SHEFFIELD SPEEDWAY MATCH REPORTS 2024
OXFORD 'Spires' v SHEFFIELD 'Tigers'													Premiership 2			1st July 2024
Ref: Wayne Jarvis		01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	S/h	Tot+Bp
1. Rohan Tungate	7.42	2					3				3			3		3		14
2. Drew Kemp	4.45	0					0		2		-							2
3. Maciej Janowski	6.04			1		3				2			2					8
4. Charles Wright	6.27			tps		2'				1'					1			4+2
5. Chris Harris ©	6.33				1			3				3		2'		2'		11+2
6. Erik Riss	4.30		3	0				0				2'			0			5+1
7. Ashton Boughen RS	3.00		0		3				1'		0		0					4+1
Peter Schroeck		2	3	1	4	5	3	3	3	3	3	5	2	5	1	5
OXFORD 'Spires'		2	5	6	10	15	18	21	24	27	30	35	37	42	43	48
SHEFFIELD 'Tigers'		4	7	12	14	15	18	21	24	27	30	31	35	36	41	42
Simon Stead		4	3	5	2	1	3	3	3	3	3	1	4	1	5	1
1. Jack Holder r/r	(9.33)	-				-						-		-				(6)
2. Lewis Kerr (g)	(8.67)	1				0			3			0		1				5
3. Josh Pickering	6.55			2'		1		2			2		3			0		10+1
4. Kyle Howarth ©	5.35			3				1'			1'	1			2'			8+3
5. Chris Holder	8.19	3			2		2			3				0	3	1		14
6. Jason Edwards	3.00		2				1'			0			1					4+1
7. Dan Gilkes RS	3.67		1'		0				0						-			1+1
Track record = 57.53 Chris Harris, 1 Sept 2023		01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	S/h
		57.41	58.72	58.77	57.95	59.22	58.93	58.81	60.83	59.30	59.47	57.72	60.08	59.87	60.31	60.49

Tigers without both Jack Holder and Tai Woffinden after they both crashed out of the Polish Grand Prix at the weekend were on a hiding to nothing. Heat details courtesy of Ron Howes "Different Slant" (with permission)...

Heat 1 and Chris Holder makes a flyer with Rohan Tungate in quick pursuit and a battle for 3rd between new Spires signing Drew Kemp and former Spire Lewi Kerr, Holder wins the race in a new track record of 57.41 seconds and Kerr tracks Kemp for the 4 laps and goes round him on the last bend to gain 3rd place for the Tigers and a 4-2. Heat 2 Eric Riss makes the gate and Ashton is close behind but both Jason Edwards & Dan Gilkes both go under him on exiting the 2nd turn and it finishes as a 3-3. Heat 3 Josh Pickering moves at the start and Charles Wright goes through the tapes and Eric comes into the rerun but the Sheffield riders Kyle Howarth & Pickering make a great start and Maciej is left chasing and as hard as he tries cannot land a blow and it's a 5-1 to the tigers. Heat 4 Ashton Boughen makes a blistering start over Holder and wins in a very fast time with Bomber getting the better of Gilkes its a 4-2 to Spires and 10-14 down. Wow what a start to Heat 5 all 4 riders heading into the first turn together with Maciej going for the dirt on the outside line and Kerr, Pickering and Charles jockeying for position down the back straight and Maciej sweeps round the old pits bend to take the lead with Charles following through to both hold on for a fantastic 5-1 and back in the match at 15 apiece.

Heat 6 Holder makes the start but Rohan goes for the outside line and storms past him down the back straight to take the lead but alas Kemp is at the back so it's a 3-3. Heat 7 Pickering just shades the start over Eric and leads exiting the 2nd turn but Bomber quickly pursues Pickering and also sweeps around him on the old pits bend to go on and take the win and Howarth who was a long way back manages to catch up Eric and pips him on the line for 3rd place and a 3-3. Heat 8 Ashton & Drew gate but Kerr takes the outside line and goes round both of them on the old pits bend for another shared heat. Heat 9 Maciej & Holder go into the first turn together with Maciej trying the cutback but Holder just holds on and sticks to the outside line and Maciej can't land a blow even though he's right on his back wheel for the 4 laps so yet another 3-3 and Heat 10 Ashton replaces Drew and makes the gate along with Rohan but Pickering passes Ashton going into turn 3 and Howarth goes underneath him and it's a 3-3 and 30 points apiece.

Heat 11 and all 4 charge into the first bend and "Bomber" emerges in front and Eric is in the mix trying to chase down Howarth and on the 3rd lap Eric gets past him exiting the 4th turn to come in behind Bomber for a welcome 5-1 and take the lead for the first time at 35-31 to the delight of the Oxford fans. Heat 12 Pickering & Edwards gate and Maciej is a long way behind but makes up the ground to pass Edwards but to far back to catch Pickering and a 4-2 to Sheffield. Heat 13 Rohan makes a superb gate with Lewi tucked into 2nd but Bomber chases him down the back straight and takes him on the old pits bend for another 5-1 and we're 6 points up, so Sheffield bring in Holder as a tac sub in heat 14 and he and Howarth make the gate and hold on over the chasing Charles for a 5-1 and it's now 43-41 to Spires and it's another last heat decider in a Spires match. Heat 15 the nominated race with Rohan & Bomber for the Spires and Chris Holder & Josh Pickering for the Tigers, with 14 heats of, at times, breathtaking speedway this one topped the lot with Holder making the start and Rohan tucked in behind but ahead of Pickering with Bomber at the back so was we looking at a super heat no not on your life as Bomber is winding it on to pass Pickering Rohan steams up the inside of Holder and somehow finds the drive, that no one else seemed too, and he thrusts himself in front coming down the back straight on lap 3. Bomber going hell for leather at this point dives under Holder going into turn 3 and magnificently holds the line to exit turn 4 in front of him and joins Rohan for a match winning 5-1 with the Oxford fans ecstatic in wild celebration especially when both riders came round for the lap of honour.

A truly remarkable match with great racing that was fast and furious and a great advert for British speedway on a track set up for the racers. Whilst Rohan topped the score chart with 14 points, he was quick all night and could have won heat 1 had it not been for Chris Holder making that lightning start and creating a new track record, Chris "Bomber" Harris after a slow start to the evening first time out was then back to his very best and those overtakes in heats 13 & 15 was worth the admission money alone. Maciej had a better night and a race win for his 8 points and everyone of the Spires did their bit to get us over the line. Drew Kemp looked okay but needs to find the best racing lines if he's going to make an impact for the rest of the season and Eric lost a definite point in heat 7 by continuing to look behind on that last lap. He made up for it in heat 11 getting his revenge over Kyle Howarth. It was good to see some speedway & TV personalities at Cowley tonight like David 'Diddy' Hamilton along with top Scot Bert Harkins, Abi from Eurosport along with Kelvin Tatum, also our own Scotty doing the live interviews.