Oxford Silver Machine's eagerly-awaited Skybet Elite League clash against local rivals Swindon Robins was washed out at Oxford Stadium last night.

Although the rain stopped around 7.15pm, it had soaked the newly-laid surface and any work to make the track raceable was put on hold to save the surface for Sunday's British Championship.

There was plenty of sawdust on hand to try and mop up if necessary, but Sunday's big meeting which is also being televised, took precedence.

Swindon ace Lee Richardson said: "They wanted us to run, but it wouldn't have been a very good meeting on a track like that."

The washout meant new signing Tobias Kroner missed out on making his home debut for Silver Machine.

No new date has been set for the re-run, but Silver Machine are at Swindon on Thursday in what is now the first of the B fixtures against the Robins.