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
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
posted by Andy at 11:14 AM
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