Brummies' Ludvig Lindgren is to move on and up to Elite League speedway

Nov 21 2009 by Nigel Pearson, Birmingham Mail

LUDVIG Lindgren is set to step up to Elite League racing next season, scuppering any plans to retain him at Birmingham.

Lindgren, the younger brother of Wolverhampton star Fredrik, has struck a deal to ride in Poland on Sundays which would rule him out of Brummies’ matches at the likes of Glasgow, Newcastle and Newport.

He told Perry Barr chief Graham Drury that he is now looking to make the step up and has already held talks with a top-flight club, where he would start the season at reserve.

“It’s disappointing because Ludvig was in several permutations for us, but we fully understand his decision,’’ said Drury.

“And let’s face it, it was only a matter of time before he was going to make the step up. It’s just a shame it won’t happen with Birmingham because he’s a rider I rate highly.

“I must also stress there have been permutations we’ve looked at which didn’t include him and we have a firm idea of the team we would like.

“We’ve been talking to several riders and we remain hopeful of making another announcement within the next few days.”

Meanwhile, new Brummies owner Gary Patchett has scrapped plans to switch the club’s race night to Thursdays.

Instead they will continue to race on most Wednesdays and Bank Holiday Sundays.

“If we had switched to Thursday we would have been behind both Sheffield and Redcar in conceding race night to go up against them,’’ said Patchett

‘‘This way it’s just King’s Lynn and I don’t honestly think Birmingham fans really have a problem with a Wednesday.”