Crump, new British champion!!

"Jason Crump is back!" was the headline news from the 2008 FIM Meridian Lifts British Grand Prix at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium last night when the two-times World Champion gave Nicki Pedersen a stark warning that this year’s title hunt is not a foregone conclusion. Pedersen, who still leads the championship table by 10 points, endured an amazing night during which he was twice fortunate to benefit from controversial decisions by Polish referee Marek Wojaczek.
Pedersen clearly touched the tapes in an early heat, which should have resulted in a mandatory exclusion but Wojaczek allowed the race to continue and later, after clashing with Leigh Adams on the first corner, it was the Aussie who amazingly was shown the exclusion light.
In the first semi-final Bjarne Pedersen, who led the qualifying scorers with 14 points, clashed with his Danish namesake in identical fashion to Adams and he, too, was excluded, much to the chagrin of the 45,000 crowd. Pedersen was heartedly booed for the remainder of the meeting but pointed out that it was the referee who made the decisions and there have been plenty of occasions in the past when he has been the victim. This was the fifth time this year he has reached the final without going on to win but Crump, after such a slow start to the season, is gaining fast. Great Britain’s Scott Nicholls reached the final for the first time this year only to break the tapes and earn an exclusion which left just Crump, the ever-green Greg Hancock and Nicki Pedersen at the tapes. Pedersen crashed for the fourth time and gamely got to his feet while the race continued with Crump just getting the better of Hancock, as did Chris Harris 12 months before. Track conditions became more and more difficult as the night wore on and the experience of Hancock, racing in his 105th consecutive Grand Prix, and Crump shone through. Though critical of the conditions both were at pains to point out that the FIM British Grand Prix remains the highlight of the year and that competing under the roof at the Millennium Stadium is still a fantastic experience. Crump admitted that things have started to fall into place since the beginning of the month and his domestic form in Poland, Sweden and Britain is now being reflected in his Grand Prix racing. Nicholls can take many positives away from the meeting and at least both he and Harris won heats for the first time this year. Harris, who won here a year ago, had a very heavy fall in his fifth ride but recovered to compete in the rerun and earn a semi-final place but he lost out to Hancock and Crump.
FIM Meridian Lifts British Grand Prix: 1 Jason Crump (Australia) 22, 2 Greg Hancock (USA) 20, 3 Nicki Pedersen (Denmark) 11, 4 Scott Nicholls (Great Britain) 12, 5 Bjarne Pedersen (Denmark) 14, 6 Chris Harris (Great Britain) 10, 7 Hans Andersen (Denmark) 9, 8 Andreas Jonsson(Sweden) 8, 9 Leigh Adams (Australia) 7, 10 Niels Kristian-Iversen(Denmark) 6, 11 Rune Holta (Poland) 6, 12 Tomasz Gollob (Poland) 4, 13 Edward Kennett (Great Britain) 4, 14 Krzysztof Kasprzak (Poland) 4, 15 Fredrick Lindgren (Sweden) 2, 16 Lukas Dryml (Czech Republic) 1.
World Championship Standings after Round 5: N.Pedersen 80, J.Crump 70, G.Hancock 64, T.Gollob 62, L.Adams 49, H.Andersen 48, A.Jonsson 46, F.Lindgren 41, R.Holta 39, S.Nicholls 35, N.K.Iversen 32, C.Harris 30, B.Pedersen 25, K.Kasprzak 21, L.Dryml 16

Final video at http://www.skysports.com/video/0,20285,14549_3752312,00.html

Kyle legault to return to the track for G.P. qualifier!!

"Hey everyone. I am pleased to announce that I will be riding in the GP qualifier at Lonigo this weekend. I had x-rays taken a week ago and the surgeon declared that the bone had healed enough to enable me to ride in the qualifier. I have now had 2 practice session at Scunthorpe with the last one costing me £100 to hire the track. I managed around 60 laps on Monday along side my former team mate Emiliano Sanchez and it was a good work out. I now feel fit and ready to qualify on Saturday. I can only apologize for the delay in letting you all know my plans for a comeback, but I wanted to make sure I was 100% confident in my decision to ride. I will update you all after Saturday."

Taken from http://www.kylelegault.co.uk/

Orosz reigns supreme at Welland!! June 14th 2008

Another warm evening welcomed the speedway events to the Welland Motorcycle Club track. Speedway was represented with 2 heats and 2 final races.
Round 1 - Heat One:
Jeff Orosz had a great start, leaving Aaron Hesmer battling it out with Chris Hesmer. Aaron passed on lap 2 and flew after Jeff orosz, close racing with Jeff Orosz playing cat and mouse with Aaron Hesmer. The last lap was a cracker as they pounded the track hard and Jeff took the heat by half a bike length - Superb!
1-Jeff. 2-Aaron. 3-Chris. 4-Gary. 5-Terry
Round 1 - Heat Two:
The start produced a first corner so close, you could have touched them all with a sheet of newspaper!!! John Kehoe pulled out to the front and held this to the end. Joe Heye spent all race fending off a charging Rob Dixon, while Tim Murray came up the rear to complete the heat
1-John. 2-Joe. 3-Rob. 4-Tim
Round 2 - Heat One:
John Kehoe made a terrible start, whereas Terry Rideout made a scorcher! Aaron Hesmer again showed his Welland knowledge and flew passed Terry to take the lead. Terry Rideout slid out and suffered mechanical failure and left Joe Heye and John Kehoe to race hard. John Kehoe was making good ground until lap 3 turn 4 when he lost some grip, leaving Joe to pull away!
1-Aaron. 2-Joe. 3-John. 4-Terry (DNF)
Round 2 - Heat Two:
Chris Hesmer made a great start and cut ahead of Jeff Orosz to take the lead on lap 1. Rob Dixon got right behind Jeff and looked very fast. Jeff got alot of momentum around the 3/4 bend and took the outside line to take Chris on lap 2. He held this to win comfortably. 1: Jeff - 2: Chris - 3: Rob - 4: Gary
"B" Main Final
Terry Rideout had last pick of the gates and took the outside. What a great idea! He flew out of the gate like a rocket and kept both Gary Hesmer and Rob Dixon to fight between themselves behind him. Gary pushed Terry hard on the last lap and was only a bike length away from the win!
1-Terry. 2-Gary. 3-Rob. 4-Tim
"A" Main Final
This was poised to be a great race and we were not disappointed! From the gate Jeff Orosz, Aaron Hesmer, John Kehoe, Joe Heye and Chris Hesmer were all side by side, with Jeff gaining the front spot coming out of turn 2. Aaron Hesmer pushed away from John Kehoe who kept both the battling Joe heye and Chris Hesmer behind him. Aaron Hesmer went on a great battle to dive up and under Jeff Orosz, not giving him an inch! Jeff Orosz did all he could and kept Aaron behind him by a wheel at the finish! WOW!!!
1-Jeff. 2-Aaron. 3-John. 4-Joe. 5-Chris

Scott Nicholls is British champion!!

Scott Nicholls collected his fifth British Championship with a hard fought and well deserved victory on a night of terrific action at Swindons' Abbey Stadium on Thursday 29th May 2008. 1st Scott Nicholls. 2nd Edward Kennett. 3rd Tai Woffinden. 4th Chris Harris. Qualifying scores. Chris Harris 2 3 3 3 3–14. Scott Nicholls 3 3 EF 3 3–12. James Wright 0 2 3 3 3–11. Tai Woffinden 1 3 3 1 3–11. Simon Stead 3 1 2 2 2–10. Edward Kennett 3 2 2 1 1-9. Leigh Lanham 2 3 0 2 1-8. Lewis Bridger 2 1 F 3 2-8. Adam Roynon 2 0 2 1 1–6. Daniel King 1 2 1 1 1–6. David Howe 3 EF 2 0 0–5. William Lawson 0 1 0 2 2–5. Richard Hall 1 2 1 0 0–4. Chris Neath 1 0 1 2 0–4. Ricky Ashworth 0 0 3 0 0–3. 1: Nicholls, Harris, Woffinden, Wright, 67.39. Ht 2: Kennet, Roynon, Hall, Ashworth, 66.71. Ht 3: Stead, Lanham, Neath, Barker (f) 67.17. Ht 4: Howe, Bridger, King, Lawson, 66.99. Ht 5: Lanham, Wright, Lawson, Ashworth, 67.14. Ht 6: Nicholls, King, Stead, Roynon, 65.87. Ht 7: Woffinden, Hall, Barker (ef), Howe (ef) 67.36. Ht 8: Harris, Kennett, Bridger, Neath, 65.27. Ht 9: Wright, Roynon, Barker, Bridger (f) 66.42. Ht 10: Ashworth, Howe, Neath, Nicholls, 67.45. Ht 11: Woffinden, Kennet, King, Lanham. 66.52. Ht 12: Harris, Stead, Hall, Lawson, 65.98. Ht 13: Wright, Neath, King, Hall. Ht 14: Nicholls, Lawson, Kennet, Barker. Ht 15: Bridger, Stead, Woffinden, Ashworth, 66.74. Ht 16: Harris, Lanham, Roynon, Howe, 66.80. Ht 17: Wright, Stead, Kennet, Howe, 66.68. Ht 18: Nicholls, Bridger, Lanham, Hall, 66.46. Ht 19: Woffinden, Lawson, Roynon, Neath 67.42. Ht 20: Harris, Barker, King, Ashworth, 66.99. Ht 21: Kennet, Woffinden, Stead, Wright, 66.49. Ht 22: Nicholls, Kennet, Woffinden, Harris

Link to video from The British final.

http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid958992159/bctid1587950692

Jumpin' Jeff Orosz wins Welland season opener!!

Jeff Orosz went unbeaten Saturday night during the season opener at the Niagara motorcycle raceway. He was briefly pushed by Aaron Hesmer during one race but looked unstoppable all night. Aaron was second in the final with Chris, his older brother third. Rob Dixon and John Kehoe filled the rest of the field for the final and finished in that order.

Heat One:
Jeff Orosz flew away from the pack, followed by Aaron Hesmer, Joe Heye, John Kehoe and Drew Kehoe. The battle was between Joe Heye and John Kehoe all race until on lap 3 Joe Heye hooked up and slid out on corner 4, 1: Jeff - 2: Aaron - 3: John - 4: Drew - 5: Joe (DNF)
Heat Two:
Chris Hesmer and Rob Dixon went side by side into turn 1 with Chris pulling away by corner 2. Terry Rideout pulled a similar move on Gary Hesmer on lap 2 and left Gary Hesmer and Tim Murray to battle out their heat ending positions.
1: Chris - 2: Rob - 3: Terry - 4: Gary - 5: Tim
Heat Three:
Jeff Orosz again pulls a great start and leads the way, John Kehoe and Joe Heye are back at it close racing throughout the race, this adds the fun when John Kehoe also catches up to Jeff Orosz. Terry Rideout's bike seemed to be wobbling and this kept him back from the leading pack, leaving Tim Murray to bring up the rear.
1: Jeff- 2: John - 3: Joe - 4: Terry - 5: Tim
Heat 4:
Aaron Hesmer missed the gate, but pulled back a good recovery to fly past Chris Hesmer and Rob Dixon on lap 1. Rob looked in trouble on the backstretch and pulled back letting Gary Hesmer and Drew Kehoe through, but then sparked back into life and passed both on lap 3. Drew Kehoe also was out of shape on lap 3 leaving Gary Hesmer to go clearly into 4th place.
1: Aaron - 2: Chris - 3: Rob - 4: Gary - 5: Drew
Heat 5:
John Kehoe had a cracking start, pulled away strongly, he looked very smooth throughout the race! Chris Hesmer, Terry and Gary all rode close and hard, and on lap 3 Gary Hesmer`s chain came off coming out of turn 4 and he was sent wobbling along the home straight and crashed hard in turn 1 as the chain hit him between the legs!!! The race continued as John Kehoe took a good win and Tim Murray picked up his first points of the night. Gary was up and ok after a few minutes, but has a very beaten up looking engine case!
1: John - 2: Chris - 3: Terry - 4: Tim - 5: Gary (DNF)
Heat Six:
This race was all Jeff Orosz, from the gate. Drew Kehoe looks to have some mechanical problems as he is lacking power!
1: Jeff - 2: Aaron - 3: Joe - 4: Rob - 5: Drew
Final:
Aaron Hesmer had a terrible start, wheelie out of the gate nearly hitting the other riders, he got control and did a fantastic move to get from last to second in half a lap, full tilt- all action!!! Jeff pulled away but Aaron caught up to him on lap 3, last lap was a nail biter, as Jeff kept a battling Aaron behind to take a well deserved win! Chris Hesmer. Rob Dixon and John Kehoe all were battling their own challenges behind the leading two, but they could do nothing to get by!
1: Jeff - 2: Aaron - 3: Chris - 4: Rob - 5: John

Tough news for Sonny Chisholm!!

Allan Chisholm was involved in a first bend accident last Sunday at Paris. He hit the back of Graham Wale and lost control, in turn, he high sided and landed hard on the track.Upon his visit from the St. John's, it was revealed that he had indeed broken his right collar bone. However, he was unaware that more internal damage had occurred and he actually had broken 3 ribs, bruised his kidney and had punctured his lung! Allan is currently in hospital and is awaiting some test results, as they may need to operate on his lung. Get well soon Al.