WELCOME to the first weekly round-up of Elite League news, featuring items on all nine competing teams.
BELLE VUE will warm up for the new season with several team practice sessions ahead of their opener on Good Friday.
Manager Chris Morton said: "The practice sessions are important for the team to get to know each other. The two days we have arranged at Belle Vue are especially important because it will give our more experienced riders the chance to show our new signings the best way of handling what can be a tricky track."
NEW Coventry signing Simon Stead is keen to make up for lost time after enduring a disappointing season in 2007.
Stead said: "I want to improve again, last season I tailed off and maybe even went backwards a bit, which I was really disappointed about. I hadn't experienced that before because in every previous season I'd moved forward, so we've changed a lot of things and the move to Coventry has come at the right time."
EASTBOURNE have handed their No.8 position to experienced American rider Brent Werner.
Werner, a former member of the Eagles team, will be racing in the Premier League with Somerset after reversing his retirement from the sport after a disappointing stint with Birmingham last season.
STEVE Johnston returns to Ipswich this season, eleven years after his first spell with the club - and says he is delighted to be back at Foxhall.
Johnston said: "I can't wait to get started with Ipswich. I have been mates with Chris (Louis) for many years now, and it was an easy deal for me to complete."
LAKESIDE star Andreas Jonsson made a positive start to the season with second place in Sunday's Diamond Jubilee meeting at Poole, which was won by World Champion Nicki Pedersen.
Jonsson said: "I'm happy with my set up for this early and it was good to be racing, especially against the top riders in the world. I'm looking forward very much to riding for the Hammers and scoring some good points."
PETERBOROUGH manager Trevor Swales believes his riders will benefit from this Thursday's inter-league Challenge fixture at the Showground against Premier League club Mildenhall.
Swales said: "I expect them to give our lower order boys some good competition and hopefully some confidence with a win, but I am taking nothing for granted. They have nothing to lose and the pressure is on us, as a win is expected to be a formality."
POOLE skipper Bjarne Pedersen has given his seal of approval to the much-changed Pirates team which has topped many of the odds compilers' listings ahead of the new season.
Pedersen said: "If I was a promoter, I would pick a team just like this. We have some very young riders and some experienced riders. It's a good combination, and it's as strong as you can get it within the points limit."
SWINDON manager Alun Rossiter is happy to be cast in the role of underdogs this year after his highly-fancied Robins side agonisingly missed out on silverware last season.
Rossiter said: "Everybody is writing us off, which is great news. But we believe it is different. Give us a couple of months to settle, but once that's out of the way we are going to surprise a lot of people."
WOLVERHAMPTON owner Chris Van Straaten is relishing the prospect of renewing the rivalry with neighbours Coventry on Monday’s Monmore opener.
He said: "It hurt to see them doing so well last season, but naturally we offered our congratulations as we are healthy rivals with respect for their management.
"But I could hardly think of a better start to the season than by putting one over my pal Colin Pratt. Hopefully that would set the tone!"
