Around the Premier League Tracks 2008
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Friday, 2 May
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Tonight’s matches were at Edinburgh where the Monarchs raced King’s Lynn and at Somerset where the Rebels took on Scunthorpe both in Premier League matches.
Premier League: Edinburgh 54, King’s Lynn 39
Edinburgh were without Thomas Jonasson who was riding in the Swedish round of the under-21 Championship so used Rider Replacement at number 2. King’s Lynn were without the injured Kevin Doolan so had Shane Parker (Glasgow) as a guest at number 1.
This was Edinburgh’s first home league match of the season while it was King’s Lynn’s fourth away from home. The Monarchs went into the match on the back of a string of excellent wins both home and away but the Stars having faced a number of rained-off meetings and lost at Mildenhall and Reading last weekend were looking to get back on song.
What an excellent meeting this turned out to be as the Stars provided some stiff opposition. The Edinburgh riders must have been surprised to be confronted with a sun-soaked track rather than the usual rain-soaked one on a pleasant mild evening at Armadale. The excitement kicked off in heat 1 when William Lawson made the start from Shane Parker with Andrew Tully on Parker’s tail. While Parker tried hard to reel in Lawson, Tully was doing the same to Parker. It was Tully who eventually succeeded in passing Parker on the inside of the first bend on the third lap to join Lawson up front for an opening 5-1. The Stars were already in trouble when Aaron Summers rounded the field on the opening two bends of the reserves race and was joined by Andrew Tully for a second 5-1. Tomas Topinka jetted from the gate in heat 3 while Derek Sneddon gave chase. Sneddon tried an outside line drive off the fourth bend but locked up causing his partner, Ryan Fisher, to have to shut off to avoid hitting him. This allowed Topinka to sail off for a comfortable win and 3-3 but Edinburgh stretched their lead to ten points when Matthew Wethers led from tapes-to-flag in heat 4. Rusty Harrison passed Aaron Wethers for second place while Kozza Smith was challenging hard for third by the end of the race. The 4-2 took the score to 17-7.
Derek Sneddon led Shane Parker from the tapes in heat 5 but Shaun Tacey did his partner no favours by cutting under Parker and almost knocking him off. Ryan Fisher took full advantage by nipping through on the inside of the second bend to join Sneddon in a 5-1 with Parker finishing third. Rusty Harrison blasted from the tapes in heat 6 but was soon passed by William Lawson coming off the second bend for the win. John Oliver passed Summers for third and a shared race. Then we had a superb race between Matthew Wethers and Tomas Topinka who was on a TR in heat 7. Wethers passed the fast starting Topinka but the Stars’ man took up the challenge and reeled Wethers in again. When Wethers failed to move out to defend his lead, Topinka stormed round the outside of the last bend to pip Wethers for the win. This gave the Stars a 3-6 advantage cutting the lead to 11 points then we had another superb race in heat 8. Shane Parker replaced Kozza Smith as a Tactical Substitute from 15 metres back. Shaun Tacey made a fast start to lead the race but all eyes were on Parker as he tried to reel in Aaron Summers from his handicap. After several unsuccessful attempts he finally did it with an inside drive off the second bend on the last lap. He couldn’t quite get to Matthew Wethers in second place but it was Aaron Summers who brought the house down by repassing Parker off the last bend to relegate him to last and nullify the TS ride. The heat was shared and the score went to 31-20.
Derek Sneddon and Ryan Fisher increased the home side’s lead to 15 points with a 5-1 in heat 9 then the Monarchs added a 4-2 in heat 10 when William Lawson finally ended Tomas Topinka’s winning run. It looked like a 5-1 to the Monarchs when Ryan Fisher followed Sneddon off the second bend. Topinka wasn’t finished though and he chased after Fisher putting him under considerable pressure. On the last bend Fisher moved out to defend his position but overcooked the bend giving Topinka the chance to nip inside and win the race on the line. The Stars fought back with a 1-5 in heat 11. Shane Parker made a fast gate and was joined by Shaun Tacey as Matthew Wethers made an indifferent start. That’s the way it finished so the Edinburgh lead was down to 13 points. King’s Lynn got another two points back in heat 12 when Tomas Topinka won again this time from Sneddon with John Oliver third. The 2-4 took the score to 43-32.
Shane Parker and William Lawson served up a thrilling race in heat 13. Parker just edged ahead from the gate leaving Lawson to chase for all four laps. This he did and eventually got the better of Parker off the last bend to nose home ahead of the Stars’ guest right on the line. Ryan Fisher gated in heat 14 while Andrew Tully was passed by Kozza Smith for second. Tully caught up with Smith off the second bend, second lap but what was developing into an enthralling race was curtailed as Smith slid off on the third bend. Edinburgh ran away with the 5-1 but King’s Lynn got a consolation 2-4 in the final race. Shane Parker and Tomas Topinka made superb starts in the nominated riders’ race but Lawson passed Topinka with drive off the second bend to take up the chase on Parker. This time Parker had too big a lead for him to do anything about it so he won the race ruining Lawson’s maximum. Tomas Topinka finished third to cut the winning margin to 15 points.
Scorers: For Edinburgh – William Lawson 14 (5), Derek Sneddon 10 (5), Ryan Fisher 9+3 (5), Matthew Wethers 9 (5), Andrew Tully 7+3 (5), Aaron Summers 5+1 (5).
For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 15 (5) (with 6 point TR), Shane Parker 10 (6), Shaun Tacey 5+1 (4), Rusty Harrison 5 (4), John Oliver 3+1 (4), Kozza Smith 1 (4), Simon Lambert 0 (3).
Premier League: Somerset 63, Scunthorpe 29.
Both teams were at full strength.
After their stunning 64-28 win over Newcastle last week, Somerset didn’t do quite so well this week winning by only 34 points compared to last week’s 36! Scunthorpe simply had no answers and had Magnus Karlsson and Carl Wilkinson not managed five race wins between them the Scorpions would have been sunk without trace. As it was the Rebels went through the meeting without recording a last place.
The meeting started with two 5-1s for the home side from Doyle and Frampton then Werner and Walker before the Scorpions got off the mark with a 3-3 in the third heat. This turned out to be quite a battle between Magnus Karlsson and the Rebels’ new boy, Matthias Kroger. Karlsson managed to hold on to win on the line while Kramer made sure the points were shared by finishing third. Viktor Bergstrom did a black flip with tuck at the gate in heat 4 so was excluded and replaced by Byron Bekker. Stephan Katt streaked off for the win but Richard Hall rescued second place by passing Brent Werner for a 4-2 which took the score to 17-7.
It was back to the 5-1s in heats 5 and 6 with Kramer and Kroger ‘doing the business’ in the former and Frampton and Doyle in the latter. Heat 7 featured Magnus Karlsson again, this time on a TR. He made the gate but Stephan Katt soared round him on the third bend to relegate him to second. Simon Walker took third as Benji Compton retired from the race on the third lap. This meant that the race points were shared 4-4 and heat 8 resulted in a shared race too. Carl Wilkinson made the gate to win from Jordan Frampton while Werner won the battle at the back for third place taking the score to 34-16.
Emil Kramer scored a tapes-to-flag win in heat 9 while Matthias Kroger held off the challenge of Richard Hall for second and another 5-1. Magnus Karlsson ended Jason Doyle’s maximum hopes by winning heat 10 but this was only good enough for a 3-3. Carl Wilkinson made it back-to-back race winners for the Scorpions by passing Stephan Katt in heat 11 for another 3-3 then Magnus Karlsson completed the hat trick by winning heat 12 after getting the better of Emil Kramer on the first bend. Again there was no support so this race was shared too with the score moving to 48-26.
There ended the Scorpions’ resistance. The Rebels scored three more 5-1s over the last three heats with only heat 15 worthy of note. Stephan Katt got the better of Magnus Karlsson in that race while Matthias Kroger joined him up front by passing Karlsson up the inside for the maximum. With 15 last places, three riders failing to score and another failing to beat an opponent Scunthorpe will wish to draw a veil over this performance.
Scorers: For Somerset – Stephan Katt 14 (5), Matthias Kroger 11+3 (5), Jason Doyle 9+2 (4), Emil Kramer 9+1 (4), Jordan Frampton 8+2 (4), Simon Werner 6+3 (4), Brent Werner 6+2 (4).
For Scunthorpe – Magnus Karlsson 14 (5) (with 4 point TR), Carl Wilkinson 8 (5), Richard Hall 5 (5), Viktor Bergstrom 2 (6), Andrew Moore 0 (4), Benji Compton 0 (4), Byron Bekker 0 (3).
Premier League: Edinburgh 54, King’s Lynn 39
Edinburgh were without Thomas Jonasson who was riding in the Swedish round of the under-21 Championship so used Rider Replacement at number 2. King’s Lynn were without the injured Kevin Doolan so had Shane Parker (Glasgow) as a guest at number 1.
This was Edinburgh’s first home league match of the season while it was King’s Lynn’s fourth away from home. The Monarchs went into the match on the back of a string of excellent wins both home and away but the Stars having faced a number of rained-off meetings and lost at Mildenhall and Reading last weekend were looking to get back on song.
What an excellent meeting this turned out to be as the Stars provided some stiff opposition. The Edinburgh riders must have been surprised to be confronted with a sun-soaked track rather than the usual rain-soaked one on a pleasant mild evening at Armadale. The excitement kicked off in heat 1 when William Lawson made the start from Shane Parker with Andrew Tully on Parker’s tail. While Parker tried hard to reel in Lawson, Tully was doing the same to Parker. It was Tully who eventually succeeded in passing Parker on the inside of the first bend on the third lap to join Lawson up front for an opening 5-1. The Stars were already in trouble when Aaron Summers rounded the field on the opening two bends of the reserves race and was joined by Andrew Tully for a second 5-1. Tomas Topinka jetted from the gate in heat 3 while Derek Sneddon gave chase. Sneddon tried an outside line drive off the fourth bend but locked up causing his partner, Ryan Fisher, to have to shut off to avoid hitting him. This allowed Topinka to sail off for a comfortable win and 3-3 but Edinburgh stretched their lead to ten points when Matthew Wethers led from tapes-to-flag in heat 4. Rusty Harrison passed Aaron Wethers for second place while Kozza Smith was challenging hard for third by the end of the race. The 4-2 took the score to 17-7.
Derek Sneddon led Shane Parker from the tapes in heat 5 but Shaun Tacey did his partner no favours by cutting under Parker and almost knocking him off. Ryan Fisher took full advantage by nipping through on the inside of the second bend to join Sneddon in a 5-1 with Parker finishing third. Rusty Harrison blasted from the tapes in heat 6 but was soon passed by William Lawson coming off the second bend for the win. John Oliver passed Summers for third and a shared race. Then we had a superb race between Matthew Wethers and Tomas Topinka who was on a TR in heat 7. Wethers passed the fast starting Topinka but the Stars’ man took up the challenge and reeled Wethers in again. When Wethers failed to move out to defend his lead, Topinka stormed round the outside of the last bend to pip Wethers for the win. This gave the Stars a 3-6 advantage cutting the lead to 11 points then we had another superb race in heat 8. Shane Parker replaced Kozza Smith as a Tactical Substitute from 15 metres back. Shaun Tacey made a fast start to lead the race but all eyes were on Parker as he tried to reel in Aaron Summers from his handicap. After several unsuccessful attempts he finally did it with an inside drive off the second bend on the last lap. He couldn’t quite get to Matthew Wethers in second place but it was Aaron Summers who brought the house down by repassing Parker off the last bend to relegate him to last and nullify the TS ride. The heat was shared and the score went to 31-20.
Derek Sneddon and Ryan Fisher increased the home side’s lead to 15 points with a 5-1 in heat 9 then the Monarchs added a 4-2 in heat 10 when William Lawson finally ended Tomas Topinka’s winning run. It looked like a 5-1 to the Monarchs when Ryan Fisher followed Sneddon off the second bend. Topinka wasn’t finished though and he chased after Fisher putting him under considerable pressure. On the last bend Fisher moved out to defend his position but overcooked the bend giving Topinka the chance to nip inside and win the race on the line. The Stars fought back with a 1-5 in heat 11. Shane Parker made a fast gate and was joined by Shaun Tacey as Matthew Wethers made an indifferent start. That’s the way it finished so the Edinburgh lead was down to 13 points. King’s Lynn got another two points back in heat 12 when Tomas Topinka won again this time from Sneddon with John Oliver third. The 2-4 took the score to 43-32.
Shane Parker and William Lawson served up a thrilling race in heat 13. Parker just edged ahead from the gate leaving Lawson to chase for all four laps. This he did and eventually got the better of Parker off the last bend to nose home ahead of the Stars’ guest right on the line. Ryan Fisher gated in heat 14 while Andrew Tully was passed by Kozza Smith for second. Tully caught up with Smith off the second bend, second lap but what was developing into an enthralling race was curtailed as Smith slid off on the third bend. Edinburgh ran away with the 5-1 but King’s Lynn got a consolation 2-4 in the final race. Shane Parker and Tomas Topinka made superb starts in the nominated riders’ race but Lawson passed Topinka with drive off the second bend to take up the chase on Parker. This time Parker had too big a lead for him to do anything about it so he won the race ruining Lawson’s maximum. Tomas Topinka finished third to cut the winning margin to 15 points.
Scorers: For Edinburgh – William Lawson 14 (5), Derek Sneddon 10 (5), Ryan Fisher 9+3 (5), Matthew Wethers 9 (5), Andrew Tully 7+3 (5), Aaron Summers 5+1 (5).
For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 15 (5) (with 6 point TR), Shane Parker 10 (6), Shaun Tacey 5+1 (4), Rusty Harrison 5 (4), John Oliver 3+1 (4), Kozza Smith 1 (4), Simon Lambert 0 (3).
Premier League: Somerset 63, Scunthorpe 29.
Both teams were at full strength.
After their stunning 64-28 win over Newcastle last week, Somerset didn’t do quite so well this week winning by only 34 points compared to last week’s 36! Scunthorpe simply had no answers and had Magnus Karlsson and Carl Wilkinson not managed five race wins between them the Scorpions would have been sunk without trace. As it was the Rebels went through the meeting without recording a last place.
The meeting started with two 5-1s for the home side from Doyle and Frampton then Werner and Walker before the Scorpions got off the mark with a 3-3 in the third heat. This turned out to be quite a battle between Magnus Karlsson and the Rebels’ new boy, Matthias Kroger. Karlsson managed to hold on to win on the line while Kramer made sure the points were shared by finishing third. Viktor Bergstrom did a black flip with tuck at the gate in heat 4 so was excluded and replaced by Byron Bekker. Stephan Katt streaked off for the win but Richard Hall rescued second place by passing Brent Werner for a 4-2 which took the score to 17-7.
It was back to the 5-1s in heats 5 and 6 with Kramer and Kroger ‘doing the business’ in the former and Frampton and Doyle in the latter. Heat 7 featured Magnus Karlsson again, this time on a TR. He made the gate but Stephan Katt soared round him on the third bend to relegate him to second. Simon Walker took third as Benji Compton retired from the race on the third lap. This meant that the race points were shared 4-4 and heat 8 resulted in a shared race too. Carl Wilkinson made the gate to win from Jordan Frampton while Werner won the battle at the back for third place taking the score to 34-16.
Emil Kramer scored a tapes-to-flag win in heat 9 while Matthias Kroger held off the challenge of Richard Hall for second and another 5-1. Magnus Karlsson ended Jason Doyle’s maximum hopes by winning heat 10 but this was only good enough for a 3-3. Carl Wilkinson made it back-to-back race winners for the Scorpions by passing Stephan Katt in heat 11 for another 3-3 then Magnus Karlsson completed the hat trick by winning heat 12 after getting the better of Emil Kramer on the first bend. Again there was no support so this race was shared too with the score moving to 48-26.
There ended the Scorpions’ resistance. The Rebels scored three more 5-1s over the last three heats with only heat 15 worthy of note. Stephan Katt got the better of Magnus Karlsson in that race while Matthias Kroger joined him up front by passing Karlsson up the inside for the maximum. With 15 last places, three riders failing to score and another failing to beat an opponent Scunthorpe will wish to draw a veil over this performance.
Scorers: For Somerset – Stephan Katt 14 (5), Matthias Kroger 11+3 (5), Jason Doyle 9+2 (4), Emil Kramer 9+1 (4), Jordan Frampton 8+2 (4), Simon Werner 6+3 (4), Brent Werner 6+2 (4).
For Scunthorpe – Magnus Karlsson 14 (5) (with 4 point TR), Carl Wilkinson 8 (5), Richard Hall 5 (5), Viktor Bergstrom 2 (6), Andrew Moore 0 (4), Benji Compton 0 (4), Byron Bekker 0 (3).
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