Saturday 31 May 2008

Around the Premier League Tracks 2008
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Friday, 30 May
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There were two Knock Out Cup matches raced tonight – a second leg tie at Edinburgh between the Monarchs and Redcar and a first leg tie at Somerset between the Rebels and Reading.


Knock Out Cup (second round, second leg): Edinburgh 55, Redcar 38 Edinburgh won on aggregate by 110-76.


Edinburgh were without Thomas Jonasson and Andrew Tully both off in search of World under-21 Championship glory so used Rider Replacement for Jonasson at number 4 and had Sean Stoddart at number 6 for Tully. Redcar were at full strength.

This was an excellent and entertaining match on a warm night at Armadale. The atmosphere was greatly enhanced by a coach load of Bears’ fans, suitably attired for the occasion, who ensured that a good time was had by all. Redcar had too much to do following the first leg result but contributed greatly with some spirited riding which, strangely enough, produced the identical score to the first leg.

In the opening race William Lawson showed he was in great form by scorching to a win in a time 0.2 outside the track record set by Theo Pijper in September 2006. Gary Havelock took second as the Monarchs opened with a 4-2. The usual reserves race maximum for the Monarchs didn’t materialise this time as Josh Auty made the gate to win comfortably. It looked as though the Bears were going to level the match as Arlo Bugeja was comfortably third but Aaron Summers came from a long way back to pass Bugeja on the line as the Bears’ rider seemed to slow so the heat was shared. In heat 3 Derek Sneddon, James Grieves and Ryan Fisher all came together at the same spot entering the first turn causing Grieves and Fisher to fall. In the all-four-back rerun, James Grieves led from the start but Ryan Fisher passed him on the inside coming off bend four. Derek Sneddon, stuck at the back, made a Herculean effort to pass Daniel Giffard on the fourth bend of lap 3 but only succeeded in getting completely out of shape so he retired from the race. This race was shared too as was heat 4. Edinburgh were sitting on a 5-1 from the gate but Aaron Summers made a hash of the third bend and crashed into the fence causing the race to be rerun. Matthew Wethers won that so the score stood at 13-11.

In heat 5 Derek Sneddon made a fast start to lead Gary Havelock off the second bend. Ryan Fisher tried to sweep round the outside but was baulked and could thereafter make no impression on Havelock while Sneddon was flawless on his way to the win. The 4-2 gave the Monarchs a four point lead and it stayed that way after heat 6 after an enthralling race. William Lawson gated to lead down the back straight but he got a shock as Josh Auty passed him going into the third bend. Auty couldn’t make it stick though as Lawson re-passed him off the fourth bend. With Ty Proctor third the result was a 3-3. Heat 7 was another classic. James Grieves was fast away but Matthew Wethers produced his party piece on bend 2 to pass him on the inside up the back straight. James Grieves forced his way to the front again off the top bends but a lap later Wethers drove round the outside of Grieves to win the race. Daniel Giffard took third for another shared race as the Bears resistance continued. In heat 8 Ryan Fisher (R/R) gated for a comfortable win but Aaron Summers having gated poorly and picked off Bugeja fell on the last bend to surrender his third place point to Bugeja for another 3-3 which took the score to 26-22.

Edinburgh then took control. Ryan Fisher headed off in heat 9 after Josh Auty had looked like challenging him then Auty got involved in a great race with Derek Sneddon which saw the riders pass and repass each other. Auty prevailed to take second place but the 4-2 extended the home side’s lead to six points. Heat 10 had to be rerun after Daniel Giffard fell heavily on the first bend just as Lawson and Wethers had passed James Grieves. In the rerun the two Monarchs repeated their moves on Grieves who again made the best start. Coming off bend two William Lawson passed Grieves round the outside while Matthew Wethers nipped through on the inside in a pincer movement. The 5-1 put the Monarchs 10 points ahead but Redcar suffered a bad blow in heat 11 when Gary Havelock, in second place behind Sean Stoddart, got out of shape on the first bend on the second lap. He collected Matthew Wethers and both riders crashed into the fence. Although both were soon up and walking back to the pits it was the end of the meeting for Havelock. In the rerun Wethers and Stoddart led Joni Keskinen home by a distance for another 5-1 so Redcar gave James Grieves a Tactical Ride in heat 12. This was another cracking race. Derek Sneddon gated to lead Grieves from the start. Sneddon rode an excellent race against the faster Grieves, blocking his outside run off bends two and four the whole race until on the last bend when he didn’t quite go wide enough and Grieves finally got past on the outside to win on the line for the full six points. Josh Auty finished third ahead of Aaron Summers so the visitors scored a 2-7 which took the score to 42-33.

Lawson and Wethers added a textbook 5-1 in heat 13 to seal victory for the home side then Ryan Fisher won heat 14 by a distance. The improving Arlo Bugeja took second comfortably from Sean Stoddart resulting in a 4-2 for the Monarchs before the home side signed off with another 4-2 in heat 15. In another excellent race William Lawson completed his maximum with ease but James Grieves in second place fended off all the challenges that Matthew Wethers could mount for second place.

Scorers: For Edinburgh – William Lawson 15 (5) (maximum), Matthew Wethers 14+2 (6), Ryan Fisher 13 (5), Derek Sneddon 6 (4), Sean Stoddart 6+1 (5), Aaron Summers 1+1 (5).

For Redcar – James Grieves 13 (5) (with 6 point TR), Josh Auty 10 (6), Arlo Bugeja 4+2 (5), Ty Proctor 4+1 (4), Gary Havelock 4 (3), Daniel Giffard 2+2 (3), Joni Keskinen 1 (3).



Premier League: Somerset 53, Reading 39.


Both teams were at full strength.

What should have been the second leg of this tie became the first leg following the postponement of the corresponding fixture at Reading on Monday night. Having already won at Somerset, the Racers had no fears in visiting what had become a fortress in recent weeks.

The Racers got off to a good start in heat 1 when Mark Lemon got the better of Jason Doyle on the opening bend to win the race comfortably. Chris Mills took third for a 2-4 but a reserves race 5-1 from Simon Walker and Brent Werner from the gate changed the two point lead around. Matthias Kroger touched the tapes in heat 3 and was replaced in the heat by Simon Walker. Emil Kramer got the better of Ulrich Ostergaard on the first bend to forge ahead for the race win while Ostergaard was then pressurised by Walker without success. The 4-2 put the Rebels four points ahead but the Racers pulled two points back in heat 4. Tom P Madsen and Nicki Glanz made the gate but Jordan Frampton passed Glanz on the third bend for a 2-4 which took the score to 13-11.

Mark Lemon passed Emil Kramer in heat 5 to win the race for a 3-3 then the Rebels put some daylight between themselves and the visitors with a 5-1 in heat 6. Stephan Katt and Jason Doyle gated to lead Madsen home stretching the Rebels lead to six points. Ulrich Ostergaard gated to win heat 7 for a shared race but the Rebels added another 5-1 in heat 8 when Stephan Katt and Brent Werner gated. Werner held off the challenge of Chris Mills as the score went to 29-19.

Tom P Madsen was fast away in heat 9 but Emil Kramer passed him off the second bend for the win while Jaimie Smith took third for a shared race. Doyle and Katt made the gate in heat 10 and, although Ostergaard passed Katt at the end of the first lap, he couldn’t catch Doyle so the Rebels increased their lead to twelve points with the 4-2. In heat 11 Mark Lemon took a Tactical Ride but, although he gated, he was passed round the outside by Simon Walker while Jordan Frampton was third resulting in a 4-4 shared race. Reading got back into the match by scoring a 1-5 in heat 12. Jaimie Smith and Ulrich Ostergaard hit the front after Ostergaard had pinned Kramer to the line round the first two bends. The maximum race win cut the visitors’ arrears to eight points with the score now 41-33.

Jason Doyle and Jordan Frampton led Mark Lemon round the opening bends of heat 13 and, although Frampton suffered an engine failure just before the line, he had enough momentum to cross the line in second place for a 5-1. Ulrich Ostergaard tried a Tactical Substitute ride from 15 metres back in heat 14 replacing Nicki Glanz but the move came to nothing when he finished at the back leaving Kroger and Walker to score another 5-1 which increased the Rebels lead to 16 points, a worrying gap for the Racers. However the visitors pulled two points back in the final race as Ulrich Ostergaard beat Jason Doyle with Mark Lemon in third for a 2-4.

Scorers: For Somerset – Jason Doyle 12+1 (5), Simon Walker 11+1 (5), Emil Kramer 9 (5), Stephan Katt 7 (4), Jordan Frampton 6+2 (4), Brent Werner 4+2 (4), Matthias Kroger 4+1 (4).

For Reading – Ulrich Ostergaard 12+1 (6) (with 2 point TS), Mark Lemon 12 (5) (with 4 point TR), Jaimie Smith 6+1 (5), Tom P Madsen 6 (4), Chris Mills 2 (4), Nicki Glanz 1 (3), Tomas Suchanek 0 (3).

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