REACTION: “We did well as a team and got the win we needed, so it just bumps us up the table a bit more.”

WSRA Oxford Chargers powered by SD Timmo Car Sales put in a tremendous performance to win their seventh successive meeting in the National League with a 51-39 victory over the Kent Royals in Iwade, near Sittingbourne, yesterday afternoon (Sunday).

The result consolidates Oxford current position of second place in the NL table, just one point behind leaders Leicester, where Chargers travel on Saturday.

Yesterday’s double-header of action at Iwade also included third-placed Mildenhall. Kent defeated Mildenhall by 47-43 in the opening action of the day, and combined with the following victory for Chargers, it is looking increasingly likely that Leicester and Oxford will fill the top two positions and face off in the Grand Final later in the season to determine the National League champions.

The thirty heats of action started at midday and were completed at just after 4.30pm. With the sun glaring down, it made track preparations difficult, but no riders were seriously hurt and Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck felt the Iwade track staff did a great job in testing circumstances. There were seven re-runs during the Kent vs Oxford meeting, largely due to first bend incidents.

While three out of the four opening races were shared, Chargers took the lead with a 5-1 from reserves Luke Killeen and Jason Garrad in Heat 2. Meanwhile, Henry Atkins started a productive afternoon by winning a battle with Nathan Ablitt in Heat 4.

Heat 5 saw a terrific 5-1 for Chargers, after both Jacob Clouting and Jordan Jenkins passed Kent guest Matt Marson. Atkins won Heat 6, while Killeen gave Royals’ No 1 Ben Morley a real run for his money, before the Kent man won a keenly fought contest for second place, as Chargers took a 4-2 and pulled ten points in front at 23-13.

Kent edged back to six points behind with a couple of 4-2s, before Heat 11 proved pivotal. Jenkins led, but Ablitt made contact as he came through on the third lap and caused the Oxford skipper to fall. With Ablitt excluded, Clouting quickly came through to join Jenkins for a 5-1 in the re-run.

Chargers extended their lead with a 4-2 from Killeen and Ryan Kinsley in Heat 12. Jenkins was excluded for touching the tapes in Heat 13, but Atkins produced a great run around the outside to defeat Morley and Ablitt and clinch victory with a couple of heats remaining.

As the track became increasingly slick, Kent skipper Tom Woolley came into his own and had been the only rider to defeat Atkins in Heat 9. But Atkins gained revenge by repassing Woolley in the concluding Heat 15.

Atkins top-scored for Chargers on 14 points, while Clouting enjoyed a terrific afternoon and scored 8+2 – including joining Jenkins for two 5-1s – and his reward was to be included in the final race. Killeen collected 8+1 despite being hampered by machinery problems, while he coped with the hand injury he sustained at Edinburgh on Friday evening.

The scoring of Jenkins (7+1) was hampered by his tapes exclusion in Heat 13, but he was unhurt after old adversary Ablitt sent him sprawling in Heat 11.

Middle pairing Ryan Kinsley (7+1) and Jody Scott (5+1) were solid, collecting three 3-3s, although the slick conditions meant that Scott lacked his usual Iwade sparkle. Garrad (2+1) took a paid win in Heat 2 but suffered a fall and machinery problems in subsequent outings.

Top scorer Henry Atkins said: “It was a bit difficult out there, because we were on after another full meeting, so the track was quite slick and that presented a few challenges in terms of getting the right bike set-up.

“We did well as a team and got the win we needed, so it just bumps us up the table a bit more.

“You could still use the track to your advantage. In one race [Heat 13], I got stuck on the outside, so just rode it out there and it worked. In my last one, it wasn’t working as well, so I cut back to the inside.

“It’s a unique track this one. The start-line is almost coming out of bend four, so there’s a long run to the first turn and if you’ve got three or four riders at full pelt entering the first bend together, that’s when someone tends to come off and why you tend to get a lot of the stoppages. But we all stayed safe and we won here, while Mildenhall lost, and it’s looking good for us.

“We will still approach each meeting to win it. We’ve got three home meetings to go, while we’ll go to Leicester on Saturday, treat it like a play-off match and make sure we at least beat them on aggregate.”

Team manager Peter Schroeck said: “It was a challenge today, being on second in a double-header. I’m mindful of all the criticism that Kent tend to receive but I felt they did a great job in the circumstances. It’s difficult to hold any speedway event during daytime. The sun was beating down, so running a double header commencing at midday wasn’t easy.

“Overall, I was really pleased with how the lads coped and rode. Luke has never been to Iwade before and also had one or two bike issues, but he still got stuck in as did all the boys. Jacob had a great day and completely deserved his inclusion in Heat 15 as our second-highest scorer behind Henry.”

Kent Royals 39: Ben Morley 10, Rhys Naylor R/R, Matt Marson (guest) 10+1, Tom Woolley 9+1, Nathan Ablitt 6+1, Ashton Vale 2, Connor King 2+1, James Laker (No 8) 0.

WSRA Oxford Chargers, powered by SD Timmo Car Sales 51: Jordan Jenkins 7+1, Jacob Clouting 8+2, Ryan Kinsley 7+1, Jody Scott 5+1, Henry Atkins 14, Luke Killeen 8+1, Jason Garrad 2+1.

PHOTO: Henry Atkins in action (PIC: LES AUBREY)