Around the Premier League Tracks 2007
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Saturday, 15 September
Three matches were raced tonight but only one was for Premier League points – the one at Berwick where the Bandits met Edinburgh. The other two matches were of the challenge variety. At Stoke the Potters took on Sheffield in the first leg of the Sunday Sport Trophy while at Workington the Comets raced against Birmingham.
Premier League: Berwick 35, Edinburgh 55 Edinburgh won the aggregate bonus point by 115-67
Berwick were again barely recognisable. They were missing Matej Kus, Stanislaw Burza, David Meldrum and John Morrison through injury and used Rider Replacement at number 3 for Kus while Carl Wilkinson guested for Makovsky and Ritchie Hawkins for Burza. They also introduced Arlo Bugeja as their new signing to replace Meldrum while Byron Bekker filled the number 7 spot in place of John Morrison. Edinburgh had Michael Coles in place of Daniele Tessari at number 7.
Berwick, desperate to stop the haemorrhaging of home points, booked in two former Bandits as guests to replace Makovsky and Burza. With Rider Replacement operating and all the team members able to take one of the rides there was some optimism in the home camp as they took on an Edinburgh side with a dismal record at Shielfield Park. The match was close for the first seven heats at which point the scores were still tied but the Monarchs stepped up a couple of gears after that to leave the home side floundering. The Bandits didn’t enjoy the best of luck but their second half collapse would have needed more than luck to turn the tide.
The Monarchs took the lead in the opening heat with a smooth gate from George Stancl who won by a distance from Carl Wilkinson with Derek Sneddon third for a 2-4. Michael Coles made the gate to win the reserves race for a 3-3 but the Bandits levelled again in heat 3. Ritchie Hawkins and Carl Wilkinson looked odds-on to take a 5-1 before Hawkins fell on the second bend of the third lap. He was still able to remount for third place as Andrew Tully had fallen on the third bend of the opening lap before remounting and was still well behind. With Wilkinson winning from Laukkanen the Bandits took a 4-2. Jacek Rempala leapt from the gate to win heat 4 from Wethers and Coles and a shared heat so the score was then 12-12.
Edinburgh were back in front after heat 5. This heat had to be rerun after Ritchie Hawkins ran into the back of Derek Sneddon on the second bend, fell and was excluded. In the rerun another fast gate and comfortable win from George Stancl looked like producing a 1-5 as Derek Sneddon was quickly into second place. However Sneddon was caught napping when Sam Martin using the banking on the third and fourth bends to great effect roared round the outside of the Monarchs’ captain for second place to limit the damage to a 2-4. Carl Wilkinson made the gate in heat 6 and held off the determined challenges of Matthew Wethers to win the race. Behind this pair Arlo Bugeja beat Kalle Katajisto for third place so the Bandits took a 4-2 which squared the match again at 18-18. It remained level after heat 7 produced a 3-3. It looked as though Rempala was going to beat Laukkanen with Tully third but the 3-3 came a different way. Laukkanen pressured Rempala into a mistake on the last two bends to pass him for the win but behind this pair Sam Martin produced another stunning ride to pass Andrew Tully on the run in to the line. Heat 8 always looked a bad one for the Bandits and so it turned out. Derek Sneddon and Michael Coles left the Berwick pair of Bekker and Bugeja well behind for an easy 1-5 which took the score to 22-26.
Berwick needed to hit back quickly and they looked to be well placed to do so in heat 9 with Rempala and Hawkins pairing up for the home side but Matthew Wethers had other ideas. He soon passed Hawkins who pulled out of the race with engine failure on the fourth bend of lap 2 and chased hard after Rempala. Rempala couldn’t contain him and Wethers powered under him to win the race. Kalle Katajisto, who had missed the two minutes time allowance and had to go from 15 metres back, picked up the gift third place point so Edinburgh scored a killer 2-4 to go six points ahead. They added a 1-5 in heat 10. Kai Laukkanen and Michael Coles, replacing Andrew Tully, gated to leave Carl Wilkinson well behind increasing the visitors’ lead to ten points. Incredibly Berwick didn’t give Jacek Rempala a Tactical Ride in heat 11 which he won comfortably from Stancl and Sneddon for a 3-3 but gave it instead to Ritchie Hawkins in heat 12 instead. Since Hawkins had scored just one point from his three rides it seemed a strange decision and sure enough Hawkins failed to score again. Kai Laukkanen was fast away with Hawkins on his tail and, with Michael Coles comfortably third it looked like a 4-4. However Hawkins spun round on the fourth bend of the third lap to ride straight onto the centre green and Michael Coles was through to join his partner for another 1-5 which took the score to 29-43.
Matthew Wethers rode a brilliant first bend in heat 13 to pass the field while George Stancl clamped Carl Wilkinson to the line leaving Rempala to chase Wethers. He got nowhere near him however as Wethers won by a county mile with the Monarchs adding two more points to their lead with the 2-4. At last Ritchie Hawkins made a fast start in heat 14 and completed the race for a 3-3 ahead of Coles and Tully then Edinburgh rounded off a miserable night for the Bandits by adding another 1-5. Laukkanen and Wethers got the better of Carl Wilkinson with Rempala stuck at the back. The Edinburgh pair took an easy 1-5 as Rempala gave up. This win gave Edinburgh all three points and a glimmer of hope that they might still make the Young Shield. The match was a personal triumph for Michael Coles whose paid 16 points on his return to his former track must be his highest score for a very long time.
Scorers: For Berwick – Jacek Rempala 12 (6), Carl Wilkinson 10 (6), Sam Martin 4+2 (6), Ritchie Hawkins 4 (5), Byron Bekker 4 (4), Arlo Bugeja 1 (3).
For Edinburgh – Kai Laukkanen 14 (5), Michael Coles 12+4 (6), Matthew Wethers 12+1 (5), George Stancl 9 (4), Derek Sneddon 6+1 (4), Andrew Tully 1+1 (3), Kalle Katajisto 1 (3).
Sunday Sport Trophy (first leg): Stoke 49, Sheffield 41
Stoke had Jon Armstrong at number 6 in place of Barrie Evans while Sheffield used Rider Replacement for Paul Cooper who was absent through riding in a grass track event and had Luke Priest at number 6 in place of James Birkinshaw who is out for the rest of the season. The Tigers nominated Ben Hopwood as their number 8.
Ben Barker and Lee Complin kicked off with a 5-1 ahead of Ashworth and Wilson while James Cockle won the reserves race for a shared heat. Glenn Cunningham beat Andre Compton in heat 3 with Rusty Harrison third for a 4-2 which increased the home side’s lead to 6 points while Claus Vissing earned the Potters a shared heat by winning heat 4 taking the score to 15-9.
Ricky Ashworth won heat 5 for a 3-3 but another Barker/Complin 5-1 in heat 6 saw Stoke build up a ten point lead to take the score to 23-13. Andre Compton hit back by winning heat 7 in the rerun after Claus Vissing had fallen and been excluded. This gave Sheffield a 2-4 cutting the gap to eight points then Ben Barker won heat 8 for a shared race giving a score of 28-20.
Another Cunningham win in heat 9 shared the points but the Potters were ten points to the good again with a 4-2 in heat 10 when Ben Barker beat Andre Compton with Lee Complin third. Ricky Ashworth and Ben Wilson scored a maximum for the Tigers in heat 11 to cut the gap to six points but it was back to eight again when Cunningham beast Compton again in heat 12 with Armstrong third for a 4-2 after which the score read 40-32.
Ricky Ashworth beat Lee Complin in heat 13 with Ben Wilson third so the Tigers’ 2-4 reduced the gap to six points but a heat 14 5-1 for the Potters from Jon Armstrong and Jaimie Smith wrapped up the win for the home side putting them ten ahead again. Ashworth won the last race from Cunningham with Andre Compton third for a 2-4 which resulted in Stoke taking an eight point lead for the second leg.
Scorers: For Stoke – Glenn Cunningham 13 (5), Ben Barker 12 (5), Jon Armstrong 9 (5), Lee Complin 7+2 (4), Jaimie Smith 3+2 (4), Claus Vissing 3 (4), Rusty Harrison 2+1 (3).
For Sheffield – Ricky Ashworth 12+1 (5), Andre Compton 12 (6), James Cockle 6+2 (5), Ben Wilson 6 (5), Joel Parson 4+1 (5), Luke Priest 1 (4), Ben Hopwood 0 (1).
Challenge Match: Workington 51, Birmingham 42
Workington used Rider Replacement at number 2 for Mattia Carpanese and had Joe Haines at number 7 in place of John Branney who was riding in the Conference League Riders’ Championship. Birmingham were missing Manuel Hauzinger, Henrik Moller and Lee Smart. They introduced Phil Morris, their new signing to replace the injured Emiliano Sanchez, at number 2 and used Rider Replacement at number 1 for Hauzinger while Chris Kerr guested at number 4 for Moller and Scott James replaced Lee Smart at number 6.
A makeshift Birmingham side provided an entertaining meeting in this challenge match at Workington but the meeting was marred by a heat 13 fall by Henning Bager which resulted in a broken arm which will sideline him for the rest of the season.
After a shared opening race the teams traded 4-2s in heats 2 and 3 before a run of three shared races kept the scored tied at 18-18. Workington took the lead in heat 7 when Ulrich Ostergaard beat Jason Lyons with Charles Wright third for a 4-2 and two point lead which remained the same after a shared heat 8 with the score standing at 25-23.
The next three heats all went the Comets’ way. Craig Branney and James Wright scored the first 5-1 of the meeting in heat 9 and when Jason Lyons suffered an engine failure at the tapes in heat 10 the home side added another two points to their lead with a 4-2. They took another 4-2 in heat 11 with an Ostergaard win over Bager with Joe Haines taking third place after the race had been rerun due to a Phil Morris fall and exclusion. The Comets’ lead had now stretched to ten points at 38-28 so Jason Lyons took a Tactical Ride in heat 12. He won it and was supported in second place by Ben Powell for the big 1-8 ahead of the Wright brothers which took the score to 39-36.
Alas Bager’s unfortunate accident in heat 13 ended his night and saw Workington cash in with a 5-1 from Ostergaard and Nieminen. A shared heat 14 was followed by a 4-2 finish for the home side with Nieminen completing his paid maximum by beating Jason Lyons with Ulrich Ostergaard in third place.
Scorers: For Workington – Kauko Nieminen 14+1 (5)(paid maximum), Ulrich Ostergaard 13 (5), Craig Branney 11+1 (5), James Wright 7+1 (4), Charles Wright 5 (6), Joe Haines 1 (6).
For Birmingham – Jason Lyons 15 (6)(with 6 point TR), Ben Powell 12+2 (6), Henning Bager 6+1 (5), Phil Morris 4+1 (5), Chris Kerr 3+1 (5), Scott James 2+1 (3).
Three matches were raced tonight but only one was for Premier League points – the one at Berwick where the Bandits met Edinburgh. The other two matches were of the challenge variety. At Stoke the Potters took on Sheffield in the first leg of the Sunday Sport Trophy while at Workington the Comets raced against Birmingham.
Premier League: Berwick 35, Edinburgh 55 Edinburgh won the aggregate bonus point by 115-67
Berwick were again barely recognisable. They were missing Matej Kus, Stanislaw Burza, David Meldrum and John Morrison through injury and used Rider Replacement at number 3 for Kus while Carl Wilkinson guested for Makovsky and Ritchie Hawkins for Burza. They also introduced Arlo Bugeja as their new signing to replace Meldrum while Byron Bekker filled the number 7 spot in place of John Morrison. Edinburgh had Michael Coles in place of Daniele Tessari at number 7.
Berwick, desperate to stop the haemorrhaging of home points, booked in two former Bandits as guests to replace Makovsky and Burza. With Rider Replacement operating and all the team members able to take one of the rides there was some optimism in the home camp as they took on an Edinburgh side with a dismal record at Shielfield Park. The match was close for the first seven heats at which point the scores were still tied but the Monarchs stepped up a couple of gears after that to leave the home side floundering. The Bandits didn’t enjoy the best of luck but their second half collapse would have needed more than luck to turn the tide.
The Monarchs took the lead in the opening heat with a smooth gate from George Stancl who won by a distance from Carl Wilkinson with Derek Sneddon third for a 2-4. Michael Coles made the gate to win the reserves race for a 3-3 but the Bandits levelled again in heat 3. Ritchie Hawkins and Carl Wilkinson looked odds-on to take a 5-1 before Hawkins fell on the second bend of the third lap. He was still able to remount for third place as Andrew Tully had fallen on the third bend of the opening lap before remounting and was still well behind. With Wilkinson winning from Laukkanen the Bandits took a 4-2. Jacek Rempala leapt from the gate to win heat 4 from Wethers and Coles and a shared heat so the score was then 12-12.
Edinburgh were back in front after heat 5. This heat had to be rerun after Ritchie Hawkins ran into the back of Derek Sneddon on the second bend, fell and was excluded. In the rerun another fast gate and comfortable win from George Stancl looked like producing a 1-5 as Derek Sneddon was quickly into second place. However Sneddon was caught napping when Sam Martin using the banking on the third and fourth bends to great effect roared round the outside of the Monarchs’ captain for second place to limit the damage to a 2-4. Carl Wilkinson made the gate in heat 6 and held off the determined challenges of Matthew Wethers to win the race. Behind this pair Arlo Bugeja beat Kalle Katajisto for third place so the Bandits took a 4-2 which squared the match again at 18-18. It remained level after heat 7 produced a 3-3. It looked as though Rempala was going to beat Laukkanen with Tully third but the 3-3 came a different way. Laukkanen pressured Rempala into a mistake on the last two bends to pass him for the win but behind this pair Sam Martin produced another stunning ride to pass Andrew Tully on the run in to the line. Heat 8 always looked a bad one for the Bandits and so it turned out. Derek Sneddon and Michael Coles left the Berwick pair of Bekker and Bugeja well behind for an easy 1-5 which took the score to 22-26.
Berwick needed to hit back quickly and they looked to be well placed to do so in heat 9 with Rempala and Hawkins pairing up for the home side but Matthew Wethers had other ideas. He soon passed Hawkins who pulled out of the race with engine failure on the fourth bend of lap 2 and chased hard after Rempala. Rempala couldn’t contain him and Wethers powered under him to win the race. Kalle Katajisto, who had missed the two minutes time allowance and had to go from 15 metres back, picked up the gift third place point so Edinburgh scored a killer 2-4 to go six points ahead. They added a 1-5 in heat 10. Kai Laukkanen and Michael Coles, replacing Andrew Tully, gated to leave Carl Wilkinson well behind increasing the visitors’ lead to ten points. Incredibly Berwick didn’t give Jacek Rempala a Tactical Ride in heat 11 which he won comfortably from Stancl and Sneddon for a 3-3 but gave it instead to Ritchie Hawkins in heat 12 instead. Since Hawkins had scored just one point from his three rides it seemed a strange decision and sure enough Hawkins failed to score again. Kai Laukkanen was fast away with Hawkins on his tail and, with Michael Coles comfortably third it looked like a 4-4. However Hawkins spun round on the fourth bend of the third lap to ride straight onto the centre green and Michael Coles was through to join his partner for another 1-5 which took the score to 29-43.
Matthew Wethers rode a brilliant first bend in heat 13 to pass the field while George Stancl clamped Carl Wilkinson to the line leaving Rempala to chase Wethers. He got nowhere near him however as Wethers won by a county mile with the Monarchs adding two more points to their lead with the 2-4. At last Ritchie Hawkins made a fast start in heat 14 and completed the race for a 3-3 ahead of Coles and Tully then Edinburgh rounded off a miserable night for the Bandits by adding another 1-5. Laukkanen and Wethers got the better of Carl Wilkinson with Rempala stuck at the back. The Edinburgh pair took an easy 1-5 as Rempala gave up. This win gave Edinburgh all three points and a glimmer of hope that they might still make the Young Shield. The match was a personal triumph for Michael Coles whose paid 16 points on his return to his former track must be his highest score for a very long time.
Scorers: For Berwick – Jacek Rempala 12 (6), Carl Wilkinson 10 (6), Sam Martin 4+2 (6), Ritchie Hawkins 4 (5), Byron Bekker 4 (4), Arlo Bugeja 1 (3).
For Edinburgh – Kai Laukkanen 14 (5), Michael Coles 12+4 (6), Matthew Wethers 12+1 (5), George Stancl 9 (4), Derek Sneddon 6+1 (4), Andrew Tully 1+1 (3), Kalle Katajisto 1 (3).
Sunday Sport Trophy (first leg): Stoke 49, Sheffield 41
Stoke had Jon Armstrong at number 6 in place of Barrie Evans while Sheffield used Rider Replacement for Paul Cooper who was absent through riding in a grass track event and had Luke Priest at number 6 in place of James Birkinshaw who is out for the rest of the season. The Tigers nominated Ben Hopwood as their number 8.
Ben Barker and Lee Complin kicked off with a 5-1 ahead of Ashworth and Wilson while James Cockle won the reserves race for a shared heat. Glenn Cunningham beat Andre Compton in heat 3 with Rusty Harrison third for a 4-2 which increased the home side’s lead to 6 points while Claus Vissing earned the Potters a shared heat by winning heat 4 taking the score to 15-9.
Ricky Ashworth won heat 5 for a 3-3 but another Barker/Complin 5-1 in heat 6 saw Stoke build up a ten point lead to take the score to 23-13. Andre Compton hit back by winning heat 7 in the rerun after Claus Vissing had fallen and been excluded. This gave Sheffield a 2-4 cutting the gap to eight points then Ben Barker won heat 8 for a shared race giving a score of 28-20.
Another Cunningham win in heat 9 shared the points but the Potters were ten points to the good again with a 4-2 in heat 10 when Ben Barker beat Andre Compton with Lee Complin third. Ricky Ashworth and Ben Wilson scored a maximum for the Tigers in heat 11 to cut the gap to six points but it was back to eight again when Cunningham beast Compton again in heat 12 with Armstrong third for a 4-2 after which the score read 40-32.
Ricky Ashworth beat Lee Complin in heat 13 with Ben Wilson third so the Tigers’ 2-4 reduced the gap to six points but a heat 14 5-1 for the Potters from Jon Armstrong and Jaimie Smith wrapped up the win for the home side putting them ten ahead again. Ashworth won the last race from Cunningham with Andre Compton third for a 2-4 which resulted in Stoke taking an eight point lead for the second leg.
Scorers: For Stoke – Glenn Cunningham 13 (5), Ben Barker 12 (5), Jon Armstrong 9 (5), Lee Complin 7+2 (4), Jaimie Smith 3+2 (4), Claus Vissing 3 (4), Rusty Harrison 2+1 (3).
For Sheffield – Ricky Ashworth 12+1 (5), Andre Compton 12 (6), James Cockle 6+2 (5), Ben Wilson 6 (5), Joel Parson 4+1 (5), Luke Priest 1 (4), Ben Hopwood 0 (1).
Challenge Match: Workington 51, Birmingham 42
Workington used Rider Replacement at number 2 for Mattia Carpanese and had Joe Haines at number 7 in place of John Branney who was riding in the Conference League Riders’ Championship. Birmingham were missing Manuel Hauzinger, Henrik Moller and Lee Smart. They introduced Phil Morris, their new signing to replace the injured Emiliano Sanchez, at number 2 and used Rider Replacement at number 1 for Hauzinger while Chris Kerr guested at number 4 for Moller and Scott James replaced Lee Smart at number 6.
A makeshift Birmingham side provided an entertaining meeting in this challenge match at Workington but the meeting was marred by a heat 13 fall by Henning Bager which resulted in a broken arm which will sideline him for the rest of the season.
After a shared opening race the teams traded 4-2s in heats 2 and 3 before a run of three shared races kept the scored tied at 18-18. Workington took the lead in heat 7 when Ulrich Ostergaard beat Jason Lyons with Charles Wright third for a 4-2 and two point lead which remained the same after a shared heat 8 with the score standing at 25-23.
The next three heats all went the Comets’ way. Craig Branney and James Wright scored the first 5-1 of the meeting in heat 9 and when Jason Lyons suffered an engine failure at the tapes in heat 10 the home side added another two points to their lead with a 4-2. They took another 4-2 in heat 11 with an Ostergaard win over Bager with Joe Haines taking third place after the race had been rerun due to a Phil Morris fall and exclusion. The Comets’ lead had now stretched to ten points at 38-28 so Jason Lyons took a Tactical Ride in heat 12. He won it and was supported in second place by Ben Powell for the big 1-8 ahead of the Wright brothers which took the score to 39-36.
Alas Bager’s unfortunate accident in heat 13 ended his night and saw Workington cash in with a 5-1 from Ostergaard and Nieminen. A shared heat 14 was followed by a 4-2 finish for the home side with Nieminen completing his paid maximum by beating Jason Lyons with Ulrich Ostergaard in third place.
Scorers: For Workington – Kauko Nieminen 14+1 (5)(paid maximum), Ulrich Ostergaard 13 (5), Craig Branney 11+1 (5), James Wright 7+1 (4), Charles Wright 5 (6), Joe Haines 1 (6).
For Birmingham – Jason Lyons 15 (6)(with 6 point TR), Ben Powell 12+2 (6), Henning Bager 6+1 (5), Phil Morris 4+1 (5), Chris Kerr 3+1 (5), Scott James 2+1 (3).
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