A successful day for the Comets with riders taking podium positions in both the Junior and Senior Men’s event.
A successful day for the Comets with riders taking podium positions in both the Junior and Senior Men’s event.
The first contest of the day was won prior to the start of any racing. Thunderstorms rolled into Poole and Bournemouth just 10 hours prior to the scheduled start time of 12 Noon Sunday 5th June. Working through the night, volunteers Kevin Smith and Leigh Instone battled to pump water off the Harbourside Park circuit and prepare the track for racing.
The first event of the day saw the Juniors line up. After having completed four rides each, the top 8 point scorers we drawn to ride in one of two semi-finals. The top two riders from each of the semi-finals secured a spot in the Final.
The first two spots in the final were secured by Poole’s own, Kenzie Bennett and Feroze Langoo. They were joined in the Semi-final race by JJ Wildman of Exeter and Charlie Parr of Kesgrave. Unfortunately, it was to be for Josh Nottle of the Comets and Leon Penketh of Southampton in the second semi-final race as the Noah Woodhouse of Kesgrave and Owen Geach of Exeter took the remaining two spots in the final.
The final of the Junior event was won by Noah Woodhouse of Kesgrave. Joining Woodhouse on the podium was Kenzie Bennett in second and Feroze Langoo taking the remaining spot which underlines the strength of the host club at this age category level.
The Ladies event followed a different formula with each rider racing five times. Podium positions were decided by the highest accumulative point score. The Women’s Laurels was won by Lizzie Rigley-Porter of Sheffield who remained unbeaten. Second and third position was decided following a run-off as each rider finished their rides on the same number of points. Winning the run-off to come second was Emily Burgess of Astley and Tyldesley with the final spot on the rostrum awarded to Lauren Hookway of Exeter.
The final event of the day saw the Men’s Laurels decided. The Men’s event was hampered with more rain, making conditions tough for all riders.
The Men’s event followed the same formula as the Junior event. The first two spots in the final were secured by Paul Heard of Birmingham and Zac Payne of Horspath. They were joined by 2019 ICSF World Champion Ben Mould, also of Horspath and Mark Carmichael of Newport in the first of the two semi-final races. The final two spots in the final were secured by Poole Comet’s own, Aaron Smith and David Bas of Wroclaw, both beating Ben Clarke of Ipswich and Josh Brooke of Great Blakenham.
In a field that included the reigning World Champion and former British Champions it was home based Aaron Smith that took the Senior men’s Ade Gale Laurels title, rewarding his dad, Kevin Smith, for his efforts to prepare the track through the night. Smith committed to four laps of hard defending against multi-capped Polish International Davis Bas who finished second. Rounding off the podium positions was Paul Heard of Birmingham. Despite a great effort to make the final, unfortunately a rostrum position was not to be for Payne of Horspath.
Report courtesy of Matt Mildon.
