WORKINGTON COMETS 2010
 SPONSORED BY THE THOMAS ARMSTRONG GROUP
  AND NEW TEAM PARTNERS
     PRESS RELEASE No 30 – June 10th
 
 
WORKINGTON Comets will be without new skipper Chris Schramm for Friday night’s Premier League clash at Edinburgh.
 
Schramm picked up an ankle injury in last Saturday’s exciting 47-43 home win against Newcastle Diamonds at Derwent Park.
 
The injury was sustained when he was bumped at the end of a race by Newcastle’s Mark Lemon, a manoeuvre that resulted in the Workington rider brushing the fence and losing second place to the Australian.
 
Comets team manager an Thomas said: “I complained at the time to referee Jim McGregor, stressing that we weren’t involved in a contact sport, but the result stood.
 
“However Chris was in a bit of pain from his left ankle afterwards and is having to sit-out our meeting at Armadale. It’s fortunate we have no match at home on Saturday.
 
“He feels that he will be fit for Monday when he contests the British final and also for Thursday when we visit Sheffield.”
 
Schramm had been due to take the captaincy at Edinburgh allowing Andre Compton to focus on his own riding. It means that the number one will continue to skipper the side against Edinburgh where he has a good riding record.
 
Workington will use rider replacement for Schramm against the Monarchs as they also introduce American debutant Kenny Ingalls at number seven. Rusty Harrison moves to number two to replace John Branney, who was dropped and within half a day had signed for Glasgow Tigers.
 
“We wish John well. In fact I tipped-off Glasgow that he was going to be available and though hey might be interested,” said Thomas.
 
New recruit Ingalls – the second American to ride for the Comets after Brent Werner – is looking forward to his Workington debut, although it nearly didn’t happen.
 
There were some frantic phone calls to and fro across the Atlantic after it was revealed that Ingalls had been included in a GP qualifier on Saturday in Denmark.
 
“That would have been a problem and if we’d known that would have waited until next Thursday when we go to Sheffield.
 
“However Birmingham’s Chris Kerr has been very helpful. He’s out injured at the moment and will be with Kenny in the pits for his first few meetings. He was also kind enough to make the calls to America to try and sort out the GP situation with the relevant authorities.
 
“It means Kenny can make his debut at Edinburgh and actually he faces two tough openers - Edinburgh and Sheffield – which are among the toughest tracks for visitors in the country,” said Thomas.
 
Edinburgh will also track a changed team. Ryan Fisher and Kevin Wolbert are riding in Denmark and Croatia respectively and Jozsef Tabaka was released last week having needed more time to settle into Premier League speedway than Monarchs could give him.
Tabaka’s replacement, Tobias Busch, looked impressive in his first two meetings in this country. However he is also riding even further abroad this weekend - in Russia- and his seven point slot will be filled by rider replacement.
Guesting at No.1 for Flyin' Ryan will be Scunthorpe's former Elite League star David Howe who once turned down an offer to ride for Edinburgh. But David is really enjoying his speedway since dropping down to the Premier League and has bags of Armadale experience.
The guest at No.3 is William Lawson, now happily plying his trade in the Elite League with Belle Vue – or at least he was until injuring his Achilles tendon in a crash during a home meeting nearly a month ago. The Aces have allowed him to start his come-back guesting for the Monarchs.