very nice after a lot of rider replacement of late.
“I feel we have kept the balance of the team as close as is possible as it was before, and we go to Belle Vue with great confidence. They are in great form at their home track so it will certainly be a tough evening.”
Meanwhile Sheffield will be without West Cumbrian Craig Cook for tonight’s Premiership fixture against King’s Lynn.
The former British Champion is still feeling ‘second-hand’ from a crash whilst on Championship duty with Glasgow just over a week ago, and the Tigers will operate rider replacement. Cook, a former Comets number one, had to miss the British final last Monday.
Ex Comets favourite Simon Stead is Sheffield manager and his side are in the play-off places and go into the meeting with an 11-point advantage over the Stars, who hand a debut to Frederik Jakobsen at reserve and know they now need a huge run of results.
Stead said: “I think it’s going to be a fantastic meeting. We’ve got two teams going head-to-head who are both really up for it for different reasons.
“Our lads are itching to get back racing at home and are really keen to add three more points to the board. King’s Lynn know they can’t really afford to lose this meeting if they’re to keep their play-off hopes alive.”
