Around the Premier League Tracks 2007

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Friday, 10 August

There were two Premier League matches raced tonight. At Edinburgh the Monarchs raced Newcastle while at Somerset the Rebels took on Newport.


Premier League: Edinburgh 43, Newcastle 46 Newcastle won the aggregate bonus point by 92-87

Edinburgh were missing Derek Sneddon as a result of the neck injury he sustained at Sheffield last night. They were also missing Kai Laukkanen on duty at this weekend’s Grand Prix so had Jason Lyons as a guest at number 3. Daniele Tessari returned to the side at number 7 while Gary Beaton rode at number 8. Newcastle were without Josef Franc who had returned home on the death of his father so they used Rider Replacement at number 3. Sam Dore continued at number 6 in place of Adam McKinna

Edinburgh must have wondered what they had done to deserve this amount of bad luck. Already without Derek Sneddon after last night’s crash at Sheffield they soon had to add George Stancl to the casualty list when he was taken to hospital with ankle injuries sustained in heat 6. With Daniele Tessari clearly still unfit on his return to the side and with Matthew Wethers main bike being wrecked in the heat 6 accident in which Andrew Tully suffered an ankle injury and a head knock Edinburgh were effectively a three man side. To their credit they were still in with a chance of a win and the bonus point going into the last heat as Newcastle struggled to take advantage of the home side’s problems.

Heat 1 ended as a 3-3 but was incident packed. On the second bend Jonas Raun packed up then George Stancl, leading by a mile from Christian Henry, suffered an engine failure on the last bend of the third lap. This was followed by Kalle Katajisto (R/R) falling on the last bend and both Edinburgh riders pushing home for the three points. Heat 2 should have been stopped when Sam Dore clattered into Daniele Tessari causing the Italian to slide out to the fence but Sean Stoddart balanced things up by falling on the fourth bend as Andrew Tully sailed off for an easy heat win. Although Stoddart remounted Dore finished second with Tessari third for an Edinburgh 4-2 and a two point lead. In heat 3 Jason Lyons fell on the opening bend as the field closed up and the race was rerun with all four back. Jason Lyons won the rerun while Kalle Katajisto chased Raun hard at the back before falling off causing the race to be awarded. This resulted in another 3-3 and heat 4 was shared too. Matthew Wethers seemed to have the race sewn up after Carl Wilkinson fell at the back but Sean Stoddart dived up the inside on the first bend of the third lap to win it taking the score to 13-11.

Another win by Jason Lyons in heat 5 from Christian Henry produced another 3-3 but Newcastle squared the match in heat 6 which was an absolute disaster for the Monarchs and proved pivotal in the outcome of the match. Things looked good for Edinburgh as George Stancl, now riding Matthew Wethers’ bike, and Andrew Tully headed off for a 5-1 ahead of Wilkinson as Dore fell at the back but Stancl picked up colossal grip coming off bend 2 and veered across the track causing Andrew Tully to run into him. Both Edinburgh riders were down for a long time and Stancl was removed by ambulance and taken to hospital with an ankle injury. Tully suffered an ankle injury too and also took a hard knock to the head as his bike struck him after he fell. Nonetheless he got up dusted himself down and appeared for the rerun in which he quickly hit the front to lead Carl Wilkinson. However Wilkinson passed him at the start of the second lap for a 2-4 to level things up. Edinburgh now had no-one at number 1 or 2. Christian Henry took the R/R ride in heat 7 and gated with Ross Brady for what looked like a 1-5. Brady made a mess of the fourth bend on the third lap and Matthew Wethers, now having to ride his second bike, passed him for second place. The 2-4 put Newcastle ahead for the first time in the match but not for long as Edinburgh hit back with a 5-1 in heat 8 from Andrew Tully and Matthew Wethers (R/R) taking the score to 25-23.

Jason Lyons won heat 9 from Carl Wilkinson while Kalle Katajisto passed Sam Dore for third place which produced a 4-2 for the home side doubling their lead to four points. They added a point to the lead in heat 10. Ross Brady and Carl Wilkinson made the gate for the Diamonds but Andrew Tully, replacing George Stancl, passed Carl Wilkinson while Gary Beaton taking the R/R ride as the number 8 fell and remounted. Wilkinson then fell on the third lap and Tully passed Brady on the last lap. Unfortunately for Edinburgh Gary Beaton pulled out of the race so the result was only a 3-2 for the Monarchs. The home side’s miserable gating continued as Henry and Raun were quickly off and running in heat 11. Wethers soon passed Raun but couldn’t catch Henry so the Diamonds took a 2-4 cutting the gap to three points. Back came Edinburgh in heat 12 with a 4-2. Although Jason Lyons gated well and was never challenged Stoddart and Brady filled the minor places before Tully passed Brady for third taking the score to 38-33.

Christian Henry and Carl Wilkinson gated to lead heat 13 but Daniele Tessari passed Wilkinson only to fall on the third bend. Matthew Wethers then passed Wilkinson but couldn’t catch Henry so the Diamonds scored a 2-4 to stand just three down again. Heat 14 was a disaster for Edinburgh. Ross Brady and Sean Stoddart flew from the gate as yet again the Diamonds sat on a 1-5 from the tapes. Tully on his seventh ride just couldn’t catch either of them so Newcastle not only wiped out their arrears but now led by one point going into the last heat. Needless to say, Edinburgh lost the vital toss for gate positions in the last heat and Christian Henry on the outside run just got the better of Jason Lyons on the opening bends. Carl Wilkinson got into third place and that’s the way it finished with Newcastle finally winning by three points for all three league points.

Scorers: For Edinburgh– Andrew Tully 14+1 (7), Jason Lyons 14 (5), Matthew Wethers 10+1 (5), Kalle Katajisto 3 (5), George Stancl 1+1 (2), Daniele Tessari 1 (4), Gary Beaton 0 (1).

For Newcastle– Christian Henry 17 (6), Sean Stoddart 8+1 (5), Ross Brady 8 (5), Carl Wilkinson 7 (6), Jonas Raun 3+2 (5), Sam Dore 3 (4).



Premier League: Somerset 61, Away 29.


Somerset and Newport were both full strength.

A poor Newport side were well beaten by the Rebels with the visitors providing only two race winners all night. The opening race inevitably won by Magnus Zetterstrom was shared when Simon Walker in third place pulled out with an engine failure but a reserves race 5-1 was followed by a 4-2 when Tony Atkin split the home pairing of Emil Kramer and Stephan Katt. Another 5-1 from the team-riding pair of Hawkins and Warwick put the home side in easy street ten points ahead at 17-7.

The Wasps managed another shared race in heat 5 when Emil Kramer won from Michal Rajkowski and Tom Hedley but the Rebels followed this win another two 5-1 race wins in heats 6 and 7. The latter of these was particularly disappointing for the Wasps because Tony Atkin was on a Tactical Ride. Jordan Frampton won the race while Ritchie Hawkins passed Atkin to nullify the TR. Barry Burchatt then followed Simon Walker home for second place and a 4-2 in heat 8 taking the score to 34-14.

Heat 9 was an oasis in the desert for Newport as they enjoyed a 2-4 advantage. However it took an Emil Kramer retiral on the second lap while challenging Chris Schramm for the lead to help them achieve it. Schramm won from Stephan Katt leaving Nick Simmons to pick up the gift third place point. The floodgates really opened after that as Somerset banged home three more 5-1s in heats 10, 11 and 12 taking the score to 51-21.

Magnus Zetterstrom completed a paid maximum in heat 13 while Michal Rajkowski took second for a 4-2 but Newport shared the last two races. In heat 14 Stephan Katt had to battle from the back to hit the front on the third bend while the other three riders battled for the minor places behind him. Barry Burchatt and Tony Atkin got them with Jordan Frampton finishing last. In the last race Chris Schramm scored his second race win against Ritchie Hawkins and Danny Warwick as the visitors just failed to hit the 30 point mark.

Scorers: For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 11+1 (4)(full maximum), Ritchie Hawkins 10+2 (5), Daniel Warwick 10+2 (5), Emil Kramer 8+1 (4), Daniel Warwick 8+1 (4), Jordan Frampton 8+1 (4), Stephan Katt 6 (4).

For Newport– Chris Schramm 8 (5), Michal Rajkowski 6+1 (5), Tony Atkin 4+1 (4), Barry Burchatt 4 (4), Tom Hedley 3+1 (4), Phil Morris 2 (4), Nick Simmons 2 (4).