CLUB NEWS: Monarchs weekend leads to success

Birmingham Monarchs Cycle Speedway Club finally managed there first victory in the Gold Cup at the home of the League champions Wednesfield. Both clubs were missing key riders however it was the lack of Junior riders that proved costly for the home side.
Heat one saw the Aces open with a heat advantage but this proved to be the one and only time they were ahead in the meeting.
A costly gate exclusion for Kemp in heat 2 saw the Monarchs take a maximum heat advantage to move ahead 8-11. Youngster Tyler Bould gave chase and this was the first of 8 rides for the 15 year old.
Everytime the Juniors took to the track they took heat advantages with only Bould racing to victories. The Aces used Birmingham Junior Ben Heagren as a guest.
As is expected at the Ashmore Park track there was some fast and hotly contested action on track with both teams providing to an entertaining day. Even in the last heat with the result decided Ricki Johnson made a stunning inside pass on home captain Chris Jewkes as team mate Carl Winwood followed through to end on another maximum.
The juniors dominated their blocks of racing however in the senior heats they also outscored the Aces by 6 points to make this a rare and comprehensive victory on Wednesfield territory.

GOLD CUP
Wednesfield Aces 80 (84 minus 4 guest points) v Birmingham Monarchs 110

Chris Timms 13, Jake Steel 5, Mark Winwood 11+1, Ewan Hancox 9+2, Ricki Johnson 15, Carl Winwood 9+2, Billy Winwood 12+2, Bekah Humphries 12+2, Ryan Winwood 11+3, Connor Steel 13+1.

On Saturday a decent crowd turned out for the England versus Rest Of the World meeting at Perry Hall Playing Fields. The ROTW select were slightly stronger which included Chris Timms and after taking the lead in heat 4 it was one they never relinquished. With the weather and conditions fair it proved to be a very successful day for the Monarchs club.
Both Ewan Hancox and Ricki Johnson rode for England scoring 11 and 10 points respectively. Timms and Nathan Groves rode for the winners scoring 17 and 6 respectively.

Photos taken by Paul Devine from the England v Rest of the World match 

Birmingham travel to East Park this Thursday (25th) in Gold Cup action. This will take place under floodlights starting at 7.30pm.

On Sunday the Junior GB Academy has a training day at Leicester which includes Birmingham duo Connor Steel and Bekah Humphries. The club is delighted at their selection for consideration for next years World Championships.

The club will be hosting a Birmingham championship in November with a date to be arranged soon. Stay tuned for news of this. There is no action for the team this Sunday.

Training continues on a a Tuesday and a Thursday from 6PM until end of October. Newcomers of all ages and abilities are welcome to come and have a go.