REPORT: Spires land biggest win of season
OXS Oxford Spires stayed in contention for the play-off places with a 54-36 victory over the King’s Lynn Stars in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership at Oxford Stadium last night (Thursday).
It was Spires’ biggest win of the season, surpassing a 53-37 victory over Belle Vue in July.
Oxford did the hard work in the opening five races, dropping just a single point to build up a 24-6 advantage. That included a notable 5-1 for teenagers Ashton Boughen and Luke Killeen over former Oxford rider Lewis Kerr in Heat 2.
The track was tricky after fine rain in the lead-up to the meeting. It favoured those who attacked it, and produced some good action, and an example being Heat 4 where Spires’ skipper Chris Harris and Killeen flew either side of King’s Lynn captain Niels-Kristian Iversen on the third bend to record a 5-1.
Charles Wright also passed opponents in both his opening two rides, while Erik Riss – the winner of Heat 1 after an engine failure for Iversen – was quickly back to his feet after a fall in Heat 6.
The rain got harder during Heat 7, a race in which Boughen bided his time before passing Patryk Wojdylo to snatch third on the final bend as Spires moved 30-12 ahead.
After track work, led by promoter Jamie Courtney, the two team managers and team captains examined conditions with the referee and decided the track was fit to continue, and racing resuming at 9pm.
The track was still raceable, as Iversen proved by passing Wright to win Heat 9. The finish for second place to Heat 11 was so close that referee Mick Bates referred to the transponder times, with Jan Kvech just holding on after a final lap charge by Harris.
Maciej Janowski clinched victory for Spires by winning Heat 12, before Oxford No 1 Rohan Tungate inflicted two defeats on the lively Iversen in Heats 13 and 15 to end up as top-scoring for solid Spires with 11+1. Killeen picked up his best score at Premiership level with 6+2.
Charles Wright scored 9+1 and said: “It was looking a bit doubtful when the rain got harder. But Jamie (Courtney) gave the track a good grade and it did the job, while the rain eased off and we managed to crack on with the meeting.
“The rain meant there was a lot of dirt, which I like. It was my sort of track, with lots of dirt and plenty of lines.
“We had a chat between us before the meeting – and it’s not over until it’s over. We’ve just got to look in front of us, and carry on winning our meetings until we’ve completed our meetings or it becomes impossible for us to qualify. Overall we’ve dug deep this year and we can be proud of ourselves, but it’s not over yet.”
Spires in next action at Leicester on Monday, where they must win to maintain their mathematical chances of reaching the play-offs.
The next action at Oxford Stadium is tonight (Friday) at 7.30pm, when the club proudly stages the Championship Pairs, with home hopes are carried by Sam Masters and Scott Nicholls. Tickets are on sale at https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/
Wright will be riding for Redcar Bears and added: “I’m looking forward to the Pairs. Redcar always bring a lot of fans down for the meeting, so I’ll have plenty of support from them. And I’m sure I’ll still get support from the Oxford fans too – I’m one of their own now.
“I think the line-up for the Pairs is the strongest since it’s been at Oxford and it’s going to be an exciting meeting and wide open. I’ve won the Pairs twice and finished runner-up a couple of times as well. Me and Danny King have plenty of experience and we’ll work together on the track to get a result.”
OXS Oxford Spires 54: Rohan Tungate 11+1, Erik Riss 8+1, Maciej Janowski 8+1, Charles Wright 9+1, Chris Harris 8, Ashton Boughen 4, Luke Killeen 6+2.
King’s Lynn Stars 36: Jan Kvech 3, Benjamin Basso R/R, Norick Blodorn 8+1, Patryk Wojdylo 0, Niels-Kristian Iversen 14, Lewis Kerr 5, Anders Rowe 6.
PHOTO: Teenagers Ashton Boughen and Luke Killeen take a 5-1 in Heat 2 (pic: Steve Edmunds)