REPORT: Harris and Tungate last-heat heroes for Spires

DYNAMIC duo Chris Harris and Rohan Tungate were to the fore, as OXS Oxford Spires recorded a memorable 46-44 victory over high-flying Belle Vue Aces in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership at the Oxford Stadium last night (Thursday) in a meeting that went all the way to a dramatic last-heat decider.

Spires trailed by eight points after six races, but had levelled it up by the end of Heat 10.

Aces edged back in front with a 4-2 in Heat 12, but Harris and Tungate put Spires in front for the first time on the night with a 5-1 in Heat 13, after Tungate moved inside the previously unbeaten Dan Bewley on the third lap.

Belle Vue moved back in front with a 5-1 in Heat 14, while Heat 15 featured the same four riders as Heat 13.

Bewley had the drop entering the first bend, but Tungate pushed inside him on the second turn. Meanwhile, Harris had built up his speed and flew inside everyone on the third bend to move into first place. With Harris and Tungate fending off Bewley, the Oxford crowd erupted as the pair combined for another 5-1 and Spires stole the meeting.

Earlier, Heat 1 had proved an eventful start to proceedings, with Tungate exceeding the two-minute time allowance, after clutch problems, and starting from 15 metres behind. Team-mate Erik Riss was then excluded for accidently bringing down Bewley after finding unexpected drive down the back straight. Bewley needed medical attention to his hand, but continued in the meeting and was unbeaten in his opening four rides, before being eclipsed by Harris and Tungate in Heats 13 and 15.

Tungate recovered from his handicap to pass Norick Blodorn for second place and avoid an opening 5-1 to Aces. 16-year-old Ashton Boughen won Heat 2 – his first race win for Spires around Cowley – but the chance of a heat advantage was lost when team-mate Craig Cook fell while trying to gain second place from Connor Mountain.

Belle Vue extended their lead to four points with a 4-2 in Heat 4, despite Harris closing right in on Bewley at the end of the race, having earlier overhauled Connor Bailey for second place.

Aces extended their lead to eight points with a 5-1 in Heat 6, but Spires’ comeback commenced with a 5-1 in Heat 7, when Cook and Harris both passed Jaimon Lidsey early on. That was followed by a 4-2 from Riss and Boughen in Heat 8.

Tungate and Riss held a 5-1 in Heat 10, and while Lidsey passed Riss, Spires still levelled the scores at 30-30 with a 4-2.

Harris top scored for Spires with 13+1, dropping just a single point to Bewley in Heat 4, and looked very quick after fixing a fuel problem on his bikes. ‘Bomber’ passed at least one opponent in every race. Tungate was unbeaten in his closing three outings and scored 10+2 in the first meeting at Cowley since he has moved to the No 1 position.

Charles Wright had a solid night, including moving from third to first to win Heat 3, and scored nine points. The rest of the Oxford side all contributed valuable points.

Belle Vue were top of the table heading into the evening, but with this defeat, lost top place to Ipswich, who won at King’s Lynn.

Oxford skipper and top-scorer Chris Harris said: “The meeting wasn’t good for the heart, but it was just want the fans want to see – winning an exciting meeting with a 5-1 in the final race.

“It’s been a while since I had a meeting like this. I had fuel problem with my bikes. A big thank you to my main sponsor Shaun Harvey from Northeast Demolition and my mechanic, who stripped down three bikes and rebuilt them earlier this week. It was Oxford manager Peter Schroeck who identified at Belle Vue last week that I might have a problem with my fuel and hopefully we’ve solved that and can enjoy the rest of the season.

“Belle Vue are a good team, and we had to fight hard tonight and all of our team had to dig deep and every point proved vital.

“Dan Bewley is a world class rider and has done some great things representing Great Britain over the last few things, so it was great to beat him twice and join Rohan for a couple of 5-1s to clinch the meeting for Spires. I wasn’t far from catching Dan in Heat 4 either.

“The track was underwater this morning, after the heavy rain on Wednesday and well done to Jamie (Courtney) and his track team on producing such a good racetrack.

“We needed to win at home tonight and we did that, although the biggest winner was speedway, after a night like this.”

The next meeting at Sandy Lane is next Wednesday (May 29) at 7.30pm, when the Monarch Oxford Cheetahs entertain Edinburgh Monarchs in the Cab Direct Championship. Tickets will go on sale shortly at https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

In the meantime, Cheetahs race at Workington on Saturday afternoon (3pm) and Spires are at Leicester on Bank Holiday Monday (7.30pm) in a clash being televised by Discovery Plus and Eurosport.

OXS Oxford Spires 46: Rohan Tungate 10+2, Erik Riss 4, Charles Wright 9, Maciej Janowski 3+2, Chris Harris 13+1, Craig Cook 3, Ashton Boughen 4.

Belle Vue Aces 44: Brady Kurtz R/R, Norick Blodorn 4+1, Jaimon Lidsey 9, Ben Cook 5+2, Dan Bewley 13+1, Connor Mountain 11, Connor Bailey 2+1.

PHOTO: Chris Harris and Rohan Tungate on their way to a match-winning 5-1 over Dan Bewley in Heat 15 after both Spires have overtaken the British Grand Prix star on the opening lap (pic: Les Aubrey)