Friday 6 September turned out to be the deciding night in the race for playoff places in the UK Premiership. The league has seven teams, but only the top four get to compete for the league trophy.
The table is very tight with just two points separating the top five teams!
But with Belle Vue Aces finishing their season on 41 points in fifth they cannot catch the teams above and will miss out this year for the first time since 2014.
Swindon Robins, Wolverhampton Wolves, Ipswich Witches, last year’s winners Poole Pirates are through and have games left to play, so the exact order and who will play who in the postseason could go down to the last heat of the last match.
Riders who are known in Sweden who will be in the playoff action include:
Jason Doyle (Swindon, SGP)
Jacob Thorssell (Wolverhampton, Scandinavian SGP wildcard, Dackarna)
Nicolai Klindt (Poole, Lejonen)
Jack Holder (Poole, Västervik)
Brady Kurtz (Poole, Vetlanda)
Niels Kristian Iversen (Ipswich, SGP)
David Bellego (Swindon, SEC)
So Belle Vue Aces’ SGP wildcard rider, Max Fricke will miss out on the postseason and will have to be content with his role for Wroclaw in Poland. Just like British three times champion, Tai Woffinden, who has chosen not to race in the UK.
Fricke currently lies in second behind fellow Australian, Jason Doyle, in the individual standings and both riders are the only ones in the Premiership with a match average greater than 9.0.
Likewise, SGP and SEC rider, Robert Lambert’s club, Kings Lynn Stars will not be involved in the postseason matches. He is pictured with Fricke when they were teammates at Rospiggarna in Sweden until the Brit moved to rivals Lejonen. He seems more settled there and has just signed a new contract for 2020 with the Gisveled club.
The postseason will start on 23 September and the final on 7 October in the UK.
