MATCH REPORT: McMillan, Pearce and Drewett Second City champs

The Birmingham Monarchs hosted their eagerly awaited second city trophy event on Saturday afternoon, and with three sets of racing and a firework display to look forward to, the day was set to be exciting and full of action.

In the junior event there was a spread of abilities with the younger of the Birmingham juniors facing strong opposition from more experienced riders. After each rider had two rides, Dan Drewett of Coventry and Zak White of East Park were both tied on maximum points after their impressive opening rides.

Birmingham’s Ewan Hancox demonstrated his confidence on his home track, attempting passes in many of his races. Also, Niall Morton of Sheffield showed strength in his races to claim an A final space along side Drewett, White and Hancox. In the final, Drewett made no mistake from grid one to take the chequered flag closely followed by Morton then White and finally Hancox who battled all the way to the line.

Birmingham’s juniors all raced really well even when racing against the top riders, with Marc Phipps and Connor Steele both picking up a well deserved 7 points. Newcomers Sam and Arsh Singh also showed commitment in their rides, both picking up 5 points.

1st Dan Drewett
2nd Niall Morton
3rd Zak White
4th Ewan Hancox

Other scorers:
Sam Singh 5, Adam Tipton 10, Josh Hill 10, Arsh Singh 5, Dan Drewett 16, Jake White 12, Matt Hambidge 12, Niall Morton 13, Marc Phipps 7, Josh Whetton 8, Ewan Hancox 13, Connor Steele 7, Zak White 15, Ollie Morris 12, Charlie Barnett 11.

In the women’s racing, 3 vacant spaces were filled by Birmingham juniors Marc, Connor and newcomer Ben to make the 16 man formula. The first heat saw a strong win from home rider Natalie Timms and also featured Tayla Phipps who was racing in her first event after only a couple of training sessions.

Chloe Pearce was dominant from the start not dropping a single point all meeting to claim top spot. The main battle was for the remaining podium positions. Niamh Morton and Sammi Marsh both rode confidently on the track to pick up 13 points and just miss out on rostrum positions. Fast improving Sophie Middleton impressed everyone with her excellent effort and results in all of her rides, and is certainly set for big achievements next season.

Her superb rides secured Sophie 14 points and a podium position, but a runoff with home rider Emily Pitt was required to decide the final podium positions. In the runoff, a strong gate and defensive ride by Emily left Sophie unable to find a way around her, resulting in Birmingham’s Emily Pitt claiming 2nd place overall and Sophie Middleton 3rd.

1st Chloe Pearce
2nd Emily Pitt
3rd Sophie Middleton

Other scorers:
Alice Unwin 6, Tayla Phipps 6, Natalie Timms 10, Gemma Hill 9, Sammi Marsh 13, Niamh Morton 13, Chloe Pearce 16, Georgia Burt 7, Sophie Middleton 14, Elizabeth Rigley 12, Emily Pitt 14, Chloe Whitehead 12, Danielle Hickie-Stokes 6, Marc Phipps 10, Connor Steele 8, Ben Heagren 4.

Finally it was onto the senior event which featured many top riders from across the country. A lot of the riders struggled with how slippy the track was, with many riders sliding out of control on the loose, dry track.

Birmingham’s Ricki Johnson and Matt Smith demonstrated their experience on their home track by both picking up wins and racing well throughout. After impressing in the junior event, Morton and Drewett were given the opportunity to race with the seniors, and both gave a good account of themselves. Youngster Ewan Hancox did not hold back against the older riders claiming 2 well earned second places.

Monarchs rider Chris Timms performed consistently to finish on 16 points and took 3rd place overall. Bobby McMillan and Josh Brooke both rode with strength and confidence to top score, both on 19 points. A strong gate from McMillan allowed him to get away from Brooke in the runoff, securing him the top spot and Brooke 2nd place.

1st Bobby McMillan
2nd Josh Brooke
3rd Chris Timms

Other scorers
Ashley Hill 13, Lee Kemp 11, Niall Morton 7, Brandon Whetton 14, Ricki Jonson 14, Charlie Rumbold 7, Bobby McMillan 19, Chris Jewkes 12, Matt Smith 12, Dan Drewett 8, Adam Peck 12, Josh Brooke 19, Ewan Hancox 9, Lee Aris 14, Chris Timms 16, Paul Heard 11.

To conclude a fantastic afternoon of racing, the Birmingham club put on a thrilling firework display to celebrate the final event of the season at the track!

A special thanks to referees Bobby McMillan and Steve Hodgkinson, to Josh Marsh for assisting Steve with announcing, and finally to all of the organisers, helpers on the track, and Michelle and Alison in catering for putting together a brilliant final event.

Check out Nick Whitehead’s photos of the Second City Trophy: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1646491862293056.1073741832.1646370965638479&type=3