British Under 19 Final; Coventry 20/9

[Heathen1984 139]

This as to be the most boring meeting I'll attend this season, poor advert for speedway.

[topaz325 1,856]

Kyle Howarth not riding....

 

Due to illness.

[Gemini 4,894]

This as to be the most boring meeting I'll attend this season, poor advert for speedway.

 

Yes, but that was at 8.44pm. You've got to admit it did get a lot better. Well done to all the lads and congratulations to Stefan.

[norwichkev 66]

This as to be the most boring meeting I'll attend this season, poor advert for speedway.

Yep, shame Mr Morrish wasn't there, maybe would have got a different result :-)

[Heathen1984 139]

Sorry Gemini it didn't get Any better. Awful meeting. Poor advert for our kids and sport.

[NeilWatson 1,988]

 

 

MILDENHALL’S Stefan Nielsen completed a successful defence of the British Under-19 Championship with victory at Coventry on Friday.

Nielsen came through the semi-final to achieve his win, and produced a stunning first two turns in the Final to get the better of his rivals in what was his first-ever meeting at Brandon.

That spelt frustration for the two riders who had qualified automatically for the Final, Ashley Morris having got there with a 15-point maximum and Adam Ellis having dropped his only point to Morris in Heat 19.

But both missed out at the start of the Final with a fast-gating Ben Morley initially in second place as Nielsen swept around the outside, and although Morris passed Morley he wasn’t able to catch Nielsen.

Morris and Ellis always looked the likely automatic Finalists, Ellis doing much of his work from the gate whilst Morris was involved in some good battles – including one with his Dudley team-mate Max Clegg who he re-passed to win Heat 15, and also an on-the-line verdict over Morley four races earlier.

Nielsen scored a solid 12 with two wins and three second places, but the battle for the remaining semi-final spots was close, with three riders on ten points as Morley was joined by Darryl Ritchings – despite a fall after hectic battle in the early stages of Heat 11 – and Coventry Storm’s Oliver Greenwood, who produced one of the best moves of the night with his outside pass on Liam Carr to win Heat 12. Greenwood and Ritchings, though, missed out to Nielsen and Morley in the semi-final.

There was frustration for Josh Bates, who had looked set to put Morley out of the meeting only to suffer mechanical problems at the start of Heat 20 and hand the Kent man a reprieve.

There were two withdrawals after crashes, with 15-year-old Daniel Spiller coming to grief on the parade lap and taking just one ride before pulling out with a knock to the head; whilst Nathan Stoneman was taken to hospital with an ankle injury after a clash with Clegg in Heat 10.

Pre-meeting favourite Kyle Howarth had withdrawn from the event earlier in the day due to illness, but Coventry asset Ryan Terry-Daley gave a competitive showing as his replacement – and regular Storm reserve James Shanes also impressed, including with a dramatic fourth-to-second effort in his fourth outing.

Hard-luck stories also included Carr, who was a late arrival due to traffic and then broke the tapes in his first ride of the night; and Connor Coles, who rode far better than his three points suggested and suffered a broken chain when leading his final outing.

But overall it was a night which produced plenty of good racing, especially in the second half of the meeting, and Nielsen also twice broke the National League track record.

He said: “I think last year I did exactly the same thing, very consistent in the first five races and finished on twelve points which gave me the semi-final.

“I made a good start there whereas in the Final I didn’t get gate one, and I didn’t make the best start because I lifted a bit, I was third going into the corner but I had the momentum around the outside and it worked a treat.

“I enjoyed it, it’s the first time I’ve been to Coventry and I’m very happy with the win. I’d like to say a special thank-you to Michael Lee, I borrowed his engine for two meetings before and I felt it would suit this track well from what people were saying, and it was amazing.”

 

QUALIFYING SCORES: Ashley Morris 15, Adam Ellis 14, Stefan Nielsen 12, Oliver Greenwood 10, Darryl Ritchings 10, Ben Morley 10, Josh Bates 8, Max Clegg 7, Liam Carr 5, James Shanes 5, Ryan Terry-Daley 5, Nathan Stoneman 4, Connor Coles 3, Daniel Spiller 2, Adam Kirby 2, Nathan Greaves 2, Reece Downes (res) 2, Adam Portwood (res) 0.

SEMI-FINAL: Nielsen, Morley, Greenwood, Ritchings.

FINAL: Nielsen, Morris, Morley, Ellis.

Edited September 20, 2013 by NeilWatson

[waco 1,026]

The difference between the class of the top 7 riders and the rest of the field was to great to produce good racing however there were still one or two moments to saver,, mine of course was Ben Morley getting 3rd place .. Congratulations to Stefan Nielsen on winning the meeting and Ashley Morris the runner up who may have wished he had taken an outside gate same would apply to the other finalist Adam Ellis .They had the first choices and chose gates 1 and 2 ...

Edited September 20, 2013 by waco

[TMW 533]

Sorry Gemini it didn't get Any better. Awful meeting. Poor advert for our kids and sport.

 

I have to admit to not being there but, according to the updates there was more close riding and passing than in some of the meetings I have seen this season. Are you sure the disappointment of Morris is clouding your judgement ?

 

Well done all the lads and........

Speedy recover to Nathan Stoneman who must be pretty naffed off with the end of his season. Dropped by Mildenhall and now a broken ankle.

Edited September 21, 2013 by TMW

[iainb 5,015]

but, according to the updates there was more close riding and passing than in some of the meetings I have seen this season

believe me, it was rubbish

[Guest]

The difference between the class of the top 7 riders and the rest of the field was to great to produce good racing however there were still one or two moments to saver,, mine of course was Ben Morley getting 3rd place .. Congratulations to Stefan Nielsen on winning the meeting and Ashley Morris the runner up who may have wished he had taken an outside gate same would apply to the other finalist Adam Ellis .They had the first choices and chose gates 1 and 2 ...

 

believe me, it was rubbish

 

All looks like another speedway success story to me!

[TMW 533]

believe me, it was rubbish

 

Fair enoughl

[G the Bee 639]

It was a poor meeting. Absolutely no fault of the Coventry management though. The track was in excellent condition and heats were pushed through at a good pace whenever possible. However, the many re-runs obviously affected the pace of the meeting, to the point where it was decided not to proceed with an interval (another good call by whoever was running the meeting).

 

The biggest issue for me was we don't have sufficient riders of equivalent quality to produce a competitive meeting at this level. The top six (Morris, Ellis, Nielsen, Ritchings, Greenwood and Morley) together with Josh Bates (who got 8 from his three completed rides) were clearly a cut above the rest. The gulf between PL reserve standard riders (such as Nielsen, Morris, Ellis) and national league reserves (such as Nathan Greaves and James Shanes) is huge.

 

In their programme notes, Neil Vatcher and Phil Morris asked the question "How many of these talented young Brits are going to go on and ride at the highest level?"

 

In fairness, it's hard to judge 15/16 year olds such as Max Clegg, Nathan Greaves and James Shanes. And clearly Adam Ellis has made huge progress this year,although he faded badly in his last 2 rides. However, it's fair to say I didn't see any rider last night who had the 'wow' factor.

 

It will be interesting to see how these riders progress over the next few years.

Edited September 21, 2013 by G the Bee

[Parsloes 1928 nearly 495]

Well I wasn't there, so no idea what the racing was like but the comments about how "rubbish" it was seem to me way OTT.

 

For goodness sake, we have an exciting crop of young riders coming through and this was clearly a very competitive meeting at the top end. Under the correct format it would've come down to heat 19 with two unbeaten riders head to head for the title. Instead there was a Grand Final and a shock in that. Surely as indiv. meetings go that produced enough excitement in itself did it not?

 

Sometimes I actually think there are some people who only go to Speedway to moan about it..

 

Well done Stefan and Ben. Bad luck Ashley & Adam.

I for one applaud your efforts and am looking forward to seeing you four resume battle alongside the likes of Boxall, Blackbird, Starke, Wright, Perry & Lambert this evening att Rye.

Phew, what a prospect tonight's NLRC is... Though no doubt some will come on here to say it's "rubbish"..!!

[G the Bee 639]

We have an exciting crop of young riders coming through and this was clearly a very competitive meeting at the top end. Under the correct format it would've come down to heat 19 with two unbeaten riders head to head for the title. Instead there was a Grand Final and a shock in that. Surely as indiv. meetings go that produced enough excitement in itself did it not?

 

I actually don't agree with you, although I would concede that you probably have more experience of watching riders at this level than I. The 2012 winner (who had looked steady, if not spectacular all night) regaining his title was hardly a shock result. Nielsen was always capable of beating Morris and Ellis.

 

Both the final, and the heat 19 meet between Morris and Ellis, were pretty routine affairs. But isn't that often the way in speedway?

Edited September 21, 2013 by G the Bee

[full-throttle 182]

Nielsen made the other finalists look rather ordinary in the last heat.