MATCH REPORT: Senior Individual semi finals

Birmingham proudly hosted the semi finals of the World Championships yesterday. The Juniors were dominated by Michal Sassek, who raced to a flawless maximum, whilst Australian Shane Bentley was second on 18.

Mateusz Radomski and Brandon Whetton both scored 16 whilst Brits Richard Felgett and Reece Pollitt both took 14 points also Hayden Rowley amassed 13. A run off was required for the final spot with Mason Phillips beating Adam Watson after both scored 12.

The senior open saw three points separate 1st to 8th. Ben Mould recovered from a heavy first race first bend fall with Andy Angell to dust himself off despite looking in pain to top the scorers on 16, Bobby McMillan a close second on 15. The rest of the qualifiers had little between them – Marcin Paradzinski, Zach Payne, Marcin Szymanski, Lucasz Nowacki and Chris Timms on 14, which left a two man run off for British Champ Andy Angell and Josh Brooke – Angell winning from the gate.

Over in East Park no quarter was given, with a mix of tactical rides and a few big impacts thrown in for good measure. Bartek Grabowski had a nervous moment after suffering a gate exclusion in his third ride, but he won his last two races to comfortably qualify. Paul Heard had it all to do from gate four in his last race on 10 points. He pulled out his best start to get in front and secure the 14 points needed for today’s final.

Other qualifiers were Mark Boaler, Joel Chadwick, Szymon Kowalczyk and Chris Jewkes. It meant Mark Carmichael, Cody Chadwick, Arek Szymanski and Marcin Kolata had a four man run off for the final two places. Carmichael made no mistake from grid one and Chadwick battled his way into second to secure the final spot.