Speedway: Redcar Bears 45, Newcastle Diamonds 45

Mar 28 2008 The Journal

THE Newcastle Diamonds pushed the Premier Trophy match at Redcar to the very last race last night, with some superb racing.

The unexpected star of the Diamonds pack was Czech Josef Franc, who found a rich vein of form on a cold night, winning three races and taking the track record in heat three of 54.9.

Franc received good support from his fellow Czech, George Stancl, who, like Franc, won his first two heats, but in the early heats there wasn’t a great deal else to shout about – though things livened up after the first half hour.

Four points down after the first two races, Franc roared away from the gate with Auty tucked into second place as King put in a fantastic chase behind Grieves until the last lap when he fell.

Just two down after heat four, the fifth put Redcar two more points ahead with win for former Newcastle favourite, Grieves, with Auty taking the heat advantage when he passed Powell and got seriously close to passing Henry as well at one point.

Heat six was another excellent display of fine speedway when Stancl made an incredible start ahead of Proctor, but the Aussie roared round him on bends three and four on that opening lap only for the Czech to engage in an excellent battle, just darting back and stealing the win.

Heats 11 and 12 put Newcastle back level with the Bears after two solid 1-5s, although luck from a Kerr fall in the former and Grieves withdrawing with a chest infection from the latter certainly helped, and going into the final they were still locked at 45-45.

In the final race, Kerr was away, with Havelock trying his best to pass Stancl and Franc throughout until the Bears skipper fell on the third lap due to a snapped chain.

He remained on the track and was excluded from the re-run in which Kerr simply jetted from the gate again to win and assure the draw.

Newcastle team manager George English said: “This really shows what a good side we have this year. But we always want those wins, especially away from home now they are worth three points and had we pushed a little harder from some quarters earlier on then the win should have been in our pockets now.”

:: INJURY-hit Berwick Bandits, who have lost their first five meetings in the Premier Trophy, have signed 27-year-old Danish rider Henning Bager.

He replaces Manuel Hauzinger, who has a broken collar bone, and will make his debut against Glasgow Tigers in the Trophy Clash at Shielfield Park tomorrow, followed by the opening league meeting at Mildenhall on Sunday.