SOMERSET host the Championship Pairs at the Oaktree Arena tonight (7pm) in the traditional curtain-raiser to British Grand Prix weekend.
Ten of the eleven Championship clubs are involved with Sheffield defending the title they won in a re-staged event at Owlerton last season.
PRE-MEETING COMMENTS:
MICHAEL PALM TOFT (Peterborough): “I’ve done the Pairs before with Peterborough (in 2015) and we got quite far. But I had an engine blow-up and when I went out on my spare bike in the semi-final the clutch dipped in too hard and I lost out at the gate.
“Hopefully this year I won’t have an engine blow-up and then we can go that bit further!
“It would be nice to add the Pairs to the Fours, and I look at it as another meeting where hopefully we can do well.”
RICKY WELLS (Edinburgh): “It’s normally a pretty fun event I’ve been a part of it for a number of years now and for everyone going to Cardiff it’s a great way to kick-start the weekend.
“For me though it’s an event I’ve never had too much joy or luck in to be honest; either I haven’t done good and my partner has or I’ve done good and my partner hasn’t. But me and Erik (Riss) are racing good together this year so I think we have a good chance.
“I know there’s a bus coming down from Edinburgh, and I know it’s a long trip, but Edinburgh have got some of the greatest fans in the league and hopefully we can make the journey worth it for them.”
JAKE ALLEN (Scunthorpe): “I’ve watched the Pairs before because I’ve lived down that way, but this is my first-time riding in the meeting.
“I’m not sure if being a Somerset rider is going to be a massive advantage, because we haven’t had a whole load of home meetings this year – a lot of those are yet to come.
“Josh (Auty) and myself are both in good form, and we ride well together, so it’s all to play for on the night and we’ll see what happens.”
RITCHIE HAWKINS (Ipswich manager): “Nico (Covatti) and Rory (Schlein) are going to look at each other and know they have a good chance to win it, we have as good a chance as anyone and we go there focused on winning it.
“Being consistent is key really, in the shared events you need to be consistently picking up points and not running lasts.”
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UPCOMING FIXTURES...
19/04/19 1930 British U21 Semi-Final, Somerset
19/04/19 1130 Poole v Swindon (PSC) 19/04/19 1930 Edinburgh v Newcastle (CS)
19/04/19 1730 Scunthorpe v Sheffield (CS)
19/04/19 1930 Redcar v Leicester (CS)
19/04/19 1500 Eastbourne v Birmingham (C-KOC)
19/04/19 1300 Belle Vue v Stoke (NL)
19/04/19 1915 Plymouth v Kent (NT)
20/04/19 1930 Leicester v Sheffield (CS)
20/04/19 1900 Craig Cook Testimonial, Glasgow
21/04/19 1830 Newcastle v Edinburgh (CS)
21/04/19 1600 Sheffield v Leicester (CS)
21/04/19 1500 Poultec Challenge, Mildenhall
22/04/19 1830 Peterborough v King's Lynn (Prem)
22/04/19 1200 Belle Vue v Wolverhampton (PSC) 22/04/19 1930 Swindon v Ipswich (PSC)
22/04/19 2000 Wolverhampton v Belle Vue (PSC) 22/04/19 1600 Kent v Belle Vue (Ch)
24/04/19 1930 Birmingham v Leicester (Champ)
24/04/19 1930 Somerset v Eastbourne (CS)
25/04/19 1930 Ipswich v Swindon (PSC) 25/04/19 1900 Isle of Wight v Mildenhall (NT)
