Around the Premier League Tracks 2007
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Sunday, 8 July

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


Premier League Four Team Championship: at Peterborough

.........Winners: Isle of Wight

.........Second: Somerset
.........Third: King’s Lynn

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

Group A

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

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

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

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

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

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


Group B

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

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

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

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

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

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


Final

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Premier League: Newport 48, Mildenhall 42.


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

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

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

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

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

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

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