Saturday 15 September 2007

Around the Premier League Tracks 2007
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Friday, 14 September

Three Premier League matches were raced tonight. At Edinburgh the Monarchs met Rye House while at Somerset the Rebels took on Redcar. The other match was at King’s Lynn where the Stars raced against Birmingham.


Premier League: Edinburgh 50, Rye House 45 Rye House won the aggregate bonus point by 113-72


Edinburgh had Michael Coles at number 7 in place of Daniele Tessari while Rye House were missing Stefan Ekberg and used Rider Replacement at number 2.

Rye House came, saw and were conquered. Clearly Edinburgh hadn’t read the script as the Rockets spluttered to defeat instead of cruising to the anticipated, easy victory. The Monarchs set their stall out as early as heat 1 and aided by a slice of fortune and a tendency for the Rye riders to bale out in the early heats they heaped the pressure on their beleaguered visitors who, not for the first time this season, cracked under pressure.

Surprisingly the Rockets gave the R/R ride in heat 1 to what looked like their best replacement option, Steve Boxall. However this manoeuvre quickly backfired as George Stancl and Derek Sneddon stormed to the first bend for a comfortable 5-1. The Rockets looked to be reversing that score in heat 2 when Adam Roynon, leading by the proverbial mile, suffered an engine failure leaving his partner, Luke Bowen, to take the race win for a 3-3. Rye House had only one finisher in heat 3 as well when Tommy Allen fell trying to hold off Kai Laukkanen but again they provided the race winner in Tai Woffinden for another shared heat. It happened again in heat 4 when Adam Roynon spun on the first bend leaving Steve Boxall to race off for the three points leaving Wethers and Coles in his wake to take the score to 14-10.

There was another Rye faller in heat 5 when Luke Bowen came to grief on the fourth bend as Kai Laukkanen led Chris Neath. In the rerun it was Andrew Tully who charged into the lead with Kai Laukkanen in his wake but Chris Neath passed Laukkanen to rescue two points from the race for the visitors. The 4-2 put Edinburgh six points up and it stayed that way when George Stancl made another fast start to heat 6. He ran the field wide on the opening bends to see off Roynon and Boxall but his partner, Derek Sneddon, was pushed to the back as a result and fell at the end of the third lap trying to make up the lost ground. Rye House got two points back in heat 7. They were looking good for a 1-5 as Tai Woffinden and Tommy Allen ‘rocketed’ from the gate but Matthew Wethers was quickly past Allen into second. Kalle Katajisto, who was faster than Allen, went for the big outside swoop on the second bend of lap 2, picked up some unexpected grip and came off leaving the Rockets to pick up a 2-4 which cut the home side’s lead to four points. Derek Sneddon won heat 8 by a distance but all the action was behind him as Tommy Allen, Michael Coles and Adam Roynon battled for the minor positions. Tommy Allen held Coles up allowing Roynon to come through from the back so the race was shared and the score stood at 26-22.

Luke Bowen withdrew from the meeting complaining of a sore knee and, counting the number of rides Adam Roynon now looked like he might have to cover to replace Bowen and take R/R rides, the Rockets looked like having to go with one rider in one of the remaining heats. They chose heat 9 to go with just the one rider so Steve Boxall faced Kai Laukkanen and Andrew Tully on his own. Kai Laukkanen made the gate while Andrew Tully cut back on the second bend to leave Boxall in his wake resulting in a Monarchs 5-1 which put them eight points ahead. George Stancl and Derek Sneddon added another 5-1 in heat 10. Tai Woffinden missed the gate in this race and any chance he had of coming from the back was scuppered by his own partner, Tommy Allen, who seemed disinclined to let him through to challenge the Edinburgh pair. This suited the Monarchs and Derek Sneddon finally saw off Allen’s early challenge although the Rye House rider did not seem too pleased after the race for some reason or other. Edinburgh’s lead now stood at 12 points and the inevitable TR was due. However Rye House decided to use Tai Woffinden as a Tactical Substitute instead in heat 11 from 15 metres back. Matthew Wethers and Kalle Katajisto were soon clear of Chris Neath and it was now down to the hard charging Woffinden to take up the challenge. This he did and he made up the ground on Katajisto by the back straight of lap three. Katajisto’s attempt to keep him at bay ended with the young Finn falling on the third bend gifting third place to Neath who was miles at the back. Woffinden couldn’t catch Wethers though so the race finished as a 3-5 to Rye. They gained another heat advantage in heat 12 when the impressive Woffinden, out for three in a row, simply blew Laukkanen away for an easy heat win. Adam Roynon finished third so the 2-4 cut the gap to 8 points with the score now at 41-33.

Any lingering hopes the Rockets had were finally extinguished in heat 13 when Matthew Wethers and George Stancl shot from the gate for a comfortable 5-1 ahead of Boxall and Neath to clinch the two points. In heat 14 Rye House gave a Tactical Ride to Adam Roynon who, along with Tommy Allen, simply flew from the tapes in a questionable start. Andrew Tully passed Allen just as the Rye House man’s engine stopped so the Rye advantage was 3-6 from the heat. In a cracking last heat Matthew Wethers led from start to the third bend of the fourth lap when Tai Woffinden came under him and nearly had him in the fence. Wethers got stuck in the deep shale out by the fence which allowed Adam Roynon through for second place on the line.

Scorers: For Edinburgh – George Stancl 11+1 (4)(paid maximum), Matthew Wethers 11 (5), Andrew Tully 9+1 (5), Derek Sneddon 7+2 (4), Kai Laukkanen 7+1 (4), Michael Coles 3+1 (4), Kalle Katajisto 2+2 (4).

For Rye House – Tai Woffinden 16 (6)(with 4 point TS), Adam Roynon 12+2 (6)(with 6 point TR), Steve Boxall 6+1 (5), Chris Neath 4+1 (4), Tommy Allen 4 (5), Luke Bowen 3 (2).




Premier League: Somerset 53, Redcar 40 Somerset won the aggregate bonus point by 99-87


Somerset were missing Emil Kramer and used Rider Replacement at number 3 while Redcar were without Josh Auty and had Karlis Ezergailis at number 2 instead.

Gary Havelock got the Bears off to a promising start when he outgated Magnus Zetterstrom and held on to win the opening race for a 3-3 but the visitors were four points down after an easy 5-1 to the Rebels in the reserves race. Zetterstrom was out again in heat 3, this time as R/R for Kramer, and this time he made no mistake winning the heat from James Grieves and Chris Kerr who had passed Stephan Katt on the first bend. This resulted in a 3-3 but Redcar pulled two points back in heat 4 with a 2-4 thanks to a win for Mathieu Tressarieu from Ritchie Hawkins. Danny Warwick made a dog’s breakfast of the race and slipped to the back before falling on the third bend of the second lap causing the race to be stopped and awarded. This took the score to 13-11.

Karlis Ezergailis twice jumpstarted heat 5 so the referee excluded him. Daniel Giffard took his place and Gary Havelock won again for another shared race. Three heat advantages for the home side followed leaving Redcar in big trouble. Magnus Zetterstrom made a poor start to heat 6 but still came through the field to lead Tressarieu and Walker home for a 4-2 then the Rebels added a 5-1 in heat 7 from Ritchie Hawkins and Jordan Frampton after both had passed early leader James Grieves. Heat 8 brought another maximum to the Rebels. Simon Walker won by a distance but it took Danny Walker to the last bend to finally pass Jack Hargreaves for the 5-1 which took the score to 30-18.

Mathieu Tressarieu won heat 9 but Katt and Hawkins shared the points behind him then another Zetterstrom win orchestrated a 4-2 heat win for the Rebels in heat 10. Danny Warwick was clamped to the line by Chris Kerr round the opening bends and ended up at the back. However he recovered to pass James Grieves on the third lap for the third place point. In heat 10 Gary Havelock took a Tactical Ride and won the race after passing Ritchie Hawkins who led for the first two laps. With Ezergailis tailed off at the back the result was a 3-6 to the Bears which reduced their arrears to 11 points and it stayed that way after a shared heat 12 which was won by Simon Walker after he had passed James Grieves. Daniel Warwick fell again so the score progressed to 43-32.

Then followed one of the races of the season between the unbeaten Havelock and Zetterstrom. The lead changed hands several times before Zetterstrom prevailed. With Ritchie Hawkins third the Rebels took a 4-2 increasing their lead to 13 points and putting the match outwith the Bears’ reach. Chris Kerr won heat 14 for a shared race then Magnus Zetterstrom did likewise in heat 15 to give the Rebels all three points.

Scorers: For Somerset – Magnus Zetterstrom 17 (6), Jordan Frampton 10+2 (6), Ritchie Hawkins 9+1 (5), Simon Walker 9+1 (5), Stephan Katt 4+2 (4), Daniel Warwick 4+2 (4).


For Redcar – Gary Havelock 15+1 (5)(with 6 point TR), Mathieu Tressarieu 10 (5), Chris Kerr 6+1 (4), James Grieves 5 (4), Daniel Giffard 2+1 (4), Jack Hargreaves 2 (5).



Premier League:King’s Lynn 49, Birmingham 44


King’s Lynn were at full strength but Birmingham were without Emiliano Sanchez and the rider the Brummies have signed to replace him, Phil Morris, so used Rider Replacement at number 1. They were also missing Henrik Moller and Lee Smart so had Chris Schramm at number 4 in place of Moller and Simon Lambert in place of Lee Smart.

King’s Lynn were riding their second home match in three days having beaten Glasgow at the Norfolk Arena on Wednesday night. Once again the home support were treated to a ding-dong battle which went to a last heat decider in which Daniel Nermark and Tomas Topinka again produced the goods to see the Stars home. Birmingham were unlucky when Manuel Hauzinger fell in the opening race and took no further part in the meeting. Since they were already using Rider Replacement for Emiliano Sanchez this left them to battle through the entire match with just five riders, only three of them their own!

Hauzinger’s fall came on the first bend of the second lap while holding third place. The race was rerun and the Topinka/Mills 5-1 was to prove important. The Stars added a 4-2 in the reserves race won by James Brundle and added two more points to the lead with another 4-2 in heat 3 when Daniel Nermark passed Jason Lyons on the outside to win the race with Paul Lee third. Trevor Harding won heat 4 from Simon Lambert and Henning Bager for a shared race but it was this third Stars’ pairing which was to prove their Achilles’ heel as the match progressed. The heat 4 score stood at 16-8.

In heat 5 Jason Lyons took the R/R ride and won it by beating Daniel Nermark. Paul Lee’s third place shared the heat but another Topinka/Mills 5-1 in heat 6 stretched the Stars lead to twelve points and things looked bleak for the Brummies. However Jason Lyons took a Tactical Ride in heat 7 and won it after passing first Trevor Harding then James Brundle. Chris Schramm backed him up by also passing Brundle at the end of the third lap for second place and the big 1-8 so the gap was cut to five points. In heat 9 Paul Lee had an engine failure at the gate so Daniel Nermark’s race win was for a shared heat. The lead stretched to seven points when Tomas Topinka beat Jason Lyons in heat 10 with Chris Mills third for a 4-2 but back came the Brummies with a 1-5 in heat 11. Henning Bager and Ben Powell exploited the Stars’ third pair weakness with the maximum which cut the home side’s lead to just three points. Daniel Nermark won again in heat 12 to steady the ship but with Benji Compton losing his third place to an engine failure the race was shared and the score was 39-36.

Tomas Topinka won heat 13 from Henning Bager while Trevor Harding’s third place gave the Stars a bit more breathing space as the 4-2 opened the gap to five points again. However the alarm bells were ringing when Birmingham scored another 1-5 in heat 14. Super guest 1, Simon Lambert, won the race with super guest 2,Chris Schramm, team riding home ahead of Lee and Brundle to close the gap to one point going into heat 15 with the Stars leading 44-43. The last heat produced a controversial start as Tomas Topinka got a flyer from the gate. The race was allowed to continue but there was no way through for Jason Lyons as Nermark and Topinka took the 5-1 to close out the match.

Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14+1 (5)(paid maximum), Daniel Nermark 14 (5), Chris Mills 8+2 (4), Trevor Harding 5 (4), James Brundle 4 (4), Paul Lee 3 (4), Benji Compton 1 (4).

For Birmingham – Jason Lyons 16 (6), Simon Lambert 10+1 (7), Henning Bager 9 (6), Chris Schramm 5+1 (5), Ben Powell 4+1 (6), Manuel Hauzinger 0 (1).

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