Around the Premier League Tracks 2007

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Saturday, 29 September

There were two meetings held tonight. At Workington the Cumberland Classic took place while at Rye House there was a benefit meeting for Stuart Robson entitled “Robbo’s Champions Chase”.


The Cumberland Classic at: Workington

Winner: Simon Stead (Belle Vue)
Second: Ulrich Ostergaard (Workington)
Third: Kauko Nieminen (Workington)

An interesting 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.

In addition to the six Comets’ riders there were a number of Elite League riders in the field with other Premier League heat leaders and some young Continental youngsters with little experience of British tracks.

Simon Stead, Kevin Doolan, Josef Franc and Kai Laukkanen were the early race winners but after each rider had had two races it was Simon Stead and Kevin Doolan who were the clear leaders with six points each. Ulrich Ostergaard, Josef Franc and Kai Laukkanen were their closest challengers with 5 points each.

After heat 12 when all riders had taken three rides Simon Stead remained unbeaten with 9 points after beating Kevin Doolan in heat 9. Doolan was now in joint second place with 8 points along with Ulrich Ostergaard while Kauko Nieminen and Kai Laukkanen were one further point back with 7 points. In heat 12 David Howe fell and retired from the meeting with a dislocated collarbone.

Following the third stanza of four races had been completed by heat 16 Simon Stead was still unbeaten after winning from Tomas Topinka in heat 14. The leader from the chasing pack was, home man, Ulrich Ostergaard one point adrift. Kauko Nieminen won again to move onto the 10 point mark along with Kevin Doolan whom he beat in heat 16.

In the final four races Kauko Nieminen (in heat 18) and Ulrich Ostergaard (in heat 19) kept up the pressure by winning for the fourth time each leaving Simon Stead needing to win heat 20 to win the meeting outright. This he did by heading home Kai Laukkanen and James Wright for a full house.

Scorers:– Simon Stead 15, Ulrich Ostergaard 14. Kauko Nieminen 13, Kevin Doolan 10, Kai Laukkanen 10, James Wright 9, Tomas Topinka 9, Charles Wright 8, Josef Franc 8, David Howe 4 (3), Tero Aarnio 4, Peter Juul 4, Chris Kerr 4, Josh Auty 4, John Branney 3, Craig Branney 1 (4).



Benefit Meeting at: Rye House – Robbo’s Champions Chase.

Winner: Chris Harris (Coventry)
Second: Steve Johnson (Coventry)
Third: Adam Roynon (Rye House)

This benefit meeting was held for Stuart Robson who rode for Rye House after many seasons with Coventry. Robson was involved in a terrible crash at Mildenhall on 29 April this year which resulted in him suffering a broken pelvis and two cracked vertebrae. His popularity was evident when he was able to put together a first class field of 32 riders from the three leagues to take part in this match.

There is little information at this stage other than the final result. It seems that the field was weeded down on an elimination basis until a final four riders were reached. Although it has still to be confirmed the process might have been along the lines of the first eight heats involving all the riders resulting in the last two in each heat being eliminated cutting the field to 16 riders. The next four heats would similarly have cut the field to eight riders. The next two races would then produce the four riders for the final. This would take the number of heats to 15. The fourth rider in the final was Daniel Nermark. Tai Woffinden broke the Rye House track record again but it was Chris Harris who won the event by going through the meeting unbeaten.