PREVIEW: Cheetahs out to tame Tigers in battle of the big cats
SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies host hotly-tipped Glasgow Tigers in what looks a cracker of a meeting in the Cab Direct Championship at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium on Wednesday evening (June 4) at 7.30pm.
Glasgow were many people’s pre-season favourites in the Cab Direct Championship and have largely lived up to that billing, while Cheetahs have already reached the semi-finals of the BSN Series and MAXiCab Knockout Cup, so it’s a clash of two in-form sides.
Oxford are without Cameron Heeps, who is recovering after his horror crash at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium last week after he tangled with Scunthorpe’s Zaine Kennedy. Remarkably, Heeps avoided any broken bones, but the Australian’s body still took a battering. Zach Cook will come in and should be an able replacement, having scored 13+1 for Poole at Oxford in April. Cheetahs are also without Dane Jonas Knudsen, who has another racing commitment, and Alfie Bowtell will deputise.
Glasgow are led by former Oxford Spires’ captain Chris Harris at No 1. A big blow for Tigers has been the loss of in-form Dan Thompson, who broke a scaphoid in the British Under-21 Final at Glasgow. Without him, Tigers slumped to an eight-point defeat at Edinburgh last Friday, having previously been unbeaten in five away meetings. Tigers bring in Justin Sedgmen as a guest for Thompson.
Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck says: “Glasgow always tend to put together a strong team, but we’ve got some decent home victories over them at Oxford over the last couple of seasons and we’d like to keep that going.
“Cam isn’t quite ready to return and we’ve booked Zach Cook as a guest and he loves racing around the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium, as he has already demonstrated this season. Jonas is again unavailable, so we’ve brought in Alife Bowtell, who always will give us 100 per cent.
“I believe we’ve got a strong side, with all seven riders capable of contributing points, and we’ll looking to keeping up our home momentum going. The Cab Direct Championship is very competitive this season and it’s important to win your home meetings.
“It’s going to be a top night of speedway between two very good sides, who could both feature in the shakedown for silverware at the end of the season.”
There will also be a four-heat second half between England and Scotland, as the Blast From The Past troupe make their annual visit to Cowley.
Tickets are already on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/
Admission is available at the early bird price of £21 for all adults, which increases to £23 on Race Day. All under-16s go free. A reminder that Oxford Speedway is online ticket sales only – tickets remain on sale on the website until the start-time of the meeting. Spectators are also reminded that they will need to pay £2 if they are planning to park in the Unipart car park.
Oxford Speedway Supporters’ Club have set up a GoFundMe account to support Cameron Heeps, who wrote off a bike during his horrific crash at Sandy Lane last Wednesday. The fund has already reached a fantastic £1,750 out of its £2,000 target. The link for the Cameron Heeps Machinery Fund is: https://gofund.me/b1c0ba18
Teams:
SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies: Sam Masters (C), Alfie Bowtell (G), Francis Gusts, Jordan Jenkins, Zach Cook (G), Mitch McDiarmid, Luke Killeen.
Glasgow Allied Vehicles Tigers: Chris Harris (C), Luke Harrison (G), Justin Sedgmen (G), Leon Flint, Kyle Howarth, Freddy Hodder, Max Perry.
PHOTO: Mitch McDiarmid and Luke Killeen in action alongside Scunthorpe’s Simon Lambert (pic: Steve Edmunds)