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Rye House SpeedwayOfficial WebpageHome Of the Rockets and Cobras Teams |
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Next Home Meeting: Date: Saturday 17th May Opposition: Somerset Competition: Premier League Time: 7pm
Next Away Meeting: Date: Wednesday 14thMay Opposition: Kings Lynn Competition:Premier League Time: 7.30pm
To See all fixtures then click here. Latest Results: Bank Holiday 5th May - Workington W 52-40 Sunday 4th May - Mildenhall W 56-36 Saturday 3rd May - Workington L 46-44
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Strike Two at Mildenhall Mildenhall vs Rye House: Postponed (Premier Trophy, Sunday April 14th 2008) Heavy rain on Sunday afternoon left referee Phil Griffin no alternative but to call off this match at 3.30pm, just one hour before the scheduled start time. The Silver Ski Rockets would have been without Danny Betson, who suffered a severely bruised hip in a Heat 11 fall the night before. Newly qualified British U-21 Finalist Danny Halsey would have been elevated into the side as coverage. The two teams were quick to agree a new – and third – date for this Premier Trophy fixture. The Rockets will return to West Row on Sunday, May 4th, the day after their long haul to Workington and ahead of their Bank Holiday Monday return clash against the Comets at Hoddesdon. It promises to be a hectic weekend. Three Go Unbeaten as Rockets Slam Islanders Rye House 66 Isle of Wight 24 (Premier League, Saturday April 12th 2008) The Silver Ski Rockets got the defence of their Premier League title off to the best possible start, registering no less than nine 5-1 heat advantages and having Chris Neath, Tai Woffinden (for the second consecutive match) and Tommy Allen all go undefeated. Luke Bowen and Robert Mear also powered into double figures, as Rye showed no signs of missing the sidelined Stefan Ekberg, who is out with thumb ligament damage. In contrast, it was not a good night at all for the Islanders, who managed just one heat win all night, and they may be glad they are not currently scheduled to return to Hoddesdon again in 2008. Saturday’s score surpassed the 61-29 score-line when the sides last met at Hoddesdon in the Championship play-offs last October, and was close to matching the 69-21 pummelling the Rockets inflicted in the League just weeks earlier. Despite the final score, however, there were enough passes and close finishes to keep interest maintained. Chris Neath had to come from the back against Cory Gathercole to win Heat 1, with Luke Bowen buzzing all around the Aussie’s tail-pipe in the closing stages. Rye then quickly collected their first two maximum advantages, with Robert Mear and Danny Betson, both passing early leader Andrew Bargh on the first lap of Heat 2, and Woffinden and Allen storming home against Jason Bunyan and Paul Fry in the next race. Heat 4 was won by the Islanders’ Glen Phillips, with Bowen working his way past James Holder on the third lap to take second spot, but Mear being excluded for bringing down Holder on the last bend in a desperate attempt to salvage a point. The consequent visiting 4-2 made the score 16-8. The Rockets quickly stepped back up a gear, however, blasting 5-1s in four of the next five races. The odd one out – Heat 7 – saw Robert Mear and Danny Betson deliver a 4-2 against Paul Fry and the Tactically nominated Jason Bunyan, who was kept at the back for no score in a tense last lap. The only negative for Rye came in Heat 11, when Danny Betson took a heavy fall after clipping Glen Phillips’ rear wheel and high-siding himself. Following treatment, he was able to walk back to the pits – and indeed bravely took his final programmed ride – but had suffered severe bruising to his hip in the tumble. Chris Neath won the re-run of that race to ensure a 3-3. Rye had to settle for a 4-2 in the next heat, as Mear drove past Bunyan but could not quite overhaul Holder on the line in his bid to follow home team-mate Tai Woffinden. That little matter was emphatically put right by Neath and Tommy Allen in Heat 13, and Allen appeared again in the penultimate race to wrap up his personal maximum. Neath and Woffinden then followed suit against Cory Gathercole and Glen Phillips in the finale. Rye House scorers:Chris Neath 15+3 (6 rides, maximum) Luke Bowen 11+1 (5) Tai Woffinden 14+1 (5 rides, maximum) Tommy Allen 12+3 (5 rides, maximum) Stefan Ekberg R/R Danny Betson 4+1 (4) Robert Mear 10 (5) Isle of Wight scorers:Krzysztof Stojanowski R/R Cory Gathercole 7+1 (6 rides) Jason Bunyan 1 (5 rides, inc 0 as a TR) Paul Fry 5 (5) Glen Phillips 7 (6) Andrew Bargh 0 (3) James Holder 4 (5) The Things They Said Tommy Allen “The first maximum of the season is always something special. The Islanders have got a few good riders in their team, and they gave us a run for it. The final score doesn’t really reflect that; it wasn’t the total walkover that it maybe looked. “My partnership with Tai here at Rye is getting a bit predictable! What was it, another three 5-1s together? What more can we say? We both say the same things every week. We enjoy it, and it makes it a lot easier. “Hopefully we will have Stefan Ekberg back for our next home match against King’s Lynn. He rang up earlier, and wished all the boys good luck. He’s a good bloke, and he’s good to have in the team. “King’s Lynn will be a tough match for certain, but hopefully the same score-line as tonight!” Chris Neath “It was a great night for all the team, and it’s the first night that the track has been good in terms of decent weather. More of the same, please, weather gods! “I’ve blown my Rye House engine up two weeks running (against Mildenhall and Birmingham), and I’ve had more problems with my engines already than I have done the last five-to-six years. Even at Birmingham, where I had a good score, I still had mechanical problems. The only two meetings I haven’t had any engine problems have been the first against Reading – where I only had two races – and at King’s Lynn. Every other meeting has been hassle. So it was really good to get through six races without any problems tonight, to get the points and to feel good again on the bike. “As Tommy said, the first maximum of the year is always a special one. I normally don’t get my hair cut until I get my first one, so I usually have long hair at that point! But, seriously, it was good to go unbeaten tonight, especially after all the problems. In a sense, I wasn’t too worried: I know how well I can ride Rye House, so I knew my home form was going to come eventually. “It was quite tricky to get around Cory Gathercole in my first race, because the track is pretty even all over. But I tried some new things on my bike tonight – not engine-wise but set-up-wise with my chassis – and it seemed to work quite well. It’s given me good drive off the corners, and it helped against Cory and then Paul Fry later in Heat 10. “We’re looking forward to our next home match against King’s Lynn. There’s a friendly rivalry between the riders, and maybe less so between the fans. We’re hoping that Stefan (Ekberg) will be back for that one, although we miss any rider, whether it’s our No.1 or our No.7. It’s not just for the points on the track, either. It’s the whole team part of it. We are a team, and it’s about seven riders, not six, so we want him back as soon as possible. “My Testimonial Meeting on September 20th is starting to come together. We are planning to run it to the Olympique meeting format used every year at Wolverhampton, so it will be 16 riders over 20 heats on a handicap basis. From your second ride onwards, you’ll be handicapped according to how you scored in your previous race, which should add some real excitement. “We’re looking at a few other events to run around the main 20 heats, but they still need to be finalised. So watch this space!” Betson Through, Mear Unlucky in U-21 Qualifier British U-21 Round, Plymouth (Friday, April 11th 2008) 1. Harland Cook 8 2. Danny Betson 8 3. Jack Roberts 7 4. Kyle Hughes 7 Top 3 qualify for British Final; 4th placed rider as a reserve.
Danny Betson safely negotiated the British U-21 Qualifyer at Plymouth on Friday night (April 11th) to make it through to the national final being staged at Lakeside later this month. In a rain-hit meeting that was abandoned at Heat 12, when all the riders had completed 6 races, Betson dropped just 1 point – to meeting winner Harland Cook – in what proved to be the final race. Betson finished second to Cook on the basis of that head-to-head result, while Jack Roberts took the final qualifying spot from Kyle Hughes on count-back, with two race wins against Hughes’ one, after both had tied on 7. Hughes will progress as a British Final reserve. Robert Mear was unlucky to be pushed back into 5th place behind Roberts and Hughes. His 7 points included one race win, matching him with Hughes, but recorded in a slower time, at 53.18 against 52.47. Robert Smith had a frustrating night, suffering two blown motors, which produced a fall and a duck, but claimed second spot behind former Rye man Jamie Courtney in Heat 9, to finish with 2 points. Scorers: Harland Cook 8, Danny Betson 8, Jack Roberts 7, Kyle Hughes 7, Robert Mear 7, Nicki Glanz 6, Jamie Courtney 6, Paul Starke 6, Ben Taylor 4, Jamie Pickard 4, Rob Smith 2, Chris Widman 2, Ben Reade 2, Nicky Mallett 2, Scott Meakins 1, Daniel Blake 0. Halsey and Strudwick Also Through to Final British U-21 Round, Weymouth (Saturday, April 12th 2008) 1. Lee Smart 15 2. Danny Halsey 12 3. Lee Strudwick 12 4. Gareth Isherwood 11 Top 3 qualify for British Final; 4th placed rider as a reserve. Danny Halsey and Lee Strudwick both made it through to their first British U-21 Final by filling the supporting roles behind Lee Smart at the Wessex Stadium. The Birmingham rider followed up his paid 19 monster at King’s Lynn the previous night by going through the card here, but a more than steady performance from Halsey and a “second half” blast from Strudwick, who finished the night with three straight wins, took both Rye House riders on to Lakeside on April 25th. Cobra Nick Laurence enjoyed a solid meeting, scoring in all bar one race, to finish with 6. Scorers: Lee Smart 15, Danny Halsey 12, Lee Strudwick 12, Gareth Isherwood 11, Kyle Newman 11, Barry Burchatt 11, Matt Bates 7, Nick Laurence 6, Adam Chandler 6, Tim Webster 6, Aaron Baseby 5, Andrew Braithwaite 5, Niall Strudwick 4, Oliver Gay 2, Gary Irving 0 (2 rides), Mark Baseby 0 (3). Reserves: John McPhail 3 (3 rides), Brendan Johnson 2 (2). Also through from the Boston round are Joe Haines, Sean Stoddart, Charles Wright and reserve Andrew Tully. Tai Woffinden has already been named as one of the seven seeded riders for the Final. Two others are former Rockets Steve Boxall and Adam Roynon, with the remaining seeds Lewis Bridger, Ben Barker, William Lawson and Josh Auty. Cobras on the Road The Kart Raceway Cobras face their first Conference League match of the new season, when they face Boston at the Norfolk Arena in King’s Lynn on Sunday (April 20th, 6.30pm). The full team line-up will be announced later in the week, but is set to include three-time New Zealand U-21 Champion Andrew Aldridge, who finally made his Rye House debut in Saturday’s second half racing. Next in Town: King’s Lynn Saturday (April 19th) brings the resumption of a major rivalry, as King’s Lynn head into Hoddesdon in the Premier Trophy. Birmingham’s surprising romp at the Norfolk Arena on Friday – and the three away points from that 55-39 result– unfortunately mean that the Rockets can no longer qualify for the Semi-Final stage, while the Stars will need to win at least two of their away fixtures – including the return at Perry Barr – to overhaul the Midlanders in the Group table. That they are still capable of doing so was evident in the 45-45 away draw they forced at highly fancied Workington just 24 hours after the Brummies embarrassment. Trophy considerations aside, Saturday’s meeting is also based around the reigning League champions going head to head against the 2006 titlists. There has been much talk and argument about the 2007 title, as the Stars topped the regular season table but the Rockets ultimately triumphed in the play-offs; as the Stars delivered the stronger away record but the Rockets matched them, virtually race point for race point, on their travels. On Saturday, the off-track talking will go on hold and a few arguments will be dealt with on-track. One corner of the pits will feature the likes of Lynn stalwart and former Grand Prix Wildcard Tomas Topinka, Kevin Doolan, fellow Aussie and former national U-21 Champion Rusty Harrison. In the other: Tai Woffinden, Chris Neath, Tommy Allen and the rest of the Rockets. It is one we are all looking forward to. |
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