British Bulldog Barlow on top again!!

Round 9. Wed 22nd Feb 2006 – The Metro Center, Rockford, Illinois. For the third year running the Metro Center in Rockford, Illinois, hosted a round of the AMA / XiiR Ice Racing Series, this time being the penultimate round of the 2006 Series. Going into the Meeting, Anthony “British Bulldog” Barlow required just 3 points to be sure that he won the Series but it didn’t feel too good for him in the days leading up to the meet as he felt the pressure. Having set out at the beginning of the Series to “just enjoy the racing and do my best” it was obvious that having got so close he didn’t want to fall at the final hurdle. As usual at Rockford the enthusiastic crowd soon got into the event and worked out their favourites very early on and although Barlow had his fans in the audience, a large proportion were hoping the current 2nd placed rider, US star Ronny Kemp would cause an upset and keep the Series in the balance right up to the end. It was not to be, however, as in the very first heat of the night, Barlow starting from the favourable inside gate and made no mistakes to take the win from Kemp, James Mann and Scott Courtney. It was obvious there were problems for Courtney following his two crashes at Lexington just 4 nights before; one his body was still sore and he had to revert to a replacement bike when it was discovered that the frame was also bent in addition to needing replacement front forks and wheel. Barlow however was delighted at winning the heat but more so because the 2006 Championship was already his and after the disappointments of 2004 & 2005 when Swedish star Kenny Olsson took the Championship from his grasp on both occasions, he savoured the moment. Heat 2 saw yet another win for another English rider, this time it was Swindon based Gary Phelps, who must be cursing the fact that he dropped so many points earlier on in the Series, as he beat Preston Dorfmeyer, with David “Victor” Meldrum having to retire from the race. Darren Pearson, re-learning the art of riding speedway on ice won heat 3 convincingly from “Gentleman” Jim Terchilla and Chris “Old Guy” Hathaway. Barlow wasn’t going to let his championship win affect his racing and he easily won his second qualifying heat to get pole position in the Main Final, while in the next heat Kemp with a win over Phelps meant they both joined Barlow in the Main. This meant the last chance included James Mann on the front row alongside Darren Pearson, who could only manage a 3rd place behind Barlow and Meldrum in his second ride, and Jim Terchilla. On the back row were Dorfmeyer, Meldrum and Hathaway and of these it was Meldrum who forced his way up the field to grab a Main Final place on that back row with Mann & Pearson. Qualifying Heats: 1. Barlow, Kemp, Mann, Courtney 2. Phelps, Dorfmeyer, Meldrum (r) 3. Pearson, Terchilla, Hathaway 4. Barlow, Meldrum, Pearson 5. Kemp, Phelps, Dorfmeyer, Hathaway 6. Mann, Terchilla, Courtney (r) Last Chance: Mann, Pearson, Meldrum, Dorfmeyer, Terchilla, Hathaway Main: Barlow, Phelps, Mann, Meldrum, Kemp, Pearson (r)

Kemp comes out on top again!

Round 8 – Sat.Feb 18th 2006. Ruup Arena, Lexington, Kentucky - by Graham Reeve

Tonight, the second one at the Ruup Arena, Lexington may have ended with Anthony “British Bulldog” Barlow being crowned AMA / XiiR Champion of 2006, but instead it ended with a couple of awful crashes with Paramedics taking to the ice on three occasions in a little more than 10 minutes and Barlow failing to score sufficient points to ensure no-one could pass him in the final points table.
Heat 1 opened with Barlow in determined mood as he sped from the sometimes unlucky gate 4, but not quick enough to make the first turn in front of Ronny Kemp, although he was to stay clear of both Scott Courtney and James Mann.
David “Victor” Meldrum got back to winning ways when he outshone Gary Phelps, Darren Pearson and “Gentleman” Jim Terchilla to gain 3 points and improve his chances of going direct to the Main Final.
Pearson, riding with a lot more confidence tonight, following his late start to the series led the much improved Preston Dorfmeyer for a while before being overtaken and having to settle for 2nd place.
Although Barlow won heat 4 and by doing so gained enough points in the process to make the Main Final direct, it was all action behind him as Meldrum and Pearson had a battle royal although Pearson attempting to pass Meldrum on the last lap overcooked it and ended up in an untidy heap on the ice, which meant the best he could hope for was a back row start in the Last Chance.
Ronny Kemp made it two wins from two heats to keep up the pressure on Barlow in Heat 5, while Courtney finished the qualifying heats with a win over James Mann who was not having the best of the racing tonight.
The first run of the Last Chance was halted when Dorfmeyer came to grief while in 4th place and in the re-run Courtney took the win from Gary Phelps and James Mann, all three of whom went through to the 6-man, 6-lap Main Final to join Kemp, Barlow and Meldrum.
A 4th place for Anthony Barlow to take the Championship outright was the target as the Riders lined up for the Main, but the race came to an abrupt halt as the Riders entered the back straight, because Courtney clipped Kemp’s back wheel in a tight first turn, which resulted in him crashing heavily into the fence and needing treatment on the ice from the Medics. Bike damage for both Courtney and Meldrum and an injury to Ronny Kemp delayed the re-run of the Main.
When it eventually happened the re-run saw all 6 of the original starters taking their place, although Kemp and Courtney were in a lot of pain.
All was proceeding comfortably with Kemp leading Barlow (content to stay in 2nd place to ensure the Championship), with Courtney in 3rd when Barlow hit concrete, shed a chain and stopped almost immediately when exiting the last turn of the last lap. Courtney could not avoid him and once again went down very hard and hit the fence boards for the 2nd time in 15 minutes with some force, causing considerable damage to the front wheel and forks.
Although he refused a stretcher ride back to the Pits he felt really sore a little later on, although nothing seems to be broken, but Ronny Kemp (awarded the win by referee Graham Reeve), wasn’t quite as fortunate as he feared a broken or fractured bone in his shoulder and planned a hospital visit as soon as he got home the next day.
Courtney was advanced to 2nd place by Barlow’s exclusion which consequently put him into 3rd position on the Series Leader board.Round 9 is at Rockford, Illinois on Wednesday 22nd February when Barlow is hoping to score the 3 points he still needs to be absolutely sure of the Championship.
Qualifying Heats:

1. Kemp, Barlow, Courtney, Mann
2. Meldrum, Phelps, Pearson, Terchilla
3. Dorfmeyer, Pearson, Hathaway, Terchilla
4. Barlow, Meldrum, Hathaway, Pearson (fx)
5. Kemp, Phelps, Hathaway, Terchilla
6. Courtney, Mann, Dorfmeyer, Hathaway

Last Chance: Courtney, Phelps, Mann, Pearson, Hathaway, Dorfmeyer (r)
Main: Kemp, Courtney, Meldrum, Mann, Phelps, Barlow (x)
Series Leaders : Barlow 104, Kemp 74, Courtney 65, Mann 62, Phelps 50, Meldrum 44

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Extreme indoor ice series.

SPEEDWAY REPORT

Round 7 – Rupp Arena, Lexington, Kentucky - Friday 17th February 2006.
In the superb setting of the Rupp Arena in the Lexington Convention Center the 7th Round of the AMA / XiiR Ice Series took place on a bitterly cold Friday evening. It is confirmed that the Series has lost the services of Colorado youngster, Aaron Laird who has returned home with a broken wrist and will resume his college studies.
Also tonight as a result of bad weather, Indianapolis based Eddie Kelley was unable to make the event in time.

The first 2 heats were relatively tame affairs, as the Riders adapted to track conditions that were far more slippery than had been previously encountered.
They produced tapes to flag wins for the English pair of Scott Courtney and Gary Phelps from the favored pole position and in the 3rd heat we witnessed the progress that is being made by American rookie, Preston Dorfmeyer in this Series as he took a win from an outside gate from Chris Hathaway, Jim Terchilla and former Bradford speedway rider, Darren Pearson.
The 2nd round of qualifying heats resulted in valuable heat wins for Barlow, Ronny Kemp and James Mann although of those three only Mann secured a place directly in the Main Final, Courtney and Phelps both got the 2nd places they needed to join him, although Phelps had to do it the hard way as he was judged as the cause of the stoppage in the first start of Heat 5 and was put on the back line in the re-run.
The Last Chance proved costly for Ronny Kemp starting on the back row, as having done the hard work and got into 3rd place and therefore a place in the Main Final, overdid it on the last lap and took Meldrum off with the inevitable exclusion by referee Reeve as the race winner “British Bulldog” Barlow had already taken the finish flag with the heat result being awarded.
Courtney having won the draw for pole position on the grid in the Main 6-lap Final didn’t waste the chance and despite being chased all the way by Phelps, Courtney took top place on the Winners podium for the first time in the XiiR Series with Gary Phelps alongside him in 2nd place and Series leader Anthony Barlow on the other side.
With only 3 rounds to go, Barlow needs just 8 points in the 8th round at Lexington to take the Championship, but the battle is really on for the next 3 places as there are only 4 championship points separating Ronny Kemp, James Mann and Scott Courtney.
Qualifying Heats:

1. Courtney, Mann, Barlow, Kemp
2. Phelps, Meldrum, Pearson (ef)
3. Dorfmeyer, Hathaway, Terchilla, Pearson
4. Barlow, Meldrum, Pearson
5. Kemp, Phelps, Terchilla, Dorfmeyer
6. Mann, Courtney, Terchilla, Dorfmeyer

Last Chance: Barlow, Meldrum, Dorfmeyer, Hathaway, Terchilla, Kemp (x)
Main: Courtney, Phelps, Barlow, Mann, Meldrum, Dorfmeyer
Series Leaders : Barlow 98 pts, Kemp 58, Mann 57, Courtney 54, Phelps 44, Meldrum 34.

Barlow on top in Tampa Sunday 12th Feb 06

Round 6 – Tampa, Florida - by Graham Reeve

The magnificent home of the reigning NHL Nelson Cup Winners, Tampa Bay Lightning, The St Pete’s Times Forum provided a superb setting for the 6th round in this seasons Series. The weather outside had dried up since yesterday which caused Daytona Beach 500 race to be cancelled, but it was bitterly cold although that didn’t make any difference as the huge crowd, over 5,000 piled into the Arena. Sometimes, even in Florida its good that the XiiR Meetings are indoor events, as the temperature inside the Ice Stadium was warmer than outside.
Heat 1 set the scene for an interesting afternoon’s meeting when Scott “Shaggy” Courtney made the most of his start on the inside grid to hold off a determined challenge from Anthony “British Bulldog” Barlow and James “The Demolition Man” Mann, with Ronny Kemp unable to make any impression at all at the back.
Englishman Gary Phelps again made the most of the inside grid at the start and powered to a good heat win over Scotland’s David Meldrum, American Aaron Laird and XiiR Series newcomer Darren Pearson, also from England
Eddie “The Ice Man” Kelley, making a welcome return after missing the last 4 rounds stormed the win in heat 3 to put himself amongst the favourites for a direct entry to the Main Final.
British Bulldog Barlow made no mistake in winning heat 4 from Laird, Pearson & the fallen Meldrum, while in Heat 5 the two Americans, Kemp and Kelley had a battle royal with Kemp just getting the verdict.
In heat 6, the last of the qualifiers, James Mann beat Scott Courtney into second place although it was Courtney’s second place that was enough to see him qualify for the Main to join Barlow & Kelley, while the win secured Mann a place on the front row in the Last Chance.
In the original running of The Last Chance a coming together of Mann & Phelps resulted in Mann being handicapped to the 3rd row being the primary cause of the race being stopped. Unfortunately Aaron Laird clipped the bike of Gary Phelps, lifted down the home straight and made a spectacular dive into the hay bales on the 1st turn. He immediately knew there was damage to his left wrist, a fact confirmed later when the Tampa Bay General Hospital diagnosed a broken left wrist.
Obviously Laird was unable to take his place in the re-start as Phelps belatedly went onto the ice to win from Kemp and Mann.
The 6-lap Main was another race that needed a re-run as again in the original running Mann & Phelps had another coming together which resulted in Phelps being unable to take his place in the re-run.
In that re-run the series Leader, Anthony Barlow, again made no mistake and streaked into a lead, which both Kemp and Mann coming through from the back line for 2nd and 3rd respectively could make no headway on. The race had to be stopped prematurely by referee Graham Reeve when Courtney went up the back of Mann with Kelley being awarded 4th and Courtney 5th, as Phelps did not start in the re-run.
As Aaron Laird will not be fit to race again for 4-6 weeks, he reluctantly withdrew from the Series on his release from hospital and will go home to resume his college studies.

Qualifying Heats:

1. Courtney, Barlow, Mann, Kemp
2. Phelps, Meldrum, Laird, Pearson
3. Kelley, Dorfmeyer, Pearson, Hathaway
4. Barlow, Laird, Pearson, Meldrum (f)
5. Kemp, Kelly, Phelps, Dorfmeyer
6. Mann, Courtney, Hathaway, Dorfmeyer
Last Chance: Phelps, Kemp, Mann, Meldrum, Dorfmeyer, Laird (ns)
Main: Barlow, Kemp, Mann, Kelley, Courtney, Phelps (ns)
Series Leaders : Barlow 89 pts, Kemp 55, Mann 49, Courtney 39, Phelps 32, Meldrum 28, Laird 23

JIROUT WINS AT TELFORD

Unatatched Czech star Mario Jirout made his case for a British club contract by sweeping to a second career win in Sunday's Telford Indoor Ice International.
Jirout had to work hard for his British Open title, which came eight years after his previous triumph, as he beat Rye House youngster Edward Kennett in a run-off after the pair had tied on 14 points.
Newport veteran Tony Atkin completed a strong display with third place overall on 12 points, one clear of defending Champion Kristian Lund.
It was not the best of days for Tigers newcomer Emiliano Sanchez, who finished scoreless in the day's first meeting, a Test match between England and the Rest of the World Select.
England triumphed 43-35 with Jirout scoring 14 of the Select's total, before Atkin and Wayne Broadhurst defeated father and son duo Les and Aidan Collins in the Final of the Best Pairs competition.
Sanchez lost third place with a fall in his first ride of the British Open, and picked up his first point when Shaun Tacey was excluded in Heat 7.
The Argentinian did at least finish with a flourish, saving his best until last with a fine second place, ahead of Les Collins, in Heat 18 to end up with four points.

The Cogeco crew for the highly accredited and succesfull motorcyle show "Wheels n dirt" celebrated the Canadian motorcyle association. national media award at the Keg in St.Catharines on Friday 3rd Febuary 2006. Cogeco treated the full crew to a wonderful meal in recognition of the fine work acomplished by all the team over the past seasons at the Welland motorcycle club's track.

Telford indoor ice news

DANISH star Kristian Lund, shock winner of the indoor ice speedway international on his debut at Telford last year, will be back to defend the British Open championship on Sunday February 12.
Newcastle Diamonds asset Lund, who also rode for Edinburgh and Newport in the Premier League in 2005, is likely to be making his only appearance in British speedway this year.


‘Kristian has decided to take twelve months out but cannot resist the challenge of coming back to Telford to prove his sensational debut win last February was no fluke,’ says World Indoor Ice co-promoter Graham Drury.
The 21 year old Dane was a ‘rookie’ at Telford last year and was only on stand by for the Rest of the World squad to face England in the afternoon meeting until his fellow countryman Kauko Nieminen pulled out at the last minute.
Lund was drafted into the Rest of the World squad and finished last in his opening ride. But he scored eight paid nine from his next three outings, forming a spectacular partnership with fellow Dane and Telford specialist Jan Staechmann. The Rest of the World won 44-34.
Lund went on to win both of his races in the Speedway Star International Best Pairs Knock-out and registered a stunning 15-point maximum at night to win the British Open Championship at the first attempt.
Lund was the only rider to beat defending champion Staechmann, denying the Stoke star a record fourth British title. He was joined on the rostrum by Staechmann and third-placed Aidan Collins (Workington and England), who sat out the team event and went into the British Open with only one ‘Pairs’ ride to his name.
ALL THREE RIDERS WILL BE BACK AT TELFORD FOR THIS YEAR’S BRITISH OPEN on the prestigious occasion of Telford’s 21st birthday indoor ice spectacular.
Les Collins, Aidan’s dad, who also impressed in last year’s meeting as a replacement for Wolverhampton’s David Howe, will line-up in both meetings on February 12 and the veteran star will attempt a ‘wall of death’ during the interval at the evening meeting.
The former World Final runner up (Los Angeles 1982) will be the oldest rider in the meeting, at 47, after a long and distinguished track career which started at Crewe in 1975.
‘Les can only attempt his ‘wall of death’ ride in the evening session when there has been a build-up of ice and snow on the track,’ said co-promoter Drury.
Other names confirmed for this year’s milestone event at the Shropshire ice rink are former champions MARIO JIROUT and PAUL HURRY, new Mildenhall skipper SHAUN TACEY, TONY ATKIN, EDWARD KENNETT and Argentinian EMILIANO SANCHEZ, who was with Hull last year.