Around the Premier League Tracks - 2007

[Merlin]

Sunday, 24 June

The Great British summer continued to wreak havoc with the fixture list as all three Premier League matches scheduled to be raced today fell casualty to the seemingly incessant rain.

The matches which should have taken place but were called off were:

Glasgow versus Birmingham ,

Newcastle versus Rye House and

Newport versus Mildenhall .

The fixture casualty list caused by the weather must now be reaching a level which is causing alarm to the BSPA. Not only will it prove difficult to rearrange all the wiped out meetings to meet end of season deadlines for playoffs etc. but the lost revenue during June, one of the ‘summer’ months must be substantial.

For Premier League tracks the coming week will see no Premier League matches raced on Friday or Saturday night due to the Premier League Pairs being held at Somerset on Friday and the British Grand Prix at Cardiff on Saturday. This leaves only the meetings on the Isle of Wight (v. Rye House) in a Knockout Cup match on Tuesday, at Birmingham (v. Somerset) and King’s Lynn (v. Mildenhall) in Premier League matches on Wednesday and at Sheffield (v. Workington) again in the Premier League on Thursday – a grand total of four matches for the whole week!

How long will it be before we see some tracks running twice a week or having to resort to double-headers to clear up the backlog and what will be the long term financial implications for the clubs most badly affected?

[Merlin]

Tuesday, 26 June



It was Isle of Wight night tonight where the Islanders took on Rye House in the first leg of a Knockout Cup tie.



Knockout Cup (first leg): Isle of Wight 52, Rye House 40 .


The Isle of Wight were at full strength and nominated Sam Martin as their number 8. Rye House were without two of their heat leaders, Tai Woffinden and Steve Boxall. They had Danny King at number 3 in place of Woffinden but had to use Rider Replacement at number 5 for Boxall. They also nominated Karlis Ezergailis as their number 8.

Rye House just never seem to be clear of injuries and were again shorthanded on their trip to the Island. The last time these two teams met at this track the home side ran out winners by 16 points in a Premier Trophy match. The Rockets were looking to do much better than that since a similar deficit might well prove too much for them to pull back.

The opening heat resulted in a 4-2 to the Islanders when Chris Holder and Cory Gathercole were split by Chris Neath then Robbie Kessler won the reserves race for a shared heat. The home side doubled their lead to four points with another 4-2 in heat 3. Jason Bunyan beat Danny King while Krzysztof Stojanowski took third place. Rye House hit back in heat 4 with a 2-4 which at one point looked as though it might be a 1-5 when Chris Neath and Robbie Kessler made the gate. Glen Phillips passed Kessler, however, so the Rockets had to be content with a two point advantage from the race as the score went to 13-11.

Heats 5 and 6 both saw the home side score 4-2s thanks to wins from Jason Bunyan and Chris Holder from Chris Neath and Robbie Kessler respectively which extended their lead to six points. Then, in heat 7, Glen Phillips led until lap 3 when he suffered machine problems. As a result he was passed by Danny King and Tommy Allen. It was now King’s turn to hit engine trouble while Phillips had enough juice to follow race winner, Tommy Allen, home. Andrew Bargh was third so the heat was shared. Chris Johnson raced off to win heat 8 while Cory Gathercole and Adam Roynon had a good battle for second place. Gathercole won the battle so the Islanders scored the first 5-1 of the night taking the score to 29-19.

Rye House fell further behind in heat 9 when Jason Bunyan won for the third time beating R/R Tommy Allen. With Luke Bowen failing to finish, Stojanowski took the third place point stretching the lead to 12 points. It was Gathercole’s turn to pull up in heat 10 with a puncture but Chris Holder, like Bunyan in the previous heat, made it three wins from three rides leaving Danny King and Tommy Allen to share the points. In heat 11 Chris Neath took a Tactical Ride and fortune favoured the Rockets when Glen Phillips again hit machine problems and did not finish. However, reserve, Andrew Bargh, rose to the occasion by winning the race leaving Neath and Roynon to fill the minor places. This still gave the Rockets an advantage. They took a 3-5 from the race cutting the home side’s lead to 10 points. Jason Bunyan made it four wins from 4 in heat 12 but Danny King and Robbie Kessler beat Chris Johnson for a share of the spoils taking the score to 42-32 at the interval. The last three heats were going to prove vital for the second leg with the Rockets desperately holding on to keep the gap to manageable proportions.

The lead was back up to 12 points again when Chris Holder completed his four ride maximum in heat 13 and Glen Phillips finished behind Chris Neath for a 4-2. Back came Rye House in heat 14 with a 2-4 to get back to within 10 points of the Islanders. Robbie Kessler was the race winner from Krzysztof Stojanowski with Tommy Allen third but heat 15 looked a dismal prospect for the Rockets with the unbeaten Holder and Bunyan taking their places in the race against them. They avoided the 5-1 though when Danny King finished behind Holder to ruin Bunyan’s maximum. Chris Neath was last but a 12 point defeat was not a bad result considering that Rye House did not lose any more ground after heat 9 when they trailed 33-21. The tie looks well balanced for the second leg at Hoddesdon.

Scorers: For the Isle of Wight – Chris Holder 15 (5)(full maximum), Jason Bunyan 13 (5), Andrew Bargh 6+1 (4), Glen Phillips 5 (4), Krzysztof Stojanowski 5 (4), Cory Gathercole 4+1 (4), Chris Johnson 4+1 (4),

For Rye House – Chris Neath 13 (6)(with 4 point TR), Robbie Kessler 10+1 (6), Danny King 8 (5), Tommy Allen 7+1 (5), Adam Roynon 2+1 (5), Luke Bowen 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Wednesday, 27 June

There were two Premier League matches raced tonight. At Birmingham the Brummies raced Somerset while at King’s Lynn the Stars took on Mildenhall .


Premier League: Birmingham 49, Somerset 41


Both Birmingham and Somerset were at full strength

Birmingham’s eight point win in this match was the most there was between the two teams all match. The Brummies were handicapped by the withdrawal of Aidan Collins who had pushed home for the best part of a lap in his second ride for a third place point after suffering an engine failure in a three man rerun of heat 6. Unfortunately he injured his back in the long push home and was withdrawn on medical advice. The Brummies were indebted to an excellent 13 point return from reserve, Lee Smart who won four of his six races.

Somerset never quite had enough scoring power to topple the home side although Magnus Zetterstrom dropped only one point – to Jason Lyons in heat 15 and he, and Emil Kramer, scored more than half the Rebels’ total.

Somerset produced four of the first five winners yet the match was still tied after heat 5. Three 4-2s to the Brummies gave them a 6 point lead after heat 8 and another 4-2 in heat 10 stretched the lead to eight points. Magnus Zetterstrom won heats 11 and 13 while Emil Kramer won heat 12 but the Rebels only managed to pull two points back during that three heat spell.

Lee Smart tied things up for the home side by winning heat 14 for a shared heat while Jason Lyons ensured that Magnus Zetterstrom did not go through the card by winning the last heat with Birmingham taking a 4-2 when Ulrich Ostergaard finished third ahead of Emil Kramer.

Scorers: For Birmingham – Lee Smart 13 (6), Ulrich Ostergaard 11 (5), Jason Lyons 10 (5), Ben Powell 7+2 (6), Emiliano Sanchez 4+2 (3), Aidan Collins 2+1 (2), Jon Armstrong 2 (3).

For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 14 (5), Emil Kramer 8 (5), Simon Walker 6+1 (5), Jordan Frampton 5 (4), Ritchie Hawkins 4+1 (4), Stephan Katt 3 (4), Danny Warwick 1 (3).



Premier League: King’s Lynn 48, Mildenhall 45 .


King’s Lynn were without Grant MacDonald and continued with Simon Lambert at number 7. Mildenhall were at full strength.

Wow! Another last heat decider at Saddlebow Road. For the second time in six days the Stars were pushed all the way, this time by a Mildenhall side who lost Tom P Madsen after he fell heavily in his second ride and withdrew from the meeting. This opened up the stage to Mildenhall’s two most recent signings. Tomas Suchanek won his last three races for 14 points while Paul Fry added another 13 with the aid of a six point Tactical Ride.

It took some time to get the track into a fit state for this meeting to go ahead and particularly early on some of the riders struggled to cope with the conditions.

The Stars opened with two 4-2s only to be shocked by a 1-5 from Kyle Legault and Jason King ahead of Daniel Nermark and Trevor Harding. A Paul Lee win in heat 4 produced a shared heat and a score of 12-12.

King’s Lynn then blistered ahead with two 5-1s and two 4-2s over the next four heats to rocket into a 12 point lead with the score moving to 30-18. Tom P Madsen fell in heat 5 while at the back resulting in a visit on track by the ambulance and his withdrawal from the meeting.

The Mildenhall fight back started in heat 9. Paul Fry won a Tactical Ride for a 3-6 heat advantage and Kyle Legault won heat 10 for a shared heat. Then came two race wins from Tomas Suchanek in heats 11 and 12. In his first win, ahead of Paul Lee, he had Shaun Tacey in third place for a 2-4 and in the next race Daniel Nermark only just got up to pass his partner, Kyle Legault, for another 2-4. These heat advantages cut the Stars’ lead to five points with the score at 40-35.

Tomas Topinka won heat 13 from Paul Fry and, with Paul Lee third, the home side stopped the rot with a 4-2 stretching their lead to seven points but they got a jolt when Tomas Suchanek stepped up again to win heat 14. This time Jason King followed him home for a 1-5 to cut the lead further to only three points setting up the last heat decider. Tomas Topinka won the last heat to see the Stars home but the home fans were keeping their fingers crossed that he didn’t suffer an engine failure after Paul Lee had fallen since Kyle Legault and Paul Fry were ready to pounce.


Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14 (5), Paul Lee 9 (5), James Brundle 8+1 (5), Daniel Nermark 7+1 (4), Trevor Harding 5+1 (4), Chris Mills 4+1 (4), Simon Lambert 1 (3).

For Mildenhall – Tomas Suchanek 14 +1 (7), Paul Fry 13+1 (5)(with 6 point TR), Kyle Legault 9 (5), Jason King 5+2 (4), Shaun Tacey 4 (4), Tom P Madsen 0 (2), Mark Thompson 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Thursday, 28 June


I’m sorry but it’s not very likely that I’ll be able to add any further posts to this thread until Thursday, 5 July at the earliest.

I’m off on tour for the week. It would be great to meet any of you on my travels. I’m hoping to take in the following meetings:

Friday, 29 June – Premier League Pairs at Somerset
Saturday, 30 June – British Grand Prix at Cardiff
Sunday, 1 July – Welsh Open at Newport (maybe, maybe not!) or/and
Sunday, 1 July – Elite League at Swindon (v Peterborough)
Monday, 2 July – Chill Out Day at the Blunsdon Hotel, Swindon
Tuesday, 3 July – Premier League on the Isle of Wight (v Edinburgh)
Wednesday, 4 July – Premier League at Birmingham (v Edinburgh).

Here’s hoping that summer arrives during the week!

[Merlin]

On Tour: Thursday 28 June - Wednesday 4 July


Thursday, 28 June

It’s a long way from Edinburgh to Swindon which was the first part of our trip. Our intrepid party left Scotland’s capital under grey skies which seemed to be mourning our departure at 9.00am but once we crossed the border the sun appeared as if to welcome us to England. Our driver, former speedway rider, Jimmy Beaton, had us safely delivered to the Blunsdon House Hotel, just five minutes from Swindon speedway track, by 5.30pm after suffering what I gather is the usual hold-up at the M5-M6 junction. We had one stop at Tebay Services, Westmoreland, where we got off the bus to stretch our legs and have a good laugh at the motorway services prices. I might have bought something but they couldn’t arrange a mortgage in time. When we got there most of us headed off to the Heart in Hand - the local watering hole - where we partook of err...refreshments which included some of the local Wiltshire dishes like soup in the basket followed by jugged hare although the hare had touches of dandruff. Then it was back to the hotel where we had err....more refreshments before being excluded for not being under power due to a flooded carburretor.

Friday, 29 June

After a frugal breakfast which consisted of cereal, fruit, fruit juice, sausage, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomatoes, black pudding, baked beans, fried bread, with fried egg on top, toast, Danish pastry, tea and coffee I headed off for morning ablutions before taking on Doc Bridgett, Slap and Joe at what we laughingly called golf. Modesty forbids me to report on the result but afterwards it was time for more food. So it was back to the Heart in Hand for doorstep sandwiches (the doorsteps were a bit tasteless) and a pint or two of the foaming brew followed by a quick snooze. At 4.30pm we headed off for Somerset to watch with complete detachment (the Monarchs were not represented for some reason!) the Premier League Pairs Championship. Due to carnage on the motorway and outside the stadium we only arrived twenty minutes before the start.

It was a dry sunny evening and a good crowd, some of which didn’t arrive until after heat 6, enjoyed a splendid battle (the racing was quite good too!). Glasgow decided to qualify by not winning races but by filling the minor places, a tactic which was successful, while Somerset blew it when Emil Kramer ran two last places in their first two races. Meanwhile the Isle of Wight stormed into the semi-finals comfortably from the same group. Workington won the other qualifying group with a very impressive Newcastle performance taking them into the semis too. Of the rest Sheffield were pitifully poor being ’grannied’ in all of their races and King’s Lynn fell out of it dramatically after a 7-2 win in their opening race. In the first semi, Kauko Nieminen won for Workington but again the Glasgow pair showed that they understood the game being content to fill the minor places to qualify 5-4. In the other semi, the Isle of Wight did likewise. Josef Franc made an astonishing gate while Chris Holder gave up the chase to sit with his partner, Jason Bunyan for a 5-4 win. The final was an excellent race. The Glasgow pair of Shane Parker and Craig Watson were fast away but Chris Holder soon passed Watson and eventually Parker too to move to the front. Rather surprisingly Shane Parker continued his battle with Holder while his partner, Craig Watson came under pressure at the back and could have done with some help. Inevitably Jason Bunyan, with a wide swooping first and second bend drive, passed Watson for a 6-3 to the Islanders and a deserved win on the night much to the delight of the crowd who were dancing on the terraces. The cha-cha was particularly difficult on the sloped grassy banking. I was glad to meet Tiny Tim (who is anything but tiny) and Mike M, both from the Somerset fans’ forum. Both were extremely friendly lads and they made me feel welcome at the Oak Tree Arena. Thanks guys!

After that it was back to the hotel for another round of err....refreshments and a broken night’s sleep due to the frequent calls of nature before facing another frugal breakfast in the morning.


Saturday, 30 June

We all rather heavily got on the bus around 11.00am for Cardiff and the Millenium Grand Prix. On arrival on a miserably wet morning we circled the Cardiff Castle a good number of times in a vain attempt to find a parking space. After an interesting tour of the much admired double yellow lines we were dumped....sorry we alighted in the middle of a rainstorm somewhere near the stadium where we all went our different ways in search of err...refreshments. The Prince of Wales (POW), although not in attendance personally, provided us with hospitality and an opportunity to meet like-minded weirdos. I decided to leave before the throwing out and throwing up started and went off for lunch with Mike Hunter and Jane, Ole Nygren, Linda and Owen. Also there were Ronnie Anderson, Lord Rocket and the Campbell boys. After stuffing our faces yet again Cameron Woodward turned up with his two sisters, Kerryn and Kendall who I was glad to meet for the first time. Then it was time to head back to the POW where all and sundry were still quenching their thirsts before wading through the wet to the impressive Millenium Stadium.

The noise was horrendous! Luckily I had ear plugs with me and they were needed. While waiting for the meeting to start I had a tap on my shoulder (yes, it’s a funny place to have a tap!) and Dave T also from the Somerset forum introduced himself. I would have liked to have talked to him but I couldn’t shout loudly enough to make myself heard. The meeting was fabulous and has been reported at some length elsewhere. Suffice to say nearly everyone was delighted to see Chris Harris win; he deserved to. I tried to meet up with my good friend, Andy, from Weymouth afterwards but I had lost my sense of direction and was totally disorientated not helped by the torrential downpour. About 11.00pm we gave up trying to make contact so I headed back to the bus at which point I realised that I should have brought with me from the hotel a bathrobe and some towels – silly me! Like others on the bus I was soaked to the skin so it was an uncomfortable journey back to Blunsdon.


Sunday, 1 July

After the usual breakfast I had intended to go to the Welsh Open at Newport but my jacket was still soaking wet, inside and out, from the Saturday night’s deluge so I had nothing to wear (well not literally). With the forecast for Newport a bit dodgy in any case I decided to visit the market in the Swindon speedway car park and go to the Swindon v Peterborough match in the evening instead. As it happened the Welsh Open was on while the Swindon match was postponed after even more rain (where does it all come from?). The market was full of people who looked miserable as though they wanted, needed, craved for, would have killed for a cigarette. Of course we Scots got used to that a long time ago but it was curious to see how we must have looked when the smoking ban was introduced in Scotland. We bought nothing at the market – no surprise there then.

The rerun of the Grand Prix was on the television in the afternoon and I tried hard to get a bet on Chris Harris to win with Greg Hancock as runner up for the forecast but there were no takers! Rats! It was interesting to see how it looked on TV from all the various angles (By the way did you spot the Monarchs’ flag on the third/fourth bend?) Yes Ella and Dennis had draped it over the wall to make sure people knew we still exist. In the evening we went to an inn called the ‘Cold Harbour’. Now I would have bet against Swindon having a harbour since the last time I looked at a map it was landlocked. I gather it has something to do with the Romans who used to store things there, harbour meaning a place of refuge I guess. Now I had already tasted the Heart in Hand’s ‘home prepared honey roast ham with fries and oeufs’ so instead I had bacon steaklets with French fries and eggs only to discover it was ham, egg and chips again. I wanted the Sunday lunch only to be told it was off the menu but, as my father used to say, hunger is the best sauce. I don’t know why he said that but he did. He never used to say much else come to think of it.

After the eats and drinks it was back to base for a pool competition which I did not win so it was off to bed in the huff (no – huff, not –buff).


Monday, 2 July


Today was a free day with no speedway planned. In the morning we played golf and continued it after lunch after which we sort of lounged about and drank to prepare our systems for our annual drubbing on the Isle of Wight the next day.


Tuesday, 3 July


We had planned to head off for the Island in the morning and spend the day there but the forecast was not good so we delayed our departure till after lunch. The usual trip took us to the foot ferry at Portsmouth where the boat then ferried us across to Ryde pier. It’s a long walk to get from the end of the pier to Ryde. The town itself never seems to get any nearer as you walk towards it but eventually nature prevails and you get there. The guy who sells ice cream at the entrance to the pier must do a roaring trade as the weary travellers now on hands and knees struggle to their destination. (That’s not really true but if I told you the truth you wouldn’t believe it!). George and Helen Taylor (who did all the hard work organising the entire tour) took up their routemeister duties and directed myself with King Jaimie, Joe and Lauren, and Graham and Gordon on a health inducing bracing walk along the seafront heading east then back again before we climbed a hill to the Worthington pub at the top for eats and drinks. The Grand Old Duke of York kept coming to mind as we climbed the hill and I don’t mind admitting that I was next to knackered by the time we got there. If I’d known anyone half way up I would have visited them instead. To get away from the ham, egg and chips I tried something called ‘improved fish and chips’. I’m not sure what the improvement was but they did say that the cod came from a sustainable source whatever that means. It was quite nice. The time had now come to scamper down the hill to catch the bus which takes you to and from the Smallbrook track – a hair-raising experience if ever there was one!

The track was saturated with water and rain continued to fall throughout most of the meeting. This meant that the track was a gater’s paradise I’m afraid that we shall have to pull the curtain down on the Edinburgh performance although the home side no doubt appreciated the big start the Edinburgh riders gave them in nearly every heat. We might have done better had we had a different septet and it was a great relief when we only lost heat 12 by 3-2 when Jason Bunyan kindly pulled up to let our riders past. Matthew Wethers got into the act too so there were only two finishers. Why was it a great relief? Because the Islanders could no longer hit the 70 point mark!

There was one strange thing about the meeting, apart from Bryn Williams’ whimsical remarks. That was that, despite a twenty minute interval, the match was over by 9.15pm and we didn’t have to watch the last heat from the top of the double decker bus as usual! Instead we had a leisurely drive and stroll back with 30 minutes to spare for the 10.15pm ferry. Now how many visiting supporters to the Isle of Wight can say that? The journey back to base was a sombre affair but after a good night’s sleep we were ready for the last day of the tour.


Wednesday, 4 July

And so to the last lap. We checked out of our rooms and lounged around the hotel until 3.00pm before setting off for Birmingham. I switched to Budweiser for the day to find out why King Jamie always drinks that. The hotel does a mean baguette so I enjoyed a Prawn, Marie Rose with home made chutney. Unfortunately the side salad had the usual disgusting cucumber which was quickly ejected from the plate.

The weather up to Birmingham was excellent but by the time we got there the sky had turned a bit blackish. Our coach parked right next to the track in the car park and we had a good view of the track staff watering the track (!) and then ripping it up. We had three hours to kill before the meeting but they nearly killed me as the rain started, got heavier and heavier as I began to lose the will to live. However come 7.30pm the match was still on so we all made for the entrance to the stadium, paid our money and had a good look around.

The stadium is superb – one of the best I’ve been in for a speedway match. We watched one race in which both Edinburgh riders missed the gate then came the ritual congregation of the riders at the pits entrance where they all start kicking the track. This is nearly always the prelude to a meeting being called off. Why do they kick the track? Is it for revenge or are they hoping to unearth buried treasure? The referee then ordered a tiny tractor to be driven round a few times before telling us all what we already knew – the meeting was off. Still, sitting upstairs in the impressive restaurant area, peering through the huge windows I consoled myself with the knowledge that it was the most comfortable call-off I’d had the pleasure to witness.

Ah well – back to the bus and off home. I got home at around 4.00am. Despite the rain and the ‘result’ I had a brilliant time. Speedway supporters are the salt of the earth. They accept adversity willingly and come through the bad times with good humour. It was a privilege to have been in the company of my fellow fanatics and to have met so many excellent fans at the various tracks. Here’s to next year.

[Merlin]

Friday, 6 July

Two Premier League matches were due to be raced tonight but once again the weather took its toll when the match at Edinburgh between the Monarchs and Newcastle was called off early in the day such was the state of the track after the deluge of rain to which it had been subjected. However the match at Somerset between the Rebels and Birmingham did take place.


Premier League: Somerset 58, Birmingham 32 Somerset won the aggregate bonus point by 99-81.


Somerset were at full strength but Birmingham were still without Jason Lyons so had Kauko Nieminen as a guest at number 3 in his place. They also had Manuel Hauzinger at number 7 making his debut for the club while Ben Powell moved to number 2 following the retiral of Aidan Collins.

This was only the second Premier League match to have been raced in over a week. Somerset were anxious to get their league challenge back on course by taking all three points. They were eight points adrift from the match at Perry Barr in the fight for the bonus pont. Birmingham, too, were keen to get back in action following their rain-off on Wednesday night.

The opening race had to be rerun. Ulrich Ostergaard made a poor start and tried to pass Stephan Katt going into the first bend of lap two. In doing so he brought Katt down and was excluded from the rerun in which Magnus Zetterstrom led Ben Powell and Stephan Katt home for a Rebels’ 4-2. Heat 2 also had to be rerun when Danny Warwick and Lee Smart crashed on the first bend with Warwick’s bike ending up on the wrong side of the fence. This time all four were invited back. In the rerun, Simon Walker and Danny Warwick raced to the front but Warwick seemed to be having trouble and was passed by Manuel Hauzinger and Lee Smart for a shared race. Heat 3 was shared too. Kauko Nieminen saw off Jordan Frampton on the opening bend and headed for home but Emil Kramer and Frampton were behind him for the 3-3. Then Manuel Hauzinger shot from the tapes in heat 4 to head home Ritchie Hawkins while Emiliano Sanchez finished third for a 2-4 to the Brummies which levelled the score at 12-12.

Somerset were back in front after the next race when Emil Kramer and Jordan Frampton took a 5-1 with Ben Powell third. However they were lucky when Ulrich Ostergaard lost a chain going into the last lap when well in front. The Rebels looked as if they might add to that by taking another 5-1 in heat 6 when Magnus Zetterstrom and Stephan Katt led from the tapes but Emiliano Sanchez passed Katt on the second lap restricting the home side’s advantage to a 4-2 which increased their lead to six points. Kauko Nieminen was turning out to be an excellent guest for the Brummies when he took a tapes-to-flag win in heat 7. The Rebels’ pairing of Hawkins and Walker made sure that the heat was shared though by relegating Jon Armstrong to the back. Manuel Hauzinger shot from the tapes again in heat 8 but this time the referee was having none of it and called for a restart. In the rerun Hauzinger wasn’t so fortunate and finished behind Stephan Katt and Danny Warwick as the Rebels scored their second 5-1 which opened up a ten point lead and took the score to 29-19 putting the Rebels ahead on aggregate by two points.

Emil Kramer won heat 9 but the action was behind him as Emiliano Sanchez and Jordan Frampton were neck and neck for second place. Sanchez got the second place with Frampton third. This gave Somerset a 4-2 and put them 12 points in front as Birmingham began to drift out of contention. The unbeaten Zetterstrom and Nieminen met in heat 10. It was the Rebels pair of Zetterstrom and Katt who made the start looking for another 5-1. However Nieminen passed Katt on the third lap while Hauzinger followed suit on the last bend to share the race leaving the visitors 12 points in arrears. Manuel Hauzinger who had replaced Jon Armstrong in heat 10 came out again in heat 11 to replace Ben Powell. This time he finished at the back behind Simon Walker who won the heat from Ulrich Ostergaard and Ritchie Hawkins. Another 4-2 stretched the Somerset lead to 14 points so, in heat 12, Kauko Nieminen was entrusted with the Birmingham Tactical Ride. However the TR was squandered when Danny Warwick and Emil Kramer roared off for another 5-1 which virtually sealed the win and bonus point for the Rebels as the lead stretched to 18 points with the score now 45-27.

The home side were in full flight now and added another 5-1 in heat 13 from Hawkins and Zetterstrom with Ostergaard third. They followed that with a 4-2 in heat 14. Simon Walker won the race from Manuel Hauzinger while Jordan Frampton took third place increasing the Somerset advantage to 24 points. Finally, in heat 15, Magnus Zetterstrom completed his paid maximum by beating Ulrich Ostergaard while Ritchie Hawkins finished ahead of Kauko Nieminen for third place giving the home side another 4-2 and a 26 point win.

Scorers: For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 14+1 (5)(paid maximum), Emil Kramer 10+1 (4), Simon Walker 10+1 (5), Ritchie Hawkins 9 (5), Jordan Frampton 5+2 (4), Danny Warwick 5+1 (3), Stephan Katt 5 (4).

For Birmingham – Manuel Hauzinger 9+1 (6), Kauko Nieminen 9 (5), Emiliano Sanchez 5 (4), Ulrich Ostergaard 5 (5), Ben Powell 3 (3), Lee Smart 1+1 (4), Jon Armstrong 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Saturday, 7 July

After the dearth of action recently due to weather cancellations there were no fewer than five Premier League matches raced tonight! At Berwick the Bandits faced Newcastle while at Mildenhall the Fen Tigers took on King’s Lynn . The third match was at Rye House where the Rockets raced against Sheffield . The fourth match was at Stoke where the Isle of Wight provided the opposition. Finally at Workington the Comets had Newport as their visitors.



Premier League: Berwick 48, Newcastle 44 Newcastle won the aggregate bonus point by 101-84


Berwick had two newcomers making their debuts. At number 1 was Sebastian Truminski while at number 6 young Sam Martin filled the reserve spot. Newcastle were at full strength.

Three cheers for Berwick who finally broke their duck by winning a league match. True, Newcastle didn’t have much luck, losing Ross Brady after his first ride and Christian Henry after his third but the Bandits will take the view that a win is a win. They had an almighty struggle on their hands and things didn’t look too good for them when they trailed by 10 points after heat 5. It took a 7-1 thanks to a TR for them to get back into the match.

Newcastle started with a 1-5 from Henry and Wilkinson over Bergstrom with new boy, Truminski, at the back. Berwick pulled two back with a 4-2 from the reserves race but the Diamonds hit back with their own 2-4 in heat 3 to open up the four point lead again. Ross Brady retired from the meeting at this point for some reason but that news didn’t stop Newcastle adding another two points to their lead with another 2-4 from Raun and Stoddart in heat 4 after the race had been rerun without Makovsky who had fallen and been excluded. This took the score to 9-15.

Things looked really bleak for the Bandits when the Henry/Wilkinson pairing scored their second 1-5 in heat 5 from Burza and Rempala to increase their lead to 10 points. This gave Berwick the opportunity to give Truminski a TR in heat 6 and he finished behind Andreas Bergstrom for a 7-1 to the home side cutting the gap to four points. Newcastle opened it to six again with a 2-4 in heat 7 as Josef Franc beat Makovsky. Heat 8 was won by Wilkinson to keep the gap at six points with the score now reading 22-28.

Two heats later it was all square. Heat 9 ended with a 5-1 to Berwick thanks to Rempala and Burza then, in heat 10, Truminski beat Franc with Bergstrom third for a 4-2 taking the score to 31-31. In heat 11, Christian Henry was controversially excluded after falling but Carl Wilkinson won the heat to remain unbeaten and share the points. Unfortunately Henry had to withdraw from the meeting as a result of his fall and Newcastle, now without Brady and Henry, were up against it. In heat 12 Josef Franc kept their hopes alive by winning for a shared heat taking the score to 37-37.

A Makovsky/Truminski 5-1 in heat 13 put Berwick four points in front and the match was over when Sean Stoddart had an engine failure while leading heat 14 and Adam McKinna crashed into the fence giving the Bandits another 5-1 and an eight point lead. Newcastle had the consolation of taking a 1-5 from heat 15 as Carl Wilkinson completed his paid maximum and was followed home by Josef Franc.


Scorers: For Berwick – David Meldrum 11+1 (5), Sebastian Truminski 9+2 (5)(with 4 point TR), Michal Makovsky 8 (5), Stanislaw Burza 7+2 (4), Andreas Bergstrom 6+1 (4), Jacek Rempala 5 (4), Sam Martin 2+1 (3).

For Newcastle – Carl Wilkinson 13+2 (5)(paid maximum), Josef Franc 13+1 (5), Christian Henry 6 (3), Jonas Raun 6 (4), Sean Stoddart 5 (7), Ross Brady 1 (1), Adam McKinna 0 (5).



Premier League: Mildenhall 50, King’s Lynn 42 Mildenhall won the aggregate bonus point by 95-90


Mildenhall had Theo Pijper at number 3 replacing Kyle Legault while King’s Lynn had Simon Lambert at number 7.

This was an excellent result for the Fen Tigers who took all three points against the league champions. They got off to a whirlwind start with a 5-1, 5-0 and 4-2 with both Stars’ riders excluded in heat 2. Heat 4 provided the visitors with a 2-4 to take the score to 16-7 but, after a shared heat 5, another 5-1 in heat 6 stretched the Fen Tigers’ lead to 14 points. King’s Lynn then gave Daniel Nermark a TR in heat 7 and, along with Paul Lee, they scored a 1-8 cutting the deficit to 6 points at 25-19. However Mildenhall were in no mood for a collapse and hit back with another 5-1 in heat 8 to take the score to 30-20.

Heats 9 and 10 were shared then King’s Lynn got right back into the match with a 1-5 in heat 11 from Topinka and Mills. Back came the Bog Moggies again with a 5-1 from Pijper and Suchanek to restore their 10 point lead at 42-32.

King’s Lynn weren’t finished though and hit another 1-5 in heat 13 from Topinka and Harding. However the home side clinched the match and aggregate bonus point by taking a 4-2 in heat 14 with Suchanek again proving an inspirational reserve with another heat win. He then rounded off proceedings by winning heat 15 for a shared heat to ensure an eight point win for the homesters.

Scorers: For Mildenhall – Tomas Suchanek 13+2 (6), Jason King 10 (4), Shaun Tacey 9+2 (5), Tom P Madsen 8+1 (4), Theo Pijper 4 (4), Mark Baseby 3+1 (3), Paul Fry 3 (4),

For King’s Lynn – Paul Lee 10+1 (5), Tomas Topinka 10 (5), Daniel Nermark 7 (4)(with 6 point TR), Trevor Harding 6+2 (4), Chris Mills 5+2 (4), James Brundle 3 (5), Simon Lambert 1 (3).



Premier League: Rye House 55, Sheffield 37 Sheffield won the aggregate bonus point by 92-93


Rye House had Tai Woffinden back at number 3 so were at full strength. Sheffield , too, had a full strength line-up.

It took a last heat 2-4 by the Tigers to win the bonus point by one point in this match when it looked like they had blown it after putting up stern resistance to trail by only four points after seven heats.

Sheffield started well with a 2-4 in the opening heat after Robbie Kessler had fallen and been excluded. James Cockle won the reserves race to share the points then the Tigers went further ahead with another 2-4 in heat 3 after Tai Woffinden had fallen and been excluded to lead by four points. Rye House squared the score with a Boxall/ Roynon 5-1 in heat 4.

Rye house then took the lead with another 5-1 in heat 5 but Kessler fell in heat 6 and Luke Bowen did likewise in heat 7 with these two races being shared. It was the end of the action for Luke Bowen who withdrew from the meeting at this point. Adam Roynon then passed James Cockle in heat 8 for a 4-2 stretching the Rockets’ lead to six points at 27-21.

The home side then stepped up a gear with another 5-1 in heat 9. Andre Compton took a TR in heat 10 but, although he passed Chris Neath for second place, he couldn’t catch Adam Roynon so the race was shared 4-4. Heat 11 was shared but the Rockets began to sniff the bonus point with a 4-2 in heat 12 taking the score to 43-31.

They looked to have done all the hard work for the bonus by winning both heats 13 and 14 by 5-1 to lead on aggregate by one point with one heat to go. However Andre Compton made the gate to win the final heat and, although Steve Boxall finished second, Ricky Ashworth took third ahead of Woffinden to give the Tigers a one point aggregate win.

Scorers: For Rye House – Steve Boxall 14 (5), Adam Roynon 12+3 (7), Tommy Allen 9+2 (4), Tai Woffinden 9 (5), Chris Neath 8+1 (4), Luke Bowen 2 (2), Robbie Kessler 1 (3).

For Sheffield – Andre Compton 14 (5)(with 4 point TR), Ricky Ashworth 8 (5), James Cockle 5 (4), Joel Parsons 3+1 (4), James Birkinshaw 3+1 (4), Ben Wilson 2+1 (4), Paul Cooper 2 (4).



Premier League: Stoke 52, Isle of Wight 40 Stoke won the aggregate bonus point by 94-88


Stoke had Emiliano Sanchez at number 1 replacing Glenn Cunningham while the Isle of Wight had Ulrich Ostergaard fore the missing Chris Holder.

Despite an engine failure for Ulrich Ostergaard in the opening race, and the next three races all requiring reruns (heat two – two of them) due to falls by Bargh, Vissing and Hargreaves, the first four races were all shared before Stoke broke the duck in heat 5 with a 5-1 from Complin and Vissing after that had been rerun too! They added another 5-1 in heat 6 from Sanchez and Barker to leave the Islanders struggling. The visitors pulled two points back with a 2-4 in heat 7 when Barrie Evans split the Stojanowski/Bunyan pairing then shared heat 8 won by Gathercole, also rerun after Chris Johnson had fallen, to take the score to 27-21.

The Potters stretched their lead to eight points in heat 9 with a 4-2 then the next three races were shared taking the heat 12 score to 40-32. Stoke all but clinched the match with a 5-1 in heat 13 from Harrison and Sanchez which put them 12 points in front. Krzysztof Stojanowski took a TR in heat 14 but could only finish second to Complin for a 4-4. Jason Bunyan won heat 15 for his third consecutive race win but Complin and Harrison shared the points to give the home side all three points.

Scorers: For Stoke – Lee Complin 14 (5), Rusty Harrison 10+1 (5), Emiliano Sanchez 9+1 (4), Barrie Evans 7 (5), Ben Barker 6+3 (4), Claus Vissing 4+2 (4), Jack Hargreaves 2+2 (3).

For the Isle of Wight – Jason Bunyan 12 (5), Krzysztof Stojanowski 8+1 (4)(with 4 point TR), Cory Gathercole 7+1 (5), Chris Johnson 5 (4), Glen Phillips 4+1 (4), Ulrich Ostergaard 4 (4), Andrew Bargh 0 (4).



Premier League: Workington 55, Newport 37 Workington won the aggregate bonus point by 97-88


Workington again used Rider Replacement at number 2 for Mattia Carpanese while Newport were at full strength.

Newport had Michal Rajkowski back at number 1 for this match following a highly lucrative spell at reserve and he shocked the home support by leading his partner, Tom Hedley home for an opening 1-5. This was neutralised by a 5-1 in the reserves race for the Comets and with the next two races shared the scores were tied after four heats with the score standing at 12-12.

Two 5-1s in heats 5 and 6 left the Wasps struggling although they stopped the rot by sharing the next two heats. They trailed 28-20 after heat 8 but fell 10 points down when Workington took a 4-2 in heat 9. They hit back with a 1-5 in heat 10 though when Tony Atkin and Phil Morris headed Kauko Nieminen home cutting the deficit to 6 points. Then heat 11 was shared before the Wright brothers added a 5-1 taking the score to 41-31.

With Carl Stonehewer and James Wright unbeatable Newport then conceded the bonus point when Stonehewer and Nieminen took another 5-1 in heat 13. Tony Atkin took a TR in heat 14 and finished behind Craig Branney for a 4-4 before Stonehewer and James Wright wrapped things up with another 5-1 in the last race.


Scorers: For Workington – Carl Stonehewer 15 (5)(full maximum), James Wright 14+1 (5)(paid maximum), Charles Wright 11+2 (7), Craig Branney 7+2 (5), Kauko Nieminen 5+2 (4), John Branney 3 (4).

For Newport – Tony Atkin 11+1 (5)(with 4 point TR), Tom Hedley 6+2 (5), Michal Rajkowski 6 (4), Chris Schramm 6 (4), Phil Morris 5+2 (4), Nick Simmons 2 (4), Barry Burchatt 1+1 (5).

[Merlin]

Sunday, 8 July

The main event this afternoon was the Premier League Four Team Final at Peterborough. There was, however, a Premier League match raced as well by two of the non-qualifiers for the final. That was at Newport where the Wasps took on Mildenhall .


Premier League Four Team Championship: at Peterborough

Winners: Isle of Wight
Second: Somerset
Third: King’s Lynn

The format for the Teams of Four event was on the following lines. The eight teams were divided into two groups of four with the top two from each group going through to the final. Each race had one rider from each team in the group and each rider had two races in the group stage which was over eight heats. The final was a full sixteen races with each rider having four rides.

Group A

This group comprised King’s Lynn, Glasgow, Somerset and Sheffield. Magnus Zetterstrom got Somerset off to a winning start in the opening heat won from the gate. In heat 2 David McAllan gated for Glasgow and although Emil Kramer passed him to win by a mile, McAllan’s two points were a great boost for Glasgow’s chances. It took four starts to get heat 3 underway due to falls and tapes malfunctions. Unfortunately one of the falls resulted in Sheffield’s Ricky Ashworth withdrawing from the tournament with an injured arm effectively ending the Yorkshire Tigers’ chances. Eventually Craig Watson won heat 3 for Glasgow and Shane Watson did likewise in heat 4 after an exciting battle with Daniel Nermark moving the Scottish Tigers into second place, just one point behind Somerset on nine points after all the riders had completed one ride. King’s Lynn looked well out of it at this stage with only four points while luckless Sheffield had three.

In the second set of four races Daniel Nermark brought King’s Lynn back into it by beating Craig Watson and Magnus Zetterstrom in heat 5 then Tomas Topinka continued the Stars’ comeback by winning heat 6 from Jordan Frampton. It was neck and neck for the top three teams after Paul Lee made it three wins on the trot for King’s Lynn beating Ritchie Hawkins leaving them two points behind Glasgow and three behind Somerset who led with 14 points. Shane Parker was expected to win heat 8 to see Glasgow home but it went all pear shaped for the Scottish Tigers when Parker finished last. Chris Mills flew round the field to win the race taking the Stars into first position in the group with four consecutive race wins on the trot while Emil Kramer’s third placed point gave the Rebels second place.

Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Daniel Nermark 5, Tomas Topinka 4, Chris Mills 4, Paul Lee 3, Trevor Harding (res) DNR. Total 16

For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 4, Emil Kramer 4, Ritchie Hawkins 4, Jordan Frampton 3, Simon Walker (res) DNR. Total 15

For Glasgow – Craig Watson 5, Shane Parker 3, David McAllan 3, Lee Dicken 0, Robert Ksiezak (res) 0. Total 11

For Sheffield - Ben Wilson 4, Andre Compton 1, Joel Parsons 1, Ricky Ashworth 0, Paul Cooper (res) 0. Total 6


Group B

This group comprised Rye House, the Isle of Wight, Birmingham and Workington. Tai Woffinden got Rye House off to a winning start in the first race while Jason Lyons won heat 2 for Birmingham. In heat 3, Ulrich Ostergaard took advantage of a dreadful start by Chris Holder to win the race as Holder came through the field for second. An excellent heat 4 was won by Jason Bunyan for the Islanders after making a slightly better start than the others. After these four races Rye House and the Isle of Wight tied for the lead on seven points while Birmingham had six and Workington four so it was all to play for in the second stanza of four heats.

Chris Holder put the Islanders into the lead by winning heat 5. With Tai Woffinden finishing last Jason Lyons’ second place put Birmingham into second place one point ahead of the Rockets. Workington just couldn’t buy a race win as Carl Stonehewer finished third. Back came Rye House with a win for Steve Boxall in heat 6 ahead of Ulrich Ostergaard. With Glen Phillips finishing last for the Islanders, Rye House and Birmingham now tied for the lead with 10 points. Birmingham joined them in a three way tie on 10 points so it was going to be a last heat decider. The Isle of Wight all but clinched their place in the final when Krzysztof Stojanowski won heat 7 from Adam Roynon who came in as a reserve to replace Tommy Allen. Emiliano Sanchez’s third place relegated Birmingham to third place with one heat to go. In heat 8, Jason Bunyan remained the only unbeaten rider in the competition when he won the race to see the Islanders into the final with something to spare. Chris Neath’s third place point behind Craig Branney was enough to take Rye House through too as Ben Powell finished last.

Scorers: For Isle of Wight – Jason Bunyan 6, Chris Holder 5, Krzysztof Stojanowski 4, Glen Phillips 1, Cory Gathercole (res) DNR. Total 16

For Rye House – Steve Boxall 5, Tai Woffinden 3, Chris Neath 3, Adam Roynon (res) 2, Tommy Allen 0. Total 13

For Birmingham – Jason Lyons 5, Ulrich Ostergaard 5, Emiliano Sanchez 1, Jon Armstrong 0, Ben Powell (res) 0. Total 11

For Workington - James Wright 3, Craig Branney 3, Carl Stonehewer 2, Charles Wright 0, John Branney (res) DNR. Total 8.


Final

As a result of the group stage, the final was between the Isle of Wight, King’s Lynn, Somerset and Rye House. What a start the Islanders made with three wins and a second from the first four heats! But it was King’s Lynn who made the winning start when Daniel Nermark won the first race from Glen Phillips. Chris Neath’s engine failure at the back didn’t help Rye House’s cause and they ran another blob in heat 2 when Tai Woffinden finished last. Cory Gathercole replaced Krzysztof Stojanowski for the Islanders and he won the heat with ease. MeanwhileTomas Topinka passed Ritchie Hawkins to rescue two points for the Stars. Then in heat 3 the Islanders won again when Jason Bunyan beat Magnus Zetterstrom to remain unbeaten. The Isle of Wight took another step towards the trophy when Chris Holder won heat 4 with King’s Lynn dropping another point after Paul Lee finished second. Somerset dropped further behind when they ran a last place through Emil Kramer. The Isle of Wight now had a four point lead with 11 points to King’s Lynn’s 7, Somerset’s 5 and Rye House’s 2.

Back came the field in heat 5 when Glen Phillips finished last for the leaders. Magnus Zetterstrom won the race from Steve Boxall and Tomas Topinka cutting the Islanders’ lead to 3 points over King’s Lynn and 4 over Somerset. With all the grip now on the outside of the track it was a question of getting there first to win races. In heat 6 out came Krzysztof Stojanowski to stretch the Islanders lead again with a win ahead of Daniel Nermark and Adam Roynon. But the Islanders ran out of luck in heat 7. Jason Bunyan’s unbeaten run came to an end when he suffered a puncture after making the gate. Tai Woffinden took advantage to win the race from Jordan Frampton and Paul Lee leaving the Isle of Wight still three points ahead of King’s Lynn but five ahead of Somerset and six ahead of Rye House. In heat 8 Chris Holder’s win coupled with Chris Mills’ last place left the opposition looking forlornly at the scoreboard which revealed that the Isle of Wight had 17 points while King’s Lynn had 11 and Somerset and Rye House 10 each.

Heat 9 was won by Emil Kramer but Glen Phillips kept the Islanders on course with second place. Then Magnus Zetterstrom provided another Rebels’ race winner in heat 10. Cory Gathercole took a point for the Islanders while Paul Lee finished second for King’s Lynn after being pipped on the line by Zetterstrom. Heat 11 saw Jason Bunyan back to winning ways after his puncture. Daniel Nermark took second ahead of Ritchie Hawkins but the Isle of Wight were almost there having scored 26 points to Somerset’s 19, King’s Lynn’s 15 and Rye House’s 12. They needed just six points from the last four heats to guarantee the win.

And so to the last four heats and it took just the first of them to confirm the Isle of Wight as the winners. Cory Gathercole, replacing Krzysztof Stojanowski, won the race from Chris Mills while Steve Boxall relegated Jordan Frampton to last. In heat 14 Glen Phillips joined in the rout with an easy win over Ritchie Hawkins. Jason Bunyan then capped a remarkable afternoon for himself by winning heat 15 from Topinka and Kramer before Chris Holder wrapped it up by winning heat 16, the sixth race win on the trot for the Islanders for a runaway victory.

Scorers: For Isle of Wight – Chris Holder 12, Jason Bunyan 9, Glen Phillips 7, Cory Gathercole (res) 7, Krzysztof Stojanowski 3. Total 38

For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 8, Emil Kramer 6, Ritchie Hawkins 5, Jordan Frampton 3, Simon Walker (res) DNR. Total 22

For King’s Lynn – Daniel Nermark 9, Tomas Topinka 5, Paul Lee 5, Chris Mills 2, Trevor Harding (res) 0. Total 21

For Rye House - Tai Woffinden 5, Steve Boxall 4, Adam Roynon (res) 3, Chris Neath 2, Tommy Allen 1. Total 15.


Premier League: Newport 48, Mildenhall 42 .


Newport were at full strength but Mildenhall had Rusty Harrison guesting at number 3 in place of Kyle Legault.

What an interesting match this was with the lead changing hands several times over the 15 heats. After Rajkowski had won the opening race for a shared heat, the Fen Tigers took the lead in the reserves race when Tomas Suchanek beat Nick Simmons with Mark Baseby third for a 2-4. Rusty Harrison kept it that way winning heat 3 from Phil Morris and Tony Atkin but the Wasps levelled the score with a 4-2 in heat 4. Chris Schramm won it from Suchanek with Burchatt third taking the score to 12-12.

Newport took the lead for the first time in heat 5 when Tom P Madsen could only split the Morris/Atkin pairing for a 4-2 and two point advantage. They increased it to four points with another of the same in heat 6 as Paul Fry split Hedley and Rajkowski but back came Mildenhall with a 2-4 from Harrison and King with Simmons in second cutting the gap to two points. Mildenhall were back in front with a 1-5 in heat 8 when Suchanek and Tacey took a maximum against Tom Hedley taking the score to 23-25.

Newport didn’t take this lying down and reversed matters with a 5-1 in heat 9 from Morris and Atkin to put the Wasps two in front again then added another for good measure thanks to Rajkowski and Hedley who beat Suchanek as Rusty Harrison retired from the race. The Wasps were now six points to the good and made it eight with a 4-2 in heat 11 when Schramm beat Madsen with Simmons third. The purple patch came to an end with a Mildenhall advantage in heat 12. Rusty Harrison won for the third time beating Phil Morris while Tomas Suchanek finished third. The score now stood at 39-33.

Michal Rajkowski won heat 13 for the Wasps and, although Tom P Madsen took second place, Chris Schramm’s third place all but sealed a win for the home side. Jason King won heat 14 but Tony Atkin and Nick Simmons took second and third to ensure victory for the Wasps. Tom P Madsen had the satisfaction of winning heat 15 from Rajkowski while Rusty Harrison was third for a 2-4 to the visitors resulting in a six point win for Newport which leaves them with a fight on their hand to win the bonus point in the return.


Scorers: For Newport – Michal Rajkowski 12 (5), Phil Morris 10 (5), Chris Schramm 7 (4), Tony Atkin 6+2 (4), Tom Hedley 6+1 (4), Nick Simmons 6+1 (4), Barry Burchatt 1 (4).

For Mildenhall – Tom P Madsen 10+1 (5), Rusty Harrison 10 (5), Tomas Suchanek 10 (6), Shaun Tacey 4+1 (4), Jason King 4 (3), Paul Fry 3 (3), Mark Baseby 1 (6).

[Merlin]

Wednesday, 11 July 2007


There were two matches raced tonight. At Somerset the Rebels raced a second leg Knockout up tie against Edinburgh while at King’s Lynn the Stars took on Newcastle in a Premier League match.


Knockout Cup (second leg): Somerset 58, Edinburgh 32 Somerset won on aggregate by 99-80


Somerset were at full strength while Edinburgh had Aaron Summers making his debut at number 6.

Edinburgh held a seven point lead from the first leg but that had disappeared after the first two heats. After that it was one way traffic as the Rebels qualified with ease.

Somerset started with two 5-1s in the opening two heats with Stephan Katt and Magnus Zetterstrom winning the opening race from Theo Pijper after early race leader Derek Sneddon had fallen then Danny Warwick and Simon Walker gating to do the same in the reserves race. Already the Rebels led by a point on aggregate although a Ronnie Correy win in heat 3 from Emil Kramer prevented them from adding to that lead. Things didn’t improve for the Monarchs when Henrik Moller retired from heat 4 to collapse in some pain on the centre green. After examination the medics withdrew him from the meeting much to the fury of the young Dane who was adamant that there was nothing seriously wrong with him. Danny Warwick won the race from Matthew Wethers for a 4-2 which took the score to 17-7.

Emil Kramer won heat 5 but Pijper and Sneddon kept Frampton at the back for a shared heat then Zetterstrom won heat 6. However Stephan Katt had an engine failure so this race was shared too. In heat 7 Ronnie Correy made a good start but found Danny Warwick rounding him on the outside to win the race. Ritchie Hawkins finished third so a Rebels’ 4-2 increased their lead to 12 points, 5 on aggregate. Another Katt engine failure in heat 8 resulted in another shared race as Warwick headed home Sneddon and Wethers tasking the score to 30-18.

Somerset eased two more points ahead in heat 9 when Emil Kramer beat Matthew Wethers with Jordan Frampton third but heat 10 was shared. Magnus Zetterstrom won the race but Ronnie Correy finished second and Andrew Tully dived inside Danny Warwick for third place, a decision which was not met with universal approval! Edinburgh conceded a 5-1 in heat 11 when first Simon Walker then Ritchie Hawkins passed early race leader Theo Pijper so they played their TR card in heat 12 with Ronnie Corrie wearing the black and white helmet cover. This was not a success as Correy lifted and crashed into the fence attempting a wide drive round the outside. His exclusion left Matthew Wethers to follow Emil Kramer home in the rerun with the home side picking up another 4-2 which took the score to 46-26.

A comfortable Rebels’ 5-1 in heat 13 from Zetterstrom and Hawkins was followed by Edinburgh’s only heat advantage of the match in heat 14. Matthew Wethers rode round the field to win the race on the outside line from Simon Walker while Andrew Tully finished third ahead of Frampton for a Monarchs’ 2-4. The inevitable 5-1 from Kramer and Zetterstrom in heat 15 tied up a 26 point win for Somerset and an aggregate success by 19 points.

Scorers: For Somerset – Emil Kramer 14 (5), Magnus Zetterstrom 13+2 (5), Simon Walker 11+1 (5), Danny Warwick 9 (4), Ritchie Hawkins 6+2 (4), Stephan Katt 3 (3), Jordan Frampton 2+1 (4).

For Edinburgh – Matthew Wethers 13+1 (7), Ronnie Correy 8 (5), Theo Pijper 5 (5), Derek Sneddon 3+1 (4), Andrew Tully 2+1 (4), Aaron Summers 1+1 (4), Henrik Moller 0 (1).



Premier League: King’s Lynn 55, Newcastle 38 King’s Lynn won the aggregate bonus point by 100-83.



King’s Lynn had Simon Lambert again at number 7 while Newcastle were without Christian Henry and Ross Brady. They had Kyle Legault at number 1 in place of Henry and used Rider Replacement at number 4 in place of Ross Brady.

Having drawn the Premier League match against King’s Lynn at Brough Park, Newcastle faced a daunting task to take anything from this match. However they provided the man of the match in Josef Franc who recorded a 17 point haul to give the depleted Diamonds side respectability.

Once again the Stars had this match well and truly sewn up inside the opening six heats by which time they led 26-10. In fact Newcastle were struggling after conceding 5-1s in the opening two races thanks to Tomas Topinka and Chris Mills in heat 1 and Simon Lambert and James Brundle in heat 2 which had to be rerun after Sean Stoddart had fallen and been excluded. Josef Franc made the gate in heat 3 and held on to win, despite being under challenge from Daniel Nermark, to share the race but the Diamonds conceded another 5-1 in heat 4. Paul Lee and Simon Lambert did the damage beating Benji Compton while Jonas Raun fell at the back after completely missing the gate. The score now stood at 18-6.

Daniel Nermark won heat 5 after passing Carl Wilkinson at the beginning of the last lap. Kyle Legault took third to share the race but King’s Lynn struck again with another 5-1 in heat 5 as Chris Mills and Tomas Topinka scored their second maximum heat win. Newcastle then gave Josef Franc a Tactical Ride and he responded by winning heat 7 from Brundle and Lee for a 3-6 advantage to the Diamonds cutting the gap to 13 points. An excellent heat 8 in which Benji Compton passed Simon Lambert and Carl Wilkinson passed Chris Mills both on the opening lap resulted in a shared race when Chris Mills repassed Carl Wilkinson for the win. This took the score to 32-19.

Daniel Nermark and Trevor Harding added a 5-1 in heat 9 before the interval but after the break the home side did not manage another heat advantage as each of the last 6 races were shared! Josef Franc, Kyle Legault and Carl Wilkinson made sure the home side did not have it all their own way by winning the last five heats between them while Tomas Topinka inflicted the only defeat of the match on Franc in heat 10.


Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Daniel Nermark 12 (5), Tomas Topinka 10+3 (5), Chris Mills 8+1 (4), Paul Lee 7+2 (4), James Brundle 7+2(4), Simon Lambert 6+2 (4), Trevor Harding 5+2 (4).

For Newcastle – Josef Franc 17 (5)(with 6 point TR), Kyle Legault 8+1 (5), Carl Wilkinson 7 (5), Benji Compton 4+2 (6), Jonas Raun 1 (4), Sean Stoddart 1 (5).

[Merlin]

Thursday, 12 July



The only match tonight was at Redcar where the Bears took on high-flying Somerset in a Premier League Match.



Premier League: Redcar 47, Somerset 46 .


Redcar were without Mathieu Tressarieu and used Rider Replacement at number 5. Josh Auty moved up into the main body of the team to number 2 while Arlo Bugeja moved the other way to reserve at number 6. Benji Compton filled the other reserve berth. Somerset were missing Stephan Katt and used Rider Replacement at number 2 but otherwise were on the usual lines.

You couldn’t have scripted this one! Somerset looked to have this match in the bag when they led by eight points with just two heats to go but, incredibly, Redcar played their ‘get out of jail free’ card in heat 14 by giving Josh Auty a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres and produced an 8-1, 4-2 finish to steal the points with a one point win.

Somerset were in control from the start. Magnus Zetterstrom won the opening heat and Jordan Frampton followed Gary Havelock home after being passed by the Bears’ captain with Josh Auty at the back for a 2-4. The Rebels then eased into a six point lead with a 1-5 in the reserves race before Redcar got two points back in heat 3. James Grieves won the race from Emil Kramer and Chris Kerr took third after passing Frampton for a 4-2. In heat 4, though, the Rebels scored another 1-5. Josh Auty fell in the first running of the race and was excluded leaving Benji Compton to face Ritchie Hawkins and Simon Walker. Compton gated to lead the field but was passed by Hawkins after two laps and then Walker on the last lap. The score now read 8-16.

Magnus Zetterstrom won again in heat 5 but it was only good enough to share the race as Grieves and Kerr kept Warwick at the back. However the Bears hit back with a 5-1 in heat 6. Josh Auty and Gary Havelock did the damage for the home side after both had passed early race leader Ritchie Hawkins cutting the gap to four points. Unfazed, the Rebels responded in kind with their own 1-5. Emil Kramer and Jordan Frampton raced home for the Rebels ahead of Arlo Bugeja but only after Chris Kerr had fallen in the first running of the heat and been excluded from the rerun. The visitors were eight ahead again but it was back to six after heat 8 won by Josh Auty from Walker and Compton, after Warwick had fallen, for a 4-2 which took the score to 21-27.

An eventful heat 9 required two reruns. In the first running Ritchie Hawkins fell on the first bend and all four were invited back. In the second running the same thing happened then in the third running it looked like Redcar were going to hit back with a 5-1 as Grieves and Kerr led the race from Ritchie Hawkins only for Kerr to shed a chain on the last lap giving the visitors a shared race. There was also no change in heat 10 won by Emil Kramer from Auty and Havelock from the gate. Heat 11 was shared, too, as James Grieves brought Magnus Zetterstrom’s winning run to an end. Behind them Arlo Bugeja fell on the second bend and remounted then Danny Warwick fell on the third bend and remounted. Warwick took third place for a 3-3. Somerset then pulled eight points clear with a 2-4 in heat 12. Emil Kramer beat James Grieves while Danny Warwick took third place for a 2-4 which took the score to 32-40.

Gary Havelock won heat 13 from Hawkins and Zetterstrom so there were still eight points between the two teams with just two races left. In heat 14, Redcar gave Josh Auty a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres back to partner Chris Kerr. Kerr gated and slowed the race down allowing Auty to pass Warwick and Frampton before letting Auty through for the big 8-1. After all their earlier domination the Rebels went into the last heat just one point to the good but it wasn’t enough as Gary Havelock headed Magnus Zetterstrom home with James Grieves keeping Emil Kramer at the back for the 4-2 the Bears needed for a one point win.


Scorers: For Redcar – James Grieves 14 (6), Josh Auty 14 (6)(with 6 point TS), Gary Havelock 11+2 (5), Chris Kerr 4+2 (5), Arlo Bugeja 2 (4), Benji Compton 2 (4).

For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 11+1 (5), Emil Kramer 11 (5), Simon Walker 9+2 (6), Ritchie Hawkins 8 (4), Danny Warwick 4+2 (5), Jordan Frampton 3+1 (5).