Around the Premier League Tracks 2008
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Sunday, 16 March
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There were at two Premier Trophy matches raced today. At Glasgow the Tigers raced Berwick while at Newcastle the Diamonds took on Stoke. In addition there were two other meetings. At Newport there was a testimonial meeting for Nick Simmons while at Birmingham they staged the Alan Hunt Memorial Trophy.


Premier Trophy: Glasgow 47, Berwick 43


Glasgow were without Ross Brady through injury and used Rider Replacement instead. They also introduced to the side newcomers Mitchell Davey and Josh Grajczonek. Berwick were without Manuel Hauzinger also through injury but were not allowed a facility for him so they tracked Greg Blair (Redcar Cubs) at number 5.

Glasgow grabbed victory from the jaws of defeat in this match. Berwick went into the last two heats leading by four points and were favourites to gain a heat advantage in heat 14 as top scorer Norbert Magosi and the impressive Tero Aarnio went up against Glasgow’s two young Australians, Mitchell Davey and Josh Grajczonek, who up till that point, had been off the pace. However the Tigers’ pair made excellent starts while Aarnio spun on the first bend and withdrew from the race and Magosi made a hash of the first bend and was left stranded at the back. The two Aussies raced off in tandem to record a 5-1 which tied the scores and brought the house down then Trent Leverington and Shane Parker almost inevitably scored another 5-1 in the last race as Adrian Rymel made a stinker of a gate while Michal Makovsky never looked like troubling the Tigers. Berwick lost Greg Blair when he crashed into the fourth bend fence in his first ride. The youngster was taken to the hospital and it was confirmed after the match that he had unfortunately broken his femur.

The Bandits were never behind until heat 15. They opened with a 2-4 as Adrian Rymel gated to lead Shane Parker home while Guglielmo Franchetti took third from R/R Mitchell Davey. Norbert Magosi gated to win the reserves race for a 3-3 then Berwick struck again with a 1-5 from the gate from Michal Makovsky and Tero Aarnio before tragedy struck Berwick’s guest, Greg Blair. He overshot the fourth bend and the bike collided with the fence throwing the youngster over the handlebars. It looked a bad fall and it turned out he had a broken leg. Lee Dicken and Robert Ksiezak had an easy 5-1 in the rerun so the score stood at 11-13.

Adrian Rymel gated again to win heat 5 for a shared race but the Tigers levelled again in heat 6, rerun with all four after Magosi had fallen on the first bend. Shane Parker won by a distance but Norbert Magosi took second from Robert Ksiezak (R/R) for a 4-2. Wins from Ksiezak and Leverington (R/R) in heats 7 and 8 kept the scores tied at 24-24.

Berwick took the lead again in heat 9. Norbert Magosi won the race from Trent Leverington while Adam McKinna finished third for a 2-4 and two point lead. Another Parker win in heat 10 produced a 3-3 but Berwick struck with their second 1-5 in heat 11 to surge six points ahead. Adrian Rymel and Guglielmo Franchetti made fast starts to relegate Robert Ksiezak to third place but Glasgow looked like pulling two points back in heat 12 when Trent Leverington led Michal Makovsky with Lee Dicken in third. However Dicken’s bike gave up the ghost on the last lap letting Norbert through for third. The score was now 33-39 and the Tigers were worried.

They cut the lead to four points in heat 13 when Shane Parker produced the race of the match when he reeled in Adrian Rymel to pass him coming off the fourth bend of the third lap. Ksiezak’s third place point gave Glasgow a 4-2 but things looked bleak for the home side as Davey and Grajczonek came to the tapes in heat 14. If the fat lady wasn’t exactly singing she was certainly gargling her throat but the stage was set for a remarkable finish. The Glasgow fans went wild when Davey and Grajczonek made the start leaving Aarnio to spin off the track on the first bend. By the time Magosi sorted himself out the two young Aussies were gone for the 5-1 levelling the scores once again. Leverington and Parker then came out in the last race and finished the Bandits off with another 5-1 leaving them distraught at the turn of events.

Scorers: For Glasgow – Shane Parker 13+1 (5), Trent Leverington 13+1 (6), Robert Ksiezak 8+1 (5), Lee Dicken 7 (6), Mitchell Davey 3 (4), Josh Grajczonek 3+2 (4).

For Berwick – Norbert Magosi 12+1 (6), Adrian Rymel 11 (5), Michal Makovsky 9+1 (5), Tero Aarnio 5+2 (4), Guglielmo Franchetti 4+2 (4), Adam McKinna 2 (5), Greg Blair 0 (1).



Premier Trophy: Newcastle 51, Stoke 42.


Newcastle were at full strength while Stoke introduced their new Danes Klaus Jacobsen and Jesper Kristiansen. Mark Burrows and Emiliano Sanchez also made their debuts for the Potters.

Ben Barker won the opening race for the Potters to share the points then the visitors took the lead with a 2-4 in heat 2 won by Mark Burrows from Sean Stoddart and Barrie Evans. The Diamonds reversed the lead with a 5-1 from Josef Franc and Jason King then added another 4-2 in heat 3 when George Stancl headed home Emiliano Sanchez after Buzz Burrows had fallen. The Diamonds had opened up a four point lead with the score now 14-10.

Another 5-1 from the King/Franc partnership left Stoke trailing by eight points but Barrie Evans won heat 6 from Christian Henry while Emiliano Sanchez’s third place pulled two points back for Stoke with a 2-4. Stancl won again in heat 7 and Barker in heat 8 with the score standing at 23-19 after heat 8.

A third 5-1 from the Franc/King pair shot the Diamonds into an eight point lead in heat 9 and it stayed that way in heat 10 when Christian Henry won the race. Ben Barker produced his third race win in heat 11 for another 3-3 then Jesper Kristiansen produced his first win in the Potters’ colours ruining Josef Franc’s maximum hopes in the process. With Barrie Evans finishing third Stoke pulled two points back and the score now stood at 39-33.

Stancl and Henry struck a decisive 5-1 in heat 13 for a 10 point lead to the home side just in time for Lee Complin to take a Tactical Ride in heat 14. When Complin and Buzz Burrows led the race it looked like Stoke would take a big 1-8 but Burrows fell on the last bend so they had to settle for a 3-6 advantage and Newcastle were home and dry. Franc rounded things off with a win from Complin in the last race while Stancl in third produced a 4-2 to the bandits and a nine point win.

Scorers: For Newcastle – Josef Franc 13+1 (5), George Stancl 12 (5), Jason King 9+2 (4), Christian Henry 9+1 (4), Ben Powell 3+1 (4), Sean Stoddart 3 (4), Jaimie Robertson 2+2 (4).

For Stoke – Lee Complin 12 (5) (with 6 point TR), Ben Barker 10 (5), Jesper Kristiansen 6+2 (4), Emiliano Sanchez 5 (4), Barrie Evans 5 (4), Mark Burrows 4 (4), Klaus Jacobsen 0 (4).

In the two individual meetings, Lewis Bridger won the Nick Simmons Testimonial meeting at Newport from Chris Harris, Billy Janniro and Mads Korneliussen while the the Alan Hunt Memorial Trophy at Birmingham was won by David Howe from Steve Johnston, Jason Lyons and Ricky Ashworth.