Around the Premier League Tracks 2007
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Friday, 26 October


Somerset wound down their season tonight with a challenge match against an International Select.



Challenge Match: Somerset 49, International Select 44.



Somerset tracked Ricky Ashworth at number 1 in place of Magnus Zetterstrom and used Rider Replacement at number 2 for Simon Walker. The International Select side consisted of Bjarne Pedersen and Tomas Suchanek as the top pairing, Mark Lemon and Matt Bates at numbers 3 and 4 with the ubiquitous Filip Sitera at number 5 partnering the two reserves Casper Wortmann and Luke Bowen.

Somerset finished off the season by beating a select side which had effectively only four scorers. The Rebels had only five race winners but still managed to finish five points ahead of their opponents for whom Bjarne Pedersen was a class above the rest.

The first race resulted in an easy win for Bjarne Pedersen while Ricky Ashworth’s fall while holding third place cost the Rebels a 2-4 but they replied with a 5-1 in the reserves race. Daniel Warwick won the race while Casper Wortmann lost his second place to Stephan Katt. He slipped to the back when passed by his partner, Luke Bowen, and Bowen’s charge almost got him past Katt on the line. The Rebels then took another 5-1 from heat 3 stretching their lead to six points. Emil Kramer and Jordan Frampton made the gate to head home Mark Lemon but the Select hit back with a 2-4 from heat 4. Filip Sitera drove round the outside of Danny Warwick to win the race then Warwick suffered a puncture on the last lap on the run in to the line allowing Luke Bowen through for third place. The score now stood at 14-10.

Bjarne Pedersen sailed home for another race win in heat 5 from Emil Kramer but, behind this pair, Tomas Suchanek and Jordan Frampton passed and re-passed each other for the third place point which eventually went to Frampton for a shared race. Somerset hit another 5-1 in heat 6 courtesy of Stephan Katt and Ricky Ashworth who left Filip Sitera floundering at the gate. This increased the Rebels’ lead to eight points and they stretched it further to ten with a 4-2 in heat 7. Stephan Katt, out for two on the trot, won again with a flying start this time to beat Mark Lemon. Ritchie Hawkins’ third place added an extra two points to the home side’s lead but the International Select then gave Filip Sitera a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres back in heat 8 replacing Tomas Suchanek. Sitera made light work of his handicap and had gone ahead by the end of the third lap. However Ritchie Hawkins and Stephan Katt filled the minor places so the heat resulted in a 3-6 to the visitors making the score 29-22.

Casper Wortmann had a fearful crash on the back straight of heat 9 requiring medical treatment. He recovered but was excluded from the rerun in which Emil Kramer held off the determined challenge of Filip Sitera to win the race. This gave the Rebels another 4-2 advantage stretching their lead to 9 points. Mark Lemon made the gate to win heat 10 from Ashworth and Warwick for a shared race then Bjarne Pedersen rejoined the fray by winning heat 11 from Ritchie Hawkins. Stephan Katt and Tomas Suchanek had an interesting tussle for the third place point which finally went to Katt for another shared race. It was Lemon to the fore again in heat 12 with another race win but, again, there was no support forthcoming for him so this heat ended as another 3-3 with the score now standing at 42-33.

Heat 13 provided another routine race win for Bjarne Pedersen but there was a great battle behind him between Ricky Ashworth and Filip Sitera for second. Ashworth hung on so the Select were restricted to a 2-4 heat win which closed the gap to seven points. Luke Bowen then joined the list of Select race winners by hanging on to beat Jordan Frampton in heat 14. Stephan Katt suffered an engine failure so Mark Bates picked up the gift third place point for another 2-4 to cut the gap again - this time to five points. It was too little too late with just one heat left in which Bjarne Pedersen completed his maximum heading home Kramer and Frampton with Lemon at the back.

Scorers: For Somerset – Emil Kramer 12 (5), Stephan Katt 11+4 (7), Jordan Frampton 9+3 (6), Ritchie Hawkins 7 (5), Ricky Ashworth 6+1 (4), Daniel Warwick 4+1 (3).

For the International Select – Bjarne Pedersen 15 (5)(full maximum), Filip Sitera 13 (5)(with 6 point TS), Mark Lemon 9 (5), Luke Bowen 5 (5), Tomas Suchanek 1 (3), Matt Bates 1 (4), Casper Wortmann 0 (3).