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Redcar Bears v Kings Lynn Stars
Premier League, 07 September 2006
South Tees Motorsports Park, Redcar

Redcar 44
1Gary Havelock31*1*11 ..72
2Chris Kerr1222. ..70
3Kevin Little1*1*1*2. ..53
4Mathieu Tresarrieu2226^3 ..150
5Tomas Suchanek0210. ..30
6(g)Tai Woffinden001.. ..10
7Daniel Giffard231*00 ..61
Kings Lynn 49
1Kevin Doolan2332*0 ..101
2Troy Bachelor0032*. ..51
3Trevor Harding0103. ..40
4Daniel Nermark3332. ..110
5Tomas Topinka23332 ..130
6Chris Mills3001. ..40
7John Oliver11*00. ..21

* = BP. ^ = TR . ! = TS (15m Handicap). # = TR (Points Not Doubled). & = TS (Points Not Doubled, 15m Handicap).

Redcar were without Jack Hargreaves and had Tai Woffinden as a guest replacement at number 6. King’s Lynn were at full strength.

This was King’s Lynn’s first visit to Redcar and the Bears last league match of the season. The bonus point looked a forlorn hope for the home side since King’s Lynn had won at home by 48 points. After a close encounter over the opening ten heats when the score was 30-30 King’s Lynn pulled away for a win which took them to the top of the league.

Gary Havelock stormed off to win the opening heat but, behind him, there was a good scrap between Kevin Doolan and Chris Kerr which the King’s Lynn man won. The Bears had opened with a 4-2 but it was all square again after the reserves race. Mills and Oliver gated for the Stars but Daniel Giffard passed John Oliver to limit the damage to a 2-4. An interesting battle between Daniel Nermark, Mathieu Tresarrieu and Kevin Little ended with the riders finishing in that order so the heat was shared but Redcar went ahead again in heat 4 when the Bears’ reserve, Daniel Giffard, rode an excellent race to head Tomas Topinka home with Tomas Suchanek in third for a 4-2 which took the score after the opening four races to 13-11.

Kevin Doolan won heat 5 for a shared race and Tomas Topinka won heat 6. Chris Mills was in second place but Chris Kerr and Gary Havelock passed him for another shared race. King’s Lynn drew level again in heat 7. Daniel Nermark held off Tomas Suchanek but at the back a mistake by Tai Woffinden resulted in him being passed by Trevor Harding for a 2-4. The scores stayed tied after heat 8 when Troy Batchelor, after two last places, burst into life by winning from Kerr and Giffard for a shared heat which took the score to 24-24 after eight heats.

Heat 9 was rerun with all four back after Chris Mills hit the fence on the first bend. Tomas Topinka won it from Tresarrieu and Little for yet another shared heat, the fifth of the match and it became six when Daniel Nermark won heat 10 from Kerr and Havelock. Heat 11, rerun after an unsatisfactory start, provided the first maximum of the match as King’s Lynn went ahead for the first time. It was the Doolan/Batchelor pairing which did the damage. It looked as though Tomas Suchanek had cut the advantage to a 2-4 when he passed Batchelor on the last lap but Batchelor repassed him on the last bend for a 1-5 to put the Stars four points to the good. Their lead stretched to six points when Trevor Harding, with only a single point to his name after three rides, won heat 12 from Kevin Little. Chris Mills took third place from Daniel Giffard and the 2-4 took the score to 33-39 with three heats to go.

King’s Lynn were now rampant and the match was virtually over when Topinka and Doolan added another 1-5 ahead of Havelock and Suchanek in a vital heat 13 to propel the Stars into a ten point lead with two heats to go. In heat 14 Mathieu Tresarrieu took a TR with the Bears needing an 8-1, 5-1 finish to win the match. They gave it their best shot. Mathieu Tresarrieu passed early race leader, Daniel Nermark, to win the heat and Tai Woffinden took third place from John Oliver for a 7-2 but it wasn’t enough for the hoped for miracle with the Stars now home and dry (provided they had a finisher in heat 15!). Mathieu Tresarrieu won the last heat after Topinka and Doolan looked like adding another 1-5. Tresarrieu produced a brilliant ride to pass both the Stars while Gary Havelock got through for third place for a 4-2 which brought more respectability to the scoreline for the Bears.

Match Report by Merlin