Around the Premier League Tracks 2007

.

.

Saturday, 7 July

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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


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

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