SCORECARD

Dan Bewley 14, Robert Lambert 14, Charles Wright 11, Adam Ellis 10, Chris Harris 10, Anders Rowe 9, Dan Thompson 9, Danny King 8, Craig Cook 7, Leon Flint 6, Tom Brennan 6, Steve Worrall 6, Connor Mountain 5, Jason Edwards 3, Drew Kemp 2, Vinnie Foord 0.

SEMI-FINAL: Harris, Wright, Ellis, Rowe

FINAL: Lambert, Wright, Bewley, Harris

REFEREE: P. Griffin

THE REPORT

Robert Lambert became British champion after Monday’s Attis Insurance Sports Division British Final in Manchester.

The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches were represented by Adam Ellis, Dan Thompson, Danny King and Tom Brennan and it was Ellis who performed best reaching the semi-final before his night ended. Thompson agonisingly missed out on the semi-final on race wins after being tied with Anders Rowe for the final spot. King finished eighth on eight points whilst Brennan finished eleventh on six points.

Brennan couldn’t get amongst the points in heat one starting from gate four and heat two didn’t reach the first turn as Vinnie Foord flipped his bike from the start and was excluded. Having made the start in the original staging, Thompson made the gate again in the re-run to get his night off to the perfect start. Ellis made a good start from the outside gate in heat three and got into second but was passed by Lambert who then went on to get the better of Steve Worrall on the last lap to win. King wasn’t able to pick up any points in heat four as Rowe held off Dan Bewley to win the race.

Leon Flint won heat five as King took advantage of Thompson going wide to pick up second place with Thompson having to settle for a point. Brennan and Charles Wright exchanged moves for first in heat eight before Wright made it stick to win the race with Ellis adding a point to his tally in third.

Heat 10 was a cracker as Rowe took an early lead, but Ellis blasted past the previously unbeaten rider and Thompson also worked himself into second as Rowe was eventually relegated to the back by Chris Harris. King and Brennan hit the front in heat 12 but Lambert flew past both at the end of the opening lap to win leaving King and Brennan to battle it out for second, a battle which Brennan won.

Ellis led heat 13 but ended up in second after being passed by Bewley at the start of the second lap. King produced a great ride to win heat 14 as he worked the outside line well all race before diving under Harris going into the third turn of the third lap to hit the front and collect three points. Thompson rode a brilliant first lap in heat 15 to get himself into first but soon found himself back in third as Lambert rounded him and Wright came underneath and despite his best efforts he couldn’t get back past Wright, meaning he added a point to his score. Despite his best efforts, Brennan couldn’t find a way past Craig Cook in heat 16 as he finished second again.

Ellis secured his spot in the semi-final by winning heat 19 ahead of King with the skipper missing out on the semi-final. Thompson had no answer for Bewley in heat 20, finishing in second behind the Grand Prix rider whilst Brennan ended his night at the back. It wasn’t quite enough for the impressive Thompson to make the semi-final though after he was tied on nine points with Rowe but with one race win less.

Ellis was looking good for the final after he made the gate in the semi-final but was swallowed up by Harris and Wright going into the second lap and despite pushing hard until the end, he wasn’t able to find a way past Wright to progress to the final.

The final was one of the best races you could wish to see with Lambert, Bewley, Wright and Harris throwing the bike at each other for all four laps. It looked like any rider could win the title throughout the heat, but it was Lambert who crossed the line first to pick up his second title ahead of Wright and Bewley, whose run of victories in the event came to an end. Wright will be the wild card for the British Grand Prix double-header in Manchester on June 13 and 14.

RITCHIE HAWKINS REACTION

Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches team manager Ritchie Hawkins reflects on Monday’s British Final…

“There were some great performances from our riders but unfortunately, we didn’t get one in the final. Adam came closest and got in front in the semi-final but made a slight mistake and went back to third. He nearly got back into the qualifying spots on the line, but it was a great performance.

“Dan narrowly missed out on the semi-final on countback and carried on his superb form and it was a good meeting for him which he will take positives from in his young career.

“Danny had a tough first ride and very nearly made the points back in the next four rides but just missed out on the semi-final places. Tom fought really hard all night but found himself in the wrong places at the wrong times often and was chasing all meeting like Danny after a tough first ride and maybe they didn’t have the best draw having gate four so early on.”

NEXT FIXTURE

The Ipswich ‘Tru7 Group’ Witches travel to Sheffield to take on the Tigers on Thursday 15^th May in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership. Tickets can be purchased on the gate.