Around the Premier League Tracks - 2007

[Merlin]

Thursday, 11 October



The sole action tonight was at Redcar where the Bears took on Workington in a first leg semi-final Young Shield match.



Young Shield (semi-final, first leg): Redcar 50, Workington 40 .


Redcar used Rider Replacement for Mathieu Tressarieu while Workington used Rider Replacement for Mattia Carpanese.

Gary Havelock won the first race for Redcar from Kauko Nieminen and Charles Wright (R/R) resulting in a 3-3 but it was Workington who provided the next 5 race winners. John Branney just pipped Daniel Giffard in heat 2 for a shared race then James Wright won from James Grieves and Josh Auty again for a 3-3. However when Chris Kerr had an engine failure in heat 4, Ulrich Ostergaard and John Branney took full advantage to take a 1-5 from Jack Hargreaves. This put the Comets four points ahead with the score at 10-14.

Kauko Nieminen won heat 5 for another shared race to keep the visitors four points in front as the fast gating Comets continued to cause the home side some problems. Gary Havelock made the gate in heat 6 but was passed by both Ulrich Ostergaard and Charles Wright on the first lap. On the last lap Havelock re-passed Wright to take second place but the heat still finished as a 2-4 to the Comets increasing their lead to six points. Finally, Redcar produced another race winner in heat 7 in the shape of Chris Kerr but James Wright and Craig Branney shared the points behind him. James Grieves (R/R) produced another race win for the Bears in heat 8 but again Workington shared the heat through the Branney brothers who finished behind him taking the score to 21-27.

Redcar scored their first heat advantage in heat 9. Josh Auty forced his way to the front and together with James Grieves looked like taking a 5-1. However Ulrich Ostergaard forced his way past Grieves to limit the Bears to a 4-2 which cut the gap to four points. The Comets’ lead was down to two points after heat 10. Gary Havelock won from James Wright while Chris Kerr had to settle for third place for a 4-2. Workington pulled away again with a 2-4 in heat 11. Kauko Nieminen passed Chris Kerr on the fourth bend of the third lap while John Branney took advantage of a mistake by Daniel Giffard to pull away for third place increasing the Comets’ lead to four points. Redcar had a huge slice of luck in heat 12 to square the match. James Wright suffered an engine failure on the second lap while leading the race and James Grieves and Jack Hargreaves took full advantage by heading home Charles Wright for a 5-1 which levelled the scores at 36-36.

Spurred on by that success the Bears soared into the lead with a crucial 5-1 in heat 13. Gary Havelock and Chris Kerr team rode to full points against Ulrich Ostergaard and Kauko Nieminen both of whom had dropped only one point each from their first three races! This gave Redcar a four point lead with just two races to go. The Bears then made it a hat trick of 5-1s with another in heat 14. Josh Auty won it comfortably enough but there was a great race behind him for second place. Jack Hargreaves was second from the tapes behind Auty but Craig Branney passed Hargreaves at the start of the third lap. Jack Hargreaves chased him and re-passed on the next bend but the chase was then on for the line with Hargreaves getting the referee’s verdict in a blanket finish. Redcar’s stunning burst had rocketed them into an eight point lead and the question was could they repeat their success of heat 13 in heat 15 which had the same contestants. Well the answer was not quite but they did take a 4-2 when Gary Havelock beat Kauko Nieminen with Chris Kerr taking third place from Ulrich Ostergaard for a ten point lead, two more than they had for the second leg at Glasgow on Sunday. Workington were left wondering what had happened!

Scorers: For Redcar – Gary Havelock 14 (5), James Grieves 10+1 (5), Chris Kerr 9+1 (5), Josh Auty 9+1 (5), Jack Hargreaves 6+3 (5), Daniel Giffard 2 (4).

For Workington – Kauko Nieminen 10 (5), Ulrich Ostergaard 9 (5), John Branney 8+2 (6), James Wright 7 (4), Craig Branney 3+1 (5), Charles Branney 3+1 (5).

[Merlin]

Sunday, 7 October

Three matches were raced today. At Glasgow the Tigers ran a double header. In their first match they faced Redcar in the second leg of their quarter final Young Shield tie then they took on Edinburgh in the second leg of the Scottish Cup. The other match was at Newcastle where the Diamonds raced against Workington in the second leg of their quarter final Young Shield tie.


Young Shield: Glasgow 43, Redcar 47


Glasgow again had Jason Lyons guesting for the injured Shane Parker while Redcar were missing both Mathieu Tressarieu who was injured and Josh Auty who was riding for Scunthorpe. They used Rider Replacement for Tressarieu at number 2 and had Jittendra Duffill filling in at number 4.

Redcar were basically a five man team for this match as a result of Auty’s absence. Their eight point lead didn’t look enough to cope with a near full strength Glasgow side but they rose to the occasion not only to qualify on aggregate but also to win the match.

Glasgow looked to have five points in the bag in the opening race but McAllan got badly out of shape on the first bend of lap three to let Havelock through for a 4-2. Wins for Lee Dicken and James Grieves resulted in shared heats but Glasgow pulled four points clear with a 4-2 in heat 4 when Chris Kerr split Trent Leverington and Lee Dicken. With the score at 14-10 Glasgow now trailed by just four points on aggregate. That however turned out to be the nearest they came to success.

An excellent round the boards pass by Daniel Giffard on Robert Ksiezak in heat 5 gave Redcar another shared race as Jason Lyons beat Gary Havelock then the Bears dealt the Tigers a real killer blow in heat 6. Daniel Giffard rounded the field on the opening two bends to take the lead while Chris Kerr squeezed Craig Watson out on bend one to follow him. David McAllan took up the chase but Chris Kerr rode brilliantly to cover his partner all the way home leaving the frustrated McAllan with no chance to make a pass. The 5-1 levelled the match and restored Redcar’s aggregate lead. James Grieves was out in both heats 7 and 8 (as Rider Replacement) and won them both for shared races to take the score to 24-24 so Glasgow had made no inroads into their deficit.

Heat 9 saw a bad crash. Jason Lyons made the gate and locked up coming off the second bend. Robert Ksiezak tried to avoid him by moving out but only succeeded in crashing into Chris Kerr on his outside while Daniel Giffard piled into the carnage. The referee who was blindsided somehow found Kerr to be at fault and excluded him from the rerun which was won by Lyons. Ksiezak was clearly not well and trundled in behind Giffard before withdrawing from the meeting with concussion. The 4-2 put Glasgow back in front again but not for long. James Grieves won his fourth race in heat 10 for a shared heat before the Bears wiped out the Tigers advantage and went into a two point lead with a 1-5 in heat 11. Trent Leverington made the gate but with Chris Kerr roaring round the outside and Gary Havelock charging through on the inside he didn’t quite know which line to cover. He didn’t cover either as the Bears duo operated a pincer movement to head off for a maximum. Glasgow then had to face another Grieves race win in heat 12 for a 3-3 which took the score to 35-37 effectively deciding the outcome of the tie.

Gary Havelock and Chris Kerr looked like adding a 1-5 in heat 13 but Trent Leverington came from the back in fine style to split the Bears’ pair for a 2-4 to put the visitors four points up. Lee Dicken’s heat 14 success was only good enough for a 3-3 then Jason Lyons finally got the better of James Grieves with a fast start to win heat 15 for another share of the points.

Scorers: For Glasgow – Jason Lyons 13 (5), Lee Dicken 10+1 (5), Trent Leverington 8 (5), David McAllan 5+1 (4), Craig Watson 4+1 (4), Robert Ksiezak 2+1 (3), Michael Coles 1+1 (4).

For Redcar – James Grieves 17 (6), Gary Havelock 11+1 (5), Daniel Giffard 8+3 (6), Chris Kerr 7+2 (5), Jack Hargreaves 4 (5), Jittendra Duffill 0 (3).



Scottish Cup (second leg): Glasgow 51, Edinburgh 41 Edinburgh won the Cup on aggregate by 97-88.


Glasgow were without Craig Watson, Shane Parker and Robert Ksiezak and used Gary Havelock at number 1 for Watson, Jason Lyons at number 3 for Parker and used Rider Replacement at number 4 for Robert Ksiezak. Edinburgh were without Andrew Tully, Daniele Tessari and Kalle Katajisto and used Rider Replacement for Tully at number 4 while Daniel Giffard guested at number 6 for Tessari and Arlo Bugeja guested for Katajisto at number 7.

The stunned Edinburgh fans listened in disbelief to the news that the Edinburgh promotion had agreed to Glasgow replacing the injured Craig Watson with Gary Havelock even though Havelock’s average was 1.2 point higher than Watson’s and they were seriously weakened themselves using Rider Replacement which could only be covered by Derek Sneddon and the two reserves. With a 19 point deficit from the first leg, Glasgow might well have sensed a glimmer of hope from this generosity.

It was the Monarchs who dominated the early stages of the match with five of the first seven race winners. George Stancl got them off to a good start with a fast gate and smooth ride in heat 1 for a 3-3 then Daniel Giffard endeared himself to the Edinburgh support by doing the same in heat 2. Jason Lyons won heat 3 but again there was no heat advantage and Matthew Wethers did well to come round Trent Leverington and hold off his robust challenges to win heat 4 again for a 3-3 taking the score to 12-12.

The deadlock was broken in heat 5 and it was Edinburgh who went in front. A determined ride by George Stancl saw off Jason Lyons while Derek Sneddon picked up third for a 2-4 but Glasgow levelled again in heat 6 when Gary Havelock held off Matthew Wethers with McAllan third for a 4-2. Edinburgh went back in front with a 2-4 in heat 7 with a win from Kai Laukkanen with Arlo Bugeja picking up a gift third place point after Michael Coles had retired. However Glasgow repled with back to back 5-1s in heats 8 and 9. Derek Sneddon and David McAllan had a ding dong battle round turns one and two in heat 8. McAllan fell and Sneddon was excluded. In the rerun McAllan and Dicken headed Giffard home taking the score to 25-23.

Jason Lyons and Trent Leverington (R/R) made good starts to heat 9 and took a 5-1 stretching the Tigers’ lead to six points but the next two heats were shared to end Glasgow’s hopes of pulling back the arrears from the first leg. In heat 12 Jason Lyons beat Kai Laukkanen with Dicken third for a 4-2 to make the score 40-32.

Heat 13 produced another 4-2 for the home side. Havelock and Leverington made the gate and were warding off the challenge of George Stancl when Matthew Wethers burst round the outside to split them. That’s the way it stayed so Glasgow were now 10 points up. Edinburgh gave Derek Sneddon (R/R) a Tactical Ride in heat 14 but he could only finish behind McAllan for a 4-4 shared race. Lyons wrapped up a lucrative afternoon by winning heat 15 but Wethers and Laukkanen finished behind him for a 3-3 which gave Glasgow a 10 point win but Edinburgh overall success by winning the Cup by a nine point aggregate margin.

Scorers: For Glasgow – Jason Lyons 14 (5), Trent Leverington 10+1 (5), David McAllan 10+1 (5), Gary Havelock 9+1 (4), Lee Dicken 6+2 (6), Michael Coles 2 (5).

For Edinburgh – Kai Laukkanen 11+1 (5), Matthew Wethers 9 (5), George Stancl 8 (4), Derek Sneddon 6+1 (5), Daniel Giffard 6+1 (5), Arlo Bugeja 1 (6).



Premier League: Newcastle 46, Workington 45 Workington qualified for the semi-finals by 103-81.


Newcastle were without Christian Henry and Jonas Raun. Ricky Ashworth replaced Henry at number 1 while Rider Replacement was used for Jonas Raun at number 2. They nominated Gary Beaton as their number 8. Workington were without Mattia Carpanese and Charles Wright. They used Rider Replacement for Carpanese at number 2 and had Scott James guesting for Charles Wright at number 6. They nominated Ben Taylor as their number 8.

It was a tall order for Newcastle to pull back a 23 point deficit and they never looked like doing it. In fact a late charge by the Comets took them to within a point of beating the Diamonds in this match too.

The teams traded 4-2s in the opening two races, in the first of which Kauko Nieminen suffered an engine failure, then Josef Franc won heat 3 for a shared race to keep the scores tied. Ulrich Ostergaard failed to beat the two minute time allowance in heat 4 and went from 15 metres back. The Diamonds took full advantage when Carl Wilkinson and Paul Clews took a 5-1 to put the Diamonds ahead at 14-10.

Josef Franc won again in heat 5 from Kauko Nieminen and, with Sean Stoddart third, the 4-2 put the home side six points ahead. Ostergaard won heat 6 for a 3-3 but any lingering hopes the Diamonds might have had disappeared when the Comets took a 1-5 from heat 7. James Wright and Craig Branney did the damage by beating Carl Wilkinson cutting the gap to two points. Newcastle replied with a 4-2 in heat 8 won this time by Wilkinson from Craig Branney so the score stood at 26-22.

The Diamonds restored their six point lead in heat 9 with another 4-2 when Josef Franc beat Ulrich Ostergaard but Workington replied with a 2-4 from James Wright who beat Ricky Ashworth and Craig Branney. The pattern of 4-2s continued as Wilkinson beat Ostergaard in heat 11 with Sam Dore third for a six point lead again and it went to eight points when the Diamonds took another 4-2 from heat 12. Josef Franc won his fourth race beating James Wright with Paul Clews third taking the score to 40-32.

Ostergaard won heat 13 for a 3-3 then Workington replaced John Branney with James Wright in heat 14 as a Tactical Substitute from 15 metres back. Craig Branney won the race by passing Sean Stoddart as James Wright took third place by passing Paul Clews giving the Comets a 2-5 success cutting the gap to five points. In the last race Wright and Ostergaard scored a 1-5 ahead of Ricky Ashworth as the previously unbeaten Josef Franc trailed in last.

Scorers: For Newcastle – Josef Franc 12 (5), Carl Wilkinson 12 (5), Ricky Ashworth 8+2 (5), Paul Clews 8+1 (7), Sean Stoddart 5 (5), Sam Dore 1 (3).

For Workington – James Wright 15 (6)(with 2 point TS), Ulrich Ostergaard 10+1 (5), Craig Branney 9+2 (5), John Branney 6 (6), Kauko Nieminen 4 (4), Scott James 1 (4).

PS: This post is out of sequence - my fault. Sorry folks!

[Merlin]

Friday, 12 October

There were two matches raced tonight. At Somerset the Rebels raced Newport in the second leg of their Knockout Cup semi-final tie while at King’s Lynn the Stars took on the Isle of Wight in a Premier League match.


Knockout Cup, semi-final, second leg: Somerset 61, Newport 32 Somerset qualified for the final on aggregate by 103-82


Somerset had Chris Neath as a guest in place of Chris Neath. Newport were again without Tom Hedley so used Rider Replacement at number 2.

Somerset, with eight points to pull back from the first leg at Queensway Meadows, were keen to eradicate the memory of their collapse at Stoke last Saturday when they exited the Young Shield. That they surely did as they blew the Wasps away from the start having pulled the arrears back by heat 2 after recording back-to-back 5-1s in the opening heats. Tony Atkin stemmed the tide by winning heat 3 for a shared race but his ‘King Canute’ act was in vain as Danny Warwick and Ritchie Hawkins added another 5-1 in heat 4 taking the score to 18-6.

Emil Kramer won heat 5 from Michal Rajkowski while Jordan Frampton was brought down by Barry Burchatt and awarded third place for a 4-2. Simon Walker and Chris Neath repeated their heat 1 performance with another 5-1 before Ritchie Hawkins won heat 7 from Truminski and Katt for a 4-2. Another 4-2 from heat 8 won by Simon Walker who was still unbeaten propelled the Rebels into a 22 point lead with the score at 35-13 and the home side 14 points ahead on aggregate.

In heat 9 Nick Simmons fell on the third lap causing the race to be rerun without him. Chris Schramm passed Emil Kramer in the rerun for a shared race but Chris Neath and Simon Walker completed the perfect partnership with their third consecutive 5-1 in heat 10 with Walker completing a paid four ride maximum in the process by rounding Sebastian Truminski on the last lap to join his partner for the full house. In heat 11, Michal Rajkowski became the third Newport rider to win a race when he beat Ritchie Hawkins and Stephan Katt for a shared race but Daniel Warwick and Emil Kramer returned the Rebels to 5-1 mode in heat 12 taking the score to 51-21.

Newport gave Chris Schramm a Tactical Ride in heat 13 and he won it ruining Chris Neath’s maximum in the process. Ritchie Hawkins passed Rajkowski on the last lap for third so the Wasps took a 3-6. Stephan Katt rounded the field on the first two bends to win heat 14 from Tony Atkin. Jordan Frampton was third for a home 4-2. In the last race Hawkins passed Rajkowski on the third lap while Rajkowski passed Warwick simultaneously.

Scorers: For Somerset – Ritchie Hawkins 11+2 (5), Simon Walker 11+1 (4)(paid maximum), Daniel Warwick 10 (5), Chris Neath 9+2 (4), Emil Kramer 9+1 (4), Stephan Katt 7+2 (4), Jordan Frampton 4+2 (4).

For Newport – Chris Schramm 13 (5)(with 6 point TR), Michal Rajkowski 6+1 (5), Tony Atkin 5 (5), Barry Burchatt 4 (7), Sebastian Truminski 3 (4), Nick Simmons 1 (4).



Premier League: King’s Lynn 61, Isle of Wight 26 King’s Lynn won the aggregate bonus point by 108-68. The match was curtailed to 14 heats after an accident in the penultimate race.


Both King’s Lynn and the Isle of Wight were at full strength.

There were few who would have backed the Isle of Wight to win this match but few would have expected the demolition job the Stars produced either. The Stars were no doubt itching to take Wednesday night’s disappointment out on somebody and the Islanders were the ones who copped it.

With eight 5-1s in the opening ten heats, the Isle of Wight were reduced to fighting for scraps. In the opening four heats only a second place for Chris Holder behind Tomas Topinka prevented a Stars’ clean sweep as the score stood at 19-5.

The Islanders decided to play their Tactical Ride card at the earliest possible moment in an attempt at recovery so Chris Holder took the TR in heat 5. He beat Daniel Nermark for the full six points and was supported by Cory Gathercole in third place for a 2-7 cutting five points off the Stars’ lead. Another three 5-1s though continued King’s Lynn’s relentless pursuit of the points and the score then stood at 36-15.

Wins for Nermark and Topinka in heats 9 and 10 produced another couple of 5-1s before the Islanders managed another race advantage in heat 11. Chris Holder won from Chris Mills while Cory Gathercole took third for a 2-4. It was only a minor blip though as Nermark and Simon Lambert completed the home side’s ninth 5-1 in heat 12 taking the score to 53-22 with half the visitors’ points having come from heats 5 and 11!

It had really turned out to be a King’s Lynn versus Chris Holder match and Holder won again in heat 13 beating Topinka and Mills for a shared race. Heat 14 was awarded to Adam Allott and Trevor Harding after Glen Phillips had crashed with Chris Johnson and been excluded. Although Phillips was able to get to his feet the County ambulance was called for Chris Johnson. In view of the fact that there was a Conference League Play Off match due immediately to be raced after this match, it was agreed not to run heat 15 so the result stood as it was after heat 14.

Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 11 (4), Daniel Nermark 11 (4), Chris Mills 9+1 (4), Simon Lambert 8+4 (4)(paid maximum), Paul Lee 8+2 (4), Adam Allott 8+1 (4), Trevor Harding 6+3 (4).

For the Isle of Wight – Chris Holder 14 (4)(with 6 point TR), Chris Johnson 5 (5), Jason Bunyan 2 (3), Krzysztof Stojanowski 2 (4), Cory Gathercole 2 (4), Glen Phillips 1 (4), Andrew Bargh 0 (4).

[Merlin]

Saturday, 13 October

As the season reaches a climax with so many important meetings coming hard on the heels of each other it was disappointing that the match at Workington where the Comets were due to race their first leg, semi-final match in the Young Shield against Redcar was postponed due to a waterlogged track. The other match due to be raced did take place. At Stoke the Potters took on Birmingham in a second leg, semi-final Young Shield tie.


Young Shield, semi-final, second leg: Stoke 46, Birmingham 43 Birmingham qualified for the final on aggregate by 97-84


Stoke were again without Rusty Harrison and Glenn Cunningham so used Rider Replacement at number 4 for Harrison and Tony Atkin as a guest at number 3 for Cunningham. Birmingham were without Henning Bager, Manuel Hauzinger, Henrik Moller and Ben Powell. To patch up their team they had Rider Replacement for Manuel Hauzinger at number 1 as a result of Hauzinger’s average now taking him to number 2 in the Birmingham averages. They also had three guests – Shaun Tacey for Henrik Moller at number 4, Chris Schramm at number 5 for Henning Bager and Paul Clews at number 6 for Ben Powell.

Birmingham had an 18 point lead from the first leg at Perry Barr on Wednesday night but that would not have bothered Stoke too much after pulling back a 24 point deficit against Somerset in the previous round.

There are not many details available about this match. The scores were tied after the opening two heats but Stoke opened up a four point lead after heat 5. However Birmingham pulled that back and after eight heats the scores were tied again at 24-24 leaving the Potters still 16 points adrift on aggregate.

Tony Atkin fell in heat 9 and was excluded then in heat 10 Lee Complin was given the verdict on the line for the race win over Jason Lyons, a decision which did not meet universal agreement. By heat 14 Stoke were in front by two points at 43-41 then, in the last race, the Potters scored a 3-2 when Lyons had been excluded after falling and Lee Complin had been excluded after bringing down Phil Morris to give them a three point win on the night. Birmingham’s passage into the final never looked in any danger though.

Scorers: For Stoke – Lee Complin 12+2, Claus Vissing 11, Barrie Evans 10+2, Ben Barker 8, Tony Atkin 5, Jaimie Smith 0.

For Birmingham – Phil Morris 13, Jason Lyons 11, Paul Clews 8+1, Chris Schramm 5+2, Lee Smart 5+2, Shaun Tacey 1.

[Merlin]

Sunday, 14 October

Three matches were raced today. Two of the were at Glasgow where the Tigers ran a double header. In their first match they faced Birmingham in a Premier League match. They then took on Stoke again in a Premier League match. The other match was at Newcastle where the Diamonds raced against Redcar in the first leg of the Tyne Tees trophy.


Premier League: Glasgow 43, Birmingham 46 Birmingham won the aggregate bonus point by 99-83


Glasgow had Kauko Nieminen guesting for the injured Shane Parker with Rider Replacement operating for Craig Watson at number 1 while Birmingham also used Rider Replacement at number 1 for Manuel Hauzinger and had Shaun Tacey at number 4 for Henrik Moller, Chris Schramm at number 5 for Henning Bager and John Branney at number 6 for Ben Powell.

This turned out to be a thrilling and exciting meeting marred by two dreadful accidents, the first of which resulted in a trip for David McAllan to hospital and a ban from both meetings for Phil Morris. The second accident might have cost Glasgow the match as Robert Ksiezak went over the fence after lifting while on a 5-1 with his partner in the last race.

Although Chris Schramm led the opening heat early on he was passed by David McAllan. Phil Morris also passed Schramm for second place so the race was shared. Birmingham took the lead in heat 2. John Branney made the gate to win the race from Michael Coles while Lee Smart eventually got the better of Lee Dicken for third place and a 2-4. Robert Ksiezak made the gate in heat 3 to win from Jason Lyons. Behind them Shaun Tacey moved Nieminen out to move into third place but Nieminen re-passed him on the third lap for a 4-2 which levelled the scores again. Heat 4 was won by Chris Schramm for a 3-3 which took the score to 12-12.

Jason Lyons saw off Robert Ksiezak at the start of heat 5. Kauko Nieminen moved into second place and the race was shared but in heat 6 Glasgow took the lead with a 4-2 thanks to a win from Nieminen. Chris Schramm got the better of a duel with David McAllan for second place to put the Tigers two points ahead. However the Brummies hit back with a 1-5 wiping out the Glasgow lead and putting themselves back in front in heat 7 when Shaun Tacey and Jason Lyons beat Trent Leverington. A David McAllan win in heat 8 resulted in a shared heat with the score now standing at 23-25.

Heat 9 was a disaster for the visitors as they conceded a 5-0. Chris Schramm was excluded for bringing down Robert Ksiezak in the first running while in the rerun John Branney fell and was excluded from the second rerun which gave the Tigers a gift five points. This resulted in Glasgow re-taking the lead by a three point margin but Birmingham knocked two points off that in heat 10 when Jason Lyons won from David McAllan with Shaun Tacey taking third place ahead of Leverington. Birmingham followed this with a 1-5 from Shaun Tacey and Phil Morris with Trent Leverington and Michael Coles trailing at the back to put the Brummies three points ahead again, a lead they kept after a shared heat 12 won by Jason Lyons which took the score to 34-37.

In heat 13 Phil Morris took David McAllan wide on the fourth bend and the Glasgow rider crashed heavily into the fence. At first it looked a serious enough accident to call for an emergency ambulance but later reports suggested that McAllan’s injuries were not as bad as had at first seemed. Nonetheless he went to hospital for a check up and withdrew from this and the following meeting. Referee Jim McGregor took a dim enough view of the incident to band Phil Morris from taking any further part in this meeting and also banned him from the Stoke meeting which was to follow and in which Morris was due to have been a guest for Glenn Cunningham effectively imposing a one match ban on the Birmingham rider. In the rerun Chris Schramm won from Leverington and Dicken who had to push home for a point to share the heat 3-3. Shaun Tacey won heat 14 to maintain Birmingham’s lead so they went into the last heat leading by three points with Glasgow needing a 5-1 to pull it round. The Tigers looked as if they might do it too when Kauko Nieminen and Robert Ksiezak led from the start. With Jason Lyons pressing hard Ksiezak found some extra grip on the fourth bend causing his bike to lift and the rider to be catapulted over the fence into the brick wall. Amazingly he walked away from the accident. The race was awarded as a 3-3 so Birmingham took all three points.

Scorers: For Glasgow – Kauko Nieminen 14 (6), David McAllan 9 (4), Robert Ksiezak 8+2 (6), Lee Dicken 5+3 (6), Trent Leverington 5+1 (5), Michael Coles 2 (3).

For Birmingham – Jason Lyons 15+1 (6), Shaun Tacey 10 (5), Chris Schramm 10+2 (5), Phil Morris 6+1 (5), John Branney 3 (3), Lee Smart 2+1 (4).



Premier League: Glasgow 43 , Stoke 41 Glasgow won the bonus Point on aggregate by 94-84. The match was curtailed to 14 heats after a horrendous looking accident in heat 15 which was not rerun.


Glasgow were without Craig Watson, Shane Parker, Robert Ksiezak and David McAllan for this match. They again had Kauko Nieminen as a guest for Parker and used Rider Replacement for Craig Watson. They also drafted in Lee Smart for McAllan and John Branney for Robert Ksiezak. Gary Beaton was nominated as their number 8. Stoke were without Rusty Harrison, Glenn Cunningham, Chris Schramm and Jaimie Smith so used Rider Replacement at number 4 and had Shaun Tacey as a guest at number 3 and Chris Schramm as a guest at number 5. Jaimie Smith was replaced by Luke Priest at number 7. This meant that four of the riders who represented Birmingham in the first meeting also took part in the second! Who said that double-headers were expensive to run?

Stoke got off to a bad start when Ben Barker was excluded for having no dirt deflector in heat 1. He came back into the race off 15 metres but Leverington and Smart took a 5-1 from the heat with Barker finishing ahead of his partner, Lee Complin. Stoke hit back with a 2-4 in the reserves race. Luke Priest and Barrie Evans made the gate but on the last bend Lee Dicken passed Evans for second place to prevent what had looked like a 1-5. Kauko Nieminen won heat 3 but Barrie Evans and Shaun Tacey shared the points behind him for a 3-3. Glasgow stormed into a six point lead in heat 4 when Leverington and Dicken saw off Chris Schramm for a 5-1 which took the score to 15-9.

The Tigers seemed to be on easy street with another 5-1 in heat 5 as John Branney and Kauko Nieminen won from Lee Complin after Ben Barker had pulled out of the race at the tapes. The Tigers’ had now opened up a ten point lead and Stoke must have regretted not giving a Tactical Ride to Chris Schramm in heat 6 when he won it accompanied by his partner, Barrie Evans for a 1-5 to the Potters cutting the gap to six points. It was down to two points when Stoke hit home another 1-5 in heat 7 as Lee Complin and Shaun Tacey made the gate to keep Trent Leverington back in third place. With the TR Stoke could have been a point ahead at this stage. Back came Glasgow in heat 8 with another 5-1 this time from Lee Dicken and Lee Smart from Ben Barker to open their lead to six points again with the score now at 27-21.

With Kauko Nieminen out in three of the next four heats Glasgow were looking to put this match to bed and in heat 9 Nieminen won from Barrie Evans and Chris Schramm for a 3-3. In heat 10 Nieminen won again but this time it wasn’t so easy as Shaun Tacey passed him at the end of the third lap. However he re-passed Tacey and with Chris Schramm third this race was shared too. In heat 11 Stoke pulled two points back. Lee Complin won for the second time from Trent Leverington while Ben Barker took third place from Michael Coles for a 2-4. In heat 12 it was Nieminen again but again Stoke packed the minor places for a shared race to keep within touching distance and take the score to 38-34.

In heat 13 Glasgow entrusted the R/R ride to their number 8 Gary Beaton. Lee Complin made it three race wins on the trot by beating Trent Leverington while Chris Schramm finished third for a 2-4 which cut the Tigers’ lead to two points with just two races to go. John Branney came to the Tigers’ rescue by winning the heat but Ben Barker and Barrie Evans set up another last heat decider by sharing the points behind him. In heat 15 there was another horrendous accident when Chris Schramm spun 360 degrees entering the third bend and Lee Complin clipped him at full speed. The momentum took Complin over the safety fence and he crashed into the brick wall in front of the bar area at Ashfield. With the fence in a state of disrepair the meeting was abandoned at this point with the score standing as at heat 14.

Scorers: For Glasgow – Kauko Nieminen 14+1 (5)(paid maximum), Trent Leverington 11 (5), Lee Dicken 7+1 (5), John Branney 6 (4), Lee Smart 5+2 (4), Michael Coles 0 (4), Gary Beaton 0 (1).


For Stoke – Barrie Evans 10+2 (6), Lee Complin 10 (5), Chris Schramm 7+2 (5), Shan Tacey 6+3 (4), Ben Barker 5 (5), Luke Priest 3 (3).



Tyne Tees Trophy, first leg: Newcastle 45, Redcar 45


Newcastle were without Christian Henry and Jonas Raun so had George Stancl as a guest at number 1. Craig Branney was due to guest at number 2 for the Diamonds but pulled out of the meeting so they used Rider Replacement instead. Redcar were without Mathieu Tressarieu and had Adam Roynon as a guest at number 2 instead.


George Stancl passed Gary Havelock at the end of the first lap to go on to win the opening heat while Sam Dore’s fall on the third lap ensured a shared heat. In the reserves race the Bears threatened to score a 1-5 until Jack Hargreaves hit a rut and fell causing the race to be awarded as a 3-3. Heat 3 was shared too. Josef Franc made the gate from James Grieves and, although Sean Stoddart briefly held third place, he was passed by Josh Auty for the third consecutive 3-3. The deadlock was broken in heat 4. Chris Kerr came from the back to move into second place behind Carl Wilkinson while Paul Clews got up to pip Jack Hargreaves on the line for a 4-2 taking the score to 13-11.

In heat 5 Sean Stoddart and Josef Franc made the gate and there was nothing Gary Havelock could do about the 5-1 which extended the Diamonds’ lead to six points. George Stancl kept it that way with a heat 6 win from Giffard and Kerr but the Bears hit back with a 2-4 in heat 7 when James Grieves beat a hard-pressing Carl Wilkinson with Josh Auty in third place. Newcastle then restored their six point lead by taking a 4-2 in heat 8. Carl Wilkinson (R/R) won the race from Adam Roynon while Paul Clews picked up third place taking the score to 27-21.

Josef Franc remained unbeaten by an opponent in heat 9 winning it from Chris Kerr. However Daniel Giffard picked up the third place point when Sean Stoddart fell for another shared race. James Grieves beat George Stancl in heat 10 but this time Sean Stoddart took third place from Josh Auty so this heat was shared too. Redcar hit back with a vengeance though. In heat 11 Adam Roynon made the gate closely followed by Gary Havelock and Carl Wilkinson was left to follow the two Bears home for a 1-5 which closed the gap between the sides to two points. James Grieves kept the pressure on by winning heat 12 from the previously unbeaten Josef Franc for a 3-3 which took the score to 37-35.

The Redcar comeback was complete when they took a 2-4 in heat 13. Gary Havelock beat George Stancl with Chris Kerr in third place after Carl Wilkinson had fallen on the third lap for a 2-4. Sean Stoddart stopped the run of four consecutive race winners for the Bears by winning heat 14 but it was only good enough to share the race as Jack Hargreaves and Josh Auty team rode behind him to keep Paul Clews at the back. In the last race James Grieves tied the match by beating George Stancl and Josef Franc with Gary Havelock stuck at the back.

Scorers: For Newcastle – George Stancl 12 (5), Josef Franc 11+2 (5), Carl Wilkinson 9 (5), Sean Stoddart 7+1 (5), Paul Clews 5+1 (7), Sam Dore 1+1 (3).

For Redcar – James Grieves 14 (5), Gary Havelock 8+1 (5), Chris Kerr 6+1 (4), Adam Roynon 6+1 (4), Daniel Giffard 6+1 (4), Josh Auty 3+2 (4), Jack Hargreaves 2 (4).

[Merlin]

Wednesday, 17 October



Tonight’s only meeting saw the staging of the Pride of the East at King’s Lynn .


Pride of the East: at King’s Lynn.

Winner: Chris Holder (Isle of Wight)

Second: Tomas Topinka (King’s Lynn)

Third: Daniel Nermark (King’s Lynn)

The format for this individual meeting was a 16 rider, 20 heat full individual followed by a grand final in which the top four point scorers from the qualifying heats took part.

The opening four races provided wins for Tomas Topinka from his team mate, Daniel Nermark, and former team mate, Kevin Doolan in heat 1; for Chris Holder from Mark Lemon and Simon Lambert in heat 2; for Josef Franc from Chris Mills and Leigh Lanham in heat 3; then for Shaun Tacey from Chris Schramm in a race which had only two finishers after falls for Cameron Woodward and, in the rerun, for Kozza Smith.

The second set of four races saw Chris Holder and Tomas Topinka make it two wins from two races in heats 5 and 7 respectively while Lewis Bridger won heat 6 and Daniel Nermark heat 8. This meant that the tournament leaders after maximum men, Holder and Topinka, for the top four places after two rides each were Daniel Nermark and Josef Franc with 5 points each and Chris Mills on 4 points.

In the third stanza Kevin Doolan joined the chase for a top four place by beating Josef Franc in heat 9 then Chris Holder remained unbeaten in heat 10 by winning from Lewis Bridger. Tomas Topinka joined Holder on maximum points after winning heat 11 from Leigh Lanham and Daniel Nermark kept his challenge going by winning heat 12 from Chris Schramm. So following the unbeaten Topinka and Holder on 9 points each were Daniel Nermark on 8, Josef Franc on 7 and Kevin Doolan on 6. The Elite League riders Lewis Bridger, Mark Lemon, Leigh Lanham and Cameron Woodward were all but out of it even at this early stage.

The penultimate group of four races produced a win for Kevin Doolan in heat 13 then Lewis Bridger hauled himself back into contention by beating Josef Franc in heat 14. The two leaders met in heat 15 and it was Tomas Topinka who emerged successful ahead of Chris Holder. Daniel Nermark won heat 16 to keep right on the leader’s tail. This meant that after four rides each Tomas Topinka had 12 points with Chris Holder and Daniel Nermark on 11. These three looked a good bet for the final but the fourth place now seemed to be a contest between Kevin Doolan and Josef Franc on 9 with Lewis Bridger on 8.

In the last set of races, Kevin Doolan took a giant step towards making the final by winning heat 17 leaving Lewis Bridger’s win in heat 18 too late a success to get him there too. Tomas Topinka completed his five rides with the maximum 15 points by winning heat 19 then in a crucial heat 20 Chris Holder won from Daniel Nermark and Cameron Woodward leaving Josef Franc to finish last and blow his chance to make the final.

The final was between Tomas Topinka (15), Chris Holder (14), Daniel Nermark (13) and Kevin Doolan (12). Chris Holder won the trophy by winning the race from Tomas Topinka while Daniel Nermark took third place from Kevin Doolan.

Scorers from the qualifying heats: Tomas Topinka 15, Chris Holder 14, Daniel Nermark 13, Kevin Doolan 12, Lewis Bridger 11, Josef Franc 9, Chris Mills 8, Chris Schramm 7, Mark Lemon 6, Leigh Lanham 6, Shaun Tacey 5, Adam Allott 4, Cameron Woodward 4, Darren Mallett 3, Simon Lambert 2, Kozza Smith 0 (2).

[Merlin]

Thursday, 18 October

There were two meetings tonight. At Sheffield the Tigers faced Rye House in the first leg of the final of the Premier League Play Offs while at Redcar the South Tees Silver Helmet took place.


Premier League Play Offs, final, first leg: Sheffield 51, Rye House 42


Sheffield again had Jordan Frampton as a guest in place of James Birkinshaw at number 6. Rye House were at full strength.

Sheffield just couldn’t build up a head of steam as they had in the semi-final of the Play Offs against King’s Lynn. Indeed only a last heat 5-1 put some real distance between them and the Rockets but it is Rye House who go into the second leg as firm favourites to win on aggregate.

Sheffield got off to the perfect start with a 5-1 in the opening race from the Wilson/Ashworth pairing against Stefan Ekberg and Chris Neath but their first set back came in the reserves race when James Cockle fell on the third bend while third. Adam Roynon won the race from Jordan Frampton and Luke Bowen picked up the gift third place point for a 2-4 to the visitors. Andre Compton worked his way to the front in heat 3 but had to leave Paul Cooper to fend for himself as Tai Woffinden took up the challenge for the Rockets. The result was a 4-2 to the Tigers who re-opened their four point lead. However the home side were rocked by a 1-5 to the visitors when Steve Boxall made a fast start with Adam Roynon. Joel Parsons briefly passed Roynon for second place but Roynon re-passed him shortly after for the Rye House maximum which levelled the scores at 12-12.

Andre Compton won heat 5 but Ekberg and Neath shared the race behind him then Sheffield stormed back into a four point lead again as Wilson and Ashworth repeated their 5-1 success of heat 1 by heading home Steve Boxall. In heat 7 Tommy Allen fell on the third bend causing the race to be stopped and rerun without him. Tai Woffinden won the rerun to share the points then Sheffield added two more points to their lead with a 4-2 in heat 8 with Ben Wilson beating Chris Neath and taking the score to 27-21.

In heat 9 Andre Compton won again while Steve Boxall suffered an engine failure when lying second. Adam Roynon rescued the second place by passing Paul Cooper as the Tigers extended their lead to eight points with the 4-2. In heat 10 a third consecutive 5-1 from the Ashworth/Wilson pairing stretched the Tigers lead to 12 points but the downside for the Tigers was that it allowed Stefan Ekberg to take a Tactical Ride in the next heat against the weak Joel Parsons/Jordan Frampton pairing. Ekberg, Neath and Parsons produced a stunning race but Ekberg eventually pulled away leaving Neath and Parsons to fight for second place. Parsons won that battle but it still resulted in a 2-7 to the Rockets cutting the Sheffield lead to seven points. It was down to five points when the Rockets added a 2-4 in heat 12 after Tai Woffinden had lowered Andre Compton’s colours while a great race behind these two saw Adam Roynon take third place from Jordan Frampton taking the score to 40-35.

Ricky Ashworth remained unbeaten by winning from Stefan Ekberg while Joel Parsons’ third place ahead of Boxall gave Sheffield a 4-2 in heat 13 which put them seven points ahead again. Back came Rye House with a 2-4 in heat 14. Adam Roynon won the race from Frampton and Allen to reduce the gap to five points but Sheffield finished with a 5-1 from Compton and Ashworth to finish nine points ahead. Alas for the Tigers it doesn’t look nearly enough for the second leg on Saturday.

Scorers: For Sheffield – Andre Compton 14 (5), Ricky Ashworth 12+3 (5)(paid maximum), Ben Wilson 11+1 (4)(paid maximum), Joel Parsons 6 (4), Jordan Frampton 5 (5), Paul Cooper 2 (4), James Cockle 1+1 (3).

For Rye House – Adam Roynon 11+1 (6), Stefan Ekberg 11 (5)(with 6 point TR), Tai Woffinden 10 (5), Chris Neath 4+1 (4), Steve Boxall 4 (4), Tommy Allen 1 (3), Luke Bowen 1 (3).



South Tees Silver Helmet at Redcar.

Winner: Peter Karlsson (Wolverhampton)

Second: Chris Holder (Isle of Wight)

Third: Daniel Nermark (King’s Lynn)

The format for this individual meeting was a 16 rider, 20 heat full individual.

The opening four races provided wins for Gary Havelock from Lewis Bridger; Chris Holder from Daniel Nermark, Peter Karlsson from Freddie Lindgren and James Grieves from Casper Wortman. In heat 4 Jason Lyons fell on the third lap while leading bringing down Josh Auty who had to retire from the meeting thereafter.

The second set of four races saw Daniel Nermark beat Gary Havelock and Chris Holder lead Josef Franc home. Peter Karlsson won again by beating Lewis Bridger then Freddie Lindgren won from Chris Kerr. This left Peter Karlsson leading on his own, a lead he was never to relinquish. Gary Havelock, Daniel Nermark and Freddie Lindgren had all dropped just one point and sat on the 5 point mark.

In the third stanza Peter Karlsson won again to keep in front and there were wins for James Grieves, Jason Lyons and Daniel Giffard. Peter Karlsson had now opened up a two point lead on the field with 9 points while Gary Havelock, Chris Holder and James Grieves had 7 with Daniel Nermark on 6.

The penultimate group of four races produced a win for Gary Havelock in heat 13 to keep in touch but Peter Karlsson won heat 14 to keep his two point lead. Daniel Nermark kept his challenge going with a win in heat 15 while Chris Holder did likewise in heat 16 beating Chris Kerr. These results kept Peter Karlsson two points in front of Gary Havelock, and Chris Holder with Daniel Nermark another point adrift.

In the last set of races, James Grieves won heat 17 in a heat where Gary Havelock fell ending his chances of victory. Heat 18 went to Josef Franc while Chris Holder won heat 19 to keep the pressure on Peter Karlsson who was out in heat 20 against Daniel Nermark, Jason Lyons and Chris Kerr. Nermark made the gate in the first staging of the race running the entire field out to the fence and causing Chris Kerr to fall. The race was rerun with all four back and Peter Karlsson made no mistake at the second attempt winning from Daniel Nermark and Lyons to take the trophy.

Scorers: Peter Karlsson 15, Chris Holder 13, Daniel Nermark 11, Gary Havelock 10, Josef Franc 10, James Grieves 10, Lewis Bridger 9, Jason Lyons 7, Chris Kerr 6, Daniel Giffard 6, Freddie Lindgren 6, Ludvig Lindgren 5, Casper Wortman 5, Nicolai Klindt, Kenneth Hansen 1, Joe Haines 1 (5), Josh Auty N (1).

[Merlin]

Friday, 19 October



Tonight’s big match was at Somerset where the Rebels took on King’s Lynn in the first leg of the final of the Premier League Knockout Cup.



Knockout Cup: Final, First leg: Somerset 44, King’s Lynn 46 .


Somerset had Chris Holder deputising for Magnus Zetterstrom at number 1 while King’s Lynn were at full strength.

Chris Holder suffered an engine failure in heat 1 and Tomas Topinka and Paul Lee took full advantage to get King’s Lynn off to the perfect start with a 1-5 over Simon Walker but the Rebels hit back immediately with a 5-1 in the reserves race through Stefan Katt and Daniel Warwick over Simon Lambert. King’s Lynn went back in front again with a 2-4 in heat 3. Daniel Nermark and Jordan Frampton were involved in a thrilling race with Nermark prevailing. Trevor Harding finished third against an ailing Kramer so the Stars went two points up. Chris Mills then won heat 4 from Hawkins and Lambert for a shared heat and the score then stood at 11-13.

Jordan Frampton fell in heat 5 and was excluded from the rerun which was won by Tomas Topinka from Emil Kramer. Paul Lee’s third place point gave the Stars another 2-4 increasing their lead to four points but it was all square again one heat later. Although Chris Mills made the gate in heat 6 Chris Holder passed him on the inside and Simon Walker on the outside of the first bend to take a much needed 5-1 for the Rebels to level the match. However King’s Lynn re-took the lead in heat 7. Daniel Nermark won the race from Ritchie Hawkins while Trevor Harding finished third after a good scrap with Stephan Katt for the odd point. The 2-4 put the Stars two points up again but Somerset wiped their lead out and went in front by two points after taking another 5-1 from heat 8. Simon Walker won the race comfortably but Daniel Warwick just held off Paul Lee fore the vital second place which took the score to 25-23.

There then followed six shared races but three retirals by Somerset riders made it hard for the home side to add to their advantage. In heat 9 an unsatisfactory start was declared when Jordan Frampton fell on the first bend. In the rerun Emil Kramer beat Chris Mills but Jordan Frampton never left the tapes so Mills and Allott only had to finish the race for a 3-3. Chris Holder won heat 10 but Nermark settled in second place while Harding roared round the outside of Walker on the second lap for third and another 3-3. In heat 11 Stefan Katt rode an excellent race to round the field on the outside on the first two bends then held off Tomas Topinka for all four laps but Ritchie Hawkins retired while lying third so another 3-3 resulted. Daniel Nermark won heat 12 from Kramer while Warwick just held off Allott on the run in to the line for the fourth shared heat in a row taking the score to 37-35.

Chris Holder won heat 13 from Topinka and Mills for the fifth consecutive shared heat and it became six in a row in heat 14. Stefan Katt and Jordan Frampton were headed for a 5-1 from the race when Frampton shed a chain on the third lap leaving the Rebels with just one finisher again. Somerset’s jinxed night continued in the last race when, after taking the lead from the start, Chris Holder retired on the back straight of the first lap leaving Daniel Nermark to hit the front. Emil Kramer held second place until he was passed by Tomas Topinka on the last lap resulting in a 1-5 to the Stars overturning their two point arrears and giving them a two point lead to take into the second leg next Wednesday.

Scorers: For Somerset – Stefan Katt 9 (4), Chris Holder 9 (5), Emil Kramer 8 (5), Daniel Warwick 6+4 (4), Simon Walker 6+1 (4), Ritchie Hawkins 4 (4), Jordan Frampton 2 (4).

For King’s Lynn – Daniel Nermark 14 (5), Tomas Topinka 12+1 (5), Chris Mills 7+1 (4), Paul Lee 5+2 (4), Trevor Harding 5+1 (4), Simon Lambert 2+1 (4), Adam Allott 1+1 (4).

[Merlin]

Saturday, 20 October

There were two matches raced tonight. The first was at Rye House where the Rockets were at home to Sheffield in the second leg of the final of the Premier League Play Offs. The other match was at Workington where the Comets were at home to Redcar in the second leg of their semi-final Young Shield tie.



Premier League Play Offs, Final, second leg: Rye House 69, Sheffield 23 Rye House won on aggregate by 111-74


Rye House were at full strength while Sheffield again had Jordan Frampton as a guest at number 6 for James Birkinshaw.

Sheffield arrived at Hoddesdon with a nine point lead from the first leg but they were simply blown away by the Rockets who chalked up no fewer than eleven 5-1 heat wins. Three of the other four races were shared and the other resulted in a 4-2 for the home side.

Heat 1 was rerun with all four back after Ricky Ashworth had fallen in a first bend shoving match. In the rerun the Rockets set the pattern for the night by gating to a 5-1. James Cockle produced one of the two Sheffield race wins in heat 2 by holding off Adam Roynon for a narrow win while Jordan Frampton fell challenging Luke Bowen for third place on the second lap. Paul Cooper raised Sheffield hopes further by making the gate in heat 3 but things went pear shaped for the Tigers when he had an engine failure on the back straight leaving the Tommy Allen and Tai Woffinden to sail off for another 5-1. Adam Roynon produced a last-to-second burst on the first lap of heat 4 to join Steve Boxall for a maximum win and the score now stood at 18-6 with the Tigers already three points behind on aggregate.

Ricky Ashworth gated with the Rockets’ pair of Woffinden and Allen in heat 5 but slipped back when taken wide by Tommy Allen on the first bend. This gave Rye House a 5-1 and they added another in heat 6. Joel Parsons gated in this heat but he was passed by Chris Neath on the first lap then by Stefan Ekberg at the end of the second lap. Andre Compton stopped the rot in heat 7 by winning the battle of the first two bends to emerge in front and go on to win. With Luke Bowen and Steve Boxall following him home it was only good enough for a shared race but the Rockets were soon back on the maximum trail again. Heat 8 produced another 5-1 won by Chris Neath from the gate while Adam Roynon saw off the early challenge of Ben Wilson to take the score to 36-12.

Tommy Allen led from the gate in heat 9 and he was joined by Tai Woffinden after he had passed Joel Parsons at the end of lap 1 for another maximum. Andre Compton took a Tactical Ride in heat 10 but it was Ekberg and Neath who made the gate for the home side. Compton did pass Chris Neath at the end of the first lap but couldn’t catch Ekberg so his second place was only enough to share the heat 4-4. Heat 11 was pulled back after the Sheffield riders had made the gate and in a 1-5 position down the back straight. In the restart Steve Boxall beat Ricky Ashworth to the first corner with Ben Wilson in third but Luke Bowen passed both Tigers on the inside of the third bend to add another 5-1 to the score. Heat 12 produced an excellent battle between Tai Woffinden and Andre Compton. Compton led the race from the start but Woffinden passed him on the third/fourth bends of the first lap. Compton got back into the lead on the third lap with an outside drive but Woffinden was not to be denied and forced his way back in front again off the last bend. Adam Roynon had a good view of this in third place as the meeting’s sole 4-2 was recorded and the score went to 54-20.

The last three heats all went to the Rye House side by 5-1 margins to swell the size of their victory on the night to 46 points and to see Ekberg, Allen and Woffinden go through the card unbeaten but the score did not reflect the effort the Tigers put into this match. They were simply unable to contain a team riding with confidence at the top of their form. Congratulations to Rye House for winning the Play Offs. I guess that makes them league champions in the record books ahead of King’s Lynn and Birmingham the latter of whom finished second in the table yet did not contest the Play Offs.

Scorers: For Rye House – Tommy Allen 14+1 (5)(paid maximum), Tai Woffinden 12+3 (5)(paid maximum), Stefan Ekberg 10+2 (4)(paid maximum), Steve Boxall 10+1 (4), Chris Neath 9+1 (4), Luke Bowen 7+3 (4), Adam Roynon 7+2 (4).

For Sheffield – Andre Compton 11 (5)(with 4 point TR), James Cockle 4 (4), James Cockle 4 (4), Ricky Ashworth 2 (4), Ben Wilson 2 (4), Paul Cooper 0 (4), Jordan Frampton 0 (4).



Young Shield, semi-final, second leg: Workington 47, Redcar 43 Redcar won through to the final on aggregate by 93-87


Workington were without Ulrich Ostergaard with a knee injury and Mattia Carpanese. They had to use Rider Replacement for Ostergaard at number 5 and had Andrew Bargh as a guest at number 2 for Carpanese. Redcar were without Mathieu Tressarieu and Josh Auty so used Rider Replacement for Tressarieu at number 2 and had Joe Haines as a guest at number 4 for Auty.

Ulrich Ostergaard’s withdrawal from this match made Workington’s task to overturn Redcar’s 10 point lead a massive one. They never looked like doing it; the closest they got was by opening a four point lead on the night but the Bears seemed to have all the answers to keep the home side at bay.

Redcar increased their eight point first leg lead to ten points by taking a 2-4 in the opening race. Gary Havelock and Joe Haines made the gate for the visitors and, although Kauko Nieminen got past Haines on the fourth bend bike problems resulted in him having to nurse his machine home for second place. Workington replied with three consecutive 4-2s. John Branney won the reserves race from Daniel Giffard while Charles Wright passed Jack Hargreaves on the last bend of the third lap for the first of them which levelled the scores. James Wright then gated ahead of James Grieves and Craig Branney in heat 3 for the second 4-2 then Kauko Nieminen (R/R) and John Branney looked like adding a 5-1 in heat 4 until Chris Kerr past Branney on the last bend to rescue two points for Redcar with a 4-2 taking the score to 14-10.

Gary Havelock won again in heat 5 after being passed by James Wright on the second lap before re-passing him for the race win. Craig Branney finished third so the race was shared as was heat 6 which Kauko Nieminen won from Chris Kerr and Daniel Giffard. Heat 7 was a disaster for the Comets as they conceded a 1-5 to James Grieves and Joe Haines. This levelled the scores again and worse was to follow for the home side as a 2-4 in heat 8 left them trailing by two points on the night. James Grieves won again from Charles Wright while Daniel Giffard picked up the third place point after John Branney had retired from the race while lying second. This took the score to 23-25 with Redcar now 10 points ahead on aggregate.

Chris Kerr kept the Bears in front by winning heat 9 from the constant challenge of James Wright. With Craig Branney third the heat was shared but Workington levelled the match in heat 10 when Kauko Nieminen passed James Grieves for the win with Andrew Bargh third for a 4-2. The Bears tracked Gary Havelock and Chris Kerr in heat 11 and were looking to regain the lead but Craig Branney rode an excellent race to head Kerr and Havelock home for a 3-3 which kept the scores tied. Workington went back in front in heat 12. James Wright beat James Grieves with John Branney third for a 4-2 which made the score 37-35 but time was fast running out for the Comets.

It was as good as over when Redcar levelled the scores again with a 2-4 from heat 13. Gary Havelock beat Kauko Nieminen again while Chris Kerr finished third. The Comets again took a two point lead in the match in heat 14 with Craig Branney winning from Joe Haines and John Branney for a 4-2 and they ended with another 4-2 in heat 15 when James Wright beat Gary Havelock with Kauko Nieminen third.

Scorers: For Workington – Kauko Nieminen 14 (6), James Wright 13 (5), Craig Branney 9+2 (5), John Branney 7 (6), Charles Wright 3 (5), Andrew Bargh 1 (3).

For Redcar – Gary Havelock 12+1 (5), James Grieves 12 (5), Chris Kerr 10 (6), Joe Haines 5+1 (5), Daniel Giffard 4+1 (5), Jack Hargreaves 0 (4).

[Merlin]

Sunday, 21 October

There were two meetings staged today. At Glasgow the Ashfield Classic took place while at Mildenhall there was a four team tournament involving the Fen Tigers, Boston , an East Anglian Select and Peterborough.


Ashfield Classic: at Glasgow

Winner: George Stancl (Edinburgh)

Second: Filip Sitera (Ak Plzen - Czech Republic)

Third: Kauko Nieminen (Workington)

The format for this individual meeting was a 16 rider, 20 heat full individual with the top four point scorers being seeded directly to the final and the riders in 3rd – 6th place taking part in a semi-final to determine the remaining two finalists.

George Stancl retained his Ashfield Classic title by winning it again this time representing Edinburgh rather than Glasgow. Stancl was beaten just once – in his opening race when Jason Lyons just pipped him round the opening two bends. After that Stancl made the gate, headed for the fence and won his remaining five races unchallenged. This was the key to success on an Ashfield track which was tailor made for the fence scrapers. It was a hard task for a rider to pass on the inside as, after a few heats, the dirt was up against the fence leaving the rest of the track as bald as a coot.

There were some interesting races though and some close finishes with the rider on the outside line coming off best on most occasions. The afternoon was enlivened by the performance of a newcomer to British Speedway (at least north of the border). 19 year old Filip Sitera from the Czech Republic was a sensation powering into the bends and manoeuvring his machine with great skill to make some stunning passes. If this young man decides to expand his career on British tracks it would be surprising if he went to the Premier League. If he does however there will be a queue of tracks on his trail as news of this performance spreads.

Due to injuries in the Glasgow camp there was little for the home support to cheer about among their own riders although Lee Dicken made some determined starts and wide line sweeps. Also impressive for Edinburgh was Derek Sneddon who would have at least made the semi-final but for having to bale out on bend two of his second ride in heat 7 in order to avoid hitting George Stancl’s rear wheel. He dropped two potential points as a result.

The main challengers were as expected plus Sitera. Kauko Nieminen also dropped only one point from the qualifying heats when beaten by George Stancl in heat 13 although he just got up to pip Derek Sneddon on the line in heat 17. Both Stancl and Nieminen were seeded directly to the final while the semi-final produced a strong line up of Josef Franc, Filip Sitera, Jason Lyons and James Wright. Jason Lyons won the race while Filip Sitera took advantage of the struggle between Franc and Wright on the second bend to slip past them for second place. Lyons and Sitera joined Stancl and Nieminen in the final. Stancl produced another excellent race from tapes to flag in a fast time to take the £1,000 cheque. Again Sitera took advantage of the second bend melee to slip past Nieminen and Lyons for a very impressive second place with Nieminen finishing third.

It was an entertaining meeting made all the more enjoyable by being pushed on at breakneck speed. The Glasgow promotion had taken some stick for previous double-headers which had taken an eternity to complete but to be fair this was not the case this afternoon as 22 heats plus a ‘demonstration’ race were completed in a breathtaking one hour 50 minutes!

Scorersfrom the qualifying heats (all from 5 rides each): – George Stancl 14, Kauko Nieminen 14, Josef Franc 11, Jason Lyons 11, James Wright 11, Filip Sitera 10, Derek Sneddon 9, Adam Roynon 9, Lee Dicken 8, Trent Leverington 6, Chris Kerr 5, Robert Ksiezak 4, Sean Stoddart 3, Jari Makinen 3, Gary Beaton 1, Cal McDade 0.



The Big Bang 2: Mildenhall 21, Boston 22, East Anglian Select 27, Peterborough 38 .

This meeting held at Mildenhall was a four team tournament with each of the four teams consisting of four riders each of whom took four races. Tactical Rides were allowed for teams who fell ten points behind the leaders.

Mildenhall had regular team members Shaun Tacey, Tomas Suchanek and Jason King plus Somerset’s Ritchie Hawkins while Boston fans attending must have thought Christmas had come early when they learned that Kevin Doolan, Lewis Bridger, Carl Wilkinson and James Brundle were to represent them. The East Anglian Select had Leigh Lanham, James Holder, Nicky Glanz and Chris Schramm while Peterborough turned up with Neils Kristian Iversen, Kenneth Bjerre, Daniel King and Claus Vissing.

One look at the line ups would lead you to believe that this would be a walk in the park (or is ride round the track) for the Peterborough Panthers. So it turned out. Kenneth Bjerre won all four of his races while Daniel King was beaten only in his last race by Chris Schramm who was on a Tactical Ride at the time. With Claus Vissing and Neil Kristian Iversen adding 15 points including another four race wins between them the Peterborough side dropped only 10 points from the 16 races to win by 11 points from the East Anglian Select.

Heats 8, 9 and 10 saw a rash of Tactical Rides. Shaun Tacey was first up for Mildenhall and won his race from Vissing, Doolan and Holder. Leigh Lanham followed him in heat 9 finishing second to Claus Vissing then Lewis Bridger completed the set in heat 10 by finishing second to Daniel King.

The track record was broken three times during the meeting. Kenneth Bjerre lowered the time to 50.17 in heat 2; Daniel King followed suit in heat 4 lowering it further to 50.04; finally Kenneth Bjerre got it under the 50 second mark recording a 49.81 in heat 5. Surely this is the lowest track record in British Speedway.

There were a number of other races on the programme featuring among others junior grasstrackers and fun races followed by a fireworks display to bring the season’s end to Mildenhall with an enjoyable afternoon’s entertainment and a ‘Big Bang’!

Scorers – all from 4 rides each: For Mildenhall – Shaun Tacey 9, Jason King 8 (with 4 point TR), Tomas Suchanek 2, Ritchie Hawkins 2.

For Boston – Lewis Bridger 11 (with 4 point TR), Carl Wilkinson 5, Kevin Doolan 3, James Brundle 3.

For East Anglian Select – Chris Schramm 12 (with 6 point TR), Leigh Lanham 11, James Holder 2, Nicky Glanz 2.

For Peterborough – Kenneth Bjerre 12, Daniel King 11, Claus Vissing 8, Neil Kristian Iversen 7.