Around the Premier League Tracks 2007

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Wednesday, 26 September

Three meetings were due to take place tonight but yet again a meeting at King’s Lynn, where the Stars were due to meet the Isle of Wight in a Premier League match, fell victim to the weather and was postponed. The meetings at Stoke, where the Potters took on Berwick in a Premier League match, and at Birmingham, where they staged the Second City Trophy, did go ahead.


Premier League: Stoke 60, Berwick 31 Stoke won the aggregate bonus point by 108-73.


Stoke were again without Rusty Harrison and used Rider Replacement at number 4 while Berwick again had to track four guests and use Rider Replacement. At number 1 in place of Matej Kus they had Trent Leverington, at number 4 in place of Stanislaw Burza they had Chris Kerr, at reserve they had two guests – Scott James and Jonathan Bethell and they used Rider Replacement at number 3 in place of Michal Makovsky.

Stoke only had to win this match to take all three points and ensure their qualification for the Young Shield. There was never much danger of them failing to do that against a very weak Berwick side.

The match started with an easy 5-1 to the Potters as Lee Complin and Ben Barker left Trent Leverington well behind but the reserves race was shared. Barrie Evans fell twice on a very slippery track and was excluded from the rerun which was won by Jaimie Smith for a 3-3. In heat 3 Chris Kerr shed a chain and it was left to Bugeja and Evans to battle it out for second place behind Glenn Cunningham. Bugeja won that battle but the Potters added a 4-2. Jaimie Smith suffered an engine failure in heat 4 but Claus Vissing headed home Jonathan Bethell with Jacek Rempala coasting round at the back for the third place point to share the race. The score was now 15-9.

Complin and Cunningham added a 5-1 in heat 5 but they didn’t get it all their own way. Trent Leverington worked his way to the front coming off the second bend but Complin passed him two bends later with Cunningham following suit on the second lap. The riders were still having a very difficult time of it on the greasy surface. In heat 6 Jacek Rempala made a fast start but fell on the second bend. This left Ben Barker and Lee Complin to take an easy 5-1 ahead of Scott James to increase the home side’s lead to 14 points. Claus Vissing won heat 7 from Chris Kerr while Barrie Evans passed Trent Leverington for third place to give the Potters a 4-2. Ben Barker and Jaimie Smith scored another 5-1 for Stoke in heat 8 as Arlo Bugeja fell at the back and the score now stood at 34-14.

Claus Vissing fell while leading heat 9 while the Potters were on a 5-1 with Jacek Rempala coasting round at the back. In the rerun Jacek Rempala made a fast start but lost interest when passed by Glenn Cunningham for a 3-3. In heat 10 Jacek Rempala was given a Tactical Ride which seemed a strange decision given he was facing the unbeaten Complin/Barker pairing. Lee Complin won the race but Ben Barker fell on the first bend. Chris Kerr finished second while Barker remounted to finish just behind the coasting Rempala having made up the best part of a lap on him. This gave Berwick a 3-4 heat advantage. The Potters replied with a 4-2 in heat 11 with Claus Vissing beating Trent Leverington. Jaimie Smith gated to win heat 12 for the Potters but Scott James and Chris Kerr shared the race taking the score to 47-26.

Complin and Vissing added another 5-1 in heat 13 ahead of Leverington while Rempala again made no attempt to race then in heat 14 Berwick supplied a race winner in the shape of Chris Kerr. Ben Barker and Jaimie Smith filled the minor places for a shared race then in the last race the Potters finished off with a 5-1 as Claus Vissing made the gate and Lee Complin passed Trent Leverington for second place.

Scorers: For Stoke – Lee Complin 16+2 (6)(paid maximum), Claus Vissing 14+1 (6), Ben Barker 10+1 (5), Jaimie Smith 9+2 (5), Glenn Cunningham 8+1 (4), Barrie Evans 3 (4).

For Berwick – Chris Kerr 8+1 (5), Scott James 6+1 (4), Trent Leverington 6 (6), Jacek Rempala 5+1 (6)(with 2 point TR), Jonathan Bethell 4+1 (4), Arlo Bugeja 2 (5).




The Second City Trophy at: Birmingham

Winner: Jason Lyons
Second: Rory Schlein
Third: David Howe

An impressive line-up had been assembled for this meeting which took the form of a 16 rider, 20 heat individual with each rider programmed to have five rides facing each opponent once. The winner would be decided on total points scored.

Unfortunately Craig Watson and Chris Neath had to withdraw from the field and their places were taken by Chris Schramm and Lee Smart. Henrik Moller was also missing so his place was taken by Adam Lowe (Boston). Before the start the Birmingham promoter, Graham Drury, announced to the crowd that the BSPA had decided that it was not in the interests of British Speedway for Ronnie Correy to join the Brummies for the rest of the season. Birmingham had planned to bring Correy into the side for the rest of the season as a solution to their injury problems.

After the first group of four heats the unbeaten riders were Billy Janniro, Jason Lyons, Rory Schlein and Cameron Woodward with Phil Morris, Andre Compton, David Howe and Joe Screen all with two points to their names. In heat 3 Andy Smith fell and had to withdraw from the meeting to take a trip to hospital.

Over the second set of four races Jason Lyons and Rory Schlein won again to sit on six points while David Howe and Joe Screen had five with Billy Janniro and Andre Compton a further point adrift on four.

The third set of four races saw Rory Schlein win again to lead the field on his own with nine points after Jason Lyons was beaten by David Howe to leave both of these riders on eight together with Joe Screen. Their nearest challengers on six points were now Billy Janniro and Josef Franc.

In the fourth stanza of races Rory Schlein made it four wins on the trot to get one hand on the trophy while home rider, Jason Lyons, kept up the pressure by moving on to the eleven point mark along with Joe Screen. David Howe had slipped back to the nine point mark along with Billy Janniro. They were the only other riders within touching distance as the last four races approached. In heat 16 Ben Powell withdrew due to a wrist injury and, rather incredibly, Henrik Moller who had been having problems with his bike appeared in this race having been replaced initially by Adam Lowe.

It’s never over until the fat lady sings and she hadn’t yet sung as Rory Schlein found out by finishing third in a fantastic final race of the meeting behind Jason Lyons and Billy Janniro. This meant that Lyons won the meeting by finishing on 14 points from Schlein on 13. With Joe Screen finishing with a last and David Howe with a win it was Howe who finished third for a rostrum place.

Scorers:– Jason Lyons 14, Rory Schlein 13, David Howe 12, Billy Janniro 11, Joe Screen 11, Kauko Nieminen 10, Cameron Woodward 10, Josef Franc 9, Phil Morris 6, Andre Compton 6, Ronnie Correy 6, Chris Schramm 5, Lee Smart 3, Henrik Moller 2 (2), Ben Powell 1 (3), Adam Lowe 1 (7), Andy Smith 0 (1).