Two major events lined-up for Swindon.

Swindon Speedway have today announced that two prestigious meetings will be staged at Blunsdon later this season.

On May 1st, the Championship of Great Britain Semi-Final will take place, and this follows the successful staging of the same event in September last year, when Danny Bird emerged victorious.

Then, on the 27th July, the super Blunsdon raceway plays host to the always entertaining Premier League Four Team Championship, which will feature eight sides in all, and will consist of two semi-final groups, prior to the final showdown.

Swindon supremo Peter Toogood stated: "The Championship of Great Britain Semi-Final meeting was so well received on the 26th September last season, that we are absolutely delighted to again be staging the event.

"As for the Four Team Championship, this has always been a fun day out in the speedway calendar, and we feel sure that our circuit will serve up some terrific racing for fans to enjoy from all over the country."

As for this week's action at Blunsdon, the Pebley Beach Swindon Robins face the Isle of Wight in their first match of the newly created British League Cup.

The Robins are in qualifying group 4 of the competition, with fellow Premier League sides Reading and the Islanders, plus Elite League teams Oxford and Eastbourne. In total there are 5 groups, with each of the group winners, and the best 3 runners-up progressing to the quarter-final stage.

In Adam Shields, Ray Morton and Danny Bird, the Islanders possess as good a heat-leader trio as any in the country, and after last week's convincing M4 Trophy victory over Reading, they should prove a much tougher proposition. Indeed, many pundits have tipped Jed Stone's powerful septet as Premier League favourites.

Following his brilliant 'Man of the Match' performance against Reading, an upbeat Chris Neath was looking forward to the challenge as he stated: "The Isle of Wight will be tougher than Reading, but the bonus is that I feel more confident after last week. I admit I've not had the best start to the season.

"I've had seat brackets break on me, I've had carburettor problems, and fuel niggles as well. Everything that could go wrong in the first week of the season did go wrong. It didn't worry me too much because although I wanted to score more points, I knew the reasons for the problems. Obviously, the people watching don't always know what's going on in the pits - we had lots of difficulties in the first week, but it all clicked into place against Reading, and it was a brilliant meeting."

It clearly promises to be an exciting encounter, with the Pebley Beach Swindon Robins eager to get off to a flying start in the British League Cup.

Teams for Thursday 3rd April, parade at 7.30pm:

Pebley Beach Swindon Robins: 1. Charlie Gjedde; 2. Jamie Smith; 3. Paul Fry; 4. Chris Neath; 5. Olly Allen; 6. Ritchie Hawkins; 7. Tommy Allen.

Isle of Wight Link Islanders: 1. Danny Bird; 2. Glen Phillips; 3. Ray Morton; 4. Sebastian Tresarrieu; 5. Adam Shields; 6. Gary Phelps; 7. Chris Mills