Kent based racer Charley Powell was on tip-top form at last night’s speedway meeting as he powered to six impressive and unbeaten victories in the latest round of the Wightlink Warriors Summer Spectaculars.
Racing from a 15 metre handicap, Powell made his intentions known as early as heat 3 when he held off the close attentions of 30 metre man Connor Coles and that confidence booster shone out in all his subsequent races including the Grand Final. Interestingly ahead of that Final, Powell, a former Eastbourne Eagle was the only rider to change race set-up in what turned out to be a shrewd and successful bid to win the meeting.
Amongst the pre-meeting favourites, Wightlink Warrior Chad Wirtzfeld took a fall in his first outing but returned unscathed to run a second place in the Grand Final, whilst another Warrior, Alex Spooner, was the innocent victim of the Wirtzfeld fall and whilst continuing was clearly shaken. For Connor Coles, third in the Grand Final, it was a continuation of his roller coaster week both on and off track. His simple statement of proudly wearing his Warriors shirt sent a very clear message to the sports authorities and some clubs who have been less than co-operative in releasing riders to come to race on the Island to develop their skills.
Reflecting on another successful evening, Wightlink Warriors co-owner Barry Bishop said, “Another super night of exciting racing combined with family fun. We were a little concerned when the mizzle set in around 6 pm but luckily it blew through and didn’t affect us at all. My thanks to Mark Cooper for his generous sponsorship of the meeting and to Kay Richardson for presenting her own special awards in memory of her late husband Michael.
On track Charley Powell was fantastic. I know he doesn’t think of himself as a speedway rider, more a grass track exponent, but he was magic and thoroughly professional all evening and I just want to thank all the riders in each part of the meeting. Their complete cooperation in our running of the meeting was superb and again we were done and dusted just after 9 pm. We now look forward to our next meeting which is Tuesday (not Thursday) when we entertain Cradley and Oxford in the final leg of our three team tournament. The destination of the Cliff Peasley Memorial Trophy is still undecided so we’re in for another great night”.
Handicap Qualifying Scores:
Charley Powell 12, Connor Coles 10, Jamie Sealey 9, Danno Verge 8, Chris Widman 7, Chris Watts 6, Chad Wirtzfeld 5, Kelsey Dugard 5, Jamie Evans 4, Morgan Williams 2, Alex Spooner 1.
Six Rider Grand Final: Charley Powell, Chad Wirtzfeld, Connor Coles, Danno Verge, Jamie Sealey, Chris Widman.
The ‘Old Boys’ races supported by Olly Snow from The Wheel Specialist (Fareham) saw the ‘Powder Coaters’ beat the ‘Diamond Cutters’:
Diamond Cutters 13: Dave Harvey 9, Ron Jones 1, Giles Dismore 1, Rob Snow 2.
Powder Cutters 23: Alec Gooch 7, Jeff Donely 5+3, Bill Haynes 3+2, Phil Spencer 8.