Around the Premier League Tracks 2007

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Thursday, 19 July

There were two Premier League matches raced tonight. At Sheffield the Tigers faced Somerset while at Redcar the Bears took on Berwick.


Premier League: Sheffield 55, Somerset 37

Sheffield were without the injured Ricky Ashworth so were forced to use Rider Replacement at number 1. Somerset were without Emil Kramer who was suffering from concussion sustained in an accident at the Isle of Wight so used Rider Replacement at number 3.

Somerset had no answer to the two six ride paid maximums scored by Andre Compton and Ben Wilson. Even the imperious Magnus Zetterstrom had to play second fiddle to Sheffield’s top two and, unusually for him, he managed only one race win from his six rides. In fact Sheffield produced 13 of the 15 race winners leaving the Rebels to fight for the scraps.

In the opening heat Andre Compton took the R/R ride to join Ben Wilson and their task was made much easier when Magnus Zetterstrom broke the tapes and went from 15 metres back. A 5-1 duly resulted with Zetterstrom stuck at the back behind his partner Stephan Katt. Another 5-1 followed in heat 2 won by James Cockle and already the Rebels were facing an uphill task. However they dug in and shared the next four races before scoring a 2-4 in heat 7 when Magnus Zetterstrom won from Joel Parsons with Jordan Frampton third. During this run, Andre Compton won heat 3 and Ritchie Hawkins heat 4 after passing James Cockle on the last bend taking the score after heat 4 to 16-8.

Andre Compton won heat 5 then Joel Parsons fell and was excluded from heat 6. Ben Wilson won again in the rerun before Zetterstrom’s win in heat 7 reduced the gap to six. Danny Warwick split Ben Wilson and James Cockle for a 4-2 in heat 8 which took the score on to 28-20.

A Compton/Birkinshaw 5-1 in heat 9 effectively sealed the match for the Tigers who now led by 12 points but heat 10 was shared after James Birkinshaw had fallen in a tussle with Jordan Frampton for third place behind Ben Wilson and Ritchie Hawkins. In heat 11 Magnus Zetterstrom took a Tactical Ride but had to settle for second place behind Joel Parsons who cleverly blocked the Rebels’ number 1’s every move to pass him. Stephan Katt finished third in the three rider race, after Paul Cooper had fallen and been excluded in the first running, to give the Rebels a 3-5 advantage. Sheffield were looking for a 5-1 in heat 12 as Compton and Cockle led but Simon Walker passed Cockle limiting the damage to a 4-2 and taking the score to 43-31.

Ben Wilson won heat 13 from Zetterstrom and Hawkins for a 3-3 then Somerset gave Ritchie Hawkins a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres back in heat 14. This was unproductive though as Hawkins finished last behind Cooper, Frampton and Cockle as Sheffield added two more points to their lead. Compton and Wilson completed their paid maximums in heat 15 relegating Zetterstrom to third place for an 18 point win.

Scorers: For Sheffield – Andre Compton 17+1 (6)(paid maximum), Ben Wilson 17+1 (6)(paid maximum), James Cockle 8 (5), Joel Parsons 6+1 (5), Paul Cooper 5+1 (4), James Birkinshaw 2+1 (4).

For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 12 (6), Ritchie Hawkins 9+1 (7), Jordan Frampton 5+2 (5), Stephan Katt 5+1 (5), Simon Walker 4+1 (4), Danny Warwick 2 (3).



Premier League: Redcar 49, Berwick 41.


Redcar had Greg Blair at number 7 while Berwick were at full strength.

Although they went down by eight points Berwick took this match to a last heat decider after being in contention throughout. In the end they could not produce enough race winners, particularly in the early stages of the match, to give the Bears real problems.

Gary Havelock and Josh Auty led the opening race but Auty was passed by both Andreas Bergstrom and Sebastian Truminski for a shared race. Greg Blair won the reserves race but Sam Martin passed third placed Bugeja on the third lap to finish behind David Meldrum for another 3-3. Redcar took the lead in heat 3 when James Grieves led Jacek Rempala home while Chris Kerr kept Stanislaw Burza at the back for a 4-2. Blair fell in heat 4 leaving Mathieu Tressarieu to share the heat by beating Meldrum and Michal Makovsky taking the score to 13-11.

Truminski became the first Berwick race winner in heat 5 while Kerr and Grieves finished behind him for another 3-3 but Redcar increased their lead to four points with another 4-2 in heat 6. The race had to be rerun after Josh Auty had fallen on the first bend. All four were invited back and Gary Havelock won from Michal Makovsky while Josh Auty was third. Heat 7 saw Mathieu Tressarieu pass Jacek Rempala on the third lap to finish behind race winner Stanislaw Burza but Berwick took a 2-4 from the race and were only two behind again. Josh Auty won heat 8 but Bergstrom and Meldrum made sure that the Bandits lost no further ground. The score was now 25-23.

Grieves and Kerr made the gate for the Bears in heat 9 but Makovsky passed Kerr out of the second bend for a 4-2 to the home side who were now four in front as a result. They added another two points to their lead with another 4-2 in heat 10 but not until Jacek Rempala, who was leading the race, had fallen leaving Havelock to lead Burza and Auty home. Back came Berwick with a 2-4 in heat 11. Andreas Bergstrom won the race from Mathieu Tressarieu while Truminski finished third. There was no change in heat 12 as Jacek Rempala this time stayed on to beat Grieves easily. Greg Blair beat David Meldrum for the third place point which took the score to 38-34.

Sebastian Truminski became the third consecutive Bandits’ winner in heat 13 leading home Tressarieu and Havelock for another shared race then Chris Kerr won heat 14 although he was almost caught on the line by Burza. Meldrum took third from Blair keeping the Bandits’ hopes alive going into the last race but Havelock and Tressarieu gated to leave Truminski and Rempala at the back for a 5-1 which gave the Bears an eight point win.

Scorers: For Redcar – Gary Havelock 13+1 (5), Mathieu Tressarieu 11+1 (5), James Grieves 9+1 (4), Chris Kerr 7 (4), Josh Auty 5 (4), Greg Blair 4+1 (5), Arlo Bugeja 0 (3).

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