Workington Comets skipper Craig Cook crashed out of a ROWE Motor Oil Premiership meeting for Leicester Lions against Ipswich.
He was hurt in a heat six pile-up and was withdrawn from the meeting with neck pains.
It means the Comets will have to assess his fitness ahead of tomorrow’s home Championship clash with Scunthorpe. Tate Zischke is also the subject of a late fitness test as he recovers from a bad crash in Poland.
The Witches maintained their advantage at the top of the table as they rapidly recovered from conceding a 5-1 in Heat 1 to dominate proceedings thereafter and win 60-30.
All members of the home side scored at least paid-eight with Emil Sayfutdinov (11+2) and guest Scott Nicholls (11) leading the way – but for the Lions former Comet, Richard Lawson (13) scored nearly half of their total on his own.
Cook had picked up the Lions’ point in the reserves races before slamming into the safety fence on bend four of the first lap in heat six, which would have seen him excluded if able to carry on.
Lions manager Stewart Dickson said: “I never expected this Leicester team to be only scoring 30 points at any track, regardless of who the opposition are.
“We’ve been to Ipswich before and given them a closer match, as have other teams, and there were a couple of really disappointing performances.
“We can’t accept that performance, and I must apologise to the Leicester fans who made the trip to support us. We all need to help each other, myself and the riders, and we need to show a reaction.”
Meanwhile west Cumbrian star Dan Bewley shone for Belle Vue when they crashed to a 54-36 defeat at Owlerton against Sheffield Tigers.
The Tigers swept the Aces aside in the early stages and were ten points to the good before Bewley took to the track, as the British Champion provided the bulk of the resistance for the visitors.
Holder brothers Chris (13) and Jack (11) led the Sheffield scoring whilst Bewley racked up 16 from six rides as the Aces suffered their heaviest defeat of the season.
Bewley said: “I honestly don’t know what happened. The boys really like Sheffield, it’s an awesome track to ride but we just didn’t seem to get going at all and it just wasn’t our night.
“In the past, we’ve been able to carry each other, but it’s one meeting. It’s not ideal because we want to win them all, so we are disappointed with the result.
“I had a pretty decent night but at the same time I’ve had poor nights here as well, and our away form is something we absolutely need to work on in the second half of the year.”
In the Championship Oxford Cheetahs have moved to sign the former Workington rider Adam Roynon who hails from Barrow.
He is brought in as a 28-day injury replacement for the sidelined Henry Atkins.
Roynon will make his debut for the Cowley club tonight in their trip to Redcar, one of his former clubs, with Atkins still ruled out after surgery on his broken finger.
Cheetahs manager Peter Schroeck said: “Adam fits the bill and we know he can come in and do the job for Cheetahs.
“It’s been hard getting hold of suitable guests for Henry, while our thanks go to Jacob Hook who did a great job in the several meetings he came in for us.
“With Henry still due to be out for a while, we had to make a move to make sure we maintain our push for the play-offs in the Cab Direct Championship and that is to bring in Adam for an initial spell of 28.
Edinburgh host second-placed Scunthorpe at Armadale tonight at the start of an important weekend of racing in the Cab Direct Championship.
The Monarchs edged out Oxford in their last home meeting and are still seeking to climb the table, whilst the Scorpions who visit Workington
The Bears are playing catch-up after a slow start to the season and have been in good form of late, but they have little margin for error if they are to mount a serious play-off challenge.
The Cheetahs are third in the table and they travel to Teesside with a 17-point advantage for the aggregate point.
