Around the Premier League Tracks - 2008

[Merlin]

Thursday, 24 April

This is Knock Out Cup week and there were two first round, first leg matches raced tonight. One was at Redcar where the Bears raced Mildenhall , the other was at Sheffield where the Tigers took on the Isle of Wight .


Knock Out Cup (first round, first leg): Redcar 53, Mildenhall 40


Redcar again used Rider Replacement for Chris Kerr at number 2 and nominated David Wallinger as their number 8. The contingent injured in the match at Newport were all pronounced fit as was Daniel Giffard after his illness. Mildenhall used Rider Replacement at number 4 in place of Casper Wortmann and had two guests at reserve. Ben Taylor (Buxton) replaced the injured Mark Baseby while Matthew Wright took over from James Cockle who has been ‘rested’.

Redcar were relieved to be able to track their usual team for this match. They announced to the crowd before the meeting started that, on the recommendation of Kai Laukkanen, they had agreed terms with Finnish rider Johnny Peckerman (is that really a Finnish name?) who will make his debut for the Bears next month. Mildenhall welcomed Robbie Kessler back to the side to give them some much needed top end punch.

The Bears started with a 5-1. Gary Havelock won the race while Dan Giffard (R/R) rode well to maintain his lead over Jan Graversen. However the Fen Tigers took a 2-4 from the reserves race. Matthew Wright won from Arlo Bugeja while Ben Taylor left Dan Giffard pointless to cut the lead to two points. A James Grieves win in heat 3 was only good enough for a 3-3 when Josh Auty suffered an engine failure on the second lap when he lay third to Kai Laukkanen. Redcar pulled a further two points clear in heat 4 when Ty Proctor roared round Robbie Kessler in fine style on the last bend to win the heat while Arlo Bugeja took third. The 4-2 took the score to 14-10.

James Grieves won again in heat 5 after passing Jan Graversen round the outside on the last bend and Josh Auty had an engine failure again on the first lap for another shared race. Gary Havelock scored his second win in heat 6 after pulling away from Robbie Kessler after a tight first lap. Arlo Bugeja took third place for a 4-2 and six point lead but the Fen Tigers hit back in style with a 1-5 in heat 7. Jan Graversen and Kai Laukkanen made the gate and pulled away after a brief challenge from Ty Proctor to cut four points from the lead to stand two points down. Redcar got it all back in the next heat though. Ty Proctor and Dan Giffard gated to beat Jari Makinen taking the score to 27-21.

In heat 9 James Grieves and Josh Auty produced another 5-1 to stretch the home side’s lead to ten points so Kai Laukkanen took a TR in heat 10. He led Gary Havelock entering the third lap when Josh Auty dived under Jari Makinen resulting in the Fen Tiger falling but it was Makinen who was excluded from the rerun. Again Laukkanen made the gate to win for a 3-6 which cut the lead to seven points. Ty Proctor was fast away with Arlo Bugeja in heat 11 but Jan Graversen, who made an awful start, chased down Bugeja to pass him on the line limiting the damage to a 4-2 which stretched the lead to nine points. In heat 12 Kai Laukkanen made the gate from Giffard and Grieves but Giffard passed him on the third bend to take the lead and go on to win the race. James Grieves finished behind Laukkanen so the Bears took a 4-2 which increased their lead to eleven points with the score now 43-32.

Robbie Kessler made the gate in heat 13 and held off the challenges of Gary Havelock and Ty Proctor for a 3-3. Mildenhall tried giving Jan Graversen a Tactical Substitute ride in heat 14 replacing Matthew Wright from 15 metres back while Robbie Kessler took the R/R ride. It didn’t work though as Josh Auty got the better of Kessler while Bugeja kept Graversen at the back for a 4-2 to the Bears taking their lead to 13 points. It looked like being increased further in the last heat when Havelock and Grieves led for a 5-1 but James Grieves suffered an engine failure on the last lap so the race points were shared giving Redcar a 13 point lead to take into the second leg.

Scorers: For Redcar – Gary Havelock 13 (5), Ty Proctor 11+1 (5), James Grieves 10 (5), Daniel Giffard 7+2 (5), Josh Auty 6+2 (5), Arlo Bugeja 6 (6).

For Mildenhall – Kai Laukkanen 14 (5) (with 6 point TR), Robbie Kessler 10 (5), Jan Graversen 9+1 (7), Matthew Wright 3 (5), Jari Makinen 2+1 (4), Ben Taylor 2+1 (4).



Knock Out Cup (first round, first leg): Sheffield 52, Isle of Wight 38 .


Both teams were at full strength.

Sheffield didn’t get it all their own way in this match. The Islanders led by two points after heat 4 and trailed by only two points after heat ten. However a late surge by the Tigers who scored 5-1s in heats 11, 13 and 15 increased the home side’s lead to 14 points. Incredibly the Islanders failed to give Paul Fry a TR ride in heat 14 after trailing by ten points after heat 13. Fry’s second place would have given the Islanders another two points cutting the lead to twelve points. This oversight could yet come back to haunt the Islanders in the second leg.

The visitors made a good start to this match. Cory Gathercole saw off the strong opening pairing of Parsons and Ashworth to share the opening heat but the Tigers took the lead with a 4-2 in the reserves race won by Sam Martin. It took a pass by James Holder on Lee Smethills to prevent it being a 5-1. Andre Compton won heat 3 but the Islanders took a share of the spoils when Paul Cooper spun round on the third lap finishing last behind Glen Phillips and Paul Fry. The visitors wiped out their two point arrears and went two in front with a 1-5 in heat 4. James Holder gated and Jason Bunyan followed him home ahead of Ben Wilson to take the score to 11-13.

The Isle of Wight continued their resistance with a shared heat 5 won by Andre Compton again. This time Cory Gathercole and Krzysztof Stojanowski kept Paul Cooper at the back but the Tigers got their noses back in front again with a 5-1 in heat 6. It was Joel Parsons and Ricky Ashworth who did the damage by keeping out Jason Bunyan whose challenge ended when he suffered an engine failure while lying third. The Isle of Wight levelled the match again with a 2-4 in heat 7. Glen Phillips passed Ben Wilson round the outside on the last bend of the first lap to win the race while Paul Fry picked up third after Sam Martin had dropped out with machine trouble. Sheffield responded in kind with a 4-2 in heat 8. Joel Parsons won the race from Cory Gathercole who had duelled with Lee Smethills before securing second place. The score now stood at 25-23.

Jason Bunyan flew from the gate to beat Andre Compton in heat 9 but this time Paul Cooper finished third to deny the Islanders a heat advantage so the race was shared then Paul Fry was next up for a fine race win beating Joel Parsons and Ricky Ashworth in the process. Ricky Ashworth had a problem with the fence off the second bend and slipped to the back in this race but he got past Glen Phillips on the last lap while Fry had his hands full keeping Parsons at bay. There were still just two points between the teams at this point but the Tigers relieved the pressure with a 5-1 in heat 11 to treble their lead. Ben Wilson led the race from the start while young Sam Martin came past both Stojanowski and Gathercole off the second bend then held on under pressure from both the visitors for the rest of the race to record the maximum. Andre Compton won again in heat 12 but Glen Phillips and James Holder kept Lee Smethills at the back for a shared race taking the score to 39-33.

Another 5-1 for Sheffield in heat 13 from Ashworth and Wilson stretched the home side’s lead to ten points but for whatever reason the Isle of Wight did not produce the black and white helmet cover in heat 14. As a result Paul Fry’s second place behind Paul Cooper counted for just two points instead of four. James Holder finished third ahead of Sam Martin so the points were shared then in the last race the Tigers took a 5-1 from the gate as Compton and Parsons wrapped things up by giving the Tigers a fourteen point advantage for the second leg on the Island.

Scorers: For Sheffield – Andre Compton 14 (5), Joel Parsons 12+1 (5), Ben Wilson 8+1 (4), Ricky Ashworth 6+3 (4), Sam Martin 5+1 (4), Paul Cooper 4+1 (4), Lee Smethills 2 (4).

For the Isle of Wight – Cory Gathercole 8 (5), Paul Fry 7+1 (4), James Holder 7+1 (6), Glen Phillips 7 (5), Jason Bunyan 6+1 (4), Krzysztof Stojanowski 2+1 (4), Andrew Bargh 1 (4).

[Merlin]

Friday, 25 April

Two more first round, first leg Knock Out Cup matches were raced tonight. One was at Edinburgh where the Monarchs raced Berwick while the other was at Somerset where the Rebels took on Newcastle .


Knock Out Cup (first round, first leg): Edinburgh 54, Berwick 38


Edinburgh were missing William Lawson and Andrew Tully who were both at Lakeside for the final of the British under 21 Championship. They had two guests in their places. James Grieves (Redcar) was at number 3 for William Lawson while Lee Dicken (Glasgow) was at number 7 for Andrew Tully. Berwick were without Adrian Rymel who was riding abroad in the European Championships so had to use Rider Replacement at number 1.

It was another rain-sodden track at Armadale tonight which caused the riders lots of problems. However it turned out to be a very interesting meeting with a highly controversial last heat. At one point the Monarchs led by 20 points but a late surge by the Bandits eventually cut the winning margin to 16 points. It might have been only seven points but for the stormy heat 15.

Norbert Magosi made a lightning start to the opening race but was soon passed by Ryan Fisher. He then had to fend off the challenges of Derek Sneddon but just made it to the line with his second place intact. This gave the Monarchs a 4-2, a score which was repeated in heat 2 when Lee Dicken made a storming start to win the reserves race with ease. Behind him Tero Aarnio was passed by Aaron Summers but he regained his second place for another 4-2. Henning Bager introduced Thomas Jonasson to the second bend fence in heat 3 causing a rerun with all-four-back. The rerun was stopped too when Guglielmo Franchetti fell on the fourth bend and couldn’t clear the track in time. At the third time of asking James Grieves won the race under pressure from Henning Bager whose white line ride produced some drive. Thomas Jonasson was third so this was the third consecutive 4-2 stretching the Edinburgh lead to six points. Michal Makovsky rocketed from the gate in heat 4 and won comfortably while Matthew Wethers and Aaron Summers followed for a 3-3 bringing the score to 15-9.

Heat 5 saw two stunning passes! Norbert Magosi made another of his jet-propelled starts but James Grieves passed him on the outside of the fourth bend in great style while Thomas Jonasson stormed past him too on the inside on the home straight. Magosi then fell on the next lap leaving Bager to pick up the odd point. The 5-1 put the Monarchs ten points in front and they added another 5-1 in heat 6. Michal Makovsky made the gate but came to grief on the second bend causing the race to be rerun without him. Fisher and Sneddon took the expected 5-1 but Adam McKinna made sure that Sneddon couldn’t relax. Berwick just couldn’t stem the tide and they lost three more 4-2s in the next three heats. Matthew Wethers made the gate in heat 7 but Henning Bager eased past him off the inside of the second bend. Wethers gave chase and, after failing to catch Bager on the second lap, managed it on the third to win the race with Lee Dicken picking up third. Norbert Magosi shot from the start again in heat 8 but again found that this wasn’t enough to win the race. Ryan Fisher soon powered past him and Magosi again had to defend second place this time under pressure from Aaron Summers. The line arrived just in time for him so the result was a 4-2 and the score was 33-15.

Grieves and Jonasson made the gate in heat 9 but Michal Makovsky, finding superb drive off the second bend, soon passed Jonasson for another 4-2 which put the Monarchs twenty points in front. They were never to improve on that although prospects looked bright for another home advantage in heat 10. Derek Sneddon led from the start but was soon under pressure from Bager who in turn had to fend off Fisher. The three riders had a superb battle which ended when Sneddon fell and the race was awarded to Bager. This gave the Bandits a 2-4 and a fine Makovsky win in heat 11 resulted in a 3-3. An excellent race between Grieves and Bager in heat 12 saw Grieves passed by Bager who, like Makovsky, was finding tremendous grip off turn two. Summers finished third for another shared race and the score now stood at 45-27.

It had been clear for some time that Berwick were saving their TR for heat 13 and sure enough out came Michal Makovsky with the black and white helmet cover. Sneddon and Wethers gated for the Monarchs but Makovsky again slipped easily inside them off the second bend for the full six points with Magosi trailing at the back. The 3-6 cut the lead to 15 and it was down to eleven when heat 14 produced an astonishing turnaround. Lee Dicken made a great start and was joined round the outside by Thomas Jonasson for a potential 5-1 for the home side but Dicken spun round on the second bend and fell causing Guglielmo Franchetti to crash into him. Dicken was excluded from the rerun and Tero Aarnio replaced the unfortunate Franchetti who had to withdraw from the meeting. In the rerun Adam McKinna ran Thomas Jonasson out to the fence and by the time the Swede had sorted himself out in the slime both Aarnio and McKinna were gone for a repeat 1-5 of the Premier Trophy match in the same heat a few weeks earlier. Things were now looking a bit worrying for the Monarchs as their lead looked as if it might be whittled down further with Makovsky and Bager in the last race especially when the Bandits pair rocketed from the gate to leave Fisher and Grieves in their wake. Fisher was a man on a mission though and he hunted down and brilliantly passed Bager clamping him to the inside of bend two. Bager’s response was to knock Fisher off so the race was rerun without him. In the second running of the race the three riders made an even start but as Fisher and Grieves powered round the outside of Makovsky the Bandit thrust his back wheel into Fisher causing him and Grieves to crash. Makovsky got a reprieve so the race was rerun with all-three-back. In the rerun the same thing happened. Makovsky wiped out Fisher on the same bend. The referee had clearly had enough of it and excluded Makovsky. This left the two Edinburgh riders to contest the rerun unchallenged but even then the drama wasn’t over. In the second rerun, Grieves suffered an engine failure passing the start line for the fourth lap. He managed to coast to the first bend then had to push home for the remaining three quarters of a lap. It’s not often a rider pushes home for a paid win and, after crossing the line, Grieves celebrated with a somersault much to the delight of the home support.

Scorers: For Edinburgh – Ryan Fisher 14 (5), James grieves 13+1 (5), Matthew Wethers 9 (4), Thomas Jonasson 5+1 (4), Lee Dicken 5+1 (4), Derek Sneddon 4+2 (4), Aaron Summers 4+2 (4).

For Berwick – Michal Makovsky 14 (6) (with 6 point TR), Henning Bager 11 (6), Tero Aarnio 5 (5), Norbert Magosi 4 (5), Adam McKinna 3+1 (5), Guglielmo Franchetti 1 (3).



Knock Out Cup (first round, first leg): Somerset 64, Newcastle 28 .


Somerset had new signing, Matthias Kroger, at number 4 replacing Henning Loof who has gone to Mildenhall. Newcastle were again without George Stancl and used Rider Replacement at number 2. They were also without Sean Stoddart who was on duty at the final of the British under 21 Championship at Lakeside so had former Rebel, Daniel Warwick, at number 7 as guest instead.

What an annihilation this was! The Diamonds are now looking for a miracle to qualify after losing this first leg tie by 36 points. For the Rebels newcomer, Matthias Kroger, scored three paid wins in a superb all round team performance with only Brent Werner underperforming. Newcastle produced only two race winners, one of them from their guest, Danny Warwick.

It didn’t look too bad for the Diamonds in the early stages. They lost a 4-2 to Jason Doyle and Jordan Frampton in the opening race but shared the reserves race when Jaimie Robertson kept Brent Werner at the back as Simon Walker won from Danny Warwick. Emil Kramer and Matthias Kroger took a 5-1 from Christian Henry in heat 3 then Danny Warwick won heat 4 for another shared race talking the score to 15-9.

The Diamonds pulled two points back with a 2-4 in heat 5 won by Josef Franc from Emil Kramer. There were only four points between the teams at this point but Somerset pulled eight points clear with a 5-1 in heat 6 from Doyle and Frampton. Eight went to ten as the Rebels added a 4-2 when Simon Walker won from Christian Henry and Stephan Katt. This gave Josef Franc the chance to take a TR in heat 8 as he came in as the R/R for Stancl. Jordan Frampton won the race so Franc’s second place ahead of Brent Werner produced a 4-4 taking the score to 30-20.

Newcastle will want to draw a veil over the rest of this match. The next four heats produced consecutive 5-1s for the Rebels leaving the Diamonds trailing by 50-24. It seemed that only Danny Warwick’s efforts for the visitors provided any excitement in heats 11 and 12 even though he finished last in both.

It didn’t get much better over the last three heats either as heats 13 and 14 both went to Somerset by 5-1 scores too. Franc and Doyle collided on the second bend of heat 13 and Franc was excluded from the rerun then an excellent race between Simon Walker, Matthias Kroger and Danny Warwick (again) over the first two laps ended with the Rebels’ pair pulling away. Finally Josef Franc managed second behind Jason Doyle in heat 15 for a 4-2 which brought the curtain down on a most emphatic home win which will surely see them coast through to the next round.

Scorers: For Somerset – Jason Doyle 14+1 (5) (paid maximum), Simon Walker 14+1 (5) (paid maximum), Emil Kramer 12 (5), Jordan Frampton 8+2 (4), Stephan Katt 7+2 (4), Matthias Kroger 6+3 (4), Brent Werner 3 (3).

For Newcastle – Josef Franc 12 (6) (with 4 point TR), Christian Henry 5 (5), Danny Warwick 5 (7), Jason King 3 (4), Ben Powell 2 (5), Jaimie Robertson 1+1 (3).

[Merlin]

Saturday, 26 April

The rain struck again today causing the postponement of the Knock Out Cup tie between Workington and Stoke. The three other scheduled matches went ahead though. At Berwick the Bandits faced Edinburgh in a Knock Out Cup first round, second leg tie, at Mildenhall the Fen Tigers took on King’s Lynn in a Premier Trophy match while at Rye House the Rockets raced against Newport in a first round, first leg Knock Out Cup tie.


Knock Out Cup (first round, second leg): Berwick 42, Edinburgh 51 Edinburgh won through to the second round on aggregate by 105-80.


Berwick were again without Adrian Rymel on European Championship duty and used Rider Replacement at number 1. Guglielmo Franchetti was also missing after crashing last night so the Bandits intended to use Ben Powell (Newcastle) as a guest but he failed to arrive so had to go with John McPhail at number 4. Edinburgh were at full strength.

Edinburgh carried a 16 point lead from the first leg and, although Berwick shot into a four point lead after two heats, it soon became clear that they were no match for a determined Monarchs’ side. Their cause wasn’t helped by the non-appearance of Ben Powell, who had been booked as a guest for Guglielmo Franchetti, which forced them to track a junior, John McPhail, at number 4 and a woeful display by Henning Bager in his last match for the Bandits.

Derek Sneddon fell on the third bend of the opening lap causing a rerun without him but Ryan Fisher leapt from the tapes to lead Norbert Magosi and Michal Makovsky home for a shared race. There was a glimmer of hope for the Bandits when they scored a 5-1 from the reserves race. A fine gate by Adam McKinna saw him score a comfortable tapes-to-flag win backed up by Tero Aarnio who defied the challenges of Andrew Tully to take second place. The glimmer was extinguished in heat 3 when the Monarchs replied with a 1-5. William Lawson and Thomas Jonasson beat Henning Bager to the first bend and that was that. In heat 4 Adam McKinna made another superb gate and led down the back straight with Matthew Wethers in hot pursuit. Michal Makovsky passed Wethers on the inside and tried to move him out to the fence. However he misjudged it and fell against the fence forcing Wethers to lay down. In the rerun, McKinna gated again but was soon passed by Wethers so Edinburgh took the lead with a 2-4 with the score at 11-13.

When Ryan Fisher and Derek Sneddon rounded Henning Bager off the second bend of heat 5 Edinburgh were off for another 1-5 to increase their lead to six points. Berwick looked like they might pull two points back when Norbert Magosi passed Matthew Wethers in heat 6 with Aarnio in third but Wethers was having none of it and, after trying several different lines to pass Magosi, he finally succeeded at the end of lap three with a round the boards swoop. That resulted in a shared race then the Bandits got within touching distance again with a 5-1 in heat 7. Michal Makovsky made the gate and Tero Aarnio passed William Lawson round the outside off the second bend to join him cutting the lead to only two points. Norbert Magosi then won heat 8 to share the points taking the score to 23-25.

Edinburgh struck with successive maximums in heats 9 and 10. In the former Matthew Wethers and Andrew Tully saw off the woeful Henning Bager from the start and, in the latter, Thomas Jonasson and William Lawson did the same to Tero Aarnio. The visitors’ lead had now rocketed to ten points so Berwick were able to give a TR to Michal Makovsky in heat 11. This turned out to be the race of the night! Fisher and Sneddon gated for the Monarchs but Makovsky was a man possessed. He chased down Sneddon and passed him on the third bend of lap 2 before setting off after Fisher. After nearly falling twice and almost riding on the fence on the third and fourth bends he eventually passed the American on the second bend of the last lap to win the race for the full six points. This gave the Bandits a 6-3 cutting the gap to seven points but, in heat 12, Andrew Tully made a superb start to lead McKinna and Bager for almost the entire race. William Lawson roared round the last two bends of the last lap to pass Bager and almost caught McKinna on the line. The 2-4 stretched the lead to nine points again with the score at 33-42.

Makovsky and Magosi made the gate in heat 13 but Matthew Wethers passed Magosi on the last lap limiting the Bandits to a 4-2 which cut the lead to seven points again. It was all over when heat 14 was shared. Magosi led the race from Jonasson while McKinna settled in third place having to defend his position against Aaron Summers. Summers, after several unsuccessful attempts to force his way through on the inside, switched to the outside run on bends 1 and 2 of the last lap to swoop past him for third and a 3-3. In the last race Ryan Fisher beat Makovsky while Wethers finished third for a 2-4 giving the Monarchs a win on the night of nine points and aggregate success by twenty five.

Scorers: For Berwick – Michal Makovsky 15+1 (6), Tero Aarnio 9+3 (7), Norbert Magosi 8 (5), Adam McKinna 7 (5), Henning Bager 3 (4), John McPhail 0 (3).

For Edinburgh – Ryan Fisher 12+1 (5), Matthew Wethers 12 (5), Thomas Jonasson 8+1 (4), William Lawson 6+1 (4), Andrew Summers 6+1 (4), Aaron Summers 4+1 (4), Derek Sneddon 3+2 (4).



Premier Trophy: Mildenhall 46, King’s Lynn 44


Mildenhall were without Casper Wortmann so used Rider Replacement at number 4. They introduced new signing, Henning Loof, at number 2. Matt Wright again guested for Mark Baseby at number 6 and Jari Makinen moved to number 7. King’s Lynn were at full strength.

We’ve had a lot of shock away wins this season but this time we had a shock home win! Consider the maulings the Fen Tigers have suffered at home at the hands (or wheels) of Berwick, Birmingham and the Isle of Wight, King’s Lynn would with good reason have thought that the three points were there for the taking. However a moral boosting display by Robbie Kessler well supported by Kai Laukkanen turned a two point arrears after heat 14 into a two point win with a last heat maximum. As a result King’s Lynn are out of the Premier Trophy with Birmingham now established as section winners.

There was no sign of the drama to come when the Stars took a 1-5 in the opening heat which required two reruns before it could be completed. Jan Graversen was excluded for bringing down Simon Lambert. Tomas Topinka gated with Lambert for the maximum. Matt Wright and Jari Makinen then gated for the home side but John Oliver and Kozza Smith passed the Finn to share the heat before the Stars moved six points in front in the next race. Kevin Doolan won the race from Kai Laukkanen while Rusty Harrison got the better of Matt Wright for the 2-4. The Fen Tigers got two points back with a 4-2 in heat 4 won by Robbie Kessler from Kozza Smith which took the score to 10-14.

Kai Laukkanen won heat 5 for the Fen Tigers from Tomas Topinka while Jan Graversen passed Simon Lambert for a 4-2 which cut the lead to two points then it was all square again after another home 4-2 when Jan Graversen beat Shaun Tacey with Henning Loof third. The Stars regained the lead in heat 7 when Kevin Doolan beat Robbie Kessler while Rusty Harrison took the third place point after Jari Makinen had fallen and been excluded. The 2-4 put the visitors two points in front but the home side levelled the scores again with a 4-2 in heat 8 thanks to a win from Matt Wright and a third place from Henning Loof behind Kozza Smith. The score now stood at 24-24.

Mildenhall took the lead in heat 9. Robbie Kessler and Kai Laukkanen scored a 5-1 ahead of Shaun Tacey for a four point advantage then Henning Loof beat none other than Kevin Doolan while Jan Graversen took third from Harrison for a 4-2 in heat 10 for a six point lead. Robbie Kessler kept it that way by winning heat 10 from Topinka and Lambert but back came King’s Lynn with a 2-4 in heat 12. Kevin Doolan beat Kai Laukkanen while John Oliver just pipped Jari Makinen for third to cut the lead to four points with the score at 38-34.

It was down to two points with another 2-4 for the visitors in heat 13 as Topinka beat Kessler with Tacey third from Graversen then King’s Lynn punched home a 1-5 in heat 14 to regain the lead by two points leaving the home fans with the usual sinking feeling. Rusty Harrison and Kozza Smith beat Matt Wright to set up a last heat decider. The Fen Tigers’ fans went wild when Robbie Kessler and Kai Laukkanen score the 5-1 from Topinka and Doolan in heat 15 which gave them their first win of the season after a great match.

Scorers: For Mildenhall – Robbie Kessler 16 (6), Kai Laukkanen 11+2 (5), Matt Wright 7 (5), Henning Fool 6 (5), Jan Graversen 5 (5), Jari Makinen 1 (4).

For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 11 (5), Kevin Doolan 11 (5), Kozza Smith 7+2 (4), Rusty Harrison 5 (4), Shaun Tacey 4 (4), Simon Lambert 3+2 (4), John Oliver 3 (4).



Knock Out Cup (first round, first leg): Rye House 60, Newport 30


Rye House were missing Luke Bowen and Tommy Allen so used Rider Replacement for Allen and had Daniel Halsey as a guest at number 2 for Bowen. Gary Cottham was nominated as their number 8. Newport were without Tony Atkin so used Rider Replacement at number 4.

The feature of this match was the phenomenal 19+1 score from Rye House reserve, Robert Mear. He was unlucky to drop his only point to Marek Mroz as a result of a flat tyre on the last bend of heat 14. It was the same old story though at Rye House as the Rockets without Luke Bowen and Tommy Allen disposed of Newport with ease.

Craig Watson split the home pairing of Chris Neath and Daniel Halsey in heat 1 for a 4-2 then the reserves race was shared after Robert Mear had won it and Danny Betson had retired with machine trouble at the end of the second lap. Sebastian Truminski then separated the home pair of Tai Woffinden and Daniel Halsey for a 4-2 in heat 3 before the Rockets scored the first of their five 5-1s in heat 4 with Robert Mear and Stefan Ekberg leading the Wasps home. The score stood at 16-8 at this point.

Ekberg won heat 5 while Tai Woffinden passed Craig Watson on the line for another 5-1 but the Wasps shared heat 6 behind Chris Neath. Jerran hart and Paul Clews took second and third but, in heat 7, Ekberg and Mear added another 5-1 increasing the home side’s lead to 16 points. It was then announced that Danny Betson had withdrawn from the meeting due to injuries he had sustained the previous evening. The Rockets made light work of this handicap. Mear won again in heat 8 from Marek Mroz while Daniel Halsey got up to pip Nick Simmons on the line for a 4-2 which took the score to 33-15.

Another two 4-2s went to the home side in heats 9 and 10. Woffinden beat Clews in the first then Chris Neath beat Marek Mroz in the rerun of the second after Sebastian Truminski had fallen in the first running and been excluded. Robert Mear won heat 11 but Craig Watson and Nick Simmons kept Stefan Ekberg back in last place for a shared heat 11 but Rye House took another 5-1 in heat 12 from Mear and Woffinden to take the score to 49-23.

In heat 13 Chris Neath broke the tapes and went from 15 metres back. In the rerun Craig Watson suffered an engine failure on the second lap then Neath did likewise on lap three but pushed home for third place behind Ekberg and Clews for a 4-2. Marek Mroz won heat 14 for a shared race after Mear suffered a flat tyre before Woffinden and Neath wrapped up a thirty point win with a last heat 5-1.

Scorers: For Rye House – Robert Mear 19+1 (7), Tai Woffinden 13+2 (5) (paid maximum), Stefan Ekberg 11+1 (5), Chris Neath 12+1 (5), Daniel Halsey 4 (5), Gary Cottham 1 (2).

For Newport – Marek Mroz 9+1 (6), Paul Clews 7+1 (6), Craig Watson 5 (4), Sebastian Truminski 4 (4), Jerran Hart 4 (5), Nick Simmons 1+1 (5).

[Merlin]

Sunday, 27 April



Today’s events were overshadowed by the death of Newport promoter, Tim Stone. The scheduled Knock Out Cup tie between Newport and Rye House was of course cancelled. The Premier Trophy match between Birmingham and King’s Lynn was a casualty of the weather but four other matches took place. At Glasgow the Tigers faced Edinburgh in a Premier Trophy match and at Mildenhall the Fen Tigers took on Redcar in a Knock Out Cup tie. The third match was at Newcastle where the Diamonds raced against Somerset in a Knock Out Cup tie and the fourth was at Stoke where the Potters had Workington as their visitors also in the Knock Out Cup.



Premier Trophy: Glasgow 34, Edinburgh 58


Both teams were at full strength.

Glasgow have had an indifferent start to the season but their win at Birmingham last Wednesday seemed to be just the spur they needed to get their season on track and what better way to do it than take on their nearest and dearest rivals, Edinburgh Monarchs, in another derby match. Edinburgh only had to score 25 points to ensure that they qualified for the semi-finals of the Premier Trophy by topping the section. You wouldn’t have known it though as Glasgow suffered one of their most depressing defeats ever on a warm, sunny afternoon at Ashfield.

It’s hard to say whether any records were set by the score but one record that did change was the track record when Shane Parker lowered the time to 57.1 in heat 3. Parker in fact fought a near lone battle for the Tigers scoring 19 of their 34 points some 56% of their total. He prevented William Lawson, Thomas Jonasson and Matthew Wethers from going through the meeting unbeaten by an opponent.

Heat 1 had to be rerun after Ryan Fisher and Trent Leverington clashed coming off bend 2 with Leverington falling. Fisher was excluded but in the rerun Derek Sneddon made the fastest gate and went on to win despite being pressurised by Leverington for a 3-3. A foretaste of what was to come appeared in the reserves race. Aaron Summers made a superb gate while Andrew Tully followed him home although Josh Grajczonek was never far behind. This gave the Monarchs a 1-5 and four point lead. Shane Parker stormed to the front from the tapes to win heat 3 in a record time but Thomas Jonasson and William Lawson finished behind him for a shared race. Another fine gate by Aaron Summers resulted in another race win for the young Australian. Matthew Wethers followed him home well ahead of Mitchell Davey as Ross Brady slipped from second to last for another 1-5 to the visitors taking the score to 8-16.

Heat 5 provided another tapes-to-flag win for Shane Parker but Derek Sneddon and Ryan Fisher followed him home for a 3-3. It was then announced that Trent Leverington had withdrawn from the meeting so Shane Parker replaced him as a Tactical Substitute in heat 6 from 15 metres back. Robert Ksiezak made the gate but Matthew Wethers passed him on the fourth bend on the first lap. Shane Parker made up the ground on Andrew Tully but found passing him another matter. On the third lap Ksiezak locked up and Tully ran into him and fell. This let Parker through to second but he was too far behind to get near Wethers who won the race. The Tigers took a 5-3 from the race so now trailed by just six points but another 1-5 for the Monarchs in heat 7 shot them into a ten point lead. Thomas Jonasson made an excellent start from Josh Grajczonek. William Lawson passed Grajczonek on the third lap with Brady tailed off badly at the back for the maximum. Now ten points in arrears Glasgow gave Robert Ksiezak a TR in heat 8. Aaron Summers was again fast away with Josh Grajczonek in pursuit but Ryan Fisher cut back off the second bend to pass Grajczonek and the two Monarchs headed off for another 1-5. Grajczonek slowed to allow a woeful Ksiezak through on the tactical ride but he finished miles behind the Edinburgh pair. The score now stood at 18-32 and Glasgow were looking down the barrel of a third home defeat on the trot.

Shane Parker lifted the gloom for the home fans with another superb tapes-to-flag win in heat 10. Andrew Tully and Matthew Wethers filled the minor places so the race was shared heat but heat 10 produced another 1-5 for the visitors. The race had to be rerun with all four back after Grajczonek had fallen before reaching the first turn. In the rerun Lawson and Jonasson left Ksiezak and Grajczonek trailing off the second bend putting the visitors out of sight with an eighteen point lead. Bad went to worse for the Tigers when they conceded another 1-5 in heat 11, the fourth Monarchs 1-5 in five heats. This time it was Fisher and Sneddon who led Davey and Brady home by miles stretching the lead to 22 points. Shane Parker again raised home spirits with another superb win in heat 12. William Lawson finished second but Josh Grajczonek kept Andrew Tully at the back giving Glasgow their second race advantage of the meeting by 4-2 taking the score to 27-47.

Matthew Wethers shot to the front in heat 13 but Grajczonek kept him occupied for the whole four laps. Behind this pair Ross Brady took third place after Derek Sneddon kept making a hash of his attempts to pass him by pulling lockers on the second bend. This resulted in a shared race then heat 14 provided the race of the afternoon. Aaron Summers going for his maximum touched the tapes and went from 15 metres back. That looked to have ended his chances on a track that was now super-slick but it didn’t put him off. Thomas Jonasson was soon off to win the race while Summers at the back reeled in Grajczonek to sit on his tail for a couple of laps. On the third lap he rounded Grajczonek in fine style on the fourth bend and kept the gas on down the home straight to thunder under Lee Dicken approaching the first bend. He made the pass stick and followed Jonasson home for a brilliant ride to complete a paid maximum much to the delight of the Monarchs’ support and his own team mates. The 1-5 increased the lead to 24 points and it stayed that way when Shane Parker completed a brilliant personal performance with his fifth race win of the meeting. Lawson and Wethers finished ahead of Ksiezak for a shared race.

Scorers: For Glasgow – Shane Parker 19 (6) (with 4 point TR), Josh Grajczonek 5 (7), Robert Ksiezak 4+2, Trent Leverington 2 (1), Mitchell Davey 2 (3), Ross Brady 1+1 (4), Lee Dicken 1 (4).

For Edinburgh – Aaron Summers 11+1 (4) (paid maximum), Matthew Wethers 10+3 (5), William Lawson 10+2 (5), Thomas Jonasson 10+1 (4), Derek Sneddon 7+1 (4), Ryan Fisher 6+2 (4), Andrew Tully 4+1 (4).



Knock Out Cup (first round, second leg): Mildenhall 40, Redcar 50 Redcar won through to the second round on aggregate by 103-80.


Mildenhall used Rider Replacement at number 1 in place of Casper Wortmann while Redcar used Rider Replacement for Chris Kerr at number 2.

The Fen Tigers had thirteen points to pull back from the first leg at Redcar last Thursday but they never looked like doing it. The euphoria after their win over King’s Lynn yesterday soon evaporated as another home defeat materialised. Redcar scored solidly throughout the team and, with the top end punch provided by James Grieves and Ty Proctor, they were able to win with ease without the usual double figure score from Gary Havelock.

Any chance the Fen Tigers had of pulling back the arrears all but disappeared after the first four races by which time the Bears had added another eight points to their overall lead. Daniel Giffard won the first race from Jan Graversen while Gary Havelock finished third for a 2-4 then Arlo Bugeja won the reserves race from Matt Wright. Giffard added third place for another 2-4 then James Grieves won a rerun heat 3 after Josh Auty had fallen and been excluded for a 3-3. Ty Proctor and Dan Giffard took advantage of Robbie Kessler’s engine failure by adding a 1-5 in heat 4 taking the score to 8-16.

Henning Loof and Kai Laukkanen scored a 5-1 ahead of Gary Havelock in heat 5 to revive home hopes but another win by Ty Proctor in heat 6 when he beat Robbie Kessler was accompanied by an excellent ride by Arlo Bugeja for third and another 2-4 increasing the visitors’ lead to six points. The Fen Tigers rallied again with two 4-2s in heats 7 and 8. Kessler beat Grieves in heat 7 then Graversen held off Proctor in heat 8 cutting the lead to two points and taking the score to 23-25.

Ty Proctor won again in heat 9 this time beating Kai Laukkanen while Arlo Bugeja took third from Loof for a 2-4 and four point lead. The Bears took another 2-4 in heat 10 when James Grieves beat Kai Laukkanen. Jan Graversen touched the tapes and had to go from 15 metres back so Josh Auty was able to take third putting the visitors six points ahead in the match. In an excellent heat 11 Gary Havelock finally won a race beating Kessler and Auty for another 2-4 and eight point lead. Grieves beat Laukkanen again in heat 12 while at the back Jari Makinen and Arlo Bugeja had a great race for third. Graversen prevailed so the heat was shared and the score stood at 32-40.

The lead increased to ten in heat 13 with yet another 2-4. Robbie Kessler had an engine failure as Ty Proctor won again from Graversen and Havelock. Henning Loof took a TR in heat 14 but finished last. Matt Wright led until the last bend when Josh Auty got past him while Dan Giffard finished third for Redcar’s eighth 2-4. Kai Laukkanen won the last race from James Grieves while Jan Graversen took third place ahead of Ty Proctor. The 4-2 cut the winning lead from 12 to 10.

Scorers: For Mildenhall – Kai Laukkanen 13+1 (6), Jan Graversen 8 (6), Robbie Kessler 7 (5), Matt Wright 5 (4), Henning Loof 4+1 (5), Jari Makinen 3+1 (4).

For Redcar – Ty Proctor 14 (6), James Grieves 13 (5), Daniel Giffard 7+1 (5), Gary Havelock 6 (4), Josh Auty 5 (5), Arlo Bugeja 5 (5).



Knock Out Cup (first round, second leg): Newcastle 39, Somerset 39 – match abandoned after heat 13 due to rain. The result stands. Somerset won through to the second round on aggregate by 103-67


Newcastle used Rider Replacement at number 2 in place of George Stancl while Somerset were at full strength.

There are no further details currently available for this match.

Scorers: For Newcastle – Josef Franc 13 (5), Christian Henry 10 (4), Ben Powell 5+3 (4), Jason King 5 (5), Sean Stoddart 4+1 (5), Jaimie Robertson 2+2 (3).

For Somerset – Emil Kramer 12 (4) (maximum), Brent Werner 9 (5), Jason Doyle 8 (4), Jordan Frampton 6+2 (4), Matthias Kroger 3 (4), Simon Walker 1+1 (3), Stephan Katt 0 (2).



Knock Out Cup (first round, first leg): Stoke 42, Workington 50


Both teams were at full strength.

This was scheduled to be the second leg of this Cup tie but with last night’s match at Workington postponed due to the weather it became the first leg. When Stoke led by ten points after heat 9 it was hard to foresee that they would lose by eight points just six heats later but that’s what happened. The Potters simply collapsed over the last third of the match losing by 10-28 with heat advantages to the Comets in every one of the last six races. Their chances of winning the tie now look slim with the away leg still to come.

The first race, won by Daniel Nermark, was shared but the Potters took a four point lead with a 5-1 in the reserves race. Workington hit back with a 2-4 in heat 3 as Kauko Nieminen won from Klaus Jacobsen with Charles Wright winning an exciting battle at the back with Ben Barker for third. Carl Stonehewer rounded Jesper Kristiansen in heat 4 for another 3-3 taking the score to 13-11.

Another Nermark win in heat 5 produced another 3-3 but Lee Complin won a passing bout with Carl Stonehewer in heat 6 to set up a 4-2 with Mark Burrows third. This put the Potters four points to the good and, after another Nieminen win in heat 7 for another shared race, they followed it with a 5-1 in heat 8 to storm into an eight point lead. Mark Burrows and Jesper Kristiansen led the Potters charge from John Branney taking the score to 28-20.

Stoke continued to stretch their lead in heat 9 when a 4-2 from Ben Barker and Klaus Jakobsen separated by Carl Stonehewer put the Potters ten points in front. The Comets pulled two points back in heat 10 when Charles Wright took advantage of a Lee Complin engine failure at the tapes to win from Mark Burrows. Nieminen had an argument with the fence but almost got up to pip Burrows on the line but, in retrospect, it turned out well for the visitors that he didn’t! Now eight points down Workington introduced Kauko Nieminen to heat 11 as a Tactical Substitute for Scott Smith from 15 metres back. As Daniel Nermark headed off into the distance, Nieminen was soon past Barrie Evans to hunt down Emiliano Sanchez. He caught and passed him right on the line for a 1-7 to the Comets who had now pulled their arrears back to just two points. It was all square one heat later when Nieminen, out for his third ride on the trot, won from Ben Barker while Joe Haines beat Jesper Kristiansen for third place and a 4-2 which took the score to 37-37.

Stoke just couldn’t stop the tide now as Daniel Nermark continued his winning ways in heat 13 heading Lee Complin home after the two riders had passed and repassed each other. Carl Stonehewer took third for a 2-4 which put the Comets two points ahead. Charles Wright got into the act again by winning heat 14 from Barrie Evans with John Branney passing Klaus Jakobsen for third and another 2-4 for a four point lead. It seemed inevitable at this stage that Nermark and Nieminen would finish the match off with a 1-5 in heat 15 and that’s what happened but not before Nieminen had won a terrific battle with Lee Complin to get second place on the line. This gave the Comets an eight point lead to take into the second leg.

Scorers: For Stoke – Lee Complin 8 (5), Mark Burrows 7+1 (4), Jesper Kristiansen 7+1 (4), Ben Barker 7 (5), Barrie Evans 6+1 (4), Klaus Jakobsen 4+1 (4), Emiliano Sanchez 3+1 (4).

For Workington – Kauko Nieminen 16+1 (6) (with 4 point TS) Daniel Nermark 15 (5) (maximum), Carl Stonehewer 8 (4), Charles Wright 7 (4), John Branney 3 (4), Joe Haines 1 (4), Scott Smith 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Monday, 28 April



Tonight’s match was at Reading where the Racers faced King’s Lynn in a Knock Out Cup tie.


Knock Out Cup (first round, first leg): Reading 59, King’s Lynn 34 .


Both teams were at full strength.

Reading were down to six riders after Danny Warwick fell in heat 2 and was withdrawn from the meeting. King’s Lynn fared even worse. Kevin Doolan crashed in heat 3 and, although he took part in the rerun, he subsequently withdrew having aggravated injuries he was already carrying. Kozza Smith was also withdrawn after falling in heat 12 but it was on the say-so of one of the paramedics, a decision with which the rider himself disagreed. This resulted in some unpleasantness in the pits which required the presence of the referee to sort out.

The teams traded 4-2s in the opening two heats. Mark Lemon won heat 1 from Tomas Topinka then John Oliver won a rerun heat 2 from Jaimie Smith after Danny Warwick had fallen and been excluded. Reading pulled away with a 5-1 in heat 3 though after a fearsome looking accident when Kevin Doolan contacted Suchanek and fell with Ostergaard crashing into his bike before heading through the fence. In the all-four-back rerun Suchanek and Ostergaard finished ahead of Doolan then in heat 4 the Racers added another 5-1 thanks to Jaimie Smith and Tom P Madsen with Shaun Tacey finishing third taking the score to 16-8.

Topinka could only split Ostergaard and Suchanek in heat 5 as a 4-2 went the Racers way then the Stars were in big trouble when Lemon and Mills added another 5-1 in heat 6 for a 14 point lead. Kevin Doolan withdrew from the meeting to add further to the visitors’ misery but Rusty Harrison steadied the ship by winning heat 7 for a shared heat. Tomas Topinka was given a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres back in place of Simon Lambert in heat 8 in which Kozza Smith rode round the boards on the third and fourth bends to take the lead. Topinka passed Jaimie Smith on the third lap for third place so the Stars took a 2-5 from the heat reducing the difference between the teams to 11 points with the score now reading 30-19.

Heats 9 and 10 both went the home side’s way with 5-1s, the first from Ostergaard and Suchanek and the second from Lemon and Mills so the lead increased to 19 points. Tomas Topinka stopped the rot by winning heat 11 for a shared race but the respite was only temporary as Ostergaard and Jaimie Smith added another 5-1 in heat 12 taking the score to 48-25.

Mark Lemon made it four wins on the trot in heat 13 as he led home Tomas Topinka with Suchanek third for a 4-2 before Rusty Harrison took a Tactical Ride in heat 14. Jaimie Smith beat him though but his second place resulted in a 4-4 shared race then Lemon wrapped things up by completing his maximum in heat 15. However Ulrich Ostergaard having gone from last place to third wiped out Rusty Harrison on the last bend so was excluded. Topinka finished second and Harrison was awarded third for a shared race.

The Racers’ 25 point win will give King’s Lynn plenty to think about for the second leg on Wednesday.

Scorers: For Reading – Mark Lemon 15 (5) (maximum), Jaimie Smith 12+3 (7), Ulrich Ostergaard 11+1 (5), Chris Mills 7+2 (4), Tom P Madsen 7+1 (4), Tomas Suchanek 7+1 (4), Danny Warwick 0 (1).

For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 13 (6) (with 2 point TS), Rusty Harrison 9+1 (5) (with 4 point TR), John Oliver 5 (5), Kozza Smith 4 (6), Shaun Tacey 2 (4), Kevin Doolan 1 (1), Simon Lambert 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Thursday, 1 May

Following the rained-off matches at the Isle of Wight on Tuesday and at Birmingham and King’s Lynn yesterday, the rain finally relented to allow tonight’s two matches to take place. At Redcar the Bears raced Berwick in a Premier League match while at Sheffield the Tigers took on Newcastle in Premier Trophy match.


Premier League: Redcar 51, Berwick 41


Redcar were again without Chris Kerr So used Rider Replacement at number 2. They also nominated Jittendra Duffel as their number 8. Berwick were without new signing, Benny Johansson due to travel difficulties so tracked Gary Beaton at number 5. They also used Rider Replacement in place of Guglielmo Franchetti at number 4. Martin Emerson was nominated as their number 8.

Berwick took the lead in heat 1 with a 2-4. Adrian Rymel beat Gary Havelock while Norbert Magosi was left to pick up the third place point after Daniel Giffard suffered an engine failure after the tapes went up. A reserves race 5-1 for the Bears reversed the lead after Adam McKinna had touched the tapes and had started from 15 metres back. Adam McKinna led heat 3 from the tapes and it took until the last bend of the race before James Grieves got up to get the verdict on the line. Michal Makovsky took third for a shared race but Redcar doubled their lead with a 4-2 from Ty Proctor and Daniel Giffard, split by Tero Aarnio, in heat 4 taking the score to 14-10.

James Grieves won heat 5 but it was only good enough to share the points as Rymel and Magosi finished behind him but the Bears added two points to their lead with a 4-2 in heat 6 when Gary Havelock had a comfortable win ahead of Tero Aarnio while Arlo Bugeja picked up third. Michal Makovsky won heat 7 for the Bandits but again the points were shared as Proctor and Bugeja filled the minor places. Ty Proctor gated in heat 8 but was passed by Norbert Magosi. He repassed the Hungarian while Daniel Giffard also got past him for a Redcar 5-1 which took the score to 29-19.

Heat 9 produced a 4-2 for the home side thanks to another James Grieves win and third place for Josh Autry behind Tero Aarnio. However Redcar got a jolt in heat 10 when the Bandits took a 1-5 from Makovsky and Aarnio after Gary Havelock had suffered an engine failure at the first bend. This cut the difference between the teams to eight points. Heat 11 saw the Bears pull two further points ahead with a 4-2 when Ty Proctor beat Adrian Rymel with Arlo Bugeja third but Berwick then gave Michal Makovsky a TR in heat 12. James Grieves won the race but Makovsky was second with Aarnio third so Berwick reclaimed the two points again with a 3-5 taking the score to 41-33.

Berwick’s chances disappeared in heat 13 when Proctor and Havelock scored a 5-1 from Rymel to stretch the lead to 12 points. Berwick got two points back with a 2-4 in heat 14 won by Tero Aarnio before a shared heat 15 won by Adrian Rymel left Redcar ten points to the good.

Scorers: For Redcar – Ty Proctor 15+1 (6), James Grieves 14 (5), Arlo Bugeja 7+2 (5), Gary Havelock 7+1 (4), Daniel Giffard 6+1 (5), Josh Auty 2 (5).

For Berwick – Tero Aarnio 13+2 (7), Michal Makovsky 11+1 (5) (with 4 point TR), Adrian Rymel 11 (5), Norbert Magosi 3+1 (4), Adam McKinna 3 (6), Gary Beaton 0 (3).



Premier Trophy: Sheffield 59, Newcastle 33 .


Sheffield were at full strength but Newcastle were again missing George Stancl so, as usual, they used Rider Replacement at number 2.

There wasn’t a great deal between the sides over the opening six heats. Josef Franc won the opener from Joel Parsons leaving Ricky Ashworth to coast round for third place after both he and Ben Powell had suffered engine failures. The shared race was followed by a 4-2 for the Tigers when Paul Cooper won heat 2. It looked as though Sam Martin would join him for a 5-1 but Jaimie Robertson passed him for second place on the third lap. Andre Compton won heat 3 after passing first Ben Powell then Christian Henry while Lee Smethills finished at the back. Sheffield doubled their lead in heat 4 with another 4-2. Ben Wilson won the race but the action was behind him. Paul Cooper passed Sean Stoddart into second place but Jason King passed Cooper right on the line to take the score to 14-10.

Heats 5 and 6 were shared. The former was won by Andre Compton from Josef Franc and the latter by Jason King from Ashworth and Parsons. However the Tigers scored a 4-2 from heat 7 when Ben Wilson won from Christian Henry with Sam Martin taking third after Ben Powell fell. They added a 5-1 in heat 8 from Cooper and Parsons to take the score to 29-19 and leave the Diamonds struggling.

Andre Compton won heat 9 from Jason King for another 4-2 then Ashworth and Parsons put the Tigers on Easy Street with a 5-1 from Henry in heat 10 to rocket the home side into a 16 point lead. Newcastle then gave a TR to Josef Franc and things looked better for the visitors when he led from the tapes. However Franc got it all wrong on the last bend of the second lap allowing Ben Wilson through for the win. Jason King finished third so Newcastle took a 3-5 advantage from the race. Sheffield then took another 5-1 in heat 12, this time from Compton and Cooper taking the score to 46-28.

As usual Sheffield finished strongly over the final three heats dropping only two points. Josef Franc split the Ashworth/Wilson pair in heat 13 for a 4-2 then Lee Smethills won heat 14. Sam Martin passed Jaimie Robertson for third place behind Ben Powell for another 4-2 then Compton and Ashworth wrapped up the proceedings with a last heat 5-1.

Scorers: For Sheffield – Andre Compton 15 (5) (maximum), Ricky Ashworth 11+2 (5), Ben Wilson 10 (4), Paul Cooper 9+1 (4), Joel Parsons 7+3 (4), Lee Smethills 4 (4), Sam Martin 3 (3).

For Newcastle – Josef Franc 13 (6) (with 4 point TR), Jason King 8+1 (6), Christian Henry 5 (4), Jaimie Robertson 4+1 (5), Ben Powell 3+1 (5), Sean Stoddart 0 (4).

[Merlin]

Friday, 2 May

Tonight’s matches were at Edinburgh where the Monarchs raced King’s Lynn and at Somerset where the Rebels took on Scun.thorpe both in Premier League matches.


Premier League: Edinburgh 54, King’s Lynn 39


Edinburgh were without Thomas Jonasson who was riding in the Swedish round of the under-21 Championship so used Rider Replacement at number 2. King’s Lynn were without the injured Kevin Doolan so had Shane Parker (Glasgow) as a guest at number 1.

This was Edinburgh’s first home league match of the season while it was King’s Lynn’s fourth away from home. The Monarchs went into the match on the back of a string of excellent wins both home and away but the Stars having faced a number of rained-off meetings and lost at Mildenhall and Reading last weekend were looking to get back on song.

What an excellent meeting this turned out to be as the Stars provided some stiff opposition. The Edinburgh riders must have been surprised to be confronted with a sun-soaked track rather than the usual rain-soaked one on a pleasant mild evening at Armadale. The excitement kicked off in heat 1 when William Lawson made the start from Shane Parker with Andrew Tully on Parker’s tail. While Parker tried hard to reel in Lawson, Tully was doing the same to Parker. It was Tully who eventually succeeded in passing Parker on the inside of the first bend on the third lap to join Lawson up front for an opening 5-1. The Stars were already in trouble when Aaron Summers rounded the field on the opening two bends of the reserves race and was joined by Andrew Tully for a second 5-1. Tomas Topinka jetted from the gate in heat 3 while Derek Sneddon gave chase. Sneddon tried an outside line drive off the fourth bend but locked up causing his partner, Ryan Fisher, to have to shut off to avoid hitting him. This allowed Topinka to sail off for a comfortable win and 3-3 but Edinburgh stretched their lead to ten points when Matthew Wethers led from tapes-to-flag in heat 4. Rusty Harrison passed Aaron Wethers for second place while Kozza Smith was challenging hard for third by the end of the race. The 4-2 took the score to 17-7.

Derek Sneddon led Shane Parker from the tapes in heat 5 but Shaun Tacey did his partner no favours by cutting under Parker and almost knocking him off. Ryan Fisher took full advantage by nipping through on the inside of the second bend to join Sneddon in a 5-1 with Parker finishing third. Rusty Harrison blasted from the tapes in heat 6 but was soon passed by William Lawson coming off the second bend for the win. John Oliver passed Summers for third and a shared race. Then we had a superb race between Matthew Wethers and Tomas Topinka who was on a TR in heat 7. Wethers passed the fast starting Topinka but the Stars’ man took up the challenge and reeled Wethers in again. When Wethers failed to move out to defend his lead, Topinka stormed round the outside of the last bend to pip Wethers for the win. This gave the Stars a 3-6 advantage cutting the lead to 11 points then we had another superb race in heat 8. Shane Parker replaced Kozza Smith as a Tactical Substitute from 15 metres back. Shaun Tacey made a fast start to lead the race but all eyes were on Parker as he tried to reel in Aaron Summers from his handicap. After several unsuccessful attempts he finally did it with an inside drive off the second bend on the last lap. He couldn’t quite get to Matthew Wethers in second place but it was Aaron Summers who brought the house down by repassing Parker off the last bend to relegate him to last and nullify the TS ride. The heat was shared and the score went to 31-20.

Derek Sneddon and Ryan Fisher increased the home side’s lead to 15 points with a 5-1 in heat 9 then the Monarchs added a 4-2 in heat 10 when William Lawson finally ended Tomas Topinka’s winning run. It looked like a 5-1 to the Monarchs when Ryan Fisher followed Sneddon off the second bend. Topinka wasn’t finished though and he chased after Fisher putting him under considerable pressure. On the last bend Fisher moved out to defend his position but overcooked the bend giving Topinka the chance to nip inside and win the race on the line. The Stars fought back with a 1-5 in heat 11. Shane Parker made a fast gate and was joined by Shaun Tacey as Matthew Wethers made an indifferent start. That’s the way it finished so the Edinburgh lead was down to 13 points. King’s Lynn got another two points back in heat 12 when Tomas Topinka won again this time from Sneddon with John Oliver third. The 2-4 took the score to 43-32.

Shane Parker and William Lawson served up a thrilling race in heat 13. Parker just edged ahead from the gate leaving Lawson to chase for all four laps. This he did and eventually got the better of Parker off the last bend to nose home ahead of the Stars’ guest right on the line. Ryan Fisher gated in heat 14 while Andrew Tully was passed by Kozza Smith for second. Tully caught up with Smith off the second bend, second lap but what was developing into an enthralling race was curtailed as Smith slid off on the third bend. Edinburgh ran away with the 5-1 but King’s Lynn got a consolation 2-4 in the final race. Shane Parker and Tomas Topinka made superb starts in the nominated riders’ race but Lawson passed Topinka with drive off the second bend to take up the chase on Parker. This time Parker had too big a lead for him to do anything about it so he won the race ruining Lawson’s maximum. Tomas Topinka finished third to cut the winning margin to 15 points.

Scorers: For Edinburgh – William Lawson 14 (5), Derek Sneddon 10 (5), Ryan Fisher 9+3 (5), Matthew Wethers 9 (5), Andrew Tully 7+3 (5), Aaron Summers 5+1 (5).

For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 15 (5) (with 6 point TR), Shane Parker 10 (6), Shaun Tacey 5+1 (4), Rusty Harrison 5 (4), John Oliver 3+1 (4), Kozza Smith 1 (4), Simon Lambert 0 (3).



Premier League: Somerset 63, Scun.thorpe 29 .


Both teams were at full strength.

After their stunning 64-28 win over Newcastle last week, Somerset didn’t do quite so well this week winning by only 34 points compared to last week’s 36! Scun.thorpe simply had no answers and had Magnus Karlsson and Carl Wilkinson not managed five race wins between them the Scorpions would have been sunk without trace. As it was the Rebels went through the meeting without recording a last place.

The meeting started with two 5-1s for the home side from Doyle and Frampton then Werner and Walker before the Scorpions got off the mark with a 3-3 in the third heat. This turned out to be quite a battle between Magnus Karlsson and the Rebels’ new boy, Matthias Kroger. Karlsson managed to hold on to win on the line while Kramer made sure the points were shared by finishing third. Viktor Bergstrom did a black flip with tuck at the gate in heat 4 so was excluded and replaced by Byron Bekker. Stephan Katt streaked off for the win but Richard Hall rescued second place by passing Brent Werner for a 4-2 which took the score to 17-7.

It was back to the 5-1s in heats 5 and 6 with Kramer and Kroger ‘doing the business’ in the former and Frampton and Doyle in the latter. Heat 7 featured Magnus Karlsson again, this time on a TR. He made the gate but Stephan Katt soared round him on the third bend to relegate him to second. Simon Walker took third as Benji Compton retired from the race on the third lap. This meant that the race points were shared 4-4 and heat 8 resulted in a shared race too. Carl Wilkinson made the gate to win from Jordan Frampton while Werner won the battle at the back for third place taking the score to 34-16.

Emil Kramer scored a tapes-to-flag win in heat 9 while Matthias Kroger held off the challenge of Richard Hall for second and another 5-1. Magnus Karlsson ended Jason Doyle’s maximum hopes by winning heat 10 but this was only good enough for a 3-3. Carl Wilkinson made it back-to-back race winners for the Scorpions by passing Stephan Katt in heat 11 for another 3-3 then Magnus Karlsson completed the hat trick by winning heat 12 after getting the better of Emil Kramer on the first bend. Again there was no support so this race was shared too with the score moving to 48-26.

There ended the Scorpions’ resistance. The Rebels scored three more 5-1s over the last three heats with only heat 15 worthy of note. Stephan Katt got the better of Magnus Karlsson in that race while Matthias Kroger joined him up front by passing Karlsson up the inside for the maximum. With 15 last places, three riders failing to score and another failing to beat an opponent Scun.thorpe will wish to draw a veil over this performance.

Scorers: For Somerset – Stephan Katt 14 (5), Matthias Kroger 11+3 (5), Jason Doyle 9+2 (4), Emil Kramer 9+1 (4), Jordan Frampton 8+2 (4), Simon Werner 6+3 (4), Brent Werner 6+2 (4).

For Scun.thorpe – Magnus Karlsson 14 (5) (with 4 point TR), Carl Wilkinson 8 (5), Richard Hall 5 (5), Viktor Bergstrom 2 (6), Andrew Moore 0 (4), Benji Compton 0 (4), Byron Bekker 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Saturday, 3 May



Three Premier League matches and a Premier Trophy match were raced today. The Premier League matches were at Berwick where the Bandits faced King’s Lynn , at Stoke where the Potters took on Birmingham and at Workington where Rye House were the visitors. The Premier Trophy match was at Redcar between the Bears and Scun.thorpe .



Premier League: Berwick 45, King’s Lynn 45


Berwick introduced Benny Johansson to the team at number 5 and used Rider Replacement at number 4 for Guglielmo Franchetti. King’s Lynn had Shane Parker as a guest at number 1 for the injured Kevin Doolan.

The Stars hopes appeared to have died on the first bend of the first lap when a coming together of the riders resulted in Norbert Magosi and Shane Parker ending in the fence. Although Magosi was able to shake himself down and walk back to the pits, Shane Parker wasn’t so fortunate and was taken from the track by ambulance with a suspected broken collarbone and wrist. In the rerun Adrian Rymel won the race by passing Shaun Tacey while Norbert Magosi picked up third for a 4-2 but the Stars hit back undaunted with a reserves race 1-5 from Kozza Smith and John Oliver who gated to beat Tero Aarnio and put the visitors two points in front. They doubled their lead with a 2-4 in heat 3. The King’s Lynn riders gated again with Tomas Topinka going on to win the race. Behind him Michal Makovsky passed Simon Lambert for second while Lambert had then to fend off the challenge of Adam McKinna to hold on to third. He did so though and the Stars had taken a 2-4 and four point lead. Rusty Harrison won heat 4 from Tero Aarnio while Kozza Smith took third ahead of Bandits’ new boy, Benny Johansson, for another 2-4 which took the score to 9-15.

The Bandits took full advantage of Parker’s withdrawal from the match in heat 5 when Michal Makovsky and Tero Aarnio scored a 5-1 ahead of Shaun Tacey to cut their arrears to two points. Adrian Rymel made the gate in heat 6 for the Bandits and he was joined up front by Norbert Magosi who went on to win the race while an ever charging Kozza Smith could only finish third. The Bandits’ second 5-1 put them into the lead for the first time by two points. They then got a huge boost in heat 7 when Tero Aarnio gated to lead and beat Tomas Topinka for a shared race as Johansson again finished last. This kept the Bandits two points up and it stayed that way with a shared heat 8. Norbert Magosi drove around Kozza Smith to hit the front off the second bend and win the race while at the back Adam McKinna chased Shaun Tacey at the back to no avail. The shared heat took the score to 25-23.

Benny Johansson made the gate in heat 9 but he was passed by Rusty Harrison and Michal Makovsky. Harrison won the race from Makovsky while Johansson’s third place was his first point for the Bandits. The shared heat kept the Bandits two points in front and heat 10 was shared too. This time Tomas Topinka won from Adrian Rymel and Norbert Magosi after passing the two Bandits coming off the second bend. The Stars finally levelled the match again in heat 11. Shaun Tacey gated to win the race but Tero Aarnio chased him hard just losing out on the line. Kozza Smith finished third from Benny Johansson so King’s Lynn scored a 2-4. Tomas Topinka kept the Stars flag flying with a win in heat 12 but Michal Makovsky and Adam McKinna shared the race ahead of John Oliver taking the score to 36-36.

Berwick took the lead again in heat 13. Adrian Rymel and Tero Aarnio led from the tapes but Rusty Harrison moved into second off the second bend. Aarnio hunted down Harrison and almost got past on the last bend. The 4-2 gave the Bandits a two point lead with just two heats to go. Simon Lambert won heat 14 for the Stars but he had to fight hard to maintain his early lead as Tero Aarnio did everything but pass him to finish second by a whisker on the line. Kozza Smith picked up the vital third place from McKinna so the 2-4 levelled the match with one heat to go. Heat 15 was drawn as was the match. Rusty Harrison had an engine failure at the tapes leaving Tomas Topinka to fight a lone battle. He got to the front on the second lap then warded off the challenges of Adrian Rymel to win an excellent race to give the Stars a draw. There can be no doubt that had Parker not been injured King’s Lynn would probably have won the match comfortably so they will look upon this as two points dropped rather than one gained.

Scorers: For Berwick – Tero Aarnio 13+1 (7), Adrian Rymel 12+1 (5), Michal Makovsky 10+1 (5), Norbert Magosi 8+1 (4), Benny Johannson 1+1 (4), Adam McKinna 1+1 (5).

For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14 (5), Kozza Smith 9 (7), Rusty Harrison 8 (5), Shaun Tacey 7+1 (4), Simon Lambert 5+1 (4), John Oliver 2+1 (5), Shane Parker – Withdrawn.



Premier League: Stoke 56, Birmingham 37


Stoke . Birmingham had Henning Bager back in the team at number 1 replacing the injured Kyle Legault. Jack Roberts was nominated as their number 8.

The Potters went ahead with a 4-2 in the opening race. Mark Burrows won the race from Lee Smart while behind this pair Lee Complin and Henning Bager had a ding dong battle for the third place point. Lee Complin won this battle then the Potters banged in a 5-1 in the reserves race. Barrie Evans won the race but Jack Hargreaves passed Jesper Kristiansen into second place before making a hash of the fourth bend then falling and remounting on the next bend. This gave the home side an early six point lead. The Brummies hit back with a 2-4 in heat 3 won by Jason Lyons. Ben Barker settled into second place but a mistake by Klaus Jacobsen let Jack Roberts through who then chased Barker unsuccessfully for a 2-4 to the visitors. Stoke replied with a 4-2. Kristiansen and Sanchez led for the Potters but Adam Roynon passed Sanchez for second at the end of the third lap to take the score to 15-9.

Ben Barker won heat 5 for a shared race then the Potters added two points to their lead in heat 6. Jack Hargreaves fell and was excluded from the rerun in which Lee Complin gated. Adam Roynon almost passed him but had to settle for second and a 4-2 to the home side. Jack Roberts crashed heavily in heat 7 and required medical attention causing the interval to be taken early. In the three man rerun, Emiliano Sanchez got the better of Jason Lyons from the gate and held off all the attempts by Lyons to pass him. This gave the Potters a 4-2 and they now led by 26-16. Heat 8 saw another 4-2 with a good race between Kristiansen, Smart and Burrows finishing in that order taking the score to 30-18.

Ben Barker gated to lead heat 9 and he tried to protect his partner, Jesper Jacobsen, who was in second. However Adam Roynon was not to be denied and passed Jacobsen for second place. This provided Stoke’s fifth 4-2 on the trot and they now led by 14 points. Jason Lyons took a TR in heat 10 and he won it too from the gate. However Burrows and Complin finished behind him so the Birmingham advantage was restricted to a 3-6. Heat 11 provided a 5-1 for the home side after Lee Smart had fallen on the third lap. The race was awarded to Evans and Sanchez extending the lead to 15 points. Jason Lyons won again in heat 12 for a shared race although he was pressurised by Ben Barker. This took the score to 45-30.

Lee Complin won heat 13 for the Potters while Emiliano Sanchez and Adam Roynon fought an excellent battle for second. Sanchez won it so the home side took the 5-1 which sealed the win. They added another in heat 14 after Barrie Evans had gated. Lee Smart, in second place, fell on the third bend then Carpanese did the same thing a lap later. He remounted only to have an engine failure on the last lap. In the last heat Birmingham got a consolation 1-5 in the best race of the match. Adam Roynon led the heat while Jason Lyons and Lee Complin could hardly be separated behind him in the fight for second. This continued for over three laps before Lyons finally finished behind his partner for the maximum.

Scorers: For Stoke – Ben Barker 10 (5), Barrie Evans 10 (4), Jesper Kristiansen 9+2 (4), Lee Complin 9+1 (5), Emiliano Sanchez 8+2 (4), Mark Burrows 7 (4), Klaus Jacobsen 3+1 (4).

For Birmingham – Jason Lyons 16+1 (5) (with 6 point TR), Adam Roynon 10 (5), Lee Smart 5+1 (5), Henning Bager 3 (4), Mattia Carpanese 2 (4), Jack Roberts 1 (2), Jack Hargreaves 0 (5).



Premier League: Workington 46, Rye House 44


Workington introduced their new signing Barry Burchatt who was replacing Scott Smith at number 2. Rye House had Josh Grajczonek (Glasgow) at number 2 as a guest for the injured Luke Bowen. They used Rider Replacement for their other injury victim, Tommy Allen, at number 4 and nominated Gary Irving as their number 8.

What a start for the Rockets! Josh Grajczonek streaked off to win the opening race followed by Chris Neath leaving Daniel Nermark to pick up third place. Barry Burchatt’s start to his Comets’ career began with an engine failure at the tapes as Rye House took a four point lead with the 1-5. It was all square after the reserves race when Joe Haines and John Branney replied in kind with Haines recording the fastest time of the season on the reshaped Derwent Park circuit. The Rockets gated again in heat 3 as Tai Woffinden and Josh Grajczonek (R/R) hit the front but Kauko Nieminen was soon past Grajczonek for second place although the race resulted in a 2-4 advantage to the visitors putting them two ahead. Another 1-5 to the Rockets in heat 4 left the home fans stunned. Stefan Ekberg and Robert Mear took advantage of a slick track to leave Carl Stonehewer and John Branney struggling at the rear as the visitors streaked into a 9-15 lead.

Bad went to worse for the Comets as Josh Grajczonek won for the second time in heat 5 to head home Charles Wright while Chris Neath beat Kauko Nieminen who lost touch after rearing on the fourth bend. The Rockets took a 2-4 from the race which put them eight points ahead but Daniel Nermark led the fight back by winning heat 6 after passing Stefan Ekberg. Robert Mear took third though from Barry Burchatt so the race was shared but Workington got two points back with a 4-2 in heat 7. Carl Stonehewer gated to beat Tai Woffinden with Joe Haines in third for a 4-2. Another two points were shaved from the Rockets’ lead in heat 8 when John Branney beat Josh Grajczonek with Joe Haines, replacing Barry Burchatt, again in third for another 4-2 taking the score to 22-26.

The fightback was completed with a Comets’ 5-1 in heat 9. Kauko Nieminen and Charles Wright get the better of Stefan Ekberg from the gate to level the scores then the home side finally took the lead in heat 10. Daniel Nermark beat Tai Woffinden with Barry Burchatt, now on Nieminen’s bike, taking third for the 4-2 which put the Comets two points in front. Rye House began to wilt as they conceded a 5-1 in heat 11. Carl Stonehewer and Joe Haines both passed Chris Neath on the second bend for the maximum to put the home side six points ahead. It stayed that way with a 3-3 in heat 12. Kauko Nieminen gated to win the race from Tai Woffinden and Robert Mear to take the score to 39-33.

Stefan Ekberg beat Daniel Nermark and Carl Stonehewer in heat 13 to keep the Rockets’ hopes alive then the Rockets took a 1-5 in heat 14 to put the result back in the melting pot! Robert Mear made the gate and Stefan Ekberg slotted in behind him to ward off the challenge of Charles Wright with Joe Haines stuck at the back. This reduced the Comets’ lead to two points with one heat to go. In the last heat Nermark and Nieminen gated but Nermark impeded his partner who slipped to the back. It was a nervous four laps for the home support but Nermark made no mistake to head home Ekberg and Woffinden for the shared race which saw the Comets home by just two points.

Scorers: For Workington – Daniel Nermark 12 (5), Carl Stonehewer 8+1 (4), Kauko Nieminen 8 (5), Joe Haines 7+1 (5), Charles Wright 5+1 (4), John Branney 5+1 (4), Barry Burchatt 1 (3).

For Rye House – Stefan Ekberg 13+1 (6), Tai Woffinden 10+1 (5), Josh Grajczonek 9 (5), Robert Mear 8+3 (7), Chris Neath 4+1 (4), Danny Halsey 0 (3).



Premier Trophy: Redcar 55, Scun.thorpe 35


Redcar again used Rider Replacement for the injured Chris Kerr at number 2 while Scun.thorpe were at full strength.

This match was of little significance since neither had any further interest in the competition. Scun.thorpe though would be keen to put last night’s hammering at Somerset out of their minds with an improved performance.

After Gary Havelock had won the opening race for a shared heat it was the Scorpions who drew first blood by taking the lead in heat 2. Viktor Bergstrom won the race from Arlo Bugeja while Byron Bekker took third place for a 2-4. The Bears responded with three consecutive 4-2s which changed the score around. James Grieves won the first from Magnus Karlsson and Josh Auty then Daniel Giffard, after finishing last in heats 1 and 2, suddenly came out to win heat 4 from Richard Hall and Ty Proctor in a close race. These two race advantages took the score to 13-11.

The Bears’ lead increased to four points when James Grieves won for the second time in heat 5 from Carl Wilkinson while Josh Auty made an excellent pass on Andrew Moore for third. Richard Hall put a stop to the home successes by winning heat 6 from Gary Havelock and Arlo Bugeja for a shared race but another 4-2 in heat 7, won by Ty Proctor from Magnus Karlsson, put the Bears six points ahead. The Scorpions got back into the match with a 1-5 in heat 8. Carl Wilkinson and Viktor Bergstrom did the damage by beating Ty Proctor and Daniel Giffard cutting the lead to just two points with the score at 25-23.

James Grieves and Josh Auty produced their third consecutive 4-2 as a pairing in heat 9 when Richard Hall split them in heat 9 so the lead increased to four points again. In a rerun heat 10, called back after an unsatisfactory start, Gary Havelock was the early race winner. Magnus Karlsson in second place made a mess of the second bend then Josh Auty passed firstly Viktor Bergstrom then his partner, Gary Havelock, to win the race and the Bears scored a 5-1 for an eight point lead. Heat 11 was won by Ty Proctor while Moore and Wilkinson shared the heat behind him. Heat 12 was shared too. James Grieves completed a four ride maximum by beating Karlsson and Bergstrom taking the score to 40-32.

Another 5-1 for the Bears in heat 13 from Havelock and Proctor put them 12 points up sealing victory but the Scorpions gave Viktor Bergstrom a TR in heat 14. It was to no avail as Josh Auty and Arlo Bugeja raced off for another 5-1. The Scorpions collapse continued as they conceded another 5-1 in the final heat to Grieves and Havelock giving the Bears a 20 point lead which perhaps gave a rather unfair picture of a match which seemed a lot closer than that for most of the way.

Scorers: For Redcar – James Grieves 15 (5) (full maximum), Gary Havelock 12+2 (5), Ty Proctor 10+1 (5), Josh Auty 9 (5), Arlo Bugeja 6+2 (5), Daniel Giffard 3 (5).

For Scun.thorpe – Carl Wilkinson 8+2 (5), Viktor Bergstrom 8+2 (6), Richard hall 7 (5), Magnus Karlsson 6 (4), Andrew Moore 5 (4), Byron Bekker 1 (3), Benji Compton 0 (3).

[Merlin]

Sunday, 4 May

Two matches were raced today, one in the Premier League and one in the Premier Trophy. The Premier League match was at Glasgow where the Tigers faced Newcastle . The Premier Trophy match was at Mildenhall where the Fen Tigers raced against Rye House . One other match was postponed by the weather, the one scheduled at Birmingham where the Brummies were to take on Stoke .


Premier League: Glasgow 44, Newcastle 46


Glasgow were without the injured Shane Parker so had James Grieves as a guest at number 3. Newcastle, still without George Stancl, used Rider Replacement at number 2.

Glasgow went down to their fourth consecutive home defeat this afternoon against a Newcastle side which turned up with just five riders. Ben Powell failed to arrive and it was announced that he would be unlikely to ride for the Diamonds again. The match was a tail of two halves. Glasgow looked well set to get back to winning ways when they led 24-18 after 7 heats. However the Diamonds suddenly found their gating boots and pulled the match round to record an unlikely victory.

Newcastle got off to an excellent start. Josef Franc won the opening race for a shared heat then Sean Stoddart sped from the tapes in the reserves race to lead Ross Brady and Jaimie Robertson home for a 2-4. James Grieves was never troubled on his way to a heat 3 win but Josh Grajczonek finished at the back behind Jason King and Christian Henry for another shared race. Newcastle could only track Sean Stoddart in heat 4 and, when Robert Ksiezak and Ross Brady stormed from the tapes, the Tigers scored a 5-1 although Brady had a few hairy moments on the fourth bend which seemed to be causing him some problems. The Tigers were now two points in front with the score at 13-11.

They added another four points to their lead with another 5-1 in heat 5. James Grieves and Josef Franc gated together but Grieves moved Franc out on the second bend which allowed Josh Grajczonek to nip through on the inside for second. Franc lost a lot of ground as a result and another comfortable maximum went the Tigers’ way. They had a great opportunity to increase their lead further when their top pairing of Trent Leverington and Lee Dicken were up against the two Newcastle reserves. However Sean Stoddart made the start and Trent Leverington ran into him at the entry to the first bend bringing the Newcastle man down. Leverington was excluded from the rerun but Lee Dicken rode an excellent first/second bend to see off the Diamonds to win the race for a 3-3. In heat 7 Mitchell Davey had an awful looking spill on the third bend when his machine came to a sudden stop throwing him over the handlebars. He was removed from the track by ambulance and was taken to hospital for precautionary checks. After a long delay waiting for the ambulance to return Robert Ksiezak gated to head home Henry and King for a shared race but the alarm bells started to ring for Glasgow when Newcastle scored a 1-5 in heat 8. Josef Franc and Sean Stoddart left the Tigers behind from the gate to reduce the gap to two points with the score now 25-23.

James Grieves settled the nerves by beating Sean Stoddart in heat 9. Since the Diamonds could only track one rider again this was good enough for a 4-2 but the match was all square again after heat 10 when Newcastle scored another 1-5. Christian Henry and Jason King jetted from the tapes leaving Trent Leverington to pick up third place. Worse was to follow for Glasgow as yet another 1-5 went the visitors’ way in heat 11. Ross Brady developed machine troubles and was excluded under the two minute rule. He appeared on track to take his place 15 metres back but Josef Franc and Jason King (R/R) again made fast starts off the now highly favourable inside gates to leave Robert Ksiezak in third place. This put the visitors four points ahead but Glasgow pegged two points back again when James Grieves passed early race leader, Christian Henry, to win the heat with Ross Brady in third for a 4-2 which took the score to 35-37.

Newcastle could only track one rider again in heat 13 but Josef Franc won the race from Leverington and Ksiezak to keep the Diamonds two points in front. Glasgow looked to have a great chance in heat 14 with Brady and Grajczonek off the inside gates. Things looked good for them when both made fast starts but Brady took his partner way too wide on the second bend causing him to have to shut off which allowed Jason King and Sean Stoddart through. On the third bend the two Diamonds blocked the challenge from Grajczonek whose race effectively ended there. Brady was still having trouble on bend four however and Jason King, after stalking him for a couple of laps, completed a fine outside line pass on this bend on the last lap to win the race for the visitors. Stoddart’s third place gave them a 2-4 and four point lead leaving Glasgow needing a 5-1 to draw the match. They lost the toss for gate positions though and had to go from gates 2 and 4. However their hopes increased when Josef Franc fluffed the start off gate 1 leaving Robert Ksiezak to lead Christian Henry round the opening two bends. James Grieves from gate 4 was quickly on Henry’s tail but the Newcastle rider made no mistakes in taking the two points needed for victory.

Scorers: For Glasgow – James Grieves 13 (5), Robert Ksiezak 11+1 (5), Ross Brady 7+1 (6), Lee Dicken 5+1 (4), Trent Leverington 5 (4), Josh Grajczonek 3+1 (4), Mitchell Davey 0 (2) .

For Newcastle – Josef Franc 13 (6), Sean Stoddart 11+1 (7), Jason King 10+3 (5), Christian Henry 10+1 (5), Jaimie Robertson 2+1 (4), Ben Powell – did not arrive.



Premier Trophy: Mildenhall 35, Rye House 56


Mildenhall used Rider Replacement at number 1 for Casper Wortmann while Rye House had Joe Haines as a guest at number 2 in place of Luke Bowen and used Rider Replacement at number 4 in place of Tommy Allen.

It was another miserable afternoon for Mildenhall as Rye House added to their ever increasing number of home defeats with a comprehensive 21 point victory. The Rockets seemed to be more at home on a slick and patchy surface than the home side. There were only six points between the teams after heat 9 but the Rockets won the remaining 6 heats by 11-26.

Mildenhall got their noses in front in the opening heat which was rerun after Chris Neath had fallen and been excluded. Jan Graversen passed Henning Loof and Joe Haines to win the race with Haines second for a 4-2. Robert Mear suffered an engine failure at the start line in the reserves race but Daniel Halsey won the race for the Rockets to share the points. Rye House levelled again in heat 3 when Tai Woffinden led Kai Laukkanen from the gate with Joe Haines again beating Henning Loof for third giving the Rockets a 2-4. Heat 4 was rerun after Jari Makinen got out of shape causing Robert Mear to hit him. Makinen was excluded from the rerun but Robbie Kessler won the race for another 3-3 which took the score to 12-12.

Chris Neath gated to beat Kai Laukkanen in heat 5 while, for the third time in five heats, Joe Haines beat Henning Loof for third place. This gave the Rockets a 2-4 and two point lead and they scored another in heat 6 when Stefan Ekberg passed Kai Laukkanen with Daniel Halsey third for a four point lead. A third consecutive 2-4 in heat 7, won by Tai Woffinden after he had passed Robbie Kessler, increased the visitors’ lead to six points then Robert Mear was given the verdict in heat 8 when many thought that Makinen had won the race for a 3-3 which took the score to 21-27.

Daniel Halsey looped at the gate and was excluded from the rerun in heat 9 but Stefan Ekberg won the rerun for the Rockets from Laukkanen and Loof for another 3-3 then the gap increased to ten points when Mear and Woffinden took a 1-5 in heat 10 leaving Robbie Kessler to pick up third. Robbie Kessler then took a TR in heat 11. Chris Neath was excluded for breaking the tapes and was replaced by Robert Mear who promptly came out to win the race from Kessler and Halsey! This resulted in a share of the points with a 4-4. Heat 12 won by Laukkanen from Woffinden was shared too so the score now stood at 32-42.

It was all over after heat 13. A hard ride by Stefan Ekberg gave Robbie Kessler little room and he then drove inside Jan Graversen on the third bend causing the Fen Tiger to fall. The referee excluded Graversen and Kessler claiming that Kessler was not under power. The two man rerun provided Rye House with a 0-5 which put them out of sight with a 15 point lead. Stefan Ekberg won heat 14 from Loof and Mear for a 2-4 then Stefan Ekberg and Tai Woffinden completed the Fen Tigers’ misery by taking a 1-5 in the final race.

Scorers: For Mildenhall – Kai Laukkanen 12 (6), Robbie Kessler 10 (6) (with 4 point TR), Jan Graversen 4+1 (5), Henning Loof 4 (5), Jari Makinen 4 (5), Matt Wright 1+1 (3).

For Rye House – Stefan Ekberg 17 (6), Tai Woffinden 12+2 (5), Robert Mear 12+1 (7), Daniel Halsey 6+1 (5), Chris Neath 5+1 (4), Joe Haines 4 (5).

[Merlin]

Monday, 5 May



Since it was Bank Holiday Monday there was a full programme of four Premier League matches raced today. At Rye House the Rockets faced Workington while at Scun.thorpe the Scorpions took on Somerset . The third match was at Reading where the Racers raced against the Isle of Wight . Finally in the evening at Newcastle the Diamonds had Glasgow as their visitors.



Premier League: Rye House 52, Workington 40


Rye House had Luke Bowen back in the side but used Rider Replacement at number 4 for Tommy Allen. They nominated Lee Strudwick as their number 8. Workington were at full strength.

On a very dry and dusty track, Rye House were indebted to a paid 19 point return from their super-reserve Robert Mear in winning this match by 12 points. Workington lost the services of Daniel Nermark after he had hurt his thumb in a heavy fall in heat 13 which earned him an exclusion but double figures from their other two heat leaders helped produce a total not often achieved by visitors to Hoddesdon.

The Comets opened with a 1-5 just as Rye House had done at Workington! Daniel Nermark was joined up front by Barry Burchatt when he passed Luke Bowen at the end of the first lap with Chris Neath trailing at the back. Robert Mear started his seven ride stint by winning the reserves race from Joe Haines but John Branney passed Daniel Halsey on the last lap to share the points. Kauko Nieminen won heat 3 from the gate beating Tai Woffinden and Stefan Ekberg in the process so another shared heat ensued. The Rockets levelled the scores in heat 4. Stefan Ekberg won the race but the action was behind him where Robert Mear passed John Branney and Carl Stonehewer on the second lap for a 5-1 which took the score to 12-12.

Another 5-1 in heat 5 put the Rockets four points up. Tai Woffinden was the race winner but, as in the previous heat, the action was behind him as Robert Mear fought off the challenge of Daniel Nermark before passing Barry Burchatt on the last bend. The Comets squared the match with a 1-5 in heat 6 although they were obliged to Chris Neath who suffered an engine failure while leading on the last lap allowing Carl Stonehewer and Joe Haines to record the maximum heat win. Kauko Nieminen won again in heat 7 for a shared heat but the Rockets regained the lead with a 4-2 in heat 8. Barry Burchatt fell after Robert Mear had dived hard underneath him on his way to the race win while Joe Haines took second after passing Luke Bowen. The score now stood at 25-23.

Tai Woffinden and Robert Mear gated to beat Carl Stonehewer in heat 9 for a 5-1 which increased the Rockets’ lead to six points then it went to ten with a 4-2 in heat 10 when Chris Neath ended Kauko Nieminen’s winning run with Luke Bowen in third. Heat 11 produced a bad crash when Daniel Nermark ran into Daniel Halsey causing both riders to end up in the fence. Nermark was excluded from the rerun in which Stefan Ekberg and Halsey, who won a great battle for second place with Barry Burchatt, scored a 5-1 taking the Rockets’ lead to 12 points. Kauko Nieminen took a TR in heat 12 but after leading from the tapes he was passed by Tai Woffinden in fine style. Robert Mear finished third so the race points were shared 4-4 taking the score to 43-41.

With Daniel Nermark withdrawing from the meeting with an injured thumb, Workington’s chances of recovering had gone and Stefan Ekberg took full advantage of the situation by passing Carl Stonehewer to win heat 13. Chris Neath’s third place gave the home side a 4-2 and 14 point lead. Robert Mear won heat 14 to keep it that way but Workington finished with a 2-4 when Carl Stonehewer successfully held off Tai Woffinden with Nieminen third.

Scorers: For Rye House – Robert Mear 16+3 (7), Tai Woffinden 13 (5), Stefan Ekberg 12+1 (6), Chris Neath 4 (4), Luke Bowen 4 (4), Daniel Halsey 3+2 (4).

For Workington – Kauko Nieminen 13 (5) (with 4 point TR), Carl Stonehewer 10 (5), Joe Haines 8+1 (6), Barry Burchatt 4+1 (4), Daniel Nermark 3 (3), John Branney 2+2 (4), Charles Wright 0 (3).



Premier League: Scun.thorpe 51, Somerset 39


Both sides were at full strength.

After their hammering at Somerset on Friday night the Scorpions were intent on revenge in this return fixture. There were only two points between the sides after heat 11 but Somerset faded over the last four heats conceding two 5-1s and a 4-2 to lose by 12 points.

Andrew Moore passed Jordan Frampton and Jason Doyle to win the opening race for a 3-3 but it was the Rebels who took the lead in heat 2 when Brent Werner beat Byron Bekker with Simon walker winning a fine battle behind them for third place. The 2-4 put the Rebels two points in front. Emil Kramer was well on his way to winning heat 3 when he suffered an engine failure on the last bend and was passed by Benji Compton and Matthias Kroger with Magnus Karlsson stuck at the back. The result was a shared heat but Scun.thorpe went in front with a 5-1 in heat 4 after Richard Hall and Viktor Bergstrom both passed Brent Werner at the end of the opening lap. This took the score to 13-11.

Benji Compton fell on the last bend while Jason Doyle won heat 5 from Magnus Karlsson. With Jordan Frampton third the Rebels levelled the score with the 2-4. It was then announced that Benji Compton had hurt his shoulder and had withdrawn from the rest of the meeting. Simon Walker was the winner of heat 6 after rounding Andrew Moore on the first bend then keeping him behind him for the win. Carl Wilkinson took third for a shared heat but in heat 7 the Rebels went two in front with a 2-4 after a great scrap between Emil Kramer and Richard Hall. Kramer won the race by a whisker and Matthias Kroger took third after Byron Bekker had retired from the race. The Scorpions retook the lead in heat 8 as they replied with a 5-1 after Jordan Frampton had fallen and been excluded. Viktor Bergstrom and Carl Wilkinson headed home Brent Werner in the rerun taking the score to 25-23.

Magnus Karlsson won heat 9 from Walker and Werner after Viktor Bergstrom retired from the race when lying second. The 3-3 maintained the status quo and there was no change after another 3-3 in heat 10 won by Emil Kramer for the Rebels. Heat 11 made it a hat trick of 3-3s when Richard Hall beat Doyle and Frampton but Scun.thorpe made a decisive strike in heat 12 with a 5-1 from Viktor Bergstrom and Magnus Karlsson with a fine piece of team riding to keep Emil Kramer at bay. The score was now 39-33.

Richard Hall passed Jason Doyle in heat 13 while Andrew Moore’s third place ahead of Stephan Katt gave the Scorpions a 4-2 which put them eight points in front. This allowed Emil Kramer to take a Tactical Substitute Ride from 15 metres back. Brent Werner did his bit for the Rebels by winning the race but Bergstrom and Bekker kept Kramer pegged at the back so the Rebels only managed a 3-3 from the race. A last heat 5-1 from Hall and Karlsson stretched the winning margin to 12 points, the biggest gap between the sides all match.

Scorers: For Scun.thorpe – Richard Hall 14 (5), Viktor Bergstrom 10+1 (6), Magnus Karlsson 9+2 (5), Andrew Moore 8 (4), Carl Wilkinson 4+3 (4), Byron Bekker 3+1 (4), Benji Compton 3 (2).

For Somerset – Jason Doyle 10 (5), Brent Werner 9+1 (5), Emil Kramer 8+1 (6), Simon Walker 6 (4), Jordan Frampton 3+2 (4), Matthias Kroger 3 (3), Stephan Katt 0 (3).



Premier League: Reading 46, Isle of Wight 44


Reading had Nicki Glanz at number 7 deputising for the injured Danny Warwick. The Isle of Wight were at full strength.

What a match and what a struggle for the Racers who had to produce a last heat 5-1 to win the match. The only time there were more than two points between the sides was when the Islanders took a 1-5 in heat 13 to lead by four points. It just wasn’t quite enough though as the home side squeezed home in a nail biting finish.

Krzysztof Stojanowski won the opening race from a hard challenging Mark Lemon for a shared race but it was the Islanders who took the lead after taking a 2-4 from the reserves race. This proved unfortunate for Jaimie Smith who fell and was excluded from the rerun. He was withdrawn from the meeting suffering from concussion. In the rerun the visitors were in a 1-5 position until James Holder fell and remounted . Andrew Bargh nearly joined him on the deck but his wobble allowed Nicki Glanz to take a substantial lead only for Bargh to recover, reel him in and pass him again. The Racers equalised again in heat 3 won by Ulrich Ostergaard who passed Glen Phillips before going on to win. Tomas Suchanek’s third place provided a 4-2 but the home side found themselves two down again after losing a 2-4 in heat 4. Jason Bunyan won the race while James Holder passed Nicki Glanz for third. The score was now 11-13.

Ulrich Ostergaard won heat 5 for a shared race then the Racers drew level again with a 4-2 in heat 6 when Mark Lemon won from Andrew Bargh after Jason Bunyan had been excluded. Back came the Isle of Wight with another 2-4 in heat 7 to regain their two point lead. Glen Phillips was the race winner while Paul Fry’s outside line attack was too much for Madsen. Heat 8, won by Chris Mills from Holder and Gathercole, was shared so the score now stood at 23-25.

The Racers got back on level terms again in heat 9 as Ulrich Ostergaard continued his winning run by beating Jason Bunyan. Tomas Suchanek passed Andrew Bargh so the Racers scored a 4-2. The home side then went in front with another 4-2 in heat 10 with Mark Lemon winning from Glen Phillips and Chris Mills taking third from Paul Fry. Their two point lead was wiped out in heat 11 when the visitors scored a 1-5. Tom P Madsen made the gate but stuck to the inside leaving the Islanders lots of space to pass him on the outside which Gathercole and Stojanowski did regaining their two point lead yet again. The Racers squared the match again with a 4-2 in heat 12 as Ostergaard completed his four ride maximum by beating Glen Phillips. Nicki Glanz contributed the third place point from Andrew Bargh so the 4-2 took the score to 36-36.

Things looked ominous for the home side when Krzysztof Stojanowski and Jason Bunyan gated in heat 13 to lead Mark Lemon home for a 1-5 which put the Islanders four points ahead but Reading hit back in a crucial heat 14. Nicki Glanz was the unlikely winner of the race by beating Paul Fry while Tomas Suchanek chipped in with third place for a 4-2 which cut the gap to two points setting up a last heat decider. Ulrich Ostergaard won the race but the excitement was behind him where there was a lot of passing and repassing. Eventually Lemon got the better of Stojanowski as Bunyan suffered an engine failure which got the Racers across the line with a 5-1 and two point win.

Scorers: For Reading – Ulrich Ostergaard 15 (5) (full maximum), Mark Lemon 10+1 (5), Chris Mills 6+1 (4), Tom P Madsen 6 (4), Nicki Glanz 6 (7), Tomas Suchanek 3 (4), Jaimie Smith 0 (1).

For the Isle of Wight – Krzysztof Stojanowski 10+2 (5), Glenn Phillips 9 (4), Jason Bunyan 7+1 (5), Cory Gathercole 6+1 (4), Andrew Bargh 5 (4), James Holder 4 (4), Paul Fry 3 (4).



Premier League: Newcastle 53, Glasgow 42


Newcastle were without Ben Powell and had Aaron Summers (Edinburgh) as a guest at number 5 in his place. They were still missing George Stancl so used Rider Replacement at number 2. Glasgow were without Shane Parker so had James Grieves as a guest at number 1. They were also without Mitchell Davey and had Gary Beaton at number 7 in his place.

Glasgow, still looking for their first Premier League point, were looking for a result to put yesterday’s home defeat by the Diamonds out of their minds. Newcastle by contrast had an opportunity to take a great stride up the Premier League table with back-to-back wins against the Tigers.

The opening race was rerun after Jason King had fallen and been excluded. Josef Franc won it for a shared race. Then Sean Stoddart won the reserves race but Ross Brady and Gary Beaton shared the points behind him. Newcastle hit the front with a 5-1 in heat 3. Christian Henry and Jason King led from the tapes and there then followed a titanic battle between King and James Grieves for second place which King held on to win. Glasgow got two points back in heat 4 when Ross Brady and Robert Ksiezak made fast starts, Sean Stoddart soon passed Ksiezak and took up the challenge to pass Brady as Aaron Summers challenged Ksiezak for third. Both Glasgow riders held on for a 2-4 taking the score to 13-11.


In heat 5 Trent Leverington made the gate and won despite a late challenge from Christian Henry. Jason King took third place so the race was shared. Newcastle opened a six point lead in heat 5. Josef Franc won from the gate while Robert Ksiezak settled into second place. However Sean Stoddart was having none of it and after a number of challenges on Ksiezak finally got past to join his partner for a 5-1. Heat 7 was called back after James Grieves had jumped the start then there was a delay while a tapes malfunction was sorted. In the restart James Grieves and Josh Grajczonek made the start but Grajczonek was passed by Jaimie Robertson on the outside then by Aaron Summers on the inside so the race was shared. More problems with the tapes preceded heat 8. Before the race was run Sean Stoddart had machine problems and went back to the pits to re-emerge on Jaimie Robertson’s bike. This one certainly performed well! Josef Franc made the gate from Ross Brady with Lee Dicken in third but Stoddart reeled in and passed Dicken then caught and passed Brady before Brady fell and retired from the race. This resulted in a 5-1 to the Diamonds and the score went to 29-19.

Heat 9 was another 5-1 for the home side. Christian Henry made the start with Robert Ksiezak in second but Jason King wound it up round the outside to pass Ksiezak for second and joined Henry up front. Glasgow now trailed by 14 points but did not give James Grieves the anticipated TR in heat 10. Grieves led from the start but was soon passed by Josef Franc. Behind this pair Josh Grajczonek fell causing the race to be stopped and rerun without him. Grieves gated again in the rerun and pulled away to win the race for a shared heat. Trent Leverington took a TR in heat 11 as Sean Stoddart replaced Jaimie Robertson and Ross Brady replaced Lee Dicken. The two Tigers made the gate and went on to score the big 1-8 from Sean Stoddart who almost got up to pass Brady on the line as Brady slowed to let Leverington through. The Diamonds’ lead was now cut to seven points and the Tigers looked for further success with James Grieves out in heat 12. They didn’t get it. Ross Brady again made a flying start from the gate with James Grieves in second. Christian Henry fought his way past Grieves into second then passed Brady as did Grieves who then challenged Henry all the way to the line without success. The race resulted in a 3-3 and the score went to 41-34. It was then announced that Josh Grajczonek had broken his wrist in his fall in heat 10 as Glasgow’s awful season went from bad to worse.

Heat 13 resulted in a 4-2 for Newcastle. Josef Franc won the race while Ksiezak and Leverington filled the minor places. Sean Stoddart, replacing Aaron Summers, passed Leverington then the Glasgow man retired from the race. Newcastle stretched their lead to nine points. This gave the Tigers the chance to give James Grieves a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres back replacing Josh Grajczonek. However Ross Brady broke the tapes leaving Glasgow with the option of replacing him with Gary Beaton or having both Glasgow riders start from 15 metres back! They decided to replace Brady with Beaton. James King took the lead from the start while James Grieves started the chase on Stoddart from his handicap. He caught and passed Stoddart and, although Stoddart repassed him briefly, Grieves was not to be denied as he got past Stoddart again for second place which resulted in a 4-4. Heat 15 needed three attempts to get started after James Grieves jumped the gate twice. He was thrown out of the race for delaying the start so Glasgow had to go with Trent Leverington on his own. Josef Franc was soon into the lead in the last race but was challenged hard by Trent Leverington. Christian Henry came from the back to pass both Leverington and Franc to win the race but Leverington passed Franc for second place and a 4-2 which gave the Diamonds a 4-2 heat advantage and eleven point victory.

Scorers: For Newcastle – Josef Franc 15 (6), Christian Henry 14 (5), Sean Stoddart 12+2 (7), Jason King 8+3 (5), Jaimie Robertson 3+1 (4), Aaron Summers 1+1 (3).

For Glasgow – Trent Leverington 13 (5) (with 6 point TR), James Grieves 13 (6) (with 4 point TS), Ross Brady 8+2 (5), Robert Ksiezak 5 (4), Lee Dicken 2+1 (3), Gary Beaton 1 (4), Josh Grajczonek 0 (3).