PETERBOROUGH celebrates the 80th Anniversary of the launch of league racing on Thursday with a visit from the current Elite League Pacesetters Wolverhampton.

PETERBOROUGH celebrates the 80th Anniversary of the launch of league racing on Thursday with a visit from the current Elite League Pacesetters Wolverhampton.

In a match sponsored by KRW Racing and in conjunction with the 80th Anniversary all children under the age of 15 will be admitted free of charge and the first 250 children to arrive at the Showground will also be presented with a free specially commissioned autograph book and there will be opportunities to get the riders to sign them.

Supporters will need no reminding that Wolverhampton won the ELA fixture at the Showground in June, and the Parry's International Wolves will no doubt be intending to do it again.

Their results recently have somewhat hit the buffers and they lost both their last two away matches at Poole and Ipswich, nevertheless they possess an extremely solid top 5 led by Fredrik Lindgren and ex Panther Peter Karlsson and Panthers will undoubtedly have to significantly raise their game if they are to see off the Wolves on this occasion.

Both teams have this week hit problems with Hansen going down with suspected Swine Flu and Stichauer injuring his back over the weekend, Panthers will utilise rider replacement for Hansen whilst Wolverhampton were still to confirm who replaces the injured Stichauer.

Panthers team manager Trevor Swales state's it as vital that Panthers get off to a good start, he said: “We have to come out all guns blazing and as far as I am concerned this is a must win fixture. They caught us on the hop last time but this is a totally different meeting and I will be looking for significant contributions from our heat leaders. On the last occasion we only had 3 race winners and if you don't win races you don't win meetings. It will be hard but I do expect us to win”.

Promoter Mick Bratley said: “At the ELA fixture, Wolves gave us a lesson in gating. I hope we learnt from that, because this is once again going to be a difficult match. However, it is winnable and our riders need to step up a gear to ensure the points remain at the Showground”.

Owner Rick Frost said:”We simply cannot afford to lose any of our remaining home meetings if we are to be in the play offs. Our team are well aware of this and I expect them all to contribute plenty of points to get the win we need”.

Official Teams in Alphabetical order (GSA in brackets)

Peterborough Panthers: Henning BAGER (4.55), Kenneth BJERRE (7.81), Ales DRYML (4.57), Kenneth HANSEN (6.10) Rider Replacement, Niels Kristian IVERSEN (8.28) Captain, Mads KORNELIUSSEN (6.97) & Claus VISSING (4.00).

Team Managers Trevor & Wayne SWALES

Wolverhampton Wolves: Lee COMPLIN (3.47), Peter KARLSSON (8.96) Captain, Nicolai KLINDT (5.31), Fredrik LINDGREN (10.75), Adam SKORNICKI (7.03), Tai WOFFINDEN (7.06) plus another TBC.

Team Manager Peter ADAMS