Post by wolfgang on Sept 5, 2005 23:52:16 GMT
BRITISH UNDER-18 CHAMPIONSHIP, MONDAY 5TH SEPTEMBER
Scores
Sean Stoddart 2 2 1 3 1 = 9
William Lawson 3 3 3 3 3 = 15
Adam Roynon F 3 3 1 3 = 10
Jack Hargreaves 1 3 2 3 3 = 12
Chris Johnson 2 3 2 2 Fx = 9
Lee Smart 1 1 2 2 2 = 8
Barry Burchatt = 3 2 Fx EF NS = 5
Jamie Courtney 0 2 NS NS NS = 2
Charles Wright 1 F 0 0 2 = 3
Lewis Bridger 3 2 3 3 3 = 14
Simon Lambert 2 0 3 2 1 = 8
Kriss Irving 0 0 0 2 1 = 3
Daniel Betson 1 1 NS NS NS = 2
Joshua Auty 2 0 1 Fx 2 = 5
Ben Taylor 3 1 1 1 2 = 8
Shane Waldron 0 1 0 0 0 = 1
Gary Cottham (res) Ex EF 0 1 0 = 1
James Purchase (res) 2 1 0 = 3
Heat 1: Lawson, Stoddart, Hargreaves, Roynon (fell), 60.57.
Solid gate from Stoddart who led from Roynon down the back straight. Lawson dived inside Roynon going into the third bend, and was followed by Hargreaves who took the inside line (copyright Peter Karlsson) on the fourth bend to relegate Roynon to last. Roynon looked uncomfortable and slid off gently on the first/second bend of lap 3. Meanwhile, Lawson was pursuing Stoddard and he took a clever inside line on the last bend to snatch the win.
Heat 2: Burchatt, Johnson, Smart, Courtney, 62.21.
After a tight first bend Courtney emerged in front and led until the fourth bend when he slid off, not hindering the others at all. Burchatt took up the lead and stayed there, with Johnson second. Courtney had remounted and was tootling round when Smart slid off like Roynon had in heat 1 (same lap, same place). Smart smartly remounted before Courtney could reach him and collected third place despite Courtney's increased urgency.
Heat 3: Bridger, Lambert, Wright, Irving, 59.41.
Pretty much all from the gate. Bridger looked very stylish and fast and won with ease. Irving slid off while in last place, just like Smart and Roynon before him (same lap, same place), and remounted to finish.
Heat 4: Taylor, Auty, Betson, Waldron, 60.90.
Auty was last going into turn one and seemed to clip Waldron before falling further round the bend. Referee Steele rather generously called it as all 4. In the rerun, if you thought some of those starts against Oxford were bad, this was worse. Waldron and Betson were momentarily left at the gate as Taylor and Auty raced clear. Betson made some ground up on Auty, especially going into the corners, but Auty always pulled clear.
Heat 5: Johnson, Stoddart, Betson, Wright, no time.
Johnson dominated the start and first turn to hit the front, and stayed mid-track to win easily. Stoddart slipped into second and held onto second despite Wright's persistent outside efforts to pass, the race made even more interesting with Betson sniffing around on the inside. Coming off the fourth bend of lap three, Wright left a gap that allowed Betson through to third going into the next bend. It was a clean pass, but Wright lost control and pirouetted off. This probably disorientated him and he stayed down, causing the race to be stopped as Johnson approached the finish.
Heat 6: Lawson, Bridger, Smart, Auty, 59.33.
Bridger off two and Lawson off three gated together and fought out a hard first turn before Lawson blasted clear going into the back straight. A classy move and the Scotsman made no mistakes on his way to victory. It was some distance to third place, Smart resisting Auty's attempts to pass.
Heat 7: Roynon, Burchatt, Taylor, Lambert, 60.19.
Roynon made a super gate from the outside and took the fast wide line to secure first place.
Heat 8: Hargreaves, Courtney, Waldron, Irving, 60.48.
A fine gate from Courtney off two. Hargreaves, off one, kept a tight line on the first lap and drew level with Courtney on the home straight of lap one. Courtney tried to defend his lead and stayed level around the next bend, but Hargreaves was faster on the inside and claimed the lead going into the back straight.
Heat 9: Lambert, Smart, Stoddart, Waldron, 60.25.
Gate four was starting to look far better than the others, and Lambert made the most of this to take an easy win despite a very wide entry into the corners that looked too wide to be of any benefit.
Heat 10: Lawson, Johnson, Taylor, Irving, 59.89.
Lawson won from gate four, with Johnson a safe second. Taylor squeezed outside Irving coming off the second bend of lap one.
Heat 11: Roynon, Purchase, Auty, Wright, Cottham (ex 2m), 60.51.
It was announced that Courtney had withdrawn from the meeting with a shoulder injury. He was replaced by Cottham whose bike stalled just before the green light came on. The bike wouldn't restart and during the long push back to the pits he was excluded. Purchase came out as the replacement's replacement. There was a moment of comedy as Cottham came out for the re-start only to be sent back. Auty, off gate four, made a brilliant start and rode around the other three on the first bend, only to go too close to the fence going into the back straight, letting Roynon and Purchase through. Auty continued his outside run, building up speed which he used to mount an inside challenge on Purchase on the first bend of lap two. Purchase didn't give way and Auty locked up, causing Wright to take evasive action.
Heat 12: Bridger, Hargreaves, Cottham (EF), Burchatt (f/ex), Betson (injured), 60.01.
In another tight first bend Betson seemed to straighten up and collide with Hargreaves, both coming down. Hargreaves soon got up, but it was obvious Betson was injured and it was immediately decided to take the interval while he was attended to. Again, referee Steele declared a re-run with all four, when perhaps at a higher level of racing he'd have excluded someone. They announced that Betson had hurt his pelvis and he was taken to hospital, Cottham coming in as the replacement. In the re-run Hargreaves, Bridger and Burchatt took part in the first bend domino effect, leaving Burchatt on the ground. A re-run with all four was a fair call, and Burchatt made the most of gate four to take the lead, only for Hargreaves to take over with a run up the inside on the back straight. Bridger drove inside Burchatt on the first bend of lap two, a fair pass but Burchatt fell. Cottham neatly laid his bike down and the race was stopped again, this time with Burchatt dismissed. In the re-re-re-run Hargreaves and Bridger gated together and stayed level until Bridger locked up slightly, leaving Hargreaves to take the lead going into the back straight. Bridger used the outside line to good effect to give chase, while Hargreaves rode the more conservative inside line that had served him well. Bridger built his speed up, then switched to the inside coming off the fourth bend of lap two to execute a clean pass on Hargreaves going into the next corner to take the win.
Heat 13: Stoddart, Irving, Burchatt (EF), Auty (f/ex), 61.93.
Stoddart this time had the benefit of gate four and led on the back straight. Auty followed and moved clear of Burchatt along the back straight. Burchatt seemed to barge into Auty on the third bend, sending the 14-year-old flying. It looked like Burchatt was out of order, but surprisingly Auty was excluded. In the re-run Stoddart repeated his excellent start. Burchatt was sat on a safe second place until his bike gave a loud bang on the first bend of lap two. Stoddart celebrated his win with a superb wheelie, standing up on the saddle, Unfortunately, after ducking under the tapes, he fell off. That didn't stop him, and to the biggest cheer of the night he remounted, rode another lap and repeated his wheelie, this time without the embarrassing fall.
Heat 14: Lawson, Lambert, Purchase, Cottham, 59.61.
Lambert used gate four to good effect, taking the lead, but his customary extra-wide entry to turn three left a gap Lawson could have got a bus through.
Heat 15: Bridger, Johnson, Roynon, Waldron, 59.55.
Bridger, off three, dominated the first bend and won fairly easily from a wide-riding Johnson. Roynon drove inside Waldron for third place on the third/fourth bend of lap one.
Heat 16: Hargreaves, Smart, Taylor, Wright, 60.95.
Sometimes you get a race like this, full of passing. It's a devil to write about, but I think it went something like this. Smart gated from two. Hargreaves came off the second bend in second place, but was passed by Wright (inside) and Taylor (outside). Hargreaves stuck to the inside line on the next bend and picked off Wright coming off the fourth bend. At the same time Taylor, who had continued around the outside, also passed Wright. Hargreaves and Taylor disputed second place with Smart just in front, until Hargreaves, again utilising the tight inside line, passed Smart on the fourth bend of lap two. A superb last-to-first!
Heat 17: Bridger, Taylor, Stoddart, Purchase, 59.63.
Bridger, from the outside gate, coasted to an easy win to put pressure on Lawson. Taylor drove outside the wheelie king Stoddart on the fourth bend of lap one, but Stoddard hit back on the next bend. Taylor kept it wound on though and secured second place going into the back straight.
Heat 18: Lawson, Wright, Cottham, Waldron, 59.42.
Lawson had to win this to take the title and he made no mistake in what was the least exciting race of the night.
Heat 19: Roynon, Smart, Irving, Cottham, 60.97.
In the second-least exciting race, Roynon won from the gate. Smart got a bit close on lap two but wasn't a threat.
Heat 20: Hargreaves, Auty, Lambert, Johnson (f/ex), 60.57.
Hargreaves needed to beat Johnson and finish at least second to take third place on the night. From gate four Hargreaves pulled clear and got across the others before the first bend. Johnson locked-up on the first bend and pirouetted, then slid off towards the fence leaving Lambert nowhere to go but to slide along the fence before coming to rest under it. Both got up quickly and Johnson was rightly excluded. It was nice to see Hargreaves and Johnson shake hands as Johnson walked off the track. In the re-run Hargreaves made no mistake from the start, although Auty nearly clipped him on the second bend. An easy win for Hargreaves, who received a big hug from Graham Jones after his lap of honour.
Weather ***** warm, but not too warm. A perfect evening to watch speedway.
Track **** seemed to benefit from the overnight rain and a dry, but not hot, day. A bit slick towards the end, but a consistent outside provided more than one racing line that allowed the riders to serve up some top-quality racing.
Attendance *** healthy, given the pricing, but there were large gaps on the terraces. A pity because this was how speedway should be, a field full of riders, no prima donnas, really going for it on a well-prepared track. I can't think of anything better, well almost.
Referee - Tony Steele *** called some re-runs with all four when he may have been a bit more inclined to exclude someone in a higher-level meeting. General opinion was that he excluded the wrong rider in heat 13.
Man of the match - no Wolves riders in it, although Jack Hargreaves has a Wolves connection and was probably the rider who did the most passing. He finished third to the two riders who deserved the top two places, Lawson just having the edge over Bridger, who said he would have given Lawson a better race if they had met later in the meeting.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable meeting. Not the biggest crowd, but no-one who was there could have been disappointed with the entertainment. I hope Wolves get to keep this meeting on the calendar, as it's a rare chance to see such emerging British talent.
Scores
Sean Stoddart 2 2 1 3 1 = 9
William Lawson 3 3 3 3 3 = 15
Adam Roynon F 3 3 1 3 = 10
Jack Hargreaves 1 3 2 3 3 = 12
Chris Johnson 2 3 2 2 Fx = 9
Lee Smart 1 1 2 2 2 = 8
Barry Burchatt = 3 2 Fx EF NS = 5
Jamie Courtney 0 2 NS NS NS = 2
Charles Wright 1 F 0 0 2 = 3
Lewis Bridger 3 2 3 3 3 = 14
Simon Lambert 2 0 3 2 1 = 8
Kriss Irving 0 0 0 2 1 = 3
Daniel Betson 1 1 NS NS NS = 2
Joshua Auty 2 0 1 Fx 2 = 5
Ben Taylor 3 1 1 1 2 = 8
Shane Waldron 0 1 0 0 0 = 1
Gary Cottham (res) Ex EF 0 1 0 = 1
James Purchase (res) 2 1 0 = 3
Heat 1: Lawson, Stoddart, Hargreaves, Roynon (fell), 60.57.
Solid gate from Stoddart who led from Roynon down the back straight. Lawson dived inside Roynon going into the third bend, and was followed by Hargreaves who took the inside line (copyright Peter Karlsson) on the fourth bend to relegate Roynon to last. Roynon looked uncomfortable and slid off gently on the first/second bend of lap 3. Meanwhile, Lawson was pursuing Stoddard and he took a clever inside line on the last bend to snatch the win.
Heat 2: Burchatt, Johnson, Smart, Courtney, 62.21.
After a tight first bend Courtney emerged in front and led until the fourth bend when he slid off, not hindering the others at all. Burchatt took up the lead and stayed there, with Johnson second. Courtney had remounted and was tootling round when Smart slid off like Roynon had in heat 1 (same lap, same place). Smart smartly remounted before Courtney could reach him and collected third place despite Courtney's increased urgency.
Heat 3: Bridger, Lambert, Wright, Irving, 59.41.
Pretty much all from the gate. Bridger looked very stylish and fast and won with ease. Irving slid off while in last place, just like Smart and Roynon before him (same lap, same place), and remounted to finish.
Heat 4: Taylor, Auty, Betson, Waldron, 60.90.
Auty was last going into turn one and seemed to clip Waldron before falling further round the bend. Referee Steele rather generously called it as all 4. In the rerun, if you thought some of those starts against Oxford were bad, this was worse. Waldron and Betson were momentarily left at the gate as Taylor and Auty raced clear. Betson made some ground up on Auty, especially going into the corners, but Auty always pulled clear.
Heat 5: Johnson, Stoddart, Betson, Wright, no time.
Johnson dominated the start and first turn to hit the front, and stayed mid-track to win easily. Stoddart slipped into second and held onto second despite Wright's persistent outside efforts to pass, the race made even more interesting with Betson sniffing around on the inside. Coming off the fourth bend of lap three, Wright left a gap that allowed Betson through to third going into the next bend. It was a clean pass, but Wright lost control and pirouetted off. This probably disorientated him and he stayed down, causing the race to be stopped as Johnson approached the finish.
Heat 6: Lawson, Bridger, Smart, Auty, 59.33.
Bridger off two and Lawson off three gated together and fought out a hard first turn before Lawson blasted clear going into the back straight. A classy move and the Scotsman made no mistakes on his way to victory. It was some distance to third place, Smart resisting Auty's attempts to pass.
Heat 7: Roynon, Burchatt, Taylor, Lambert, 60.19.
Roynon made a super gate from the outside and took the fast wide line to secure first place.
Heat 8: Hargreaves, Courtney, Waldron, Irving, 60.48.
A fine gate from Courtney off two. Hargreaves, off one, kept a tight line on the first lap and drew level with Courtney on the home straight of lap one. Courtney tried to defend his lead and stayed level around the next bend, but Hargreaves was faster on the inside and claimed the lead going into the back straight.
Heat 9: Lambert, Smart, Stoddart, Waldron, 60.25.
Gate four was starting to look far better than the others, and Lambert made the most of this to take an easy win despite a very wide entry into the corners that looked too wide to be of any benefit.
Heat 10: Lawson, Johnson, Taylor, Irving, 59.89.
Lawson won from gate four, with Johnson a safe second. Taylor squeezed outside Irving coming off the second bend of lap one.
Heat 11: Roynon, Purchase, Auty, Wright, Cottham (ex 2m), 60.51.
It was announced that Courtney had withdrawn from the meeting with a shoulder injury. He was replaced by Cottham whose bike stalled just before the green light came on. The bike wouldn't restart and during the long push back to the pits he was excluded. Purchase came out as the replacement's replacement. There was a moment of comedy as Cottham came out for the re-start only to be sent back. Auty, off gate four, made a brilliant start and rode around the other three on the first bend, only to go too close to the fence going into the back straight, letting Roynon and Purchase through. Auty continued his outside run, building up speed which he used to mount an inside challenge on Purchase on the first bend of lap two. Purchase didn't give way and Auty locked up, causing Wright to take evasive action.
Heat 12: Bridger, Hargreaves, Cottham (EF), Burchatt (f/ex), Betson (injured), 60.01.
In another tight first bend Betson seemed to straighten up and collide with Hargreaves, both coming down. Hargreaves soon got up, but it was obvious Betson was injured and it was immediately decided to take the interval while he was attended to. Again, referee Steele declared a re-run with all four, when perhaps at a higher level of racing he'd have excluded someone. They announced that Betson had hurt his pelvis and he was taken to hospital, Cottham coming in as the replacement. In the re-run Hargreaves, Bridger and Burchatt took part in the first bend domino effect, leaving Burchatt on the ground. A re-run with all four was a fair call, and Burchatt made the most of gate four to take the lead, only for Hargreaves to take over with a run up the inside on the back straight. Bridger drove inside Burchatt on the first bend of lap two, a fair pass but Burchatt fell. Cottham neatly laid his bike down and the race was stopped again, this time with Burchatt dismissed. In the re-re-re-run Hargreaves and Bridger gated together and stayed level until Bridger locked up slightly, leaving Hargreaves to take the lead going into the back straight. Bridger used the outside line to good effect to give chase, while Hargreaves rode the more conservative inside line that had served him well. Bridger built his speed up, then switched to the inside coming off the fourth bend of lap two to execute a clean pass on Hargreaves going into the next corner to take the win.
Heat 13: Stoddart, Irving, Burchatt (EF), Auty (f/ex), 61.93.
Stoddart this time had the benefit of gate four and led on the back straight. Auty followed and moved clear of Burchatt along the back straight. Burchatt seemed to barge into Auty on the third bend, sending the 14-year-old flying. It looked like Burchatt was out of order, but surprisingly Auty was excluded. In the re-run Stoddart repeated his excellent start. Burchatt was sat on a safe second place until his bike gave a loud bang on the first bend of lap two. Stoddart celebrated his win with a superb wheelie, standing up on the saddle, Unfortunately, after ducking under the tapes, he fell off. That didn't stop him, and to the biggest cheer of the night he remounted, rode another lap and repeated his wheelie, this time without the embarrassing fall.
Heat 14: Lawson, Lambert, Purchase, Cottham, 59.61.
Lambert used gate four to good effect, taking the lead, but his customary extra-wide entry to turn three left a gap Lawson could have got a bus through.
Heat 15: Bridger, Johnson, Roynon, Waldron, 59.55.
Bridger, off three, dominated the first bend and won fairly easily from a wide-riding Johnson. Roynon drove inside Waldron for third place on the third/fourth bend of lap one.
Heat 16: Hargreaves, Smart, Taylor, Wright, 60.95.
Sometimes you get a race like this, full of passing. It's a devil to write about, but I think it went something like this. Smart gated from two. Hargreaves came off the second bend in second place, but was passed by Wright (inside) and Taylor (outside). Hargreaves stuck to the inside line on the next bend and picked off Wright coming off the fourth bend. At the same time Taylor, who had continued around the outside, also passed Wright. Hargreaves and Taylor disputed second place with Smart just in front, until Hargreaves, again utilising the tight inside line, passed Smart on the fourth bend of lap two. A superb last-to-first!
Heat 17: Bridger, Taylor, Stoddart, Purchase, 59.63.
Bridger, from the outside gate, coasted to an easy win to put pressure on Lawson. Taylor drove outside the wheelie king Stoddart on the fourth bend of lap one, but Stoddard hit back on the next bend. Taylor kept it wound on though and secured second place going into the back straight.
Heat 18: Lawson, Wright, Cottham, Waldron, 59.42.
Lawson had to win this to take the title and he made no mistake in what was the least exciting race of the night.
Heat 19: Roynon, Smart, Irving, Cottham, 60.97.
In the second-least exciting race, Roynon won from the gate. Smart got a bit close on lap two but wasn't a threat.
Heat 20: Hargreaves, Auty, Lambert, Johnson (f/ex), 60.57.
Hargreaves needed to beat Johnson and finish at least second to take third place on the night. From gate four Hargreaves pulled clear and got across the others before the first bend. Johnson locked-up on the first bend and pirouetted, then slid off towards the fence leaving Lambert nowhere to go but to slide along the fence before coming to rest under it. Both got up quickly and Johnson was rightly excluded. It was nice to see Hargreaves and Johnson shake hands as Johnson walked off the track. In the re-run Hargreaves made no mistake from the start, although Auty nearly clipped him on the second bend. An easy win for Hargreaves, who received a big hug from Graham Jones after his lap of honour.
Weather ***** warm, but not too warm. A perfect evening to watch speedway.
Track **** seemed to benefit from the overnight rain and a dry, but not hot, day. A bit slick towards the end, but a consistent outside provided more than one racing line that allowed the riders to serve up some top-quality racing.
Attendance *** healthy, given the pricing, but there were large gaps on the terraces. A pity because this was how speedway should be, a field full of riders, no prima donnas, really going for it on a well-prepared track. I can't think of anything better, well almost.
Referee - Tony Steele *** called some re-runs with all four when he may have been a bit more inclined to exclude someone in a higher-level meeting. General opinion was that he excluded the wrong rider in heat 13.
Man of the match - no Wolves riders in it, although Jack Hargreaves has a Wolves connection and was probably the rider who did the most passing. He finished third to the two riders who deserved the top two places, Lawson just having the edge over Bridger, who said he would have given Lawson a better race if they had met later in the meeting.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable meeting. Not the biggest crowd, but no-one who was there could have been disappointed with the entertainment. I hope Wolves get to keep this meeting on the calendar, as it's a rare chance to see such emerging British talent.
?? We are just a bunch of faceless cowards!!!!
