Around the Premier League Tracks 2007

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Friday, 17 August

There were two Premier League matches raced tonight. At Edinburgh the Monarchs raced a local derby match against Glasgow while at Somerset the Rebels took on Rye House.


Premier League: Edinburgh 41, Glasgow 49

Edinburgh were without the injured George Stancl and had to use Rider Replacement at number 1 instead. They were also missing the injured Daniele Tessari and had James Cockle at number 7 in his place. Kalle Katajisto moved to reserve having completed three home and three away matches so Andrew Tully moved back into the main body of the team at number 4. Glasgow were as usual at full strength.


Edinburgh were behind from heat 2 and never looked like getting back into the match with so many pointless rides. Indeed the Monarchs ran up 11 last places leaving the Tigers a simple job to walk off with both points.

The Monarchs looked as though they might kick off with a 4-2 in heat 1. An excellent race from Derek Sneddon saw off Craig Watson while Andrew Tully had the drop on David McAllan for third. However Tully locked up on the second bend of the third lap to allow McAllan through for third and the race was shared. Michael Coles made the gate in the reserves race with James Cockle second and Lee Dicken third so Glasgow eased into a two point lead with the 2-4. Shane Parker and Robert Ksiezak rocketed from the gate in heat 3 while Kai Laukkanen made no impact behind them for third place resulting in a 1-5 which put the Tigers six ahead. Once again it was left to Matthew Wethers to give the home fans something to cheer about in heat 4 as he hunted down the fast starting Trent Leverington to pass him for the win. Cockle fell off on the first bend so the race was shared and the score stood at 9-15.

Kai Laukkanen produced a much better performance in heat 5 to beat Craig Watson by a distance. However a dreadful gate by Andrew Tully left him stranded behind the Glasgow pair so again the race was shared. Edinburgh roared back into the match in heat 6 though. Derek Sneddon and Kai Laukkanen made the gate and were never challenged by Trent Leverington so scored a 5-1 cutting the gap to two points. Glasgow hit back with a 2-4 from Parker and Ksiezak with Matthew Wethers splitting the pair to put the Tigers four ahead. Edinburgh were hoping for a heat advantage in heat 8 but a lightning start from David McAllan scuppered their hopes. Sneddon and Cockle shared the points behind him so the score stood at 22-26.

Kai Laukkanen won heat 9 comfortably from Michael Coles but the battle was for third place behind them. Andrew Tully finally caught and passed Trent Leverington going into the third bend on lap three but Leverington tried too late to stop his move by leaning across Tully only to fall causing the race to be stopped and awarded as a 4-2 to the Monarchs leaving them just two points adrift again. Glasgow again hit back immediately with a 2-4 in heat 10. Shane Parker made a poor gate but, Robert Ksiezak took both Derek Sneddon and Matthew Wethers on his outside to the fence causing the Edinburgh pair to shut off to avoid an accident. This allowed Parker a free run up the inside to hit the front. Matthew Wethers got the better of Robert Ksiezak for second, Derek Sneddon couldn’t get on terms. An excellent ride by Matthew Wethers in heat 11 was good enough to see off David McAllan and Craig Watson but the race was only shared as again Kalle Katajisto could not recover from a dreadful start. Edinburgh really needed a result from heat 12 but it was Glasgow who got it. Laukkanen was no match for Parker and when James Cockle fell again Michael Coles was left with the simple task of taking the third place point for a 2-4 which increased the Tigers’ lead to six points with the score now 33-39.

The Monarchs were off for a 5-1 in heat 13 through Derek Sneddon and Matthew Wethers but Watson spun round on the second bend and brought down his partner, Trent Leverington. Watson was excluded from the rerun but you could almost have written the script for what would then happen. Sure enough Matthew Wethers was soon in front but this time Leverington just inched ahead of Sneddon off the second bend and, try as he did, Sneddon couldn’t find a way past. Edinburgh had to settle for a 4-2 leaving them four adrift but it was never going to be good enough given the composition of the last two heats both of which finished as 2-4s to Glasgow. Robert Ksiezak made another lightning start from Andrew Tully while Lee Dicken took third as Cockle fell again then Shane Parker produced an excellent third to first ride in the last race passing early race leader Kai Laukkanen to complete his maximum while David McAllan finished third ahead of the tiring Wethers.

Scorers: For Edinburgh – Kai Laukkanen 13+1 (6), Matthew Wethers 13 (6), Derek Sneddon 9 (5), James Cockle 3+1 (5), Andrew Tully 3 (5), Kalle Katajisto 0 (3).

For Glasgow – Shane Parker 15 (5)(full maximum), David McAllan 8+2 (5), Robert Ksiezak 7+1 (4), Michael Coles 7 (4), Craig Watson 5+1 (4), Trent Leverington 4 (4), Lee Dicken 3+1 (4).



Premier League: Somerset 51, Rye H House 42.


Somerset were at full strength but Rye House still without Robbie Kessler and his replacement, Stefan Ekberg, had to use Rider Replacement at number 2.

An opening 5-1 from Magnus Zetterstrom and Simon Walker from Chris Neath got the Rebels off to the best possible start and they added a 4-2 in heat 2 when Adam Roynon could only split the home pairing of Danny Warwick and Jordan Frampton. Tai Woffinden replied with a win in heat 3 for the Rockets and they took a 2-4 when Emil Kramer fell on the last bend allowing Tommy Allen through for third place behind Stephan Katt. Back roared the Rebels after this piece of insolence with a 5-1 from Warwick and Hawkins who came through from the back to take the score to 16-8.

The Rebels hit another 5-1 in heat 5. This race had to be rerun after Chris Neath had fallen on the third bend with his partner, Adam Roynon, leading. Emil Kramer and Stephan Katt prevented a repeat of this as Roynon finished third. The Rebels now led by 12 points and it stretched to 14 when Zetterstrom won heat 6 from Luke Bowen with Walker third. Rye House gave a Tactical Ride to Tai Woffinden in heat 7 and this turned out to be another heat where the rerun produced a totally different result from the first running. In the first attempt, Tommy Allen and Ritchie Hawkins fell on the fourth bend with Woffinden, on the TR, stuck at the back. Allen was excluded and in the rerun Woffinden made good use of his second chance by winning the race with a tapes-to-flag effort for all 6 points producing a 3-6 for the Rockets and cutting the lead to 11 points. Back came the Rebels with a 4-2 in heat 8 thanks to a win from Simon Walker from Adam Roynon. Danny Warwick finished third and it was the only time Warwick dropped points all match. The score now stood at 32-19.

Another 4-2 went the Rebels’ way in heat 9 when Emil Kramer beat Roynon with Katt third but the Rockets hit back with a 1-5 in heat 10. Magnus Zetterstrom dropped a chain at the starting gate leaving Tommy Allen and Tai Woffinden to head home Simon Walker and cut the gap to 11 points. They did it again in heat 11! This time it was Adam Roynon and Chris Neath who scored the maximum ahead of Frampton to produce a few worried frowns on the home fans’ faces with the Rebels’ lead now down to 7 points. However the balance was redressed when Tai Woffinden fell in heat 12 and was excluded from the rerun leaving Warwick and Kramer to take a 5-1 ahead of Luke Bowen and the score to 43-32.

Another 5-1 in heat 13 from Warwick, who replaced Hawkins who had touched the tapes, and Zetterstrom sealed the match points but Rye House scored another 1-5 in heat 14. Again Adam Roynon won for the Rockets and Tommy Allen finished second ahead of Stephan Katt. The Rockets finished with another heat advantage in the last race. The locals were stunned when Tommy Allen drove round the outside of Magnus Zetterstrom on the third bend to win the race from the Rebels’ number 1 while Tai Woffinden finished third.

Scorers: For Somerset – Danny Warwick 13 (5), Magnus Zetterstrom 10+1 (5), Emil Kramer 8+1 (5), Simon Walker 7+1 (4), Stephan Katt 6+1 (4), Ritchie Hawkins 4+1 (4), Jordan Frampton 3+1 (4).

For Rye House – Adam Roynon 14 (7), Tai Woffinden 12+1 (5)(with 6 point TR), Tommy Allen 9+1 (6), Chris Neath 3+1 (4), Luke Bowen 3 (5), Steve Boxall 1 (3).