Pirates First for U21 Finalists

The Castle Cover Pirates have been boosted by the decisions of both Artur Mroczka and Darcy Ward to line-up for them in their away match at Coventry on Friday (16th July), the eve of the first leg of the World U21 final in Gdansk.Club owner Matt Ford admitted "I am absolutely chuffed that both Darcy and Artur have made themselves available for the Coventry meeting. We always had a meeting in the diary for this night, originally we were due at Lakeside, and therefore ran the risk of having to cover for their absence. I had booked Havvy (Gary Havelock) to step in at reserve believing that after Darcy's qualification and Artur's wild card nomination that they would be in Poland but they have both agreed to fly out on the Saturday morning. They are so keen to ride for us and not let the club down. That is a great attitude and I really applaud them highly. All too often we hear of British Speedway being the poor relations when it comes to these international events and indeed as a club we have been hit by them in the past, but neither wants to let Poole Speedway down and have worked their arrangements to accommodate us."
Before the Coventry date the Castle Cover Pirates have two other meetings to focus on, beginning with the visit of Lakeside on Wednesday. The visitors will be without their number one Lee Richardson through illness and have Chris Harris guesting. Ford added "It is a shame that Lee will be missing but I have spoken to John Cook and he has told me that Lee is quite ill at the moment and we wish him a speedy return to good health. They also have concerns over the fitness of Jonas Davidsson, he was due to make a return in Sweden tonight (Tuesday) after a broken cheekbone but I understand that he struggled over there and so we will have to wait and see on that. The important thing for the Pirates is that we try and pick up the momentum that we had before the recent break in fixtures and put on a good show in front of the legendary Ivan Mauger and special guest Joe Calzaghe on Wednesday night.

Humbled Hammers Return to Wimborne Road

Table-topping Poole Castle Cover Pirates await the visit of Lakeside Hammers to Wimborne Road this Wednesday on a night when the Dorset club could take their home league race points tally above 48,500. From their previous 988 home league matches, stretching back to 1948, Poole sides have so far scored 48,454.5 race points and therefore are well within striking distance of that milestone total.
70 of those points came at the expense of Lakeside, when the Essex side were last in town in April as the Pirates on that occasion gained their 10th highest scorer at Wimborne Road, a result that left the Hammers smarting and the catalyst for the team change that saw Lee Richardson eventually re-establish his links with the Lakeside at the expense of Krzysztof Kasprzak who missed that mauling.
The Hammers are hoping that Richardson will be fully recovered from a recent knee injury and that another former Pirate, Jonas Davidsson comes through his Swedish meeting on Tuesday without any adverse effects to a cheekbone injury sustained at the end of June, as they are keen to be at full strength to try and redeem themselves from that earlier humiliation.
The Pirates, who embark in a four match run in the space of six days have declared a full strength one to seven and will have a special homecoming for British Grand Prix winner Chris Holder.
Looking ahead to the meeting club owner Matt Ford said "The 70 point score back in April will have no bearing on this meeting, I think we all know the Lakeside team are better than that, but we are hungry for points and we seem to be breaking barriers this year, what with accumulating a team average of in excess of 50, winning our 800th home league match so lets take the race points tally to over that 48.500. We might be sitting at the top of the league but it doesn't mean we can take anything for granted. We have a tough schedule ahead of us with a visit to Eastbourne on Thursday, Coventry on Friday and then Peterborough on Monday. That means 15 league points available to us and I certainly would like to see us bank as many of those as possible. But first we have to concentrate on Wednesday and what I hope will be a special occasion as we welcome home Chris on a night when we have two very big sporting names, Joe Calazaghe and Ivan Mauger in attendance. I can't wait to be honest and hopefully all sports fans in the area will want a taste of it too."
Wednesday Teams from
Poole - C.Holder (8.74), D.Watt - captain (8.34), B.Pedersen (7.95), A.Mroczka (7.01), L.Madsen (6.56), D.Ward (6.35), J.Doyle (5.78)
Lakeside - L.Richardson (8,34), A.Shields - captain (7.76), J.Davidsson (7.22), D.Davidsson (5.92), K.Nieminen (5.28), P.Hurry (4.53), S.Robson (3.49).
Thursday Teams from
Eastbourne - M.Zagar (7.81), J.Kylmakorpi (6.38), R.Kling (6.31), C.Woodward (5.11), L.Dryml (4.22), S.Gustafsson (4.06) - rider replacement will operate for T.Jedrzejak
Poole - C.Holder (8.74), D.Watt - captain (8.34), B.Pedersen (7.95), A.Mroczka (7.01), L.Madsen (6.56), D.Ward (6.35), J.Doyle (5.78)

Holder May Be Holder for less than a year

Chris Holder may only be the British GP champion for less than a year following confirmation that the 11th staging of the British GP at the Millennium Stadium will be on SATURDAY JUNE 25th 2011. 22 year old Holder sensationally won the first ever Grand Prix final he reached on his debut ride at the Millennium circuit on Saturday night. The GP organisers have confirmed that tickets are now on sale with fans able to save up to 10% on this year's prices.
Prices start from £29 for adults and £16 children and fans who book their tickets before the end of August will receive a 10% discount on 2010 prices.
For further details visit www.speedwaygp.com

Australian Youngsters Miss U21 Final

Just hours after Chris Holder and Jason Crump made it an Australian 1-2 in the British Grand Prix at Cardiff came news that the Australian U21 side, which features Holder's GP 'manager' Darcy Ward, have missed out on a place in the finals of the U21 World Cup
Australia were beaten by qualifiers Poland in the opening round and were left sweating on the outcome of the second qualifier held in Gustrow on Saturday night. That featured teams from Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia and staging country Germany. The two Scandinavian sides battled out a two-team contest with Denmark the ultimate winners with 53 points, but crucially Sweden amassed 48 points which was two more than Australia scored from their round. So along with seeds Great Britain, Poland and Denmark, the Swedish side will qualify for the final as the highest losers. The final is being held at Rye House on Saturday September 4th.

Chris Champ in Cardiff

Chris Holder chose his debut Cardiff appearance to win his first ever Grand Prix round and move into 5th place in the series standings. Holder produced an awesome display in front of a very noisy British Grand Prix crowd.
Chris opened with a race win and finished with semi-final and final victories to bag 19 points from the meeting. On the way he even had to endure more than an exchange of words with his Australian compatriot Jason Crump at the end of heat 14, a race won by Poole skipper Dave Watt. "It was all heat of the moment stuff and I was a out of order with losing my rag with Jason. I really hope that there is no hard-feelings. I shouldn't have reacted like that and I hope we can put it behind us. I am really stoked to have pulled it off here tonight it was an awesome night and I really can't believe that I have won it. I have been here as a fan before but being here as a rider was something special and to come away with the title is just unbelievable. I really am a lucky guy. In the last round I was run over but walked away without serious injury and in a way though that probably played to my advantage as I had to have time off."
Holder superbly held off the hard pressing Crump in the final with Jaroslaw Hampel finishing third, with sufficient points to make the young Pole the new series leader by 3 points over veteran Tomasz Gollob who was looking good value to make the final when his bike stopped abruptly in the semi-final. The fourth rider in the final, Hans Andersen, also had an exchange of words with one of his compatriots as he and Nicki Pedersen when they clashed in heat 19, a race that saw Dave Watt, winner of two rides, disqualified when left no room by Pedersen.
British GP Result: C.Holder 19, J.Crump 17, J.Hampel 17, H.Andersen 10, T.Gollob 12, F.Lindgren 10, F.Holta 8, N.Pedersen 7, G.Hancock 7, K.Bjerre 7, D.Watt 6, T.Woffinden 6, C.Harris 6, M.Zetterstrom 6, S.Nicholls 4, A.Jonsson 2
Championship Standings 1. J.Hampel (PL) 92, 2. T.Gollob (PL) 89, 3. J.Crump (AU) 75, K.Bjerre (DK) 66, 5. C.Holder (AU) 60, 6. H.Andersen (DK) 56, 7. R.Holta (PL) 56, 8. N.Pedersen (DK) 51, 9. A.Jonsson (SE) 48, 10. F.Lindgren (SE) 43, 11. M.Zetterstrom (SE) 43, 12. C.Harris (GB) 42, 13. G.Hancock (US) 41, 14. T.Woffinden (GN) 28, 15. E.Sajfutdinov (RU) 27

Big Meetings Continue to Mount for Poole Riders

On the back of the confirmation that Castle Cover Pirates' skipper Dave Watt has been called up for the British Grand Prix on Saturday comes news that Artur Mroczka has been nominated as the wild card for the first round of the World U21 championship, and all that after Danish youngster Leon Madsen booked his place in this year's Grand Prix challenge, the avenue for a place for in next season's Grand Prix.
Watt will wear the number 20 race jacket in the big meeting at the Millenium Stadium this weekend after first reserve Piotr Protasiewicz declined the invite to continue replacing injured Emil Sajftudinov who is still considered unfit following his arm injury sustained in the Czech Grand Prix. Whilst Protasiewicz took Sajftudinov's place in the previous two rounds - in Denmark and Poland - he informed the authorities that he did not wish to be involved in the series any further. That opened the door for second reserve, through last year's GP Challenge finishing position, Dave Watt to step up to the plate for what is the biggest feature of the British Speedway season.
And whilst Watt had just a few days to prepare for his big event his team-mate Artur Mroczka has been given slightly longer to organise himself for the following weekend's first round of the World U21 championship. Mroczka missed out on a place by right when he shut off a lap too early in his semi-final at Landshut but he has been offered the wild card entry for the first round which is being held at Gdansk, Poland, a track where he has an impeccable record of success. Once again Mroczka will line-up against another Poole youngster, reigning U21 champion Darcy Ward who booked his place in the three-round title fight, ironically helped by that error from Mroczka. The other two rounds of the world U21 championship are being staged in Daugvapils, Latvia on August 7th and Pardubice, Czech Republic on October 2nd.
Madsen's GP challenge date is in Vojens on August 21st

Watt Waiting on GP ride

Poole Castle Cover Pirates' skipper Dave Watt could be joining Chris Holder in Saturday's British Grand Prix at the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff. Watt is second reserve for this year's competition and following the confirmation from the camp of Emil Sajfutdinov that he has withdrawn through injury from the big meeting in Wales, Watt has gone on standby.
Ordinarily first reserve Piort Protasiewicz would take the Russian's place but the Pole has already made soundings that he does not wish to compete further in the competition, having deputised for Sajfutdinov in the last two rounds.
Watt has been placed on standby to take part in the meeting which would give the event an even further Poole flavour. With club assets Holder, Magnus Zetterstrom and Jason Crump already in the line-up, off-track Paul Aplin (Clerk of the Course), Rob Wadham (Start Marshall) and Dr Laura Tompsett (Medical Support) will all be fulfilling roles.

Late Update - Davey Watt has now been confirmed as the replacement for Sajfutdinov and will ride as the series number 20

Middlo Believes Pirates' Cup Quest is Conquerable

Team Manager Neil 'Middlo' Middleditch believes that the Castle Cover Pirates' task of conquering Belle Vue Aces in this year's Knockout Cup competition is 'do-able'. Having seen his side concede the first leg by 10 points Middleditch claims "In the end we pulled it back to a level that I feel we are more than capable of clawing back in the second leg. It was a bit disappointing that they were able to amass a double figure advantage after we were matching them in the first half of the meeting. I really don't think you will see many occasions when both Davey (Watt) and Chris (Holder) struggle like they did tonight. It was very slick out there and with all due respect to Josh Grajczonek but there won't be too many times he will be able to lead Chris like he did tonight. Once the track really slickened off it was a case of just getting out the gate and just bolting it to the line. Full credit though to Belle Vue as they were scoring well across the board but 10 points at Wimborne Road is do-able and hopefully we can gain our revenge for last season."
It was Belle Vue that ended the Pirates' 2009 cup defence with a 85-103 aggregate victory, the Pirates losing both legs on that occasion. The two sides will meet in the second leg at Wimborne Road on July 21st.

Cup Trip for Pirates

Poole Castle Cover Pirates are expected to be at full strength for their cup visit to Belle Vue this evening, unlike their hosts who have announced that James Wright has been forced to sit out this first leg of the Knockout Cup.
Artur Mroczak who missed Poole's last match under doctor's orders looks to be fit, the impressive Pole winning the Silver Helmet meeting in Gdansk at the weekend with a full-house maximum
Both sides will be parading changed structures, as the July Green Sheet averages are now in force. For the Pirates that means an elevation into the main body of the team for young Leon Madsen, who at the weekend qualified for the GP Challenge by finishing third in Lonigo. His reserve berth will be taken by Darcy Ward who fired in a massive paid 17 last Wednesday in the Pirates' demolition of Coventry.
The Aces who re-introduced Ulrich Ostergaard into their side will operate rider replacement for Wright with their number 8 Josh Grajczonek deputising for William Lawson who has officially quit Elite league racing on financial grounds
Teams from
Belle Vue - H.Andersen (8.46), P.Karlsson (7.22), P.Hougaard (6.03), L.Lanham (5.97), rider replacement for J.Wright (5.70), U.Ostergaard (4.46), J.Grajczonek (3.14)
Poole - C.Holder (8.74). D.Watt (8.34), B.Pedersen (7.95), A.Mroczka (7.01), L.Madsen (6.56), D.Ward (6.35), J.Doyle (5.78)
Updates from this cup tie can be followed through our forum or the club's Twitter account

MADSEN MAKES IT

An 11 point score by Leon Madsen in the World Championship qualifying round in Lonigo has put him into the GP Challenge where he will be competing for a place in next season's FIM Grand Prix Series.
Madsen finished third in the meeting which was won by British champion Chris Harris with a perfect 15 point maximum.
In Poland, Darcy Ward was promoted into the meeting from first reserve following the no-showing of Argentinian Emiliano Sanchez, but Ward was unable to take advantage of the reprieve finishing with just 3 points.. But Poole assets fared well in that meeting with Antonio Lindback the winner, Magnus Zetterstrom third and Grzegorz Walasek fourth.
The GP Challenge will be held on 21st August at Vojens, Denmark.
Full list of qualifiers:
T.Gapinski (PL), G.Laguta (RU), A.Karpow (UA), J.Kolodziej (PL), A.Laguta (RU) all from Togliatti; A.Lindback (SE), T.Jonasson (SE), M.Zetterstrom (SE), G.Walasek (PL), S.Ulamek (PL)- all from Ostrow; C.Harris (GB), F.Lindgren (SE), L.Madsen (DK), N.Iversen (DK), S.Stead (GB)

BRIGGO ASTOUNDED

Barry Briggs' trackside collection held on Wednesday night in aid of the Briggo Sports Relief Ride realised a staggering £2,454, a sum that the legendary Kiwi was astounded with. "I am absolutely delighted and want to thank everybody for their generosity and for such a warm reception at Wimborne Road" said Briggo, "I have been genuinely overwhelmed by people's kindness and commitment during the tour."
Fans who who are going to the British Grand Prix at Cardiff on Saturday (July 10th) will have the opportunity to meet up with the Briggo in the FANZONE display in St Mary's Street between 11am and 3pm

MADSEN LONGING TO GO THROUGH IN LONIGO

Poole's young Dane Leon Madsen is just five rides away from booking his place in the Grand Prix Challenge meeting that could be the springboard for a place in the 2011 FIM Grand Prix Series.
21 year old Madsen, who for the month of July will move out of the Poole Castle Cover Pirates reserve berth as he is no longer one of the two lowest averaged riders in the Poole side, rides at Lonigo, Italy on Saturday evening where a top 5 finish will see him bank one of those places in the GP Challenge which this year is being staged in his home country of Denmark.
"Leon has come on well this season, as I expected he would" said club owner Matt Ford "and I know he is setting his sights on making it through his semi-final this weekend.It won't be an easy task but I do believe he has the ability to qualify and I wish him every success".
The rider that will replace Madsen in the reserves for July, Darcy Ward is first reserve in the Ostrow, Poland semi-final which on paper looks to be a very tough round which includes three Poole assets in Antonio Lindback, Magnus Zetterstrom , Grzegorz Walasek.
Ward will drop to the reserves for the Pirates cup visit to Belle Vue on Monday (July 5th). The trip to Manchester is the first leg of the contest with the return scheduled at Wimborne Road for Wednesday July 21st.

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