MATCH REPORT: Kemp on top in charity extravaganza!
What a night! Wednesfield hosted the charity Cycle Speedway event in aid of Breast Cancer Now, it was an event strictly for non-Cycle Speedway riders, with each of the whopping 24 riders raising a minimum of £50 for the charity.
The evening kicked off with the first 6 heats of racing, where all riders had their first races. Neil Maton, Wayne Kennedy, Mark Phillips, Burtie, Graham Kemp and Neil Vann were the victors of the first heats.
Chris Reynolds was the first of many to take a tumble in a race, but picked himself back up, as did everyone else. Although the majority of the riders had never raced Cycle Speedway before, nobody was holding back, with passes left right and center on the bends and straights!
The inexperience of the riders meant that there were a fair few riders crashing into back wheels of other riders, making the races very nail biting for spectators!
The added twist of the Olympic formula, starting some riders back from the gates, made for some thrilling racing with plenty of shoulder to shoulder action! The whole event was as competitive as a world world final with all riders giving 100 percent.
In the end it was Mark Phillips and Graham Kemp who both ended the evening with a 20 point maximum, meaning a race off was required. Graham took grid 2, leaving Mark on 4. Both had a great gate and were neck and neck leaving the second bend, but an unfortunate slip and fall for Mark Phillips left Graham Kemp to take the chequered flag to become the victor of the night.
The top three, Neil Vann, Graham Kemp and Mark Phillips.
1st Graham Kemp
2nd Mark Phillips
3rd Neil Vann
Scores: Neil Maton 15, Paul Ingles 7, Nigel Pitt 12, Phil Bateman 5, Lee Marsh 9, Ash Dodd 9, Rob Adams 9, Wayne Kennedy 16, Mark Phillips 20, Clive Middleton 12, Chris Reynolds 10, Paul Bate 13, Dave Morris 15, Burtie 16, John Whetton 17, Bruce McCarthy 13, Martin Vaughan 15, Andy Parfitt 11, Ian Middleton 11, Graham Kemp 20, Benidorm Bob 7, Dave White 14, Jez Turner 8, Neil Vann 18.
Finally a big well done to organiser Glyn Rowley and the Wednesfield club on a real success for the charity and the sport. Excellent outside of the box thinking and pulled off extremely professionally.
Thanks to Emily Pitt for the report.