Isle of Wight speedway captain James Cockle capped a fine nights racing at Smallbrook Stadium when he was crowned winner of the inaugural Vincent’s Motorcycles and Antiques Handicap Individual Challenge last night (Thursday).
This individual event for 12 riders was broadly based on the speedway model used extensively in the USA where riders starting positions are determined by their ability, based on their average points score. Less experienced riders went from the starting gate; more experienced riders started 15 metres back from the tapes, whilst the star men had a 30 metre gap to make up.
Straight from heat 1 it was clear that the handicapper had got most of his sums right as the riders had to use speed, skill and track craft to manoeuvre alongside and around their competitors. This produced close racing with every heat recording a pass in one form or another in any part of the race. Certainly the supporters were richly entertained and welcomed this break with team competition and whilst maybe not to traditional taste, the meeting did prove the well prepared Smallbrook track can deliver up quality speedway and entertainment.
All riders need to be congratulated for their whole-hearted efforts on a sweltering evening. As expected, home favourites James Cockle and Connor Coles were always in the mix whilst Warrior debutant Scott Campos, who didn’t quite make the Winner Take All Final, will be pleased with his contribution. Georgie Wood was always a real threat as his scoring this season has proved, with Lakeside’s Alfie Bowtell the dark horse in the field.
So after the qualifying heats and 2 tight run semi finals Bowtell, Cockle, Wood and Coles came to tapes for the final heat and a real cut and thrust battle developed between Bowtell and Coles. Wood dropped out with a mechanical fault after just over a lap whilst wily Cockle sat back and watched the young guns go for glory ready to pounce on any mistake. Sure enough on the very last corner Bowtell and Coles clashed and fell allowing Cockle to slide past for the win triggering a night of celebration for the home fans.
Final Result: 1st James Cockle; 2nd Connor Coles; 3rd Alfie Bowtell; 4th Georgie Wood
Other Scores: Ryan Terry-Daley 5; Adam Portwood 4; Jamie Bursill 0; Danno Verge 7; Scott Campos 8; Sam Woolley 4; Jamie Sealey 1 and Tom Woolley 8
