CATCH UP: Birmingham sail through
Birmingham Monarchs Cycle Speedway club will travel to Horspath in Oxfordshire on Sunday 11th September, after qualifying for the British team KO Cup finals by defeating Hull last week at Perry Hall Park.
The Monarchs were missing two key riders, Nathan Groves and Ewan Hancox, so used veteran Phil Widdas and youngster Jake Steel in the starting line up.
The visitors from Hull arrived with a weakened side and only had six riders present so had to run 6 heats with only one representative, which weakened there hopes considerably.
A perfect start for the Monarchs who opened up with a maximum from Chris Timms and Hodgkinson (pictured above). A tapes exclusion for Paul Timms in the second meant the visitors took a race victory.
Heat 4 turned into a two rider race with the exclusion of Timms junior, Widdas took second which meant a 6 point cushion for the home side. Jake Steel nearly took his first ever senior win over a visiting rider in the fifth but couldn’t hold off his rival.
Heats 8 and 9 saw the Birmingham club take advantages in both races to go into the interval 51-33.
The Monarchs started the second half superbly to give Hull little chance to respond. Johnson team rode Hodgkinson to a maximum in the 10th.
Timms senior and Millward duly delivered in the 11th, however a nasty crash for both Chris Timms and Steel in the 12th saw young Steel coming off the worst. He had to withdraw from the meeting with mild concussion and a suspected broken collarbone.
Reserve, Hodgkinson, replaced Steel in the re-run and with Timms as back up, another maximum was delivered with the home side dominating.
The misery continued for Hull, as they were unable to stop the now rampant Monarchs side. Hull number one Andy Angell took one win and suffered a heavy fall also in the 11th.
Despite the scoreline, there was some excellent racing on show and Hull gave 100% effort despite their weaknesses. The final score was Birmingham 109 – 60 Hull.
For the dominant Monarchs, Mark Winwood, who had been flying all day and Steve Hodgkinson both recorded 20 point maximums. Except for costly exclusions early on, both of the Timms boys were unbeaten otherwise. However Hodgkinson was named man of the match.
Birmingham take on Ipswich in the first semi final in Horspath, with the winners of that going into the final later in the day.
BRITISH TEAM KO CUP QUARTER FINAL
Scores: Mark Winwood 20 (5), Steve Hodgkinson 20 (5), Scott Millward 18+1 (5), Paul Timms 14+2(5), Chris Timms 13+3 (5), Ricki Johnson 13+3 (5), Phil Widdas 8+1(4), Jake Steel 3 (2)
The weekend saw some Birmingham riders take part in the British Championships events.
Mark Winwood the most successful, taking third place in the Over 40’s final. Chris Timms finished 4th in Mondays senior final. Steve Hodgkinson lost a run off to finish on the podium in the over 50’s final and also finished 4th.
The Monarchs return to Midland league action on Sunday with a visit to Leicester, a team who have lost just two matches this season. A win will be required if the Birmingham side have any realistic hope of contending for the title.