Around the Premier League Tracks 2008
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Friday, 4 July
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Unusually for a Friday there were four Premier League matches raced todnight. At Edinburgh the Monarchs faced Stoke while at King’s Lynn the Stars took on Birmingham. The third match was at Scunthorpe where the Scorpions raced against Berwick. Finally at Somerset the Rebels had Sheffield as their visitors.



Premier League: Edinburgh 54, Stoke 39


Edinburgh were without Thomas H Jonasson whose scan confirmed that he had bleeding on the brain following a crash in Sweden on Tuesday. They used Rider Replacement at number 2. Stoke had George Stancl guesting at number 1 in place of Lee Complin.

This will not go down as one of Edinburgh’s most memorable matches. Without Thomas Jonasson and with Aaron Summers riding with a broken rib they also had an unwell Andrew Tully who was sick in the pits during the meeting. Then they lost William Lawson with a broken collar bone when he clipped the back of Andrew Moore’s bike in heat 6 and fell heavily. The three remaining fit riders, Derek Sneddon, Matthew Wethers and Ryan Fisher almost carried the Monarchs to victory on their own with 44 points between them.

Stoke got off to a good start with George Stancl winning the opening heat for a shared race but Edinburgh scored a 4-2 in the reserves race for a two point lead. With Andrew Tully falling in heat 3 and Aaron Summers retiring at the back in heat 4 the Monarchs could only share heats 3 and 4 for a 13-11 scoreline.

George Stancl won heat 5 but Andrew Tully got up on the line for third place behind Ryan Fisher for another shared race before the fateful heat 6. Derek Sneddon was quickly away from Andrew Moore but William Lawson clipped Moore’s back wheel entering the third bend causing both to fall. Lawson was taken to hospital to confirm a broken collar bone. In the rerun Derek Sneddon won for another 3-3 but the Monarchs finally opened a six point lead with a 5-1 in heat 7. Ben Barker and Jesper Kristiansen got into a real fankle on the first two bends allowing Matthew Wethers and Aaron Summers to slip through for a maximum race win. Derek Sneddon, having a field day, was away again in heat 8 leading Klaus Jakobsen and Ryan Fisher in his wake. Fisher made a hard inside pass on Jakobsen on the last two bends but Jakobsen fell and Fisher was excluded so the heat was shared and the score stood at 27-21.

Heat 9 was rerun after Barrie Evans had fallen after both Potters had made the gate. Ryan Fisher won the rerun from Andrew Moore and Andrew Tully for a 4-2 stretching the home side’s lead to eight points. Sneddon and Wethers made the gate in heat 10 but a magnificent outside sweep by Ben Barker saw him roar round the Edinburgh men to win comfortably and share the points. Then, in a rerun heat 11, Sneddon and Wethers saw off George Stancl on the first two bends for a 5-1 opening the lead to 12 points. As a consequence Ben Barker took a Tactical Ride in heat 12 which he duly won. Barrie Evans finished behind second-placed Andrew Tully so the visitors took a 2-7 cutting their arrears to seven points with the score now 41-34.

Things looked less than bright for the Monarchs in heat 13 when Derek Sneddon, leading into the first bend, shed a chain, straightened up and collected Matthew Wethers. Wethers was down for a while but recovered to take his place in the rerun. George Stancl looked to have this race in the bag but Wethers had other ideas and produced a stunning inside line drive round bends 1 and 2 on the last lap to deny the Stoke guest sharing the race in the process. Sneddon and Fisher produced the expected 5-1 in heat 14 then Fisher and Wethers rounded things off with another maximum in the last race to give the Monarchs a 15 point victory which had looked highly unlikely at one point.

Scorers: For Edinburgh – Derek Sneddon 17 (7), Matthew Wethers 14+3 (6), Ryan Fisher 13+1 (6), Andrew Tully 5+2 (5), Aaron Summers 3+1 (4), William Lawson 2 (2).

For Stoke – Ben Barker 13 (5) (with 6 point TR), George Stancl 9 (5), Klaus Jakobsen 7 (6), Andrew Moore 5+3 (4), Barrie Evans 3 (4), Jesper Kristiansen 1+1 (3), Mark Burrows 1+1 (4).



Premier League: King’s Lynn 66, Birmingham 24


King’s Lynn were at full strength while Birmingham were barely recognisable. James Brundle rode at number 1 in place of Adam Roynon, Kyle Legault returned to the team at number 3 replacing Jason Lyons while Rider Replacement operated at number 4 for Phil Morris. Adam Lowe rode at number 6 in place of Jack Hargreaves while Darren Mallett guested for James Birkinshaw at number 7.

When Craig Watson became the latest Birmingham injury victim when he fell and twisted his knee causing him to withdraw from the meeting in the first running of heat 4 this really was a ‘no contest’ between the Stars and a select team representing the Brummies.

Kevin Doolan locked up in the opening race causing Lee Smart to run into him and the race to be rerun without him. Shaun Tacey won the rerun for a shared race but King’s Lynn then rattled off eight consecutive 5-1s during which the main interest centred on Kyle Legault’s comeback for the Brummies. He retired from heat 3 then fell in heat 7 before managing three second places in his last three rides. The score after the opening nine races was 43-11 but Kyle Legault ended the maximum run by passing Shaun Tacey in heat 10 for second place behind Kevin Doolan and a 4-2. Then the Brummies had their solitary success in heat 11 when James Brundle outgated the rest of the field to win the race from Rusty Harrison. Lee Smart finished third for a 2-4 which was matched by a 4-2 in heat 12 for the Stars as Kyle Legault challenged unsuccessfully for the lead with Tomas Topinka winning for the home side. The score now stood at 53-19.

King’s Lynn scored two more 5-1s in heat 13 and 14 but, in the last heat, Legault and Smart both passed Rusty Harrison to finish behind Tomas Topinka for a shared race giving the Stars a 42 point victory.

Scorers: For King’s Lynn – Tomas Topinka 14+1 (5) (paid maximum), Simon Lambert 10+2 (4) (paid maximum), Kozza Smith 10 (4), Rusty Harrison 9+2 (5), Kevin Doolan 9 (4), Shaun Tacey 8+2 (4), John Oliver 6+3 (4).

For Birmingham – Lee Smart 6+1 (5), Kyle Legault 6 (5), Darren Mallett 6 (7), James Brundle 5+1 (5), Adam Lowe 1 (7), Craig Watson 0 (1).



Premier League: Scunthorpe 52, Berwick 41


Scunthorpe were at full strength but Berwick had Henning Bager at number 1 in place of Adrian Rymel.

The Scorpions were never behind in this match but there were only three points between the teams after heat 12 before the home side hit home two 5-1s in the last three heats. Berwick were unfortunate to lose Tony Atkin after he fell in heat 1 and injured his hand causing him to withdraw from the meeting.

Henning Bager won the opening heat for a 3-3 but the home side struck a 4-2 in the reserves race won by Ben Powell from Scott Smith. Tero Aarnio won heat 3 for the Bandits and it looked for a while as though they would take a 1-5 until both Magnus Karlsson and Viktor Bergstrom passed Michal Makovsky for a shared race. Emiliano Sanchez won heat 4 for another 3-3 which took the score to 13-11.

The Scorpions doubled their lead to four points with a 4-2 in heat 5 when Bager could only split the Bergstrom/Karlsson pairing but heats 6 and 7 were shared. The lead stretched to six points in heat 8 when Carl Wilkinson won from Paul Clews and Byron Bekker taking the score to 27-21.

Norbert Magosi earned the Bandits a 3-3 by winning heat 9 from the Scorpions’ pairing of Bergstrom and Karlsson but it looked all over for the Bandits when Richard Hall and Carl Wilkinson scored a 5-1 in heat 10 from Makovsky taking the lead to 10 points. Henning Bager immediately took a TR and won it from Sanchez. Scott Smith took third place so the Bandits took a 2-7 cutting the lead to five points. It was down to three when Michal Makovsky won heat 12 from Byron Bekker and Paul Clews kept Magnus Karlsson at the back for a 2-4 taking the score to 39-36.

Henning Bager broke the tapes in heat 13 and had to go from 15 metres back. Hall and Sanchez hit the front for the home side and although Bager made up lost ground he couldn’t quite catch Sanchez so the Scorpions took a 5-1 for a seven point lead. Viktor Bergstrom scored the race win the home side needed to clinch the match in heat 14 and Hall and Bergstrom put a bit of gloss on the final score by adding another 5-1 for an eleven point victory.

Scorers: For Scunthorpe – Richard Hall 13+1 (5), Viktor Bergstrom 11+2 (5), Emiliano Sanchez 9+1 (4), Carl Wilkinson 7+1 (4), Magnus Karlsson 4+1 (4), Ben Powell 4+1 (4), Byron Bekker 4 (4).

For Berwick – Henning Bager 12 (4) (with 6 point TR), Michal Makovsky 8 (5), Norbert Magosi 7 (5), Scott Smith 5+2 (5), Tero Aarnio 5 (4), Paul Clews 4+1 (6), Tony Atkin 0 (1).



Premier League: Somerset 60, Sheffield 30


Somerset were without Simon Walker so used Rider Replacement at number 4. Sheffield were at full strength.

Somerset dropped just two points from the first five races to lead by 23-7. This left the Tigers with too much to do and the Rebels sailed home in some comfort thereafter.

After two opening home maximums Andre Compton took a second place behind Emil Kramer for a 4-2. Paul Cooper did likewise behind Matthias Kroger, who replaced tape touching victim Jordan Frampton, in heat 4 taking the score to 18-6.

Joel Parsons was next to touch the tapes in heat 5 then Sheffield’s woes continued when Ricky Ashworth fell on the first bend of the rerun and was excluded as the heavens opened. Frampton and Kramer won the rerun 5-1 but Jason Doyle fell in heat 6 and was excluded. Stephan Katt won the race for a 3-3 then the Tigers scored their one and only race advantage in heat 7 when Andre Compton won from Kroger while Lee Smethills picked up the third place point after Jordan Frampton had suffered an engine failure. This gave Sheffield a 2-4 and some crumbs of comfort. Katt and Werner replied with a 5-1 in heat 8 and the score now stood at 33-15.

Ben Wilson won heat 9 for a shared heat but two successive home 4-2s put the Rebels 22 points ahead. Heat 11 was particularly disappointing for Sheffield as Ricky Ashworth fell while on a Tactical Ride and was excluded from the rerun. Andre Compton had a comfortable win in heat 12 for another shared race and the score went to 47-25.

Somerset rounded the match off with two 4-2s and a 5-1 for a 30 point win but none of the home riders was able to complete a maximum.

Scorers: For Somerset – Matthias Kroger 14+2 (6), Jason Doyle 12 (5), Stephan Katt 10+1 (5), Brent Werner 9+1 (5), Emil Kramer 8+2 (4), Jordan Frampton 7+1 (6).

For Sheffield – Andre Compton 11 (5), Ben Wilson 5 (5), Paul Cooper 5 (5), Ricky Ashworth 3 (4), Lee Smethills 3 (4), Joel Parsons 2 (4), Kyle Hughes 1+1 (4).