Friday 19 October 2007

Around the Premier League Tracks 2007
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Friday, 19 October



Tonight’s big match was at Somerset where the Rebels took on King’s Lynn in the first leg of the final of the Premier League Knockout Cup.



Knockout Cup: Final, First leg: Somerset 44, King’s Lynn 46.


Somerset had Chris Holder deputising for Magnus Zetterstrom at number 1 while King’s Lynn were at full strength.

Chris Holder suffered an engine failure in heat 1 and Tomas Topinka and Paul Lee took full advantage to get King’s Lynn off to the perfect start with a 1-5 over Simon Walker but the Rebels hit back immediately with a 5-1 in the reserves race through Stefan Katt and Daniel Warwick over Simon Lambert. King’s Lynn went back in front again with a 2-4 in heat 3. Daniel Nermark and Jordan Frampton were involved in a thrilling race with Nermark prevailing. Trevor Harding finished third against an ailing Kramer so the Stars went two points up. Chris Mills then won heat 4 from Hawkins and Lambert for a shared heat and the score then stood at 11-13.

Jordan Frampton fell in heat 5 and was excluded from the rerun which was won by Tomas Topinka from Emil Kramer. Paul Lee’s third place point gave the Stars another 2-4 increasing their lead to four points but it was all square again one heat later. Although Chris Mills made the gate in heat 6 Chris Holder passed him on the inside and Simon Walker on the outside of the first bend to take a much needed 5-1 for the Rebels to level the match. However King’s Lynn re-took the lead in heat 7. Daniel Nermark won the race from Ritchie Hawkins while Trevor Harding finished third after a good scrap with Stephan Katt for the odd point. The 2-4 put the Stars two points up again but Somerset wiped their lead out and went in front by two points after taking another 5-1 from heat 8. Simon Walker won the race comfortably but Daniel Warwick just held off Paul Lee fore the vital second place which took the score to 25-23.

There then followed six shared races but three retirals by Somerset riders made it hard for the home side to add to their advantage. In heat 9 an unsatisfactory start was declared when Jordan Frampton fell on the first bend. In the rerun Emil Kramer beat Chris Mills but Jordan Frampton never left the tapes so Mills and Allott only had to finish the race for a 3-3. Chris Holder won heat 10 but Nermark settled in second place while Harding roared round the outside of Walker on the second lap for third and another 3-3. In heat 11 Stefan Katt rode an excellent race to round the field on the outside on the first two bends then held off Tomas Topinka for all four laps but Ritchie Hawkins retired while lying third so another 3-3 resulted. Daniel Nermark won heat 12 from Kramer while Warwick just held off Allott on the run in to the line for the fourth shared heat in a row taking the score to 37-35.

Chris Holder won heat 13 from Topinka and Mills for the fifth consecutive shared heat and it became six in a row in heat 14. Stefan Katt and Jordan Frampton were headed for a 5-1 from the race when Frampton shed a chain on the third lap leaving the Rebels with just one finisher again. Somerset’s jinxed night continued in the last race when, after taking the lead from the start, Chris Holder retired on the back straight of the first lap leaving Daniel Nermark to hit the front. Emil Kramer held second place until he was passed by Tomas Topinka on the last lap resulting in a 1-5 to the Stars overturning their two point arrears and giving them a two point lead to take into the second leg next Wednesday.

Scorers: For Somerset – Stefan Katt 9 (4), Chris Holder 9 (5), Emil Kramer 8 (5), Daniel Warwick 6+4 (4), Simon Walker 6+1 (4), Ritchie Hawkins 4 (4), Jordan Frampton 2 (4).

For King’s Lynn – Daniel Nermark 14 (5), Tomas Topinka 12+1 (5), Chris Mills 7+1 (4), Paul Lee 5+2 (4), Trevor Harding 5+1 (4), Simon Lambert 2+1 (4), Adam Allott 1+1 (4).

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