Gt. Wakering v Somersham
19/5/2002 BTC
Somersham raced to a comfortable victory at Gt. Wakering in Cycle Speedway's British Team Championship, despite track conditions being rather different to the Stars' own circuit. With grip at a premium, a bit of thought rather than outright speed was required and this along with unusually good gating got the visitors off to a flying start, and Gt. Wakering found themselves with too many points to make up.
Man of the match was Somersham's determined Luke Hodgkinson. He only started racing this season, but impressed on his way to maximum points, while Barry Copping and Gary Brown were also unbeaten by an opponent.
For the home side Darren Cousins was most effective but Rob Hughes and Trevor Hammerton were involved in several scraps. The latter was enjoying a side by side battle with Somersham's Peter Mittell in heat 8, before both fell heavily on the last lap. Fortunately Mittell was saved by his helmet - it was cracked after the incident.
Gt. Wakering deserve credit for continuing to battle away, but while this was a good confidence boost for Somersham, they will surely face tougher opposition in the next round.
Gt. Wakering 70
D Cousins 14, S Buchan 11, T Hammerton 10, R Hughes 9, E Hammerton 9, T Hughes 8, V Duffy 5, J Helbin 4
Somersham 108
L Hodgkinson 20, S Turnbull 18, A Mittell 16, B Copping 16, G Brown 15, P Mittell 11, P Williamson 7, A Turnbull 5