King takes 90th Anniversary crown

Another good-sized crowd were present at the Coliseum to witness a top-quality field of riders contest an individual meeting sponsored by Bridge Motorcycles of Exeter.

The 12-man field included Gladiator Henry Atkins, making his comeback after missing the season through a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery and he was immediately on the pace, taking a 2^nd and a win in his first two rides.

The format of the meeting saw the top four points scorers after 4 rides each go through to the Atkins Financial Management sponsored A final and it was former British champion, Danny King who emerged triumphant, holding off a strong challenge from Gladiators’ skipper, Bjarne Pedersen, who was making a final appearance at the Coliseum before he retires from the sport.

The remaining riders contested the B and C finals which also commemorated the lives of former Exeter promoter Colin Hill and Exeter rider, Tony Sanford, who sadly lost his life in a track crash 40 years ago with the Sanford family still very much involved behind the scenes at Plymouth.

King was understandably delighted to take the win. ‘I had no hesitation in accepting the booking to come down here’ he said afterwards. ‘I’ve ridden here a few times now this season and it’s a track I enjoy riding and it always produces great racing’.

As well as the main event, the ‘Men in Black’ held their own event riding bikes from the 1960s and Clerk of the Course, Rob Doran, also brought along a selection of his superb collection of vintage speedway bikes.

The Coliseum will stage one further meeting this season when the British Youth Championship holds its final round on Saturday 18^th September (7pm). The meeting will see Plymouth based rider, Ben Trigger collect his awards for winning the 500cc category, a title he has already clinched.

90^th Anniversary meeting details

Heat points scorers after 4 rides:

Danny King                       9 pts

Ben Barker                        8 pts

Chris Harris                       8 pts

Bjarne Pedersen              8 pts

Dillon Ruml                      7 pts

Alfie Bowtell                    6 pts

Henry Atkins                    5 pts

Jason Crump                    5 pts

Zach Cook                         5 pts

Zane Keleher                    4 pts

Erik Riss                             4 pts

Kyle Newman                  3 pts

Tony Sanford C final:      Riss, Newman, Keleher, Cook

Colin Hill B final:              Crump, Ruml, Bowtell, Atkins

A final:                              King, Pedersen, Barker, Harris