Astley & Tyldesley hosted the 14th annual Astley & Tyldesley Festival meeting at Gin Pit on Saturday. The meeting was sponsored by Archie Wilkinson Cycle Speedway Equipment suppliers of West Bromwich, and they provided a magnificent prize list of £420 worth of equipment vouchers across all three categories. The A & T club provided trophies to the four finalists in each category, with the non-finalists in the Novices event each receiving a medal. Match entertainment was provided by the junior section of the Red Hot Flames, Salford City Reds Rugby Super League's Champion Cheerleaders. Official guests present were: Archie Wilkinson and Karl Wilkinson (match sponsors); Ivor Armstrong (Chairman, British Cycling North West Division); Lee Smethills (current Exeter speedway racer and former Astley & Tyldesley captain) - and they made the presentations to the riders in conjunction with the A & T club officials.

After a glorious sunny morning, heavy rain started at heat 1 of the Novices event and continued throughout the match. The Novices event consisted of riders aged between 6 and 10 years old. A & T's Charlie Keirl and Dylan Radcliffe were both unbeaten in the 20 Qualifying Heats, and qualified direct for the Final. They were joined by teammate Ryan King and Bury's Declan O'Shea who finished 1st and 2nd in the Race-Off. The Final was re-run with King excluded for bringing down Keirl. In the re-run, Radcliffe again gated first from grid 2, and he held on to win, with Keirl finishing 2nd ahead of O'Shea.

Astley & Tyldesley Festival Novices Event result:

Final: 1st - Dylan Radcliffe (Astley & Tyldesley); 2nd - Charlie Keirl (Astley & Tyldesley); 3rd - Declan O'Shea (Bury); 4th - Ryan King (Astley & Tyldesley).

Race-Off: 1st - Ryan King (Astley & Tyldesley); 2nd - Declan O'Shea (Bury); 3rd - Jordan Holcroft (Wednesfield); 4th - Rebecca Davies (Newport).

Qualifying Races: Dylan Radcliffe (Astley & Tyldesley) 16, Charlie Keirl (Astley & Tyldesley) 16, Declan O'Shea (Bury) 15, Jordan Holcroft (Wednesfield) 14, Rebecca Davies (Newport) 13, Ryan King (Astley & Tyldesley) 12, Harry Harriman (Wednesfield) 12, Jack Harriman (Wednesfield) 12, Lewis Fletcher (Astley & Tyldesley) 12, Tom Callan (Astley & Tyldesley) 10, Josh Holcroft (Wednesfield) 10, Kyle Parker (Wednesfield) 9, Rosie Callan (Astley & Tyldesley) 8, Katie Keirl (Astley & Tyldesley) 8, Ellie Radcliffe (Astley & Tyldesley) 8, Bradley Evans (Astley & Tyldesley) 6, Stefan Whitelegg (Astley & Tyldesley) 5, Adam Watson (Astley & Tyldesley) 5.

Referee - Remi Burchardt.

The Junior event was marred by an unprecedented absence list, with 11 of the original 20 starters either late withdrawals or non arrivals. Five late replacements were acquired, but this still left six blank places on the programme. A & T's Warren Mee raced unbeaten in the 20 Qualifying Heats, and he marched directly to the Final, along with Wednesfield's Jamie Holcroft, who dropped just 1 point to Mee in heat 5. Bury pair of Ashley Simpson and Chris Parish took 1st and 2nd places in the Race-Off to complete the Finalists. In the Final, Mee took grid 1 and led from start to finish, with Parish coming through to take 2nd place ahead of Simpson and Holcroft.

Astley & Tyldesley Festival Junior Event result:

Final: 1st - Warren Mee (Astley & Tyldesley); 2nd - Chris Parish (Bury); 3rd - Ashley Simpson (Bury); 4th - Jamie Holcroft (Wednesfield).

Race-Off: 1st - Ashley Simpson (Bury); 2nd - Chris Parish (Bury); 3rd - Stuart Bentley (Wednesfield); 4th - Ben Mould (Newport).

Qualifying Races: Warren Mee (Astley & Tyldesley) 16, Jamie Holcroft (Wednesfield) 15, Chris Parish (Bury) 14, Ashley Simpson (Bury) 14, Ben Mould (Newport) 14, Stuart Bentley (Wednesfield) 13, Alex Collins (Bury) 13, John Nuttall (Astley & Tyldesley) 11, Jordan Holcroft (Wednesfield) 10, Harry Harriman (Wednesfield) 10, Chris Dyson (Bury) 10, Ryan King (Astley & Tyldesley) 10, Lewis Fletcher (Astley & Tyldesley) 2, Bradley Evans (Astley & Tyldesley) 0.

Referee - Alan Farrell.

The Senior event was marred by a lengthy absence list, with 9 of the original 20 starters either late withdrawals or non arrivals. Five late replacements were acquired, but this still left four blank places on the programme. A & T's European Champion Damian Zareba raced unbeaten in the 20 Qualifying Heats, and he marched directly to the Final, along with team mate and European Junior Champion Remi Burchardt, who dropped just 1 point to Zareba in heat 16. Wednesfield's Lee Aris just missed out on automatic qualification, after losing only to Burchardt in heat 12, but he pulled off a fine win in the Race-Off to qualify for the Final, along with Bury's Paul Dyson. A torrential downpour greeted the riders for the Final. The Final was re-run after Zareba, Burchardt and Aris all clashed before the first bend. In the re-run, Burchardt pulled off a superb gate from grid 2 to clear Zareba and take the lead. Burchardt rode a fast race to withstand several strong challenges from Zareba, who also had to contend with the ever pressing Aris in 3rd place, and that was the finishing order. Burchardt was a deserved winner, and took his first major tournament win in Britain, recording the three fastest times of the match.

Astley & Tyldesley Festival Senior Event result:

Final: 1st - Remi Burchardt (Astley & Tyldesley); 2nd - Damian Zareba (Astley & Tyldesley); 3rd - Lee Aris (Wednesfield); 4th - Paul Dyson (Bury).

Race-Off: 1st - Lee Aris (Wednesfield); 2nd - Paul Dyson (Bury); 3rd - Neil Howarth (Bury); 4th - Darren Kent (Heckmondwike).

Qualifying Races: Damian Zareba (Astley & Tyldesley) 16, Remi Burchardt (Astley & Tyldesley) 15, Lee Aris (Wednesfield) 15, Paul Dyson (Bury) 14, Neil Howarth (Bury) 14, Darren Kent (Heckmondwike) 13, Chris Jewkes (Wednesfield) 12, Fred Rothwell (Bury) 12, Warren Mee (Astley & Tyldesley) 11, Chris Davies (Newport) 11, Chris Parish (Bury) 9, Jeff Radcliffe (Astley & Tyldesley) 9, Paul Bird (Wednesfield) 8, Jamie Holcroft (Wednesfield) 8, Stuart Bentley (Wednesfield) 7, Mark Taylor (Astley & Tyldesley) 5.

Referee - Alan Farrell.

All in all, it was a great day's sport, despite some heavy rain, but the track held up superbly. Astley & Tyldesley riders took a clean sweep of the trophies, which contrasts with just four wins over the previous 13 Festivals! The riders that did compete gave it their all and congratulations to them, but the organisers were far from pleased with the 23 riders out of the entry of 60 who were either late withdrawals or non-arrivals. 9 of the absentees were from Bury and 7 from Newport. Other organisers beware when accepting entries!