CLUB NEWS: Busy times for Stars riders

Norwich riders have been busy in the previous 4 weeks. The busy spell started on Saturday 18th June at Wednesfield where the host club were celebrating their 60th anniversary with 2 days of racing. 4 Norwich riders were involved and the action began with an Under 14’s Individual where Shaun Kell scored 19 points, dropping his only point to the winner Ryker Jolly (Kesgrave). A Junior Individual followed where Tom Blackmore represented the Stars and finished a very creditable 8th with 13 points which included wins in his last 2 races. Paddy Wenn and Steve Copping then rode in the Veterans Individual with Paddy scoring 15 points and finishing in a 3 way tie for 5th and Steve finishing tied for 12th with 9 points.

The following day saw South-East League action with a Norfolk Derby at home to Hethersett in Division 2 and the Youth League. The Division 2 match was raced first and saw the Stars slip to defeat by 83 points to 75. The Norwich scorers were Paddy 17, Ben Loombe 14, Shaun 11, Tom 10, Jamie Medler 9, Mackenzie Loombe 7 and Richie Tayler 7. Norwich emerged victorious in the Youth League match by 67 points to 63. The Kell siblings Shaun and Josie scored 14 each, Will Blackmore scored 13, Zachary Eastwood 10, Frank Spauls 9 and Stanley Budds 7.

Will was the only Norwich rider to make the trip to Hellingly on Saturday 25th June for the final British Youth & Junior League Regional round which also counted as Round 4 of the South-East Grand Prix. Will was 4th in the Under 12’s A Final which was enough to qualify Norwich for the National rounds.

Hellingly were in Norfolk for a double header of racing the following the following day for league matches against Norwich and Hethersett in South-East Division 2 and the Youth League. The Lions were at Eaton Park to begin with where Norwich took the honours in the Division 2 match by 91-68. Paddy top scored with 17 points whilst Shaun scored 16, Jamie & Tom 14 each, Ben 12, Gary Colby 8, Mackenzie 5 and Rory Freeman 5. Hellingly won the Youth League match 69-61. Shaun was the top scorer for the Stars with 18, Will scored 14, Josie 12, Zachary 7, Kenny Culling 6 and Stan 4

Round 2 of the Norfolk Grand Prix for Under 16, Girls and Senior riders took place at Hethersett on Wednesday 29th June and Will took the win in the Under 16’s A Final whilst in the Senior A Final Jamie was 3rd with Tom 4th

July started with 2 events featuring Norwich riders and both events took place on Saturday 2nd at Southampton & Somersham respectively. Southampton was the venue for Round 4 of the EuroVets and in the Over 35/Over 40 event Steve, on his 1st racing visit to Southampton, scored 10 points in the heats which was enough for him to qualify for the Over 40’s B Final where he finished 4th. The Over 50/Over 60’s event saw Paddy score 16 points and qualify for the Over 50’s A Final where he finished 4th after falling in the 1st attempt to stage the Final and sustaining a scraped chin. Meanwhile at Somersham it was Round 5 of the South-East Grand Prix series and Frank finished 2nd in the Under 10’s A Final, Will won the Under 12’s B Final with Zachary 4th and Shaun took the Under 14’s A Final

The following day saw the Stars make the trip to Kesgrave for 4 South-East League matches, 1 each in Divisions 1 & 2 plus 2 Youth League matches. The Youth League match against the Kesgrave Panthers saw the young Stars on the wrong end of a 75-52 scoreline where Shaun top scored with 18 points, Will scored 14, Josie 9, Stanley 5 and Zachary 4. The Division 1 match was won by the host club by 92 point to 68. Lee Grange top scored with 18 points whilst Shaun scored 12, Paddy & Jamie 11 each, Rory 4, Gary 3 and Richie 2. The Youth team suffered another defeat, this time to the Kesgrave Pumas, by 79 points to 47. Shaun was top scorer again with 15 this time, Will scored 12, Josie 9, Zachary 7 and Stan 4. The Division 2 match saw Norwich lose their 4th match of the day by 95 points to 64. It was Paddy’s turn to top score this time with 13 points whilst Rory managed 11, Mackenzie 10, Ben 9, Richhie 7, Gary 6, Jamie 5 and Will 3.

It was back to Kesgrave on Saturday 9th for the 1st British Youth & Junior League round. Frank rode in the Under 10’s event and was 2nd in the B Final whilst the 3 other Norwich riders who rode all qualified for the A Finals in their respective events. Will was 4th in the Under 12’s event, Shaun was runner-Up in the Under 14’s and Tom was 3rd in the Under 18’s

Norwich’s next action is scheduled for this Sunday (17th July) with a trip to Hethersett for South-East Division 2 and Youth League matches. Shaun had an accident biking to school on Monday 11th July where he suffered ankle ligament damage so he is a doubt for these matches.

The European Championships take place from Friday 29th to Sunday 31st July at Sheffield (Cookson Park) and Astley & Tyldesley and 4 Norwich riders are scheduled to take part. Steve and Paddy race in the 2nd Veterans Semi-Final at Sheffield where they will be looking for a top 8 finish to qualify them for the final on the Sunday at Astley. Also at Sheffield Josie is scheduled to be taking part in a pre-qualifying round for the Women’s event which has 19 entrants including Josie. If 16 or less riders check in for the pre-qualifier then that will be cancelled and the checked in riders will qualify for the final automatically. If Shaun recovers from his ankle injury in time then he will race in the 2nd Junior Semi-Final at Astley on the Saturday where a top 8 finish will qualify him for the final the following day.

Training continues most Tuesday evenings from 6.15pm at Eaton Park