The Birmingham Brummies travel to Oxford on Thursday (March 14, 7.30) for their first top flight fixture in almost a decade.
The Curtis Sport Brummies have returned to British Speedway’s highest level following four seasons in both the Championship and National Development League.
Their opener sees them take on fellow Premiership newcomers Oxford as the new-look Brummies assemble on track for the first time.
Czechia international Vaclav Milik will now begin the season as No.1 following injury to Piotr Pawlicki – the Pole’s replacement Scott Nicholls will be at No.5 on the track he has called ‘home’ for the past two seasons in the second division.
Newly appointed captain Steve Worrall will start at No.4 with British league debutant Wiktor Lampart partnering him in the engine room of the side.
Tom Brennan is placed at No.2 with Zach Cook and Leon Flint the first reserve pairing.
New team manager Sam Ermolenko is excited to get going and has belief in the side he has inherited.
“I don’t think there’s any team in the league that’s got that strength in depth feel about it, especially down in the bottom half of our team,” he said.
“I think we can make the most of that and use it as one of our assets to upset a few people this year.
“A lot of people are writing us off already this year but we’re using that to motivate us even more – we’re not scared of anybody.
“We may not have been able to get out on track on Monday, but there was a bit of a bonus in the fact we got to spend some extra quality time together getting to know one another.
“If everyone does their job then we know we can get results in this league – and it would be a nice bonus if we could do that in our first meeting at Oxford on Thursday night.”
Tickets for the fixture at Sandy Lane are available and can be purchased via:
http://ticketsource.co.uk/booking/select/RdiEJKhzXNnT
OXFORD: Maciej Janowski, Charles Wright, Nicolai Klindt, Chris Harris, Rohan Tungate, Lewis Kerr, Ashton Boughen.
BIRMINGHAM: Vaclav Milik, Tom Brennan, Wiktor Lampart, Steve Worrall, Scott Nicholls, Zach Cook, Leon Flint.
Words and Feature Image by Birmingham Speedway
