Smallbrook Stadium is becoming a home-from-home for speedway and grasstrack racer Henry Atkins as he completed a remarkable 8-day period at the Ryde track.
For the second week running, the opposition had no answer to the Devonian’s blistering speed and style as he returned another faultless performance. Add in a 4th 250cc grasstrack title last Sunday and a solid home debut for the Oxford Chargers on Wednesday, then it all adds up to quite a week.
After the first round of qualification heats for the Island Masters it was clear that the 3 big name riders – Atkins, Arran Butcher and Chad Wirtzfeld – would face a limited challenge from the other participants and after some discussion, the 3 sportingly agreed to race from a half lap handicap which gave rise to some spectacular action as they strained every sinew to make up the yardage that they had given away and they did it, mostly, successfully.
Butcher, series leader going into the meeting, again showed up well and Chad Wirtzfeld quickly got into his stride on his return to Smallbrook. As expected, the big 3 made the ‘A’ final alongside Harry Gent who improved during every race of Island Masters 1 and continued his good form in Island Masters 2.
So, to be a final itself enjoyed by a good size crowd who witnessed a lightning launch from Atkins that put him firmly in control from the off. An exemplary race win from tapes to flag and in doing so clocked a time of 68.8 seconds for the 2nd time on the night – a new record for the Island Masters competition. Behind him it was Butcher who secured 2nd place to retain overall control of the series with Wirtzfeld taking 3rd.
Results:
A Final: Henry Atkins, Arran Butcher, Chad Wirtzfeld, Harry Gent
B Final: Luke Tuck, Dave Hammond, Nigel Coates, Dean Cutler
C Final: David Hollingsbee, Jon Freeman, Bill Haynes, Rob Snow
Series scores after 2 rounds: Arran Butcher 23, Harry Gent 20, Dave Hammond 17, Luke Tuck 16, Dean Cutler 12, Henry Atkins 12, Chad Wirtzfeld 10, Ian Levington 9, Giles Dismore 6, Bill Haynes 6, Jon Freeman 6, Nigel Coates 6, Phil Spencer 5, David Hollingsbee 4, Rob Snow 3.
In the second round of the NORA British Upright Championship, it was a harum-scarum encounter with plenty of close racing, some heart-in-mouth moments, but ultimately a set of 6 unpredictable heats enjoyed by riders and supporters alike.
Making it through as joint top scorers were Wayne Parker and Chris Mackett and they will be joined by Dave Hammond and Graham Knowler on finals night. The unluckiest rider was probably Alex Chadd whose first race fall whilst leading looks to have cost him a final place.
Upright Results:
Wayne Parker 8, Chris Mackett 8, Graham Knowler 6, Dave Hammond 5, Alex Chadd 4, Martin Stacey 3, Giles Dismore 2, Phil Spencer 0
