BRITISH SENIOR

WHEELER WINS SECOND NATIONAL TITLE - posted 25 August 2008

Gavin Wheeler and Marcus Wadhams on the thick of the action (photo-Brian Barnett)

Gavin Wheeler won the national individual championship for the second time at Poole this afternoon.  The Southampton star used all his experience to see off his challengers in a match riddled with errors and exclusions.  Racing from the difficult number nine draw, Wheeler carefully pieced together three wins and two seconds while his closest rivals were falling like nine-pins.

Second placed Terry Norman will be ruing what could have been after twice surrendering points in the last bend.  Firstly Mark Boaler caught him napping on the final turn in heat nine, then Marcus Wadhams pipped him on the line in race 14.  Whether is was fitness or lack of concentration, only Norman will know but no one will ever come closer to taking the title, only to miss out at the death.

Marcus Wadham's looked superb.  He won four races but suffered an exclusion in his second outing when he 'legged' Steve Harris on the first turn.  Wadhams took some consolation in the tie-break for third place, passing Harris in style and going on the claim the bronze.

For long periods it looked as if Harris would finally mount the rostrum for the first time in 19 attempts but he simply couldn't hold Wadhams in the run-off, although he came mighty close.  It was the end of a remarkable series of races for Harris who was involved in three consecutive two-man match races after his opponents were excluded.

A gate exclusion in his second outing proved costly for Daniel Pike who went on to win three on the trot but still finished outside the frame on 15 points.  Defending champion, Lee Aris, going for a hat-trick of victories, looked jaded and off the pace.  He did his best but a solitary win in heat eight was scant reward for his efforts.

Some of the new boys struugled to make an impression (photo-Brian Barnett)

The 'new breed' of riders coming through suddenly realised that riding in a British final is a whole new ball game as they struggled to make their mark against cycle speedway's 'establishment'.  Of the six debutants, including reserve Dave Carmichael who came in for the injured Aaron Lowey, only Andy Angel won a race.  It was a tough baptism for them all.  As they say - it's tough at the top!

No one knows that better than the ice cool Gavin Wheeler - a deserved winner and a true champion.

British Individual Championship
Gavin Wheeler 18, Terry Norman 17, Marcus Wadham 16, Steve Harris 16, Daniel Pike 15, Mark Boaler 12, Lee Aris 12, Josh Brooke 11, Craig Marchant 11, Andy Angell 10, Rob Hunt 10, Russ Evans 9, Tom Haddock 9, Adam Peck 8, Chris Timms 7, Aaron Lowey 6, Dave Carmichael (reserve) 1

MIDLANDERS MAKE THE BREAKTHROUGH - Semi-Final A

Today at Poole signalled a new chapter in the history of the British championship as cycle speedway's old guard were forced to stand aside make way for a new generation of stars spearheaded by the brilliant Chris Timms and Tom Haddock, who together with Rob Hunt, will make their debut appearances in the final at Harbourside Park, Poole tomorrow afternoon (3pm).

Midlander Chris Jewkes was today's biggest casualty.  Looking unusually jaded and caught too often out of position, he could only manage eight points from his first four starts before being controversially excluded in his final race for 'moving under orders'.

Another rider penalised at the tapes was Leicester's Craig Marchant.  Veteran of five finals, Marchant overcame a third race exclusion and had to call on all his exprience and every last sinue of strength to claw himself back into contention and book his place in the final.

The round was won by Daniel 'Spice Boy' Pike, who together with Marcus Wadhams, looked a class act but undoubtedly the performance of the day came from Mark Boaler.  Returning from a four match suspension, the rustiness showed in his opening two races when he finished third and was then excluded after falling.  Less determined men would have thrown in the towel but Boaler clung in there and somehow managed to recover from a seemingly impossible position to progress to his third final.

Horspath team-mate Rob Hunt also showed nerves of steel, snatching two points from his last race to go through to his first final.

British Championship Semi Final A at Poole
Qualifiers
Daniel Pike 18, Tom Haddock 17, Chris Timms 17, Marcus Wadhams 17, Craig Marchant 13, Russ Evans 13, Mark Boaler 12, Rob Hunt 12
Non-Qualifiers
Lee Smith 11, Ben Donohue 11, Neil Hollebon 10, Mark Winwood 10, Ryan Hughes 10, Nicky Whitehead 10, Chris Jewkes 8, Barry Copping 5
Non-Starters
Les Stevens, Shaun Rudman

Nnnnnn NINETEEN!!!! - Semi-Final B

Steve Harris has done it and Lee Aris could still do it tomorrow.  That was headline news resonating from Southampton this afternoon as Steve Harris cruised into his 19th national final, beating the record held by Derek Garnett, and Lee Aris remained on course for this third successive title, his fourth overall.

After months of nervous worrying, doubts about new qualifying procedures and anxiety over the magnitude of the task ahead, Steve Harris did what only Steve Harris can do.  Switch on his 'big match' physche, engage that famous racing brain and focus on one thing that matters - scoring enough points to qualify.  And that's exactly what the 40 year old former World champion did.  In fact he did it so well, it was probably one of the easiest finals he has ever reached, finishing an impressive three points ahead of the cut.

And then there is Aris.  What can you say about this man.  After some dismal performances in recent weeks, he comes out at Southampton and totally bosses the stage.  There may be pretenders, there may be rising stars but they still know that when there's a whiff of a national title in the air, Aris is still the man to beat.

At the other end of the spectrum, it was a really miserable day for the two Osborne brothers.  Both finalists last year, Chris failed to get past the eliminations and Lewis only managed a disappointing 11 in the semi-final.

Congratulations though to Andy Angell and Josh Brooke, who make their debut appearance in tomorrow's final.

British Championship Semi Final B at Southampton
Qualifiers
Lee Aris 18, Aaron Lowey 17, Steve Harris 15, Gavin Wheeler 15, Joshua Brooke 14, Terry Norman 14, Andrew Angell 14, Adam Peck 12
Non-Qualifiers
David Carmichael 12, Tom Colling 11, Lewis Osborne 11, Adam Stephenson 9, Chris Shylock 9, Norman Venson 9, Richard Williamson 7, Carl Winwood 6
Eliminated
Chris Osborne, Dave Murphy, John Vernham, Gary Colby, Kevin Lowman
Non-Starters