CLUB NEWS: A busy month for Norwich riders
The month of June began with 5 Norwich riders in action at Newport for the Home Internationals on the 3rd. Paddy Wenn, Steve Copping, Gary Colby and Dave Blackmore all donned their Ireland shirts for the Over 40’s match which saw Ireland finish 4th with 33 points, their cause not helped by the fact that the 5th rider in the team, Wednesfield’s Lee Ashman, had to withdraw after suffering a broken collarbone following a fall in his 2nd race. Paddy scored 11 points, Steve 9, Gary 7 and Dave 4. In the Senior match Tom Blackmore represented Scotland who finished 3rd with 31 points with Tom scoring 8 of those points. Steve filled a gap in the Ireland line-up scoring 4 out of Ireland’s 27 points as they finished 4th.
Wednesday June 7th saw round 4 of the Norfolk Go-Ride and Grand Prix series take place at Hethersett. The Under 12 and Under 14 categories were combined and Zackery Eastwood finished 2nd overall in the A Final and 1st Under 12 rider. The Under 16 and Senior categories were also combined and Harrie Everiss won the B Final to finish 5th overall with Jamie Medler 3rd in the B Final and 7th overall. Jack Western won the C Final to finish 9th overall. In the Senior section Harrie was 4th, Jamie 5th and Jack 7th. In the Overall series standings Zackery leads the Under 12/Under 14 standings with Will Blackmore 11th. The Under 16/Senior overall standings sees Jamie 3rd, Harrie 4th, Jack 5th and Tom Blackmore 8th. In the Senior category alone they are 1 place higher overall. Round 5 of this competition took place at Eaton Park on Sunday 25th June but results were not available at the time of writing
Paddy was the only Norwich rider to make the trip to Hellingly on Saturday June 10th for the 4th round of the South-East Grand Prix where he finished 2nd in the Over 40’s category. He still leads overall going into the 5th round of the series at Somersham on Saturday July 8th. Steve did not make the trip to Hellingly and has slipped to 4th place in the overall standings as a result but will definitely be in action at the next round on his former track.
The following day saw Kesgrave visit Eaton Park for a South-East League Division 2 match and it was the Panthers who left with the league points courtesy of an 87-73 victory. Lee Grange top scored with 17 points whilst Jamie scored 15+2, gary 12+1, David Adams 11+2, Will Blackmore 10 and Jack 8.
The weekend of Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th June saw Exeter stage 2 days of racing to celebrate their 60th anniversary. Saturday’s action was the 4th round of the EiuroVets and Steve, on his 1st racing visit to Exeter, scored 10 points in the Over 35/Over 40’s heats which wasnt enough to qualify him for any of the finals. Paddy scored 15 points in the Over 50/Over 60’s heats, a last place in his last qualifying heat costing him a place in the Over 50’s A Final. He subsequently finished 2nd in the Over 50’s B Final which leaves him in 2nd overall in the Over 50’s. Steve currently sits in 6th place overall in the Over 35’s and Over 40’s with the next round on Saturday July 22nd. Paddy was also in action on Sunday as part of the EuroVets Select team which raced the Exeter Vintage Aces and it was Exeter who won by 91 points to 87 with Paddy scoring 10 of the EuroVets’ points