REACTION: “It puts us back top of the National League, and of course, we’re also top of the Championship, so we can’t ask for much more than that!”
WSRA Oxford Chargers, powered by SD Timmo Car Sales, moved back to the top of the National League table with a convincing 51-39 victory at Workington yesterday afternoon (Saturday).
With the Oxford Cheetahs also currently first in the Cab Direct Championship, both Oxford teams now proudly sit top of their respective tables. It is believed that it is the first time since Oxford Speedway opened in 1949 that the club has been top of two leagues simultaneously.
The victory for the Chargers came at the Northside Arena – speedway’s newest track which opened in mid-May. The venue which previously housed a training track, has been totally transformed and is the new home of Workington Comets, who lost their previous home at Derwent Park at the end of the 2018 season. The facility is excellent – containing a good racetrack, spacious pits and very good viewing for spectators – while the meeting was watched by a sizeable crowd.
Going into the meeting, Comets were third and Chargers were second and a competitive clash was expected.
But Chargers took complete control of the meeting, by storming into an early 21-9 lead, including 5-1s in both Heat 1 and Heat 3, both including 16-year-old Jody Scott.
The meeting was won with a couple of heats to spare – after a spell-bending charge from last to first by stand-in skipper Henry Atkins in Heat 13. Chargers could even afford to drop a couple of points, when guest Alfie Bowtell picked up a highly unusual post-race exclusion for not wearing the correct race-jacket while winning Heat 11!
Scott, along with Bowtell – who stood in for the injured Jordan Jenkins – were the only Chargers who had previously raced on the track; it was brand new for the rest of the Oxford side.
Bowtell and Scott took a 5-1 in the opening race over Connor Bailey – one of the top men in the National League. Heat 2 was shared, before Ryan Kinsley and Scott powered to another 5-1 in Heat 3.
Chargers also held a 5-1 early in Heat 4, before Ace Pijper fought past Atkins in a battle for second place. But Jacob Clouting held firm out front to take a very impressive heat win.
Bowtell showed determination to clear Sam McGurk early in Heat 5, while Chargers took a 4-2 heat advantage after Workington’s Luke Crang suffered an engine failure. Race-winner Bowtell miscounted and completed a fifth lap.
Workington provided the next two heat-winners as they pegged back a couple of points, although Kinsley and Scott kept Workington’s trump card reserve Luke Harrison at the back in Heat 7.
Heat 8 was the race of the afternoon. Clouting had received a warning for moving at the start of Heat 2 and, this time around, he nudged the tapes. Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck opted to keep him in the race, off a 15-metre handicap. Comets were soon out in front, with Kinsley hemmed in on the inside. But Kinsley moved inside Elliott Kelly after two laps. Kinsley then pursued race-leader Harry McGurk and grabbed victory at the death after an outside burst coming off the final bend. Meanwhile, Clouting had recovered from his handicap and passed Kelly for third on the final lap, as Chargers took a 4-2.
Atkins trapped in Heat 9, but Sam McGurk suffered a heavy fall on the fourth turn – fortunately the youngster was soon up and able to continue in the meeting. In the re-run, Atkins fought past Luke Crang in the early stages and the 4-2 moved Chargers 14 ahead at 34-20.
Workington posted a 5-1 in Heat 10, while Heat 11 was a little bizarre. Bowtell won, after a cut-back on Pijper on the second bend, which left the Comet fuming, and the race finished as a 4-2 to Chargers. But it was then announced that Bowtell had been excluded for not wearing his Chargers’ race-jacket over his Plymouth racesuit during the race and the heat result was changed to a 4-2 to Comets, which closed the gap to eight points.
While the rulebook does state that riders must wear a race-jacket, shirt or suit displaying their racing number, it doesn’t clarify whether this is an excludable offence. There have been other incidents of riders competing without an appropriate race-jacket – some very recently – but they haven’t resulted in an exclusion.
It provided a talking point, but it soon became academic. Kinsley won Heat 12, while Harrison fell while trying to round him, and Chargers moved back 10 points in front with a 4-2.
Heat 13 saw a sublime ride from Atkins, as he raced from last to first around the outside on the opening two laps. Former Oxford skipper Craig Branney – who led Oxford Academy to the Conference League in 2005 – was in attendance and was impressed. Branney said that he knew such a move was possible, but it was the first time a rider had stuck to the outside to roar around all three other riders around the wide Northside Arena track.
Bailey lost his chain in second place, as Bowtell joined Atkins for a match-winning 5-1 that took the score to 46-32 in Chargers’ favour.
Clouting concluded an impressive afternoon’s work by rounding Workington skipper Luke Crang to take third place in Heat 14, as Scott and Clouting ensured a 3-3 behind Harrison.
Comets looked to hit back with a consolation 5-1 in Heat 15, but Atkins and Kinsley pushed Bailey into a mistake at the end of the opening lap to move into second and third. Kinsley miscounted the number of laps and slowed after three laps, which meant he lost third to Bailey – with the Charger honest enough to admit his mistake afterwards. It made no difference, as Chargers still won 51-39, which not only grabbed the victory but places them in a commanding position for the aggregate bonus point when the two sides meet at Oxford on August 16.
Heat-leaders Atkins and Kinsley top scored for Chargers on 11 apiece, although arguably the match-winners were Clouting (10+1) and Scott (8+3). Both posted their best-ever scores for Chargers.
Bowtell (8+1) was unbeaten except for his highly unusual exclusion in Heat 11, while the unattached Sam Woods (3+1) – who replaced the injured Luke Killeen – again scored some important points for Chargers, including defeating the highly-rated Harry McGurk fair-and-square in Heat 2. Injured Charger Kelsey Dugard was present at the meeting, helping out as Bowtell’s mechanic.
Speaking post-meeting, stand-in captain Henry Atkins said: “We pulled together and we got a good victory today.
“It puts us back top of the National League, and of course, we’re also top of the Championship, so we can’t ask for much more than that!
“We took control with the 5-1 in Heat 1 today and we were banging in the 5-1s and 4-2s and we led by at least 10 points for most of the meeting. It was a good day for all of us.
“It’s a nice venue here. It’s got a good pit area, while it looks like that it is really nice viewing for the fans.
“You feel just a little bit vulnerable wherever you’re riding here, on the inside or outside, because there’s plenty of room for the other riders. It took me a couple of rides to get the hang of it, but it was good to finish on double figures.
“I really enjoyed Heat 13. I made an okay start from the outside and was with them, and then let the bike run out in the dirt and it pulled me around nicely and I went past the other riders and took the win, while the 5-1 we collected in that race won us the meeting.
“It was great that Jody and Jacob scored so well today, because they haven’t been riding as often as me, Ryan or Alfie – we also ride in the Championship. But Jody has been in a lot of British Youth rounds recently and you can see his confidence is increasing and Jacob was making some good gates in some races and coming from behind in others. Both have been working hard and it’s great to see that paying off for them.”
Jody Scott said: “It was a really good day both for me and the team. I’d been here before, both in a British Youth round and the Under-21 qualifier, which meant I went into the meeting with experience of the track. Some of the other boys hadn’t been here at all, but they got dialled in really quickly.
“The 5-1 in Heat 1, when we beat Connor Bailey, gave me a lot of confidence, because he’s an experienced rider and a top rider in this league. I was really pleased for that first race and also did my job for the rest of the meeting, so I’m happy.
“It’s nice to be top of the table. It’s only the top two in the play-offs this season, and we want to be first or second in the table come the end of the season. We just want to keep winning and keep that top spot.
“A lot of the team has returned from last year. We’re all really good mates and we work well together, while Peter (Schroeck) is an awesome manager to work with.”
Chargers are next in action at Kent next Sunday (July 2) in a fixture with a noon start-time. Chargers were the only time to pick up an away victory at Kent last season.
Workington Comets 39: Connor Bailey 8, Elliot Kelly 1, Sam McGurk 5, Luke Crang 2, Ace Pijper 12, Luke Harrison 8+1, Harry McGurk 3.
WSRA Oxford Chargers, powered by SD Timmo Car Sales 51: Alfie Bowtell (guest) 8+1, Kelsey Dugard R/R, Ryan Kinsley 11, Jody Scott 8+3, Ryan Kinsley 11, Sam Woods 3+1, Jacob Clouting 10+1.
PHOTO: Henry Atkins and Jody Scott (pic: STEVE EDMUNDS)