MATCH REPORT: British Indoor Championships Day 1
The 2019 British Indoor Championships kicked off on Saturday with 4 Open Team Semi-Finals where only the winning team would qualify for the final. Defending champions Birmingham booked their place in the final by winning the 1st Semi-Final ahead of 2002 champions Great Blakenham, 6 time winners Wednesfield and Edinburgh
Birmingham 45: Chris Timms 16, Ricki Johnson 14, Ewan hancox 8, Nathan Groves 5, Paul Heard 2
Great Blakenham 40: Adam Peck 15, Luke Harrison 11, Jason Ashford 9, Adam Cooper 5
Wednesfield 38: Brandon Whetton 13, Matt Smith 10, Owen Wells 6, Lee Kemp 5, Chris Jewkes 4
Edinburgh 31: Jake Slight 10, Niall Morton 9, Jason Keith 6, Ed Morton 6
Referee: Ralph Doughty
Ipswich were the winners of semi-final 2 after recovering from 5 points behind 1988 winners Poole to take the lead after heat 12 and going on to win by 4 points. Astley & Tyldesley finished 3rd
Ipswich 51: Ashley Hill 16, Matt Hill 16, Richard Felgett 12, Leon Mower 4, Lewis Brinkhoff 3
Poole 47: Aaron Smith 13, Nathan Goulden 13, Fraser Garnett 12, Wil Bristowe 9
Astley & Tyldesley 38: Steve Harris 11, Martin Phillips 10, Reece Pollitt 9, Emily Burgess 8
Semi-final 3 was contested by Leicester, Stockport (2006) and Kesgrave and it was the 4 time winners Leicester who booked their place in the final with 54 points ahead of Stockport 2006 on 49 and Kesgrave on 35
Leicester 54: Craig Marchant 15, Mark Whitehead 14, Luke Whitehead 12, Nicky Whitehead 7, Craig Whitehead 6
Stockport (2006) 49: Ben Higham 15, Devon Campbell 12, Jake Read 12, Louis Wright 10
Kesgrave 35: Steve Hammond 10, Matt Parr 9, Peter Ingran 8, Daniel Zagni 5, Phoebe Hammond 3
Referee: Wayne Aris
The 4th Semi-Final was contested by Exeter, Hethersett, Coventry and 8 time winners Horspath. It was the Aces who took the final place in the final on 56 points ahead of Horspath on 43 with Coventry & Hethersett tying on 29
Exeter 56: Aaron Herbert 14, Connor Tucker 13, Ben Robinson 11, Craig Nethercott 11, Lauren Hookway 7
Horspath 43: Zac Payne 14, George Horsley 11, Will Jeffery 11, Jack Ellis 7
Hethersett 29: Craig Norton 8, David Martin 8, Leigh Cossey 7, Glyn Morgan 4, Ben Loombe 2
Coventry 29: Tom Savage 10, Adam Watson 9, Dan Drewett 6, Cameron Gill 4
Referee: Bob Prince
The first Individual championship to be decided was the Under 16’s and this saw Ipswich rider Lewis Brinkhoff complete an Outdoor-Indoor double as he retained his Indoor title with a 20 point maximum. Poole’s Nathan Goulden and Ipswich’s Ben Clarke finished on 18 points each with Goulden winning the run-off for 2nd
Lewis Brinkhoff (Ipswich) 20, Nathan Goulden (Poole) 18, Ben Clarke (Ipswich) 18, Rosie Tidball (Exeter) 16, Tom Savage (Coventry) 16, Kristian Mitchell (Ipswich) 15, Gemma Hill (Ipswich) 15, Kielan Burton (Sheffield) 14, Jasmine Oddie (Poole) 11, Connor Whitehead (Leicester) 10, Kieran Whitehead (Leicester) 10, Sophie Sinclair-Black (Leicester) 9, Siian Raynor (Leicester) 8
Referee: Mark Winwood (West Midlands)
The Over 40’s Individual Championship would be the next to be decided and this year the Midlands Region, after consulting British Cycling, decided to reward the top placed Over 50 and Over 60 within the event, however these 2 rewards were not official national championship categories.
Leicester’s Craig Marchant retained the title he won in 2016 and 2018 (there was no competition in 2017) with an unbeaten score. Steve Harris (Astley & Tyldesley) took 2nd overall after defeating Leicester’s Craig Whitehead in a run-off after the 2 riders tied on 17 points. Harris was the highest scoring Over 50 rider with 2010 Over 40’s Champion Paul Timms (Birmingham) the highest scoring Over 60 rider
Craig Marchant (Leicester) 20, Steve Harris (Astley & Tyldesley) 17, Craig Whitehead (Leicester) 17, Mark Whitehead (Leicester) 15, Peter Ingram (Kesgrave) 14, Luke Morton (Sheffield) 14, Jason Ashford (Gt Blakenham) 13, Daniel Zagni (Kesgrave) 13, Paul Timms (Birmingham) 12, David Martin (Hethersett) 12, Jason Keith (Edinburgh) 10, James Collier (Newport) 8, Paul Brinkhoff (Ipswich) 8, Glyn Morgan (Hethersett) 8, Steve Copping (Norwich) 5, Chris Ward (Horspath) 5
Referee: Wayne Aris (West Midlands)
The Junior Individual Championship saw Lewis Brinkhoff (Ipswich) retain the title he won last year with a 20 point maximum. It was an Ipswich 1-2-3-4 as James Porter finished 2nd on 18 points with Ben Clarke defeating Tyler Brinkhoff in a run-off for 3rd after both riders had scored 17 points
Lewis Brinkhoff (Ipswich) 20, James Porter (Ipswich) 18, Ben Clarke (Ipswich) 17, Tyler Brinkhoff (Ipswich) 17, Fraser Garnett (Poole) 16, Owen Wells (Wednesfield) 15, Kristian Mitchell (Ipswich) 13, Nathan Goulden (Poole) 12, Louis Wright (Stockport 2006) 10, Max Wells (Leicester) 10, Adam Cooper (Gt Blakenham) 9, Cameron Gill (Coventry) 6
Referee: Ralph Doughty (Nottinghamshire)
The final event of the day was the Open Team Final and this saw Ipswich take the title for the 1st time. The Eagles led from heats 1 to 6 before Birmingham brought the scores level in heat 7 as Chris Timms won the race following a gate exclusion for Leon Mower. Ipswich regained the lead in the next race and pulled away to win by 12 points from Birmingham with Exeter 3rd and Leicester 4th
Ipswich 54: Matt Hill 15, Ashley Hill 14, Leon Mower 12, Richard Felgett 10, Lewis Brinkhoff 3
Birmingham 42: Chris Timms 14, Ricki Johnson 9, Paul Heard 8, Ewan Hancox 7, Nathan Groves 4
Exeter 36: Craig Nethercott 13, Connor Tucker 9, Ben Robinson 7, Aaron Herbert 7, Lauren Hookway dnr
Leicester 24: Mark Whitehead 8, Luke Whitehead 6, Craig Marchant 4, Nicky Whitehead 3, Craig Whitehead 3
Referee: Bob Prince (West Midlands)