Oxford Silver Machine ace Billy Hamill, badly injured in a pile-up at Swindon on Thursday, has shown a slight improvement.

The American suffered vertabrae and rib injuries and had to have his lungs drained in Swindon's Great Western Hospital.

However, Oxford promoter Nigel Wagstaff said: "Billy was much chirpier yesterday and even asked to see his back protector, which thankfully was unmarked.

"If it had broken on impact he would have suffered more ser- iously.

"His lungs are fairly clear now and he expects to have the tube rem- oved today."

Meanwhile, Silver Mach- ine's pairing of Greg Hancock and Travis McGowan were no match for a world-class field in the Elite League Pairs Championship at Peterborough last night.

The glory went to the Swindon duo of Leigh Adams and Lee Richardson, who retained their title with victory over Belle Vue's Jason Crump and Joe Screen in a repeat of last year's final. Arena Essex were third.

Hancock managed only one win and three thirds, while McGowan failed to trouble the scorers.

Looking ahead to this week, Wagstaff is set to make changes for the visit of Belle Vue on Thursday.

But he will stick to the same team that went down to Swindon on Good Friday for the Elite League clash at Arena Essex on Wednesday.