Around the Premier League Tracks 2008

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Sunday, 6 January

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Well it may not have been the first meeting of the season but it was certainly the first meeting staged in Britain in 2008. The honour of kicking off the year went once again to Newport who were staging the annual Newport New Year Classic.

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New Year Classic: at Newport

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Winner: Chris Harris
Second: Brent Werner
Third: Leigh Lanham

The meeting took the form of a 12 rider individual with 15 qualifying heats culminating in a final contested by the top four point scorers from the heats. There had been some call offs since the original field was assembled with Lee Bridger replacing Lee Complin who is still suffering from the foot injury he sustained at Glasgow last October. David Howe had also withdrawn since he was not fully fit following the broken collarbone he suffered at the end of last season. He was replaced by Adam Roynon.

The opening race resulted in a win for Chris Harris who gated last but had passed early race leader Krzysztof Stojanowski after the first lap. Ricky Ashworth retired on the third lap leaving Adam Roynon to finish third. After a tapes malfunction and rerun to heat 2, the race had to be stopped as Phil Morris fell on the first bend. He was allowed back in the rerun but lost out in a battle at the back for third place to Leigh Lanham while Lewis Bridger showed he was in great form racing off to a fine win ahead of Brent Werner. Paul Fry became the first Premier League rider to win a race in heat 3 beating Marek Mroz. Ritchie Hawkins passed Marcin Kozdras who then retired from the race. All the riders had had one race each and Harris, Bridger and Fry led the field with their race wins.

Lewis Bridger added a second race win to his name in heat 4 but he had to work hard to shake off Adam Roynon. Marek Mroz shed a chain leaving Brent Werner to pickup the third place point. Leigh Lanham jumped the start to heat 5 causing the race to be called back but he wasn’t to be denied and passed the field on the first bend to win heat 5 from Phil Morris, Ricky Ashworth and Paul Fry. There was drama in heat 6 as Marcin Kozdras fell while Lewis Bridger spun at the same time and both were excluded from the rerun, Bridger because he was not under power at the time of the stoppage. Both were at the back at the time and, in the two rider rerun, Ritchie Hawkins beat Krzysztof Stojanowski.

Chris Harris won again in heat 7 after a fast start while the rejuvenated Brent Werner held off a strong challenge from Adam Roynon to finish second with Paul Fry bringing up the rear. Ricky Ashworth and Leigh Lanham clashed at the start of heat 8 so the race was rerun with all four back. Ricky Ashworth made a blinding start in the rerun and won from Lanham while Stojanowski took third from Mroz. Phil Morris made the gate in heat 9 but was no match for Chris Harris who passed him coming off the second bend. This time Marcin Kozdras finished the race but still remained pointless as Ritchie Hawkins took third place. All the riders now had completed three rides each and Harris led the field with 9 points from Leigh Lanham and Lewis Bridger with 6 and Ritchie Hawkins, Brent Werner and Krzysztof Stojanowski with 5.

Heat 10 was uneventful with Paul Fry winning from the gate from Morris, Stojanowski and Mroz but heat 11 had only two finishers! Ricky Ashworth fell and was excluded but in the melee Lewis Bridger and Ritchie Hawkins were also involved. Bridger withdrew from the rerun leaving Ritchie Hawkins to beat Brent Werner. By this stage gate 4 was proving to be a big advantage to its starting occupant and Adam Roynon used it well to win heat 12. Phil Morris was in second place but an expiring machine allowed Leigh Lanham to pass him although he had enough momentum to hold off Marcin Kozdras.

With Lewis Bridger having withdrawn from the meeting Chris Harris rattled up his fourth win in a three rider heat 13. Paul Fry took second with Marek Mroz picking up the gift third place. Ricky Ashworth had also withdrawn so heat 14 too had only three riders. Brent Werner won the race from Krzysztof Stojanowski while Marcin Kozdras at last picked up a point from completing the four laps. In heat 15 Chris Harris made a poor gate and, although he passed Leigh Lanham, he couldn’t catch race leader Ritchie Hawkins while Adam Roynon retired at the back.

At the end of the 15 races the finalists were Brent Werner, Leigh Lanham, Ritchie Hawkins and Chris Harris. It was Harris who won the final from Werner and Lanham with Hawkins bringing up the rear. I wonder if Brent Werner might make a comeback after this performance possibly in Newport’s colours? Just a thought.

Scorers - from the qualifying heats (from 5 rides each): – Chris Harris 14, Brent Werner 11, Ritchie Hawkins 10, Leigh Lanham 9, Krzysztof Stojanowski 8, Paul Fry 8, Phil Morris 7, Adam Roynon 7, Lewis Bridger 6 (4), Ricky Ashworth 4 (4), Marek Mroz 3, Marcin Kozdras 1.