Wednesday, February 18, 2026
OXFORD SPEEDWAY
Oxford Speedway

PREVIEW: Spires in intriguing clash with Sheffield Tigers at BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium

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BETGOODWIN Oxford Spires entertain 2023 champions Sheffield Tigers in what promises to be an exciting ROWE Motor Oil Premiership clash at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium on Thursday evening (August 14) at 7.30pm.

Back on May 22, the previous clash between the two sides at Cowley resulted in a pulsating 45-45 draw, with Tigers winning the subsequent Super Heat.

Spires track a full team, with the exception of Erik Riss, who remains sidelined by a serious illness. That illness forced the German to miss the Grand Prix Challenge in Denmark at the weekend, where a top four spot would have booked a place in the 2026 Grand Prix series. Oxford Cheetah Francis Gusts did ride in the meeting and scored three points.

With Riss out, Spires again promote 17-year-old Mitch McDiarmid from the SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies. McDiarmid has averaged a highly creditable 5.67 from his previous three appearances for Spires, including 6+2 at home to Belle Vue and 6+1 at Leicester on Monday, which included a race win in Heat 14, his first at Premiership level.

Victor Palovaara is set to make his full debut for Spires, after missing the meetings at Ipswich and Leicester through illness. The Swede guested for Spires in the previous home match against Belle Vue.

Meanwhile, Sheffield – who are on course for the play-offs – recently rung the changes, with Nick Morris and Jye Etheridge replacing Lewis Kerr and Justin Sedgmen.

Tigers are led by Jack Holder, currently fifth in the World Championship standings, and his brother Chris Holder, who was World Champion in 2012.

It’s the first home meeting at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium in a month for Spires. During that time, they’ve won away at Birmingham and put in encouraging performances at Ipswich and Leicester.

Oxford manager Peter Schroeck says: “We’ve got three home meetings left with the BetGoodwin Oxford Spires and we want to make an impression in them, starting with the Sheffield meeting. We’re looking at finishing the season on a high note, especially in our home fixtures.

“Spires might be out of contention for the play-offs, but we can still prove to be spoilers to other teams. We had Ritchie Hawkins a bit worried at Ipswich last Thursday – both he and Leicester’s Stewart Dickson made positive comments of how we’d performed at their tracks.

“It was a fabulous night of speedway last time that Sheffield visited the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium and I can’t see Thursday night being any different. We’d love to beat the Tigers this time, and we’ll do everything we can to come out on top at the end of the evening.”

Tickets are already on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

Admission is available at the early bird price of £23 for all adults, which increases to £25 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.

There are two meetings at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium this week. The SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies host the Workington Comets on Sunday (August 17) early evening at 6pm and tickets for this meeting are also on sale on the Oxford Speedway website.

Teams:

BetGoodwin Oxford Spires: Charles Wright, Mitch McDiarmid, Rohan Tungate, Victor Palovaara, Maciej Janowski (C), Peter Kildemand, Luke Killeen (RS).

Tru7 Group Sheffield Tigers: Jack Holder, Anders Rowe, Josh Pickering (C), Nick Morris, Chris Holder, Jye Etheridge, Leon Flint (RS).

PHOTO by Les Aubrey