By Henry Chard
THE SCORES…
1st Charles Wright 2nd Danny King 3rd Craig Cook
Qualifying scores: Danny King 14, Craig Cook 12, Chris Harris 11, Charles Wright 11, Steve Worrall 11, Lewis Kerr 8, Rory Schlein 8, Richard Lawson 7, Josh Auty 7, Scott Nicholls 6, Edward Kennett 6, Danny Ayres 6, Paul Starke 6 (Withdrawn), Dan Bewley 3 (Withdrawn), Kyle Newman 3, Simon Lambert 1. Kyle Bickley (res) 0, Leon Flint (res) 0.
Semi-final: Wright, Harris, Worrall, Kerr
Final: Wright, King, Cook, Harris
REFEREE: D. Hartley
VENUE: National Speedway Stadium
WHAT HAPPENED?
‘Tru Plant’ Witches skipper Danny King finished second in the 2019 British Final at the National Speedway Stadium on Monday.
King progressed straight to the final after picking up 14 points from five rides in qualifying, but he couldn’t stop Charles Wright from taking the title in the final. Chris Harris also reached the final finishing fourth whilst Richard Lawson and Edward Kennett exited at the qualifying stage.
Kennett picked up a point in his first ride as he forced his way past Simon Lambert on the opening lap of heat one and then King got his night off to a good start with a win in heat two as he won from the gate. Lawson took second behind Craig Cook in heat three before Harris swept across the lot in the first turn of heat four to start his evening with a win.
King made it two wins from two as he rounded Wright on the third bend of the first lap to win heat five as Lawson and Harris fought it out at the back with Lawson claiming the point. Kennett did well to stay on the bike in heat seven as he narrowly avoided Josh Auty going into the third turn of the opening lap but that left him with just a point after two rides.
King was making it look easy as he made it three wins from three in heat 10 as he flew past Lewis Kerr on the back straight of the opening lap. Kennett kept his hopes alive with a win in heat 11 as he, like King, flew down the back straight on the opening lap and went on and won convincingly. Harris produced a fine ride to win heat 12 as he dived under Cook going into the second lap and he then kicked-on to win in style.
Harris took second in heat 14 as he went round the outside of Kyle Newman at the end of the opening lap but he couldn’t catch Rory Schlein at the front. Heat 15 was a cracker as King, Kennett and Cook fought it out in fantastic speedway race. Kennett squeezed to the front on the opening lap before Cook took the lead and King then muscled his way into second. Kennett came back at King, but the 2016 British champion returned the favour to seal second, with Kennett taking a point. Lawson added another point to his tally as he finished third in heat 16 as Josh Auty and Danny Ayres put on a fantastic show at the front with Auty making the pass stick on the final lap to win.
Lawson ended his night with a win in heat 18 as he fended off big pressure from Schlein on the final lap. It looked like Ayres was going to deny Harris the win in heat 19 but he got totally out of shape on the final bend and did superbly to hang on, but Harris pipped him to the line for the win as Kennett finished third. King progressed straight to the final with another win in heat 20 from the gate.
Harris joined King in the final after finishing second in the semi-final. Wright won it as Harris went under Steve Worrall on the second lap to seal his spot in the finale. Wright wasn’t to be stopped on the night as he won the final as King almost rode the fence to round Cook to take second with Harris at the back.
WHAT’S NEXT?
The ‘Tru Plant’ Witches host the Belle Vue Aces at Foxhall Stadium on Thursday 1st August in a Premiership fixture at 7.30pm.
Digital Media Manager at Ipswich Speedway