East London Cycle Speedway Club

Eurovets G.P. Series 2007.

 

Round 6 - “12^th. London Old Masters” – East London - Saturday 27^th. October 2007

 

                                                                                                         Eurovets                    Supervets                  Grandvets

 

 1^st.   Lee Galley                Southampton / E. London      25 Points

 2^nd.  Dave Murphy             Poole                                     23

 3^rd.   Norman Venson        Leicester                               22

 4^th.   Les Stevens              East London                          21                        23 Points

 

 5^th.   Ian Lawrence            Edinburgh                              20                        25

 6^th.   Mick Aris                   Wednesfield                          18                         20

 7^th.   Roger Ellis                Wednesfield                           17                        22                         25 Points

 8^th.   Lee Lawrence           Edinburgh                              16

 

 9^th.   Dave Frith                 Coventry                                11

10^th.  Alan Cox                   ex East London                      11                       21

11^th.  Fred Rothwell            Bury                                       11                       18

12^th.  Steve Harvie             East London                           10                       16

13^th.  Steve Bloxham         ex Hawbush                             9                        17

14^th.  Chris Riches             ex Hawbush                             9

15^th.  George Hughes        East London                            5             

Referee Dave Hughes (Greater London)

 

    The final round of 6 of the 3^rd. Eurovets Grand Prix Series took place on a cool autumn afternoon on a well prepared East London track watched by a good crowd which included several members of the “Vintage and Veteran Speedway and Cycle Speedway Association” as well as former riders from South London and Essex. The 2 Filton Riders Burgess and Gibbs failed to turn up so EL’s George Hughes entered to ensure a quality field yet again with namesake and EL Chairman Dave Hughes in charge of the referee’s whistle.

 The 3 wild card entrants, former London Old Masters Alan Cox and Steve Bloxham and 2005 3^rd. place rider Chris Riches started in fine form but were soon overhauled by the athletic pace of the regular GP riders even although there were more over 50’s than 40’s in the field. The fancied riders soon took control of the racing with former East London rider Lee Lawrence starting with 3 straight wins while his brother Ian the current British Champ in both classes dented his chances with an exclusion against series leader and World Vets Champion Norman Venson in heat 11. Defending Old Master Dave Murphy put together a good middle session whilst Lee Galley top scored eventually with his EL team mate and 2005 winner Les Stevens finishing strongly with 3 wins to join Eurovets leader Venson in the “12^th.London Old Masters” Grand Final.

  The final saw Galley, who must have regretted missing the first 4 rounds, win from Murphy ahead of Venson and challenging Stevens. Ian Lawrence gained some consolation by winning both the B final and the o50’s version from Stevens whilst Mick Aris scored well in the other B finals but it was the continued good form of Grand Vet Roger Ellis that confounded a lot of people whilst World Vets Runner Up Dave Frith had a nightmare time on the track with an exclusion and several missed places, likewise host promoter Steve Harvie failed to capitalise on any local knowledge and Series Organiser Fred Rothwell was also below par.

  The 3 wild cards all had their own highs while borrowed bike and kit thwarted George Hughes but all vowed to be back next year. Council Official Dave Flemming presented the Meeting Awards and Derek Kettal of the V&VSCSA presented the Series Prizes with Norman again champion from Murphy, Ian Lawrence and Frith. Ian gained the Supervets title from Rothwell and Aris with Roger the Grand Vets leader from Chic Mackie.

  With enthusiasm really high for Vets racing next year’s series could expand even further with more rounds and a Home Nations Team Event a possibility. Full details and photos of this year can be found on the net at www.freewebs.com/eurovets & www.cyclespeedwayphotos.co.uk or stephenr.harvie@btinternet.com

 

Final Eurovets GP Standings after 6 Rounds

 

1^st. N.Venson 121 Points, 2. D.Murphy 110, 3.I.Lawrence 108, 4. D.Frith 99, 5. M.Aris 91, 6. F.Rothwell 86, 7. R.Ellis 69, 8. S.Harvie 54, 9. L.Galley & L.Stevens 50, 11. D.o’Callaghan 41, 12. A.Evans 40,13. M.Burgess 34, 14. L.Lawrence 33, 15. P.Dyson 23, 16. M.Glover 22, 17 K.Marson 21, 18. M.Pedley & C.Wheeler 20, 20. J.McGloughlan 17, 21, P.Gibbs, A.Guest, C.Mackie & J.Murphy 16, 25. G.Davies & A.Cox 11, 27. I.McKinlay 10, 28. S.Bloxham, C.Riches, R.Absolom & J.Kuik 9, 32. P.Widdas 8, 33. G.Wielinski 6 & G.Hughes 5. Also Rode  -R.Flemming (Aus) 11. Supervets – 1^st. I.Lawrence 123, 2. F.Rothwell 113, 3. M.Aris 110, 4. R.Ellis 96, 5. S.Harvie 93, 6. L.Stevens 63, 7. M.Burgess 45, 8. C.Mackie 24, 9. M.Pedley  & J.McGloughlan 22, 11. A.Cox, J.Murphy & C.Wheeler 21, 14. A.Guest 20, 15. I.McKinlay & P.Widdas 18. 17. S.Bloxham 17 & 18. C.Riches 9. Grand Vets – 1^st. R.Ellis 123, 2. C.Mackie 45, 3. J.Murphy & C.Wheeler 25 & 5. I.McKinlay 23.

Steve Harvie