MATCH REPORT: Aces high in world pairs

The World Championship moved up to the Midlands from the South West on Monday, as Wednesfield staged an International Pairs Championship and the second Australia v GB Regional Junior Test.

After a delayed start due to the Australian riders being held up in traffic, the Pairs match opened proceedings featuring two pairs from the host club, two from Polish club Torun, two from Australia and a pair from Birmingham. It was the Wednesfield’s first pairing of Paul Heard & Lee Aris who won the event with 38 points out of a possible 42, with the Birmingham pair of Mark Winwood & Ricki Johnson finishing runners-up with 35 points, one point clear of Wednesfield’s second pair (Chris Jewkes,Brandon Whetton & Lee Kemp), who scored 34. Torun & Australia’s number 1 pairings were 4th and 5th followed by their respective number two pairings.

The match was featured on BBC’s Midlands Today, a prime time news slot that reaches millions of homes across the entire Midlands of the country and featured some racing and an interview with Paul Heard.

Paul Heard talks to BBC Midlands Today. Photo by Ray Andrews.

Paul Heard talks to BBC Midlands Today. Photo by Ray Andrews.

The Junior test followed and GB opened up with two 6-4s from Brandon Whetton & Ben Harvey over Shane Bentley & Angus Freeman, then Matt Hill and Jamie Whetton doing likewise over Braden Makepeace & Brodie Charlson.

The first 7-3 maximum of the match was claimed by the GB pair of Haydn Rowley & Lee Kemp over Jack Norman & Matt Snowden in heat 3, as GB opened up an 8 point lead. The next two heats were shared before Rowley & Kemp extended the lead to 10, with a 6-4 over Bentley & Freeman.

The next four heats were shared before Australia got their first heat advantage of the match in heat 11, as Bentley & Freeman combined for a 6-4 over Brandon Whetton & Reece Pollitt, who was in for Ben Harvey.

Rowley & Kemp then combined for a 7-3 in heat 12 over Makepeace & Jake Matthews to give GB a 12 point lead, which meant they just needed to avoid exclusions in the last three races to be guaranteed a draw. Brandon Whetton & Pollitt combined for a 7-3 over Freeman & Charlson in heat 13 to ensure GB couldn’t be caught. A 6-4 to Australia in heat 14 and a last heat maximum for GB gave a final score of GB 84 Australia 66.

Thanks to Steve Copping for the report.