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Post by Merlin on Jan 6, 2008 16:54:28 GMT
Sunday, 6 January Well it may not have been the first meeting of the season but it was certainly the first meeting staged in Britain in 2008. The honour of kicking off the year went once again to Newport who were staging the annual Newport New Year Classic. New Year Classic: at NewportWinner: Chris Harris Second: Brent Werner Third: Leigh Lanham The meeting took the form of a 12 rider individual with 15 qualifying heats culminating in a final contested by the top four point scorers from the heats. There had been some call offs since the original field was assembled with Lee Bridger replacing Lee Complin who is still suffering from the foot injury he sustained at Glasgow last October. David Howe had also withdrawn since he was not fully fit following the broken collarbone he suffered at the end of last season. He was replaced by Adam Roynon. The opening race resulted in a win for Chris Harris who gated last but had passed early race leader Krzysztof Stojanowski after the first lap. Ricky Ashworth retired on the third lap leaving Adam Roynon to finish third. After a tapes malfunction and rerun to heat 2, the race had to be stopped as Phil Morris fell on the first bend. He was allowed back in the rerun but lost out in a battle at the back for third place to Leigh Lanham while Lewis Bridger showed he was in great form racing off to a fine win ahead of Brent Werner. Paul Fry became the first Premier League rider to win a race in heat 3 beating Marek Mroz. Ritchie Hawkins passed Marcin Kozdras who then retired from the race. All the riders had had one race each and Harris, Bridger and Fry led the field with their race wins. Lewis Bridger added a second race win to his name in heat 4 but he had to work hard to shake off Adam Roynon. Marek Mroz shed a chain leaving Brent Werner to pickup the third place point. Leigh Lanham jumped the start to heat 5 causing the race to be called back but he wasn’t to be denied and passed the field on the first bend to win heat 5 from Phil Morris, Ricky Ashworth and Paul Fry. There was drama in heat 6 as Marcin Kozdras fell while Lewis Bridger spun at the same time and both were excluded from the rerun, Bridger because he was not under power at the time of the stoppage. Both were at the back at the time and, in the two rider rerun, Ritchie Hawkins beat Krzysztof Stojanowski. Chris Harris won again in heat 7 after a fast start while the rejuvenated Brent Werner held off a strong challenge from Adam Roynon to finish second with Paul Fry bringing up the rear. Ricky Ashworth and Leigh Lanham clashed at the start of heat 8 so the race was rerun with all four back. Ricky Ashworth made a blinding start in the rerun and won from Lanham while Stojanowski took third from Mroz. Phil Morris made the gate in heat 9 but was no match for Chris Harris who passed him coming off the second bend. This time Marcin Kozdras finished the race but still remained pointless as Ritchie Hawkins took third place. All the riders now had completed three rides each and Harris led the field with 9 points from Leigh Lanham and Lewis Bridger with 6 and Ritchie Hawkins, Brent Werner and Krzysztof Stojanowski with 5. Heat 10 was uneventful with Paul Fry winning from the gate from Morris, Stojanowski and Mroz but heat 11 had only two finishers! Ricky Ashworth fell and was excluded but in the melee Lewis Bridger and Ritchie Hawkins were also involved. Bridger withdrew from the rerun leaving Ritchie Hawkins to beat Brent Werner. By this stage gate 4 was proving to be a big advantage to its starting occupant and Adam Roynon used it well to win heat 12. Phil Morris was in second place but an expiring machine allowed Leigh Lanham to pass him although he had enough momentum to hold off Marcin Kozdras. With Lewis Bridger having withdrawn from the meeting Chris Harris rattled up his fourth win in a three rider heat 13. Paul Fry took second with Marek Mroz picking up the gift third place. Ricky Ashworth had also withdrawn so heat 14 too had only three riders. Brent Werner won the race from Krzysztof Stojanowski while Marcin Kozdras at last picked up a point from completing the four laps. In heat 15 Chris Harris made a poor gate and, although he passed Leigh Lanham, he couldn’t catch race leader Ritchie Hawkins while Adam Roynon retired at the back. At the end of the 15 races the finalists were Brent Werner, Leigh Lanham, Ritchie Hawkins and Chris Harris. It was Harris who won the final from Werner and Lanham with Hawkins bringing up the rear. I wonder if Brent Werner might make a comeback after this performance possibly in Newport’s colours? Just a thought. Scorers - from the qualifying heats (from 5 rides each): – Chris Harris 14, Brent Werner 11, Ritchie Hawkins 10, Leigh Lanham 9, Krzysztof Stojanowski 8, Paul Fry 8, Phil Morris 7, Adam Roynon 7, Lewis Bridger 6 (4), Ricky Ashworth 4 (4), Marek Mroz 3, Marcin Kozdras 1.
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Post by Merlin on Mar 9, 2008 11:50:19 GMT
Saturday, 8 March
The first match of the season was at Berwick where the Bandits took on Newcastle in the first leg of the Tyne Tweed Trophy.
Tyne Tweed Trophy (first leg): Berwick 43, Newcastle 46 .
Berwick have yet to sign their seventh rider so recruited Stan Burza to make up the numbers for this match. Newcastle paraded newcomers Ben Powell, Jason King and Jaimie Robertson.
On a wet, greasy track it was perhaps ironic that Berwick, the only Premier League team still to complete their line up for the new season, should host the first match of 2008. A close and entertaining match it turned out too with the lead changing hands on several occasions with incidents a plenty as both sets of riders brushed off the cobwebs while trying to come to terms with the slippery surface.
Adrian Rymel became the season’s first race winner as Berwick took a two point advantage from the opening heat but Newcastle hit back with a 1-5 in the reserves race to reverse the advantage. Another Berwick 4-2, thanks to a Burza win, in heat 3 tied things up again but the Diamonds restored their two point lead with a 2-4 in heat 4 as George Stancl registered the first of his race wins. The score was 11-13 at this point.
A succession of 4-2s saw Berwick draw level again in heat 5 then the Bandits took the lead again in heat 6 with yet another 4-2 courtesy of a Rymel win over Stancl. They increased it to four points after Michal Makovsky had chased down and passed Josef Franc on the third lap of heat 7 with Norbert Magosi scoring the odd point ahead of Jason King but it was all square again after a Diamonds 1-5 in heat 8. Franchetti and McKinna made a mess of the second bend allowing Powell through with Stoddart passing McKinna to follow his partner home for the maximum. The score now stood at 24-24.
There were only two finishers to heat 9 after Jaimie Robertson and Stan Burza collided on the opening bend causing both riders to grind to a halt. George Stancl took advantage to win the race from Tero Aarnio for a 2-3 to put the visitors one point ahead and they stretched the lead to three with a 2-4 in heat 10. Heat 11 produced the only 3-3 of the match by virtue of a Makovsky win then Newcastle increased their lead to five points with another 2-4 in a race won by Josef Franc. The score was now 33-38.
Berwick clawed two points back with a 4-2 in heat 13. Makovsky shot from the tapes to win from Stancl while Rymel picked up third as Henry clouted the fence on the second bend and slipped to the back then Berwick found themselves back in front after scoring a 5-1 from heat 14. The race was awarded after Sean Stoddart fell on the third lap with Stan Burza and Norbert Magosi taking the points to lead by one point with one race to go. There was no happy ending for the Bandits though as Makovsky and Burza fluffed the gate in heat 15 leaving Franc and Stancl to sail off for a 1-5 to give the Diamonds victory.
Scorers: For Berwick – Michal Makovsky 12 (5), Adrian Rymel 9 (4), Stan Burza 9 (5), Tero Aarnio 6 (4), Norbert Magosi 3+1 (4), Guglielmo Franchetti 2 (4), Adam McKinna 2 (4).
For Newcastle – George Stancl 12+1 (5), Josef Franc 11 (5), Sean Stoddart 5+2 (4), Christian Henry 5+1 (4), Ben Powell 5 (4), Jason King 4 (4), Jaimie Robertson 4 (4).
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Post by Merlin on Mar 9, 2008 21:10:53 GMT
Sunday, 9 March
The Spring Trophy match due to be ridden at Glasgow between the Tigers and Edinburgh was postponed yesterday due to a waterlogged track. Needless to say when the match was scheduled to have started the sun was shining brightly in Glasgow with scarcely a cloud in the sky! This left the match at Newcastle where the Diamonds took on Berwick in the second leg of the Tyne Tweed Trophy as the sole action.
Tyne Tweed Trophy (second leg): Newcastle 44, Berwick 46 Newcastle won the trophy on aggregate by 90-89.
Both teams fielded the same sides as contested the first leg last night at Berwick. This meant that Stan Burza continued as a guest for the Bandits at number 4.
With a three point lead from the first leg most fans thought that there was little doubt that Newcastle were going to triumph comfortably. Clearly Berwick hadn’t read the script and carved out a two point victory on the night finishing with two 1-5s! Furthermore it was Berwick who were in charge for the first eight heats of this match during which they provided seven of the race winners. Newcastle called a halt after heat 8 for an interval during which work was done on the track. On the resumption, Newcastle looked a rejuvenated side but must have been devastated by the shock of the last two heats.
There was hardly any passing in the match with most races being won from the gate. The opening two races were shared with wins from Rymel and Magosi then the Bandits took the lead when Stan Burza became the third Berwick heat winner and this time was supported in third place by Tero Aarnio. This 2-4 was followed by another shared heat won by Makovsky who beat Stancl taking the score to 11-13.
Adrian Rymel kept the race winners coming for the Bandits winning heat 5 from Franc then the Bandits hit home a 1-5 when Michal Makovsky and Adam McKinna led Christian Henry home to open up a six point lead for the visitors which put them three points ahead on aggregate! At last Newcastle produced a race winner when George Stancl led Stan Burza home in heat 7. Jaimie Robertson’s third place gave the Diamonds a 4-2 to cut the Bandits’ lead to four points. In heat 8 Norbert Magosi scored his second race win to share the points and, with the interval now being taken, the score stood at 22-26 with Berwick also leading on aggregate by 68-69.
It was a different story on the resumption as Newcastle suddenly burst into life. Two heats later it was all square again with 4-2s in heats 9 and 10 thanks to wins by Franc and Henry. Stancl made it three race winners on the trot for the Diamonds winning heat 11 for a 3-3 then the home side took the lead for the first time in the match with a 5-1 in heat 12 from Franc and Stoddart which opened a four point gap taking the score to 38-34 (84-77 on aggregate) and it looked all over.
Not so! Although Newcastle scored a 4-2 in heat 13 won by Stancl from Rymel and Henry to increase their lead to six points, Berwick were far from finished. Magosi replaced McKinna in heat 14 and won the race while Burza followed him home for a 1-5 which narrowed the gap to two points at 43-41. How sweet it must have been for the visitors when they rammed home another 1-5 in the last heat from Burza and Rymel ahead of Stancl to snatch victory from the home side just as Newcastle had done to them last night. Newcastle won the trophy on aggregate but the Bandits’ fans surely went home the happier after this match.
Scorers: For Newcastle – George Stancl 12 (5), Josef Franc 10 (5), Sean Stoddart 8+2 (4), Christian Henry 6+1 (4), Ben Powell 4+1 (4), Jason King 2+1 (4), Jaimie Robertson 2+1 (4).
For Berwick – Adrian Rymel 12+1 (5), Stan Burza 12+1 (5), Norbert Magosi 10 (6), Michal Makovsky 8 (3), Adam McKinna 2+1 (4), Guglielmo Franchetti 1+1 (3), Tero Aarnio 1 (4).
(Riders’ scores subject to confirmation)
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Post by Nevs on Mar 10, 2008 0:48:56 GMT
Merlins back --must be speedway time again.  Hope you have a great season mate-ENJOY. And many thanks for taking the time and trouble to include us in your list of forums to update.Much appreciated. Have a great 2008 seasons racing up north in Scotland-hope you have a great season and your team makes your dreams come true.--But hardly frigging likely being Edinburgh-no offence like ;D cant go upsetting Paulco from Glasgow--You know I jest  |
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Post by Merlin on Mar 10, 2008 8:45:38 GMT
Speedway may be back, Nevs, my friend, but not in this neck of the woods! What a miserable week we had last week - no practice for either Edinburgh or Glasgow and no match yesterday although the weather was decent in both cities.
This week looks crap again weatherwise so who knows when we'll get started. Thanks for your best wishes; everything will depend again I suspect on injuries (or lack of them) but at least both the Scottish teams have a refreshing new look to them. Maybe we'll do better ths year. We'd better!!!
Pity Exeter are not back in the league again but you're not forgotten. Maybe next year.
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Post by squibby on Mar 10, 2008 11:22:23 GMT
Merlins back --must be speedway time again. Hope you have a great season mate-ENJOY. And many thanks for taking the time and trouble to include us in your list of forums to update.Much appreciated. Seconded, Nevs !  We all very much appreciate Merlin's updates, even if we don't say it publicly very often. Cheers pal. |
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Post by Peregrinner on Mar 10, 2008 18:04:17 GMT
Just to confirm that it is worth it Merlin.
I always read your reports on this forum and if you see anywhere that I have edited your report it is merely to correct any spelling mistakes.
Your efforts are greatly appreciated.
Keep up the good work.
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Post by Merlin on Mar 10, 2008 19:59:09 GMT
Just to confirm that it is worth it Merlin. I always read your reports on this forum and if you see anywhere that I have edited your report it is merely to correct any spelling mistakes. Your efforts are greatly appreciated. Keep up the good work. Thanks for that Peregrinner. Spelling mistakes......moi?  ?  ;D Looking at the Berwick team names that's a distinct possibility whenever they're involved!! |
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Post by Merlin on Mar 12, 2008 21:39:39 GMT
Wednesday, 12 March
Tonight’s match was at King’s Lynn where the Stars took on Ipswich in the first leg of the East Anglian Cup.
East Anglian Cup (first leg): King’s Lynn 34, Ipswich 58.
King’s Lynn were at full strength welcoming back to the side Sean Tacey and Kevin Doolan. New to the team were Kozza Smith and Rusty Harrison while John Oliver returned after his horrendous injuries of last season. Ipswich too were at full strength.
King’s Lynn became the third Premier League track to open its doors for the season in this inter-league challenge match for the East Anglian Cup, the second leg scheduled for tomorrow night. Although it was basically a season opener for the riders to gear up for the long season ahead there was added interest by the end of season play off between Premier and Elite sides to determine promotion and relegation. The home side thus had an early season chance to assess their chances against higher league opposition. The result was not encouraging for them.
Tomas Topinka gave the home fans plenty to cheer about after passing Swiderski and Miskowiak to win the opening heat but it was only good enough for a share of the points. The Witches’ reserves, Schramm and Kroner, then punched home a tapes to flag 1-5 in the reserves race to storm into a four point lead. The Stars responded with a 4-2 after Kevin Doolan passed Chris Louis to pull two points back but another 1-5 for the visitors from Jaroslaw Hampel and Chris Schramm in the fourth heat stretched the lead to six points with the score at 9-15 leaving the home side facing an uphill battle.
A titanic struggle between Kevin Doolan and Robert Miskowiak in heat 5 was eventually won by Doolan but, with Kozza Smith surrendering his third place by falling, the result was a shared race. Shaun Tacey then fell while at the back in heat 6 leaving Topinka to fight a lone battle in the rerun in which Hampel was just too fast for the Stars’ skipper. The 2-4 increased the lead to eight points and it stretched further to twelve in the next race when Steve Johnston and Chris Louis added another 1-5. Ipswich were almost out of sight with heat 8 already looking a forlorn hope for King’s Lynn. However the home riders made better starts in this race only for Piotr Swiderski to take the lead within a lap and Chris Schramm to pass Simon Lambert for third place and another 2-4 to the Witches. The score now stood at 17-31.
Jarek Hampel continued on his unbeaten way in heat 9 ending Kevin Doolan’s maximum hopes and again there was back-up for him as Tobias Kroner took third. This 2-4 to Ipswich saw the lead extend to 16 points before the interval. There was no change after the break. Chris Louis beat Tomas Topinka in heat 10 and Steve Johnston took third for a third consecutive 2-4. Ipswich had now scored 29 points in the last 7 heats and led by eighteen points. Piotr Swiderski scored his second race win in heat 11. Although John Oliver rode well to beat Robert Miskowiak, a fourth consecutive 2-4 went the visitors’ way putting them twenty points ahead. Kevin Doolan then took a Tactical Ride in heat 12 but it was John Louis who won the race. Doolan did pass the faster gating Kroner but his double points only gave the Stars a shared race by 4-4 taking the score to 27-47.
Hampel eased to his fourth win in heat 13 while there was a ding-dong battle behind him for second place between Topinka, Harrison and Miskowiak before the Witch suffered an engine failure leaving the Stars’ two to follow Hampel home for a 3-3. It looked like another 1-5 for Ipswich in heat 14 as Steve Johnston and Chris Schramm led until the final lap but a determined challenge by Kozza Smith saw him pass Schramm to limit the damage to a 2-4. In the last race Jarek Hampel completed a flawless maximum beating Tomas Topinka. With Piotr Swiderski taking third from Kevin Doolan, Ipswich scored their seventh 2-4 in the last ten heats. Perhaps it’s as well that King’s Lynn have recruited Jason Crump to bolster their side for tomorrow night’s return match.
Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Kevin Doolan 12 (including a 4 point TR) (5), Tomas Topinka 11 (5), Kozza Smith 3 (4), John Oliver 3 (4), Rusty Harrison 2+1 (4), Shaun Tacey 2 (4), Simon Lambert 1 (5).
For Ipswich – Jaroslaw Hampel 15 (5) (full maximum), Chris Louis 10+1 (4), Piotr Swiderski 10+1 (5), Chris Schramm 7+1 (4), Steve Johnston 7 (4), Tobias Kroner 5+1 (4), Robert Miskowiak 4+1 (4).
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Post by Merlin on Mar 13, 2008 22:13:29 GMT
Thursday, 13 March
It was Sheffield’s turn to open their season tonight. Their choice of opponents for their first match was Elite League Coventry in the first leg of a Challenge Match. With Berwick, Newcastle and King’s Lynn all starting their season with home defeats the Tigers looked odds-on to follow the pattern. Meanwhile two other Premier League sides were due to be in action although on Elite League tracks. Peterborough were hosts to Mildenhall but the match at Ipswich where the Witches were due to race their return match against King’s Lynn in the second leg of the East Anglian Cup was postponed due to a waterlogged track. The two teams will try again tomorrow night.
Challenge Match (first leg): Sheffield 37, Coventry 56
Sheffield introduced newcomers Lee Smethills and Sam Martin to the team while Coventry’s new boys were Simon Stead, Andreas Messing and Stanislaw Burza.
Sheffield got off to a poor start as the Bees scored a 1-5 from the opening race. Billy Janniro passed Andre Compton then Joel Parsons to join Rory Schlein up front for the maximum and another two point advantage went Coventry’s way in the reserves race with a win from Claus Vissing for a 2-4. Back stormed Sheffield in heat 3 with a 5-1 from Ben Wilson and Ricky Ashworth at the expense of Chris Harris. Their joy was short-lived though as Coventry struck another 1-5 in heat 4 through the fast gating of Simon Stead and Stan Burza, taking the score to 9-15.
An exciting heat 5 saw Ben Wilson hold off Billy Janniro who in turn held off Ricky Ashworth with Rory Schlein stuck at the back for a 4-2 cutting the lead to four points.
The Tigers pulled two more points back with another 4-2 when Andre Compton beat Simon Stead in heat 6. Just as the meeting was boiling up into a close fought contest, Coventry moved up a gear and slammed home two 5-1s in the next two races. With Sheffield’s third pairing struggling, Chris Harris and Oliver Allen hit home the first then Billy Janniro and Stan Burza followed up with the second rocketing the Bees into a 19-29 lead.
Ricky Ashworth and Ben Wilson raised home spirits with a 4-2 when Simon Stead could only split the pair but Coventry effectively killed the Tigers’ chances stone dead with two more 1-5s in heats 10 and 11. Chris Harris and Oliver Allen did the damage in heat 10 by heading home Andre Compton then Billy Janniro and Rory Schlein added the second against Paul Cooper. Sheffield then gave Ricky Ashworth a Tactical Ride and he responded by winning heat 12 from Chris Harris. Andreas Messing was third though restricting Sheffield’s heat advantage to 6-3 with the score now standing at 31-44.
Simon Stead beat Andre Compton in heat 13 and Rory Schlein’s third place gave the Bees a 2-4 and they added their seventh 1-5 of the meeting in heat 14 as Oliver Allen and Stan Burza beat Ben Wilson. Ricky then Ashworth completed a fine personal performance by winning the final heat from Stead and Janniro for the match’s one and only 3-3.
Scorers: For Sheffield – Ricky Ashworth 15+1 (5) (including a 6 point TR), Ben Wilson 8 (5), Andre Compton 6 (4), Paul Cooper 3 (4), Joel Parsons 3 (4), Lee Smethills 2 (4), Sam Martin 0 (4).
For Coventry – Simon Stead 12 (5), Billy Janniro 11+2 (5), Chris Harris 9 (4), Oliver Allen 7+2 (4), Stanislaw Burza 7+3 (4), Rory Schlein 6+1 (4), Andreas Messing 4 (4)..
Challenge Match: Peterborough 56, Mildenhall 34
Peterborough were at full strength while Mildenhall had Jaimie Smith as a guest at number 2.
It was hard to understand the logic of this fixture since it was clear that it was more of a mismatch than a match. The Fen Tigers look to be a team of dubious Premier League strength yet here they were riding at Peterborough against the full strength Elite League side. I wonder what the fans made of this match though having paid good money to watch what turned out to be a bit of a farce.
As` it happened the Fen Tigers didn’t do too badly. With Jaimie Smith holding off Sam Simota in the opening race won by Hans Andersen they lost a 4-2 but shared the second race won by Claus Vissing when James Cockle and Mark Baseby relegated Henrik Moller to the back. However two Panthers’ 5-1s put them into a 10 point lead with the score at 17-7.
The Panthers scored another two 5-1s in the next two races to stretch the lead to 18 points but they then conceded a 1-5 when Jan Graversen and Casper Wortmann led home Henrik Moller after Daniel King’s bike had packed up at the gate. Claus Vissing rode a fine race to win heat 8 but, again, Jaimie Smith beat Sam Simota for second so the Panthers took a 4-2 to stretch the lead to 32-16.
Mark Baseby fell at the start of heat 9 causing a rerun from which he was excluded then, in the rerun, Robbie Kessler also fell after his bike had reared and he too was excluded giving the Panthers a 5-0. Morten Risager, also involved in Kessler’s crash, was withdrawn from the meeting and was replaced in the second rerun by Henrik Moller. This was followed by an Andersen/Simota 5-1 then Jaimie Smith took a Tactical ride in heat 11. A cracking race between Daniel King and Kai Laukkanen resulted in King getting the verdict after a wide sweep saw him pass Laukkanen on the last two bends. With Jaimie Smith keeping Henrik Moller at the back the Fen Tigers took a 3-4 from the race. Kenneth Bjerre pulled out of his last ride to allow Henrik Moller more track experience but it didn’t help the Dane who again finished at the back of the field in a race won by Claus Vissing. The 3-3 took the score to 48-24.
Hans Andersen then pulled out to give Claus Vissing an extra ride and he finished third to Daniel King and Kai Laukkanen for a 4-2 to the Panthers. Both Panthers’ reserves were out again for heat 14. With Claus Vissing leading Casper Wortman and Henrik Moller it looked another 4-2 but Moller suffered an engine failure so the race was shared. Moller was out again in heat 15 – this time with Sam Simota (apparently this heat did not count towards the final score – are there no rules for these challenge matches or do you just make them up as you go along?). Mildenhall took full advantage when Jan Graversen and Kai Laukkanen took a 1-5 from the race. Since it seems unbelievable that heat 15 can be discounted it has been included in the final score.
Scorers: For Peterborough – Claus Vissing 16 (6), Kenneth Bjerre 9 (3), Hans Andersen 8+1 (3), Daniel King 8+1 (4), Sam Simota 8+1 (5), Morten Risager 4+2 (2), Henrik Moller 3+1 (7).
For Mildenhall – Jan Graversen 8+1 (5), Kai Laukkanen 7+1 (5), Jaimie Smith 6 (4) (including a 2 point TR), Casper Wortman 5+1 (4), James Cockle 4+1 (5), Mark Baseby 3+1 (5), Robbie Kessler 1 (3)..
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We all very much appreciate Merlin's updates, even if we don't say it publicly very often. Cheers pal.
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