Around the Premier League Tracks

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Friday, 15 June

The two Premier League matches scheduled for tonight both beat the weather and went ahead as planned. At Edinburgh the Monarchs raced Newport while at Somerset the Rebels took on Berwick.


Premier League: Edinburgh 59, Newport 33


Edinburgh again had Jack Roberts at number 6 in place of the injured Daniele Tessari. Newport were at full strength


Armadale’s unique weather system was at it again tonight. With huge belts of torrential rain falling all over the surrounding area it stopped at Armadale in time for this match to take place and it stayed dry until the match was completed only for the rain to return with a vengeance immediately after racing finished! The crowd was well down on the usual level; in fact many fans who did not turn up would be astonished to find out the match had taken place.

The opening race had to be rerun after Nick Simmons had fallen on the first bend and been excluded. In the rerun Theo Pijper and Derek Sneddon gated for the second time with Tom Hedley third giving the Monarchs the perfect 5-1 start. They added a 4-2 in the reserves race. Michal Rajkowski made an electric start but he was reeled in by Matthew Wethers who finally passed him on the last bend to win on the line. Behind this pair Jack Roberts took a comfortable third place from Barry Burchatt. Heat 3 also produced a 4-2. Phil Morris and Tony Atkin made the start but Ronnie Correy got between them exiting the second bend and was off for the win. Andrew Tully took third place after Tony Atkin had retired from the race with an engine failure. A third consecutive 4-2 was the result of heat 4. Henrik Moller suffered engine problems at the gate and was excluded for failing to beat the two minute time allowance. He was replaced by Jack Roberts who again beat Barry Burchatt while Matthew Wethers passed Chris Schramm on the second bend to win the race. The score was now 17-7.

When Andrew Tully rode around Nick Simmons and Tom Hedley on the first two bends Edinburgh were off for a 5-1 in heat 5 with Ronnie Correy well in front to increase their lead to 14 points. But heat 6 was a strange one. Again Michal Rajkowski made a lightning gate but, when Theo Pijper put him under pressure on the third lap, the Pole’s machine packed up. Meanwhile Derek Sneddon fell on the second bend but remounted to join the chase. On the third lap, while Rajkowski waited for the riders to pass him by, Sneddon rode straight into the pits! There were only two finishers as a result and the home side scored a 3-2. Newport then gave Phil Morris a Tactical Ride and took the big 1-8 but it came at a cost. Matthew Wethers replaced Jack Roberts to counter the TR move and had a terrific battle with Morris with the riders passing and repassing but on the last bend Wethers picked up too much grip reared, turned and fell and Tony Atkin clipped his bike trying to avoid him. Atkin, clearly in pain, pulled up and Henrik Moller nipped through for second place. However the referee correctly awarded the second place to Atkin for the full 8 points. Wethers had twisted his ankle and was in some pain but went back to the pits to have it strapped. Atkin meanwhile had stopped on the back straight in some distress. Eventually he had to withdraw from the meeting and went to hospital with a suspected broken leg. The 1-8 reduced the gap to 8 points but Edinburgh stretched it to 10 with a 4-2 in heat 8. Michal Rajkowski again made the gate but again Matthew Wethers reeled him in to put him under pressure. He eventually passed Rajkowski when the Pole went wide on the second bend on the last lap to win the race while Derek Sneddon finished behind this pair. The score was now 30-20.

Rajkowski was out again in heat 9 and things looked bright for the Wasps when Chris Schramm joined him up front. Eventually Andrew Tully passed Schramm then a big mistake by the Newport rider saw Ronnie Correy move into third and the race was shared. This was the only shared race of the match! When Phil Morris fell on the second bend of heat 10 and was excluded, the Monarchs’ pair of Pijper and Sneddon took an easy 5-1 ahead of Burchatt. Michal Rajkowski replaced Burchatt in heat 11 but had to go on his own after Tom Hedley fell on the first turn and was excluded. In the rerun the Pole struggled to turn the bike and ran straight across the first bend to crash into the second bend fence taking Matthew Wethers, on his outside, with him. To the surprise of the crowd the referee ‘invited’ all three riders back for the rerun in which Rajkowski missed the gate for the first time. Wethers and Moller headed off unchallenged for another 5-1 to be followed by a 4-2 in heat 12. Again Rajkowski was in the race but it was Ronnie Correy who made the start for an unchallenged win ahead of Phil Morris. At the back Jack Roberts had the crowd roaring when he passed Rajkowski on the inside of the second bend to take a comfortable third place point. The score was now 47-27.

Chris Schramm made the best start to heat 13 but, under pressure from Theo Pijper, he fell on the third bend and sportingly cleared the track as quickly as he could. This left Pijper and Moller to scoot off for an unchallenged 5-1. The Wasps took their second heat advantage from heat 14. Michal Rajkowski, replacing Tony Atkin, made another good start. Andrew Tully trying an outside run in an effort to pass him came to grief on the second bend and, like Schramm in heat 13, cleared the track quickly to allow the race to continue. Rajkowski won it but Jack Roberts took second place with Burchatt third for a 2-4. In the last heat Pijper completed his maximum while Ronnie Correy fended off an early challenge from Chris Schramm to follow his team mate home for a 5-1 which gave the Monarchs a 26 point lead to defend in the return fixture on Sunday.

Scorers: For Edinburgh – Theo Pijper 15 (5)(full maximum), Ronnie Correy 12+2 (5), Matthew Wethers 12 (5), Henrik Moller 5+2 (4), Derek Sneddon 5+2 (4), Andrew Tully 5+1 (4), Jack Roberts 5 (4).

For Newport – Michal Rajkowski 11 (7), Phil Morris 10 (5)(with 6 point TR), Chris Schramm 5 (5), Tony Atkin 2+1 (2), Tom Hedley 2 (4), Barry Burchatt 2 (4), Nick Simmons 1 (3).



Premier League: Somerset 59, Berwick 35 Somerset won the aggregate bonus point by 108-76.


Both Somerset and Berwick were at full strength.

Berwick are still looking for their first win in the league this season but were never in the hunt in this match although they fought hard to keep to within 12 points by the end of heat 12 only to concede the remaining heats 5-1. In fact they only supplied one race winner as the Rebels romped away with it to take all three points.

Things started badly for the Bandits when Stanislaw Burza touched the tapes in the opening heat and went from 15 metres back. This gave Magnus Zetterstrom and Stephan Katt an easy opportunity to open proceedings with a 5-1 a scoreline the Rebels repeated in heat 2. Simon Walker found himself stranded at the gate but within the space of a lap he had passed Benji Compton and David Meldrum to join his partner, Danny Warwick, up front for a maximum. Emil Kramer gated to win heat 3 while Michal Makovsky took second ahead of Jordan Frampton for a 4-2 but Berwick tasted some success in heat 4. Ritchie Hawkins suffered an engine failure leaving Jacek Rempala and Danny Warwick to fight out a tremendous battle for first place all race long. Rempala prevailed so, with Meldrum third, the Bandits pulled two points back with a 2-4 which took the score to 16-8.

Stanislaw Burza split the home pairing of Kramer and Frampton for a 4-2 in heat 5 and the Rebels eased another two points in front with a similar score in heat 6. Magnus Zetterstrom was soon off and away but Rempala took second place ahead of Stephan Katt as the home side’s lead stretched to 12 points. Heat 7 was shared. Ritchie Hawkins took an unchallenged win from Michal Makovsky while Andreas Bergstrom held off the challenge of Simon Walker for third place. In heat 8 Berwick made the novel move of giving Stanislaw Burza a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres as he replaced Jaimie Robertson. Burza caught and passed Danny Warwick on the second lap so David Meldrum let his partner through. Danny Warwick then passed Meldrum but, while going after Burza, he shed a chain. Stephan Katt won the race but the Bandits took a 3-5 which resulted in the score reading 30-20.

Still 10 points down Berwick then gave a Tactical Ride to Jacek Rempala in heat 9 and, although he made the start, the Berwick man was passed round the outside by Emil Kramer on the second bend then had his work cut out holding off Jordan Frampton. However he did so the race was shared 4-4. Zetterstrom continued his winning ways in heat 10 while Andreas Bergstrom and Michal Makovsky team rode behind him to relegate Stephan Katt to third place to share the points and keep the gap at 10 points. Somerset moved 12 points ahead again in heat 11. Ritchie Hawkins won the race while Burza fended off the challenges of Simon Walker for second place and a 4-2. Heat 12 was shared when Danny Warwick suffered an engine failure at the gate leaving Emil Kramer to take his fourth win of the meeting and Makovsky and Compton to bring up the rear. This took the score to 44-32.

And that was it for the Bandits! After the interval the Rebels hit home three consecutive 5-1s with the main point of note being Ritchie Hawkins’ progression from fourth to second after two laps in heat 13 to join Magnus Zetterstrom. In heat 14 Andreas Bergstrom led briefly but was passed by Walker and Frampton then the two Swedes, Zetterstrom and Kramer, both completed their maximums in heat 15.


Scorers: For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 15 (5)(full maximum), Emil Kramer 14+1 (5)(paid maximum), Ritchie Hawkins 8+1 (4), Stephan Katt 6+1 (4), Simon Walker 6+1 (4), Jordan Frampton 5+1 (4), Danny Warwick 5 (4).

For Berwick – Stanislaw Burza 11 (6)(with 4 point TS), Jacek Rempala 9 (4)(with 4 point TR), Michal Makovsky 7+1 (5), Andreas Bergstrom 4+1 (4), David Meldrum 3+1 (4), Benji Compton 1+1 (4), Jaimie Robertson 0 (3).