Saturday 8 September 2007

Around the Premier League Tracks 2007
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Friday, 7 September

Three Premier League tracks ran matches tonight. At Somerset the Rebels met Stoke while at Rye House the Rockets took on Berwick both Premier League matches. The other match was an International Challenge match at Edinburgh between teams labelled ‘Bravehearts’ and ‘Kangaroos’.


Premier League: Somerset 52, Stoke 38 Somerset won the aggregate bonus point by 100-80


Somerset were at full strength while Stoke had Benji Compton as a guest in place of Barrie Evans at number 6.

It took Somerset a long time to get the better of Stoke. The visitors led after heat 5 and after heat 8 the Rebels had turned that round to lead by four points. However a 26-16 advantage over the last seven heats gave the Rebels all three points. Stoke’s deployment of a TR and TS produced nothing with Barker (TR) and Complin (TS) both finishing last.

The first three heats were shared but Stoke took the lead with a 2-4 in heat 4 when Claus Vissing won for the Potters from Ritchie Hawkins with Jaimie Smith passing Danny Warwick for third. Emil Kramer won heat 5 for a shared heat but a 5-1 from Simon Walker and Magnus Zetterstrom in heat 6 turned the Rebels’ arrears round to a two point lead. An engine failure for Frampton in heat 7 helped the visitors to share the points but Simon Walker won heat 8 followed by Ben Barker who passed Danny Warwick for a 4-2 which put the Rebels four points ahead at 26-22.

A 5-1 in heat 9 and 4-2 in heat 10 increased the home side’s lead to ten points so, in heat 11, Ben Barker took a Tactical Ride. However Ritchie Hawkins took Barker wide on the opening bends and he slipped to the back for a blob. Hawkins won from Lee Complin so another 4-2 went Somerset’s way stretching their lead to 12 points. Stoke hit back with a 2-4 in heat 12 when Glenn Cunningham beat Emil Kramer with Jaimie Smith third cutting the gap to ten points again with the score at 41-31.

Magnus Zetterstrom won heat 13 but Lee Complin and Claus Vissing shared the points behind him leaving the Potters needing a 1-8 from heat 14 for any chance of success. They therefore gave Lee Complin, replacing Rusty Harrison, a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres back but it was all to no avail as Frampton and Katt recorded a 5-1. Zetterstrom completed his paid maximum in heat 15 beating former Rebel, Glenn Cunningham, while Lee Complin ensured a 3-3 by finishing third.HaH

Scorers: For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 14+1 (5), Emil Kramer 11 (4), Ritchie Hawkins 8 (5), Simon Walker 7 (4), Stephan Katt 4+2 (4), Daniel Warwick 4 (4), Jordan Frampton 4 (4).

For Stoke – Glenn Cunningham 11 (5), Lee Complin 7+3 (6), Claus Vissing 6+1 (4), Ben Barker 6 (4), Jaimie Smith 4+1 (5), Rusty Harrison 2+2 (3), Benji Compton 2 (3).



Premier League: Rye House 63, Berwick 27 Rye House won the aggregate bonus point by 104-78


Rye House were at full strength but Berwick were without Michal Makovsky and David Meldrum. They used Rider Replacement at number 1 for Makovsky and had Byron Bekker at reserve in place of Meldrum.

Rye House had ten points to pull back in the fight for the bonus point but that was no problem for the Rockets who started with four consecutive 5-1s. Even an exclusion for Adam Roynon for failing to beat the two minute time allowance in heat 2, causing him to have to go from 15 metres back, was no problem as Roynon swept past Sam Martin on the second lap and Byron Becker half a lap later to join Luke Bowen up front!

Berwick nominated Jacek Rempala as the Rider Replacement rider in heat 5 but he was excluded for failing to meet the two minute time allowance too! Byron Bekker took his place. Stanislaw Burza took second place behind Tai Woffinden in this heat after passing Tommy Allen for a 4-2 to the Rockets a score which was repeated in heat 6 when Theo Pijper split the Ekberg/Neath pairing. At last Berwick provided a race winner in heat 7. Jacek Rempala made a fast start and led home Luke Bowen and Steve Boxall for a 3-3. No doubt striking while the iron was hot, Berwick then gave Stanislaw Burza a Tactical Ride in heat 8 but this was not a success as he finished on the wrong end of a Rockets’ 5-1 from Ekberg and Roynon taking the score to 46-14.

Heats 9 and 10 produced another two 5-1s for the home side before Berwick shared heat 11. Steve Boxall won the race but Theo Pijper and Stanislaw Burza finished in the minor places ahead of Bowen for the 3-3. The Bandits shared heat 12 too. Another win from Jacek Rempala from Adam Roynon and Tai Woffinden produced the goods for the visitors and took the score to 52-20.

Heat 13 produced the third consecutive 3-3. Chris Neath won the race and it looked like a home 5-1 until Neath took his partner, Steve Boxall, wide on the fourth bend allowing Burza and Pijper through for the shared race. Bowen and Allen took a 5-1 in heat 14 but in the last race Stanislaw Burza ended Ekberg’s full house by winning the race while Boxall finished third for another 3-3. Although they scored 63 points none of the Rockets managed a maximum although they all scored a minimum of 8 points each with five of them recording that score!

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

For Berwick – Stanislaw Burza 10+1 (6), Theo Pijper 7+1 (5), Jacek Rempala 7 (6), Andreas Bergstrom 2 (5), Byron Bekker 1 (5), Sam Martin 0 (4).



International Challenge Match at Edinburgh: Bravehearts 47, Kangaroos 46

The Bravehearts consisted of a mixture of Edinburgh and other available Scottish riders supplemented by Workington’s James Wright while the Kangaroos were made up of six Australian riders plus Edinburgh’s Kalle Katajisto.

Although there was little at stake, these two sides served up an entertaining match with some excellent races. Kevin Doolan was the star of the show with five race wins plus two points from a Tactical Substitute ride.

After Doolan had passed Derek Sneddon and James Wright had passed Trent Leverington for a shared opening race the Bravehearts took two 4-2s and a 5-1 in the next three races for an eight point lead. Heats 5 and 6 produced stunning races. First Andrew Tully chased Doolan all race long in the first of these two heats, coming out of the second bend on the last lap slightly ahead but Doolan edged ahead on the next two bends to win on the line, Heat 6 saw a magnificent race between Derek Sneddon and Matthew Wethers with passing and repassing before Sneddon won narrowly. James Wright’s third place put the Bravehearts ten points in front so Shane Parker took a Tactical Ride in heat 7. Parker nosed ahead off the second bend while Kalle Katajisto rounded Blair Scott then George Stancl to follow him down the back straight in second. It looked like a 1-8 but Katajisto fell on the third bend. He remounted though to take third place after Scott pulled out with engine problems. The 2-7 cut the gap to 5 points with the score at 25-20 after heat 7.

The Bravehearts continued to press ahead after this with a 3-2, 5-1 and 4-2 which increased their lead to 12 points. A Doolan win in heat 11 kept it that way with the score now 42-33 but there was drama still to come over the last three heats as the Kangaroos almost snatched it with a spirited comeback. Kevin Doolan replaced Sam Dore in heat 12 as a Tactical Substitute to partner Shane Parker. Parker won the race comfortably from Kai Laukkanen while Doolan passed Sean Stoddart on the second bend of the second lap. He just couldn’t make up enough ground on Laukkanen though to get in a challenge so the heat resulted in a 2-5 with the score reading 42-33.

The Kangaroos took another heat advantage from heat 13 thanks to another Doolan win ahead of Stancl with Wethers third for a 2-4 then another 2-4 came their way in heat 14. Kalle Katajisto made an excellent start to lead into the first corner and he went on to win from Andrew Tully with Arlo Bugeja third leaving the Australians five points down before Doolan and Parker took a 1-5 in heat 15 to cut the winning margin to one point.

Scorers: For the Bravehearts – Kai Laukkanen 10+1 (5), George Stancl 9 (4), Derek Sneddon 9 (5), Andrew Tully 8+2 (4), James Wright 5+1 (4), Sean Stoddart 4 (4), Blair Scott 2+1 (4).


For the Kangaroos – Kevin Doolan 17 (6)(with 2 point TS), Shane Parker 13+1 (5)(with 6 point TR), Matthew Wethers 6 (4), Kalle Katajisto 5 (4), Arlo Bugeja 5 (5), Trent Leverington 0 (3), Sam Dore 0 (3).

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