RENAT GAFUROV is ruled out of Swindon Robins' next three matches at least. The 23-year-old was injured while riding for Russia in the Speedway World Cup Qualifier at Daugavpils, Latvia.

Gafurov won his opening race but crashed heavily in his second outing in heat six and took no further part in the meeting.

His absence played a key factor in the World Cup qualifier, with Finland and not the fancied Russians progressing to the first round proper at Rybnik in July.

The loss of Gafurov is a big blow to the Swindon Robins as he was due to drop into the reserve berth for June and could have been a trump card.

Swindon promoter Alun Rossiter said: "I have spoken with Roman Povazhny's wife who has given me the latest news on Renat.

"He hit the safety fence very hard and has sustained back and head injuries.

"Apparently nothing is broken but he is in hospital in Poland and will not be allowed out until June 4.

"It is a blow and something I didn't expect. It is one of those things and we will just have to play things by ear.

"We will review the situation when we know the full extent of the injuries and exactly how long he will be out."

He continued: "We can only go with rider replacement at Oxford on Wednesday and hopefully we will be able to use our number eight Ritchie Hawkins to cover for Gafurov at reserve on Thursday at home against Belle Vue and away to Eastbourne next Monday."

The Americans won the other World Cup qualifier that was staged in Hungary and move forward to Event 2 in Sweden in July.

RESULTS

World Cup Qualifiers

1 Finland 42 (Joonas Kylmakorpi 12, Kaj Laukkanen 11, Kauko Nieminen 8, Tomi Reima 6, Juha Hautamaki 5); 2 Germany 39+3 (Christian Hefenbrock 12+3, Thomas Stange 11, Martin Smolinski 9,Tobias Kroner 4, Stephan Katt 3); 3 Russia 39+2 (Denis Gizatullin 13+2, Semen Vlasov 10, Sergei Darkin 9, Ilya Bondarenko 4, Renat Gafurov 3); 4 Latvia 30 (Kjastas Puodzhuks 11, Andrei Korolev 10, Maksim Bogdanov 5, Nikolai Kokin 3, Viatcheslav Gerukij 1).

Qualifier 2 (Hungary)

1 USA 59 (Greg Hancock 14, Billy Janirro 14, Ronnie Correy 7, Sam Ermolenko 11, Billy Hamill 13); 2 Slovenia 41 (Matej Zagar 17, Jernej Kolenko 10, Izak Santej 8, Maks Gregori 1, Denis Stojs 5; 3 Hungary 25+3 (Norbert Magosi 9, Zsolt Bencze 0, Laszlo Szatmari 8, Sandor Tihanyi 8, Joszef Tabaka 0; 4 Italy 25+2 (Mattia Carpanese 7, Guglielmo Franchetti 3, Daniele Tessari 5, Christian Miotello 3, Simone Terenzani 7.

  • ROBINS Pit Crew are to hold a Quiz Night with all monies raised going towards their funds which help the riders with machinery and equipment.

It will be held on Wednesday June 7 (8-10pm) at the New Inn, Swindon Road, Stratton.

Questions will include some speedway but also general knowledge.

The entry fee is £5 with a maximum of four per team.

Entry forms are available from the New Inn and Conservatory bar at Blunsdon Stadium.