Around the Premier League Tracks 2008
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Sunday, 11 May
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Two matches were raced this afternoon in the Premier League, both featuring the Scottish clubs. One was at Mildenhall where the Fen Tigers raced Edinburgh; the other was at Glasgow where the Tigers took on the Isle of Wight.


Premier League: Mildenhall 30, Edinburgh 60


Mildenhall were without Mark Baseby so used Kyle Hughes as a guest at number 6. They also introduced their new signing Michal Rajkowski at number 1. Edinburgh were without Thomas Jonasson and used Rider Replacement at number 2.

Edinburgh recorded their biggest ever away win on a swelteringly hot day at the pleasant, well equipped West Row stadium. For Mildenhall it was another heavy home defeat in a season which so far has seen them record just one win. However, despite the score, this was a very entertaining match with some excellent races.

The Edinburgh riders were fast away and on a 1-5 in the opening heat when Jan Graversen came to grief on the first bend of lap three causing Michal Rajkowski to run into him. Both stricken riders recovered and the race was awarded to the Monarchs with Andrew Tully (R/R) first and William Lawson second. Mildenhall were already struggling when they conceded another 1-5 in heat 2 after Andrew Tully gated again for his second win on the trot. Aaron Summers passed Kyle Hughes off the second bend and the Fen Tigers were eight down. However the Monarchs were shaken out of any complacency when Henning Loof and Kai Laukkanen made perfect gates in heat 3 to score a 5-1 for the Fen Tigers lifting the home side’s heads again. They pulled two more points back in heat 4 when Robbie Kessler jetted from the gate followed by Kyle Hughes. Again Aaron Summers passed Hughes off the second bend but Matthew Wethers just couldn’t repeat the move so a 4-2 went the home side’s way taking the score to 11-13.

The floodgates then opened as Edinburgh ran riot with six 5-1s on the trot to leave their hosts floundering. Kai Laukkanen made the gate in heat 5 but William Lawson cut back off bend two to pass him. On the back straight of the second lap Aaron Summers smoothly passed Laukkanen too with an excellent inside move off bend two again. Jan Graversen and Michal Rajkowski gated for the Fen Tigers in heat 6 but Graversen lifted on the second bend allowing both Tully and Wethers through. The chase was on for the two Monarchs to reel in Rajkowski and they passed the Fen Tigers’ new boy in a joint move on the fourth bend for another 1-5. Now ten points down Mildenhall gave Robbie Kessler a TR in heat 7 but this failed. Derek Sneddon gated with Kessler just behind. Coming off the second bend Ryan Fisher forced his way past Kessler and the American raced past his partner for the win and another 1-5 for the Monarchs. The carnage continued in heat 8 as Aaron Summers and Matthew Wethers gated for a fourth consecutive 1-5 ahead of Jan Graversen taking the score to 15-33.

There was a pile up on the first bend of heat 9 when Andrew Tully and Kai Laukkanen came together. Laukkanen came off worse sliding into the fence and requiring medical attention but he recovered to take his place in the rerun in which Tully and Wethers depressed the home side further by jetting off for another 1-5. The Edinburgh riders made the gate in heat 10 too but had to do it again after Jan Graversen fell and was excluded. It was the same story in the rerun but the Monarchs pair of Sneddon and Fisher had to team ride to keep out the determined challenges of Michal Rajkowski who was on their tails all race. Finally after a stunning gate by Robbie Kessler the maximum heat wins ended in heat 11. Fisher and Lawson gave chase all race long but Kessler held on for a 3-3. Heat 12 had to be rerun. Kai Laukkanen gated to lead from Andrew Tully and Jari Makinen. As Derek Sneddon passed Makinen round the outside of the fourth bend Makinen ran into him causing him to fall. Makinen was excluded from the rerun but Laukkanen gated again but got no respite from Andrew Tully who tried every imaginable line to pass him. Laukkanen held on though to win an excellent race for another shared heat which took the score to 23-49.

William Lawson led heat 13 from the tapes but was passed by Robbie Kessler. Kessler’s lead didn’t last long though as Lawson passed him again on the second lap and, with Matthew Wethers beating Michal Rajkowski, the result was a 2-4 to the Monarchs. Jari Makinen, without a point to his name, came into heat 14 replacing Kyle Hughes and stunned the crowd with a brilliant ride. Ryan Fisher made the gate but Makinen passed him in fine style on the second lap for a fine win. Behind this pair Henning Loof lost his third place when he was passed by Aaron Summers on the third lap resulting in a shared heat. In the last race William Lawson charged to the front from the tapes but was under pressure all race from Robbie Kessler. Andrew Tully was in the thick of the action too and very nearly got up on Kessler on the line. The 2-4 gave the Monarchs a 30 point win.

Gate 4 was a real graveyard gate this afternoon. In the eight races one of the home riders came off that gate they scored only four points in total. Edinburgh didn’t find it a bundle of joy either scoring only nine points from the seven heats they were off it.

Scorers: For Mildenhall – Robbie Kessler 11 (5), Kai Laukkanen 6+1 (5), Henning Loof 4 (4), Michal Rajkowski 3 (4), Jari Makinen 3 (4), Kyle Hughes 2 (4), Jan Graversen 1 (4).

For Edinburgh – Andrew Tully 15 (6), William Lawson 12+2 (5), Aaron Summers 10+3 (5), Ryan Fisher 9+1 (5), Matthew Wethers 7+3 (5), Derek Sneddon 7+2 (4).



Premier League: Glasgow 51, Isle of Wight 42.


Glasgow were without Shane Parker, Josh Grajczonek and Mitchell Davey. They had Carl Stonehewer as a guest for Parker at number 3, used Rider Replacement for Grajczonek at number 2 and had Gary Beaton at reserve in place of Davey. They also nominated James McBain as their number 8. The Isle of Wight were without Krzysztof Stojanowski and Paul Fry who was injured in the terrible accident at Berwick last night. They used Rider Replacement for Stojanowski at number 1 and had Tero Aarnio (Berwick) as a guest for Fry at number 4.

After four successive home defeats, Glasgow finally recorded a home win against an Isle of Wight side who were involved in the dreadful events last night at Berwick. The Tigers success was mainly due to the contributions of Ross Brady with paid 17 at reserve and to their guest, Carl Stonehewer, who dropped only one point in his five rides.

Things didn’t look too promising for the Tigers when they lost a 1-5 in the opening heat after Cory Gathercole and Jason Bunyan had made the gate but they reversed that score in the reserves race with a 5-1 from Ross Brady and Gary Beaton. Heat 3 had to be rerun after Glen Phillips fell on the opening bends. In the all-four-back rerun Carl Stonehewer gated for the three points but behind him there was a battle between Tero Aarnio and Lee Dicken for second which the Islanders’ guest won on the run in to the flag. This gave Glasgow a 4-2 and two point lead which remained that way after an excellent heat 4. Ross Brady and Robert Ksiezak gated for the Tigers and were headed for a 5-1 but Jason Bunyan had other ideas. After a poor start he passed his partner, James Holder, then chased down the Glasgow pair passing them both for the race win and a 3-3 which took the score to 13-11.

Heat 5 saw Cory Gathercole fall at the starting gate earning him an exclusion from the rerun in which Lee Dicken led Tero Aarnio from the gate. Carl Stonehewer passed Aarnio on the third lap to join Dicken for a 5-1 stretching Glasgow’s lead to six points which stayed that way after Jason Bunyan scored a tapes-to-flag win for a shared race in heat 6. The visitors pulled two points back with a 2-4 in heat 7 when Tero Aarnio passed Robert Ksiezak off the second bend to win the race. Glen Phillips finished third so the Tigers’ lead was cut to four points. However a 5-1 from Brady and Ksiezak in heat 8 doubled it to eight points taking the score to 28-20.

Jason Bunyan made the gate in heat 9 for another win, ending Carl Stonehewer’s winning run but with Lee Dicken third the race was shared as was heat 10 won by Trent Leverington from Aarnio and Phillips. The Isle of Wight cut the gap to six points with a 2-4 in heat 11 as Cory Gathercole won from Ksiezak and Phillips but a home 5-1 in heat 12 from Brady and Stonehewer from the gate had the visitors in trouble as they now trailed by ten points with three heats remaining. They gave Cory Gathercole a TR in heat 13 and he duly obliged with all six points by beating Trent Leverington who minimised the damage by relegating Jason Bunyan to third. However the islanders scored a 2-7 cutting their arrears to five points. It was all over after heat 14 as Glasgow sealed victory with a 4-2 in a race rerun after James Holder had fallen and been excluded. In the rerun Brady won again with Tero Aarnio taking second place putting the Tigers seven points ahead going into the last race. An interesting last race saw Jason Bunyan and Tero Aarnio pass Carl Stonehewer off the second bend to lead the race. However Bunyan suffered machine trouble and retired from the race while Stonehewer passed Aarnio on the third lap to win the race for a shared heat.

Scorers: For Glasgow – Ross Brady 16+1 (7), Carl Stonehewer 12+2 (5), Robert Ksiezak 8+1 (5), Trent Leverington 7+1 (5), Lee Dicken 6+1 (4), Gary Beaton 2+1 (4).

For the Isle of Wight – Cory Gathercole 13 (5) (with 6 point TR), Jason Bunyan 12+1 (6), Tero Aarnio 12 (6), Glen Phillips 3+1 (5), James Holder 2 (5), Andrew Bargh 0 (3).