Around the Premier League Tracks 2007
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Saturday, 27 October

There were two individual meetings held tonight. One was the Garry Stead meeting at Stoke while the other was the Ace of Herts meeting at Rye House.


Garry Stead Meeting: at Stoke

Winner: Rory Schlein (Coventry)
Second: Ben Barker (Stoke)
Third: George Stancl (Edinburgh)

The format used was the standard one with 16 riders, 20 heats and each rider meeting each other once. The winner was the top point scorer from the 20 heats. In addition to the main event there were three ‘Old Men Racers’ heats between Les Collins, Gary O’Hare, Alan Grahame and Rob Hollingsworth. In the main event there was one casualty when the unfortunate Gareth Isherwood fell in heat 6 and withdrew from the meeting with a suspected broken wrist.

Rory Schlein won the meeting with a 15 point maximum. However it wasn’t all from the gate. In heat 4 he passed Adam Allott on the third lap on the outside while in heat 6 he didn’t realise that he had only completed three laps and coasted the latter part of the fourth yet still won the race! Mark Lemon led heat 11 from the gate but Rory Schlein passed him coming off the second bend to win that one. In heat 13 Ben Barker gated and looked in good position but Rory Schlein took Rob Grant wide causing him to fall on the first bend. The race was rerun with all four and Schlein made no mistake at the second time of asking. He then went on to beat George Stancl in heat 20 for a full house.

Ben Barker was runner up beaten only by Schlein and Tony Atkin after a titanic struggle between the two in heat 5. Third place went to George Stancl who finished a point ahead of former Potter, Mark Lemon, and James Wright while no fewer than eleven of the sixteen competitors won a race!

The meeting was of course in aid of Stoke’s Garry Stead who suffered such dreadful injuries which have confined him to a wheelchair in the match at Somerset earlier in the season . There was an excellent attendance which resulted in a full grandstand with supporters there from other tracks all of which contributed to an excellent evening’s entertainment including a fireworks display to bring Stoke’s 2007 season to a close.

Scorers - (five rides each): – Rory Schlein 15, Ben Barker 13, George Stancl 11, Mark Lemon 10, James Wright 10, Tony Atkin 9, Emil Kramer 7, Barrie Evans 7, Trent Leverington 7, Lee Dicken 7, Adam Allott 6, Rob Grant 6, Luke Priest 5, Jonathan Bethell 4, Gareth Isherwood 1 (2), Alan Grahame (Res) 1 (1), Aidan Collins 0.

‘Old Men Racers’ Scorers (from 3 rides each): - Alan Grahame 7, Rob Hollingsworth 6, Les Collins 4, Gary O’Hare 1.

Ace of Herts: at Rye House

Winner: Tommy Allen (Rye House)
Second: Chris Neath (Rye House)
Third: Tai Woffinden (Rye House)

Rye House brought their highly successful season to a close with this annual individual event which was followed by a fireworks display. The format for this meeting was a 12 rider, 15 heat one with the top eight riders proceeding to two semi-finals with the top two from each semi-final going through to the final. In the end it was a clean sweep for Rye House for first, second and third although the leader from the qualifying heats was Danny King. Edward Kennett finished third in the qualifying heats yet neither King nor Kennett could finish in the top three.

The four riders eliminated after the opening twelve heats were Robert Mear. Adam Roynon, Luke Bowen and Karlis Ezergailis with the other eight competing in the semi-finals, the first of which produced a win for Tommy Allen from Edward Kennett. Eliminated as a result of finishing third and fourth were Danny King and Lewis Bridger whose chain snapped on the third bend of the last lap causing him to fall while in second place.

In the second semi-final Chris Neath won from Tai Woffinden in a race decided from the gate. Eliminated as a result of finishing third and fourth in this race were Steve Boxall and Leigh Lanham. The final was decided from the gate and, perhaps surprisingly considering he only scored 7 points from his five opening rides, was won by Tommy Allen from Chris Neath and Tai Woffinden with Edward Kennett trailing in last.

Scorers - from the qualifying heats (from 5 rides each): – Danny King 13, Chris Neath 12, Edward Kennett 11, Tai Woffinden 10, Lewis Bridger 8, Leigh Lanham 7, Tommy Allen 7, Steve Boxall 7, Robert Mear 5, Adam Roynon 4, Luke Bowen 4, Karlis Ezergailis 2.