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Astley & Tyldesley promoted the British Individual Finals at the Gin
Pit circuit on Bank Holiday Monday. A terrific day's racing was
witnessed by a crowd of around 500, who packed into the Gin Pit arena,
which was immaculately prepared for the big day.
First up was the U-16 Final and the youngsters dished up a match of
fierce, cut and thrust racing, with plenty of overtaking and falls. Hull
based Wednesfield rider Matt Beharrell reeled off four successive wins,
before settling for the second place he needed in his last race to
secure the title, having scored 19 points. Sandwell's Matt Smith was
runner-up with 17 points, whilst Stockport's former Astley &
Tyldesley rider, Dylan Radcliffe, won a run-off with Norwich's Josh
Colby, to secure 3rd place, after both had finished on 16 points.
British U-16 Individual Final result
Matt Beharrell (Wednesfield) 19, Matt Smith (Sandwell) 17, Dylan
Radcliffe (Stockport) 16, Josh Colby (Norwich) 16, Aaron Hughes (East
Newport) 15, Louis Harvey (East Newport) 14, Aaron Morgan (Poole) 14,
Scott Millward (Sandwell) 11, Leyton Glover (Poole) 11, Jack Harrold
(Newport) 11, Joe Kemp (Bretford) 10, Jack Lush (Stockport) 10, Ashley
Hill (Ipswich) 10, Oliver Sidwick (Newport) 8, Dan Bock (East Newport)
7, Mat Lush (Stockport) 6.
Refree - Wayne Aris (Wednesfield).
After such an entertaining match, it was on to the main event of the
championships weekend, the British Individual Final. Defending champion
Lee Aris of Wednesfield and former champion Gavin Wheeler of Poole both
set the early pace with two race wins apiece. Something had to give when
the two met in heat 12. Aris was under terrific pressure when he lost
control and fell on the pits bend, bringing down Wheeler in the process.
Consequently, Aris was excluded from the re-run. Birmingham's Paul Heard
won the re-run, but Wheeler's 2nd place moved him to the top of the
leaderboard after all riders had completed three races each. Heard put
himself in contention with an amazing win in the next race, just 0.09
seconds outside the long standing Gin Pit track record. Sheffield's Andy
Angell and Horspath's Mark Boaler kept themselves in contention, as the
match approached an exciting finish. Aris and Angell both won their last
races to put the marker down, but Heard's chances went with a last
place. Wheeler was strongly placed in heat 19, before disaster struck
when he clipped the outside kerb on the home straight, fell heavily and
although he remounted to take 3rd place, it was valuable points dropped.
This left Boaler to come out for heat 20, knowing that a win would
clinch his first British title. He made a fast start and rode a steady
race at the front to take the win and the title, with a 17 points score.
There was one extra race to be held, to determine 2nd and 3rd places,
after three riders had tied on 16 points. In a terrific race, Angel
pulled off a spectacular pass on Aris to take the win and 2nd place
overall from Aris, with Wheeler third in the race and out of the top
three overall.
British Individual Final result
Mark Boaler (Horspath) 17, Andy Angell (Sheffield) 16, Lee Aris (Wednesfield)
16, Gavin Wheeler (Poole) 16, Paul Heard (Birmingham) 15, Tom Colling
(Poole) 14, Mark Griffiths (Wednesfield) 13, Lewis Bates (Stoke) 13,
Chris Jewkes (Wednesfield) 12, Chris Osborne (Horspath) 11, Ben Mould
(Birmingham) 11, Steve Harris (Horspath) 10, Matt Beharrell (Wednesfield)
9, Dylan Radcliffe (Stockport) 7, Adam Peck (Leicester) 7, Terry Norman
(Wednesfield) 7.
Refree - John Whiting (Bury).
The awards and presentations were made by the Mayor of Wigan, Councillor
Michael Winstanley, along with the match sponsor Jimmy Fisher, of J.
Fisher & Sons Heavy Haulage of Atherton and British Cycling's North
West Division Chairman, Tony Barry
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