Follow britishcycling.org.uk on 
Report: Under 13 Individual Championships
Event: 22nd May 2010, Exeter | Report: Craig Nethercott
Exeter Aces hosted the 2010 British Under 13 Individual Championship on Saturday 22nd May with 62 heats of fast and furious racing.
Matthew Haddock started his day as strong as he finished, with a win in heat one but the main race was just behind him with the girls battling for second. Ipswich's Rosie Woollard clinched second place with Lauren Hookway taking third on her home track. Holly Morgan of Poole had to settle for a point. A strong favourite for the day, Liam Johnson-Rich, took four points from heat two. A well known name in the South West, Jacob Soper started his day with a win over Matthew Hill of Ipswich. Will Tidball was making the most of the experience and finished in third.
Harry Boucher, who was also tipped to be one of the favourites for the Under 13 title, took four points from the fourth race of the day with Britain's 2009 Under 10 Champion, James Robinson grabbing the runner up spot. Liam Johnson-Rich carried on with his winning ways in heat five with a worthy win over Tidball, however he wasn't the only one to keep the dream of a maximum alive as Haddock also raced all the way for four points in the following heat. Race number seven ensured the crowd was to be kept in suspense and wondering who would win the semi final with Boucher also collecting his second win on the boiling hot Saturday afternoon. After a last place in his opening ride, Swindon's Jake Neighbour managed to push himself for three points. Robinson kept himself in with a shout of winning the title with a win in heat nine.
The consistent Matthew Hill achieved his third 2nd place of semi final 1. Heat ten at Cofton Road was quite easily mistaked to be a Grand Final, if there ever was one, with Haddock, Johnson-Rich and Boucher all meeting and all on maximum points so far. After a fantastic race and lots of noise from the crowd, it was Haddock who took the win over East Park's Johnson-Rich. Boucher of Poole could do no better than third place and this swung the odds for the title Haddock's way. Tidball was happy to add on four points to his tally in the eleventh race with Jacob Soper carrying on with his impressive riding in heat twelve which saw him drop just one point after three rides. Lauren Hookway was the first female to win a race in the 2010 British Under 13 individual Championship with a quick gate in heat thirteen.
Adam Watson of Sheffield finished in second to raise his score to eight points. Sixteen out of sixteen for Matthew Haddock after another win in heat fourteen put him safely through to the Grand Final whilst Hill of Ipswich secured another second place to set him up for a bit of relaxation in his final ride. Being beaten by Haddock didn't put Johnson-Rich into meltdown as he flew around the Cofton Road circuit to grab his third win of the event and the same could be said for Boucher as he also beat Ethan Greenside in heat eighteen to grab his third win. With the first semi final reaching the final stage, Boucher, Haddock and Johnson-Rich all finished on a high with heat wins but surprises were still to arrive with Exeter's James Robinson and Will Tidball both excluded in heat eighteen for team riding after referee Mike Legge deemed Robinson not to be racing.
Things became controversial in the following heat with more team riding. Jake Neighbour fell during the race and with his partner from Swindon, Ethan Greenside who was winning the race, making no attempt to lap Neighbour, again Legge decided that exclusions were in order which left Rosie Woollard to take the four points. Ipswich's Hill finished his semi final with 5 consistent second places and after all twenty races were completed, a run off was in need between Hookway, Tidball and Georgina Healey of Stockport. Tidball made the gate with Hookway trying to push for the winning spot but neither girls were going to take the grand final position away from Will who made the most of his home track advantage.
Semi 1 Qualifiers: [Matthew Haddock 20][Liam Johnson-Rich 19][Harry Boucher 18][Rosie Woollard 15][Jacob Soper 15][Matthew Hill 15][James Robinson 13][Will Tidball 11]
Non Qualifiers: [Lauren Hookway 11][Georgina Healey 11][Ethan Greenslade 10][Adam Watson 10][Sam Widdecombe 9][Frazer Hoare 7][Jake Neighbour 6][Holly Morgan 5]
With Semi final one out of the way, the crowd knew there would be more spectacular racing to spectate on in the second semi. The first winner of the semi went to Poole's Kristina Mines who showed her fellow Poole rivals in the heat how it's done! Joshua Alden and Joshua Renicks took second and third respectively. Adam Phillips who made the long journey down from Astley and Tyldesley made it worth it for his first ride as he took the heat win with Daniel Knights of Ipswich finishing in second. Terry Gilbert Rolfe was excluded in heat three for being lapped just after Sheffield's Richard Hudson suffered with first ride nerves to move at the start which left the race for just two riders. Stockport's Matthew Turner ended up as the eventual winner with Daniel Cox of Exeter picking up three points.
Adam Overett showed a sign of good things to come as he beat Ipswich team mate Richard Fellgate in the fourth race. After being excluded in his first ride of the day, Terry Gilbert Rolfe decided it was time for a win and showed his Ipswich team mates that he could win races too. Jack Herbert of Exeter managed to take second place with Renicks in third again. Overett was one of two riders to win his first two races in heat six with a win in front of Knights. Phillips was the other rider to still be on course for a semi final maximum after he beat Turner who had won his first ride. Fellgate took his points tally up to seven and Richard Hudson finally got of the mark with a second place after his exclusion. With two on the trot, Fellgate took three minutes to regain his breath before taking to the track and coming back to the pits with another four points. Knights continued to be consistent with yet another second place.
There was still a lot of tension in the air and even though half of the semi final had been completed Richard Hudson unfortunately couldn't quite say goodbye to the nerves, and twitched at the start again to be sent out of the race. Gifkins, who had also been previously excluded, made up for it and raced for the win ahead of Poole's Alex Lane, who again had been excluded in the ride before. Heat eleven saw an opportunity for Overett to build on his current maximum and he didn't disappoint. Four points went to him whilst Lee Kemp of Bretford finished in second to achieve his best race result so far. Astley and Tyldesley's Phillips kept up the trend with another win to keep his maximum in the running as well and with two on the trot going into heat thirteen he had one big race on his hands against his biggest rival of the semi final, Overett. Phillips made the gate and did well to defend his lead for the rest of the race with Overett having to settle for second.
Turner of Stockport was pleased to add his second win of the day onto his score which put him on thirteen and looking to get through to the Grand Final with one race remaining. Fellgate, having lost to only Overett so far had no problem in taking another win in race number fifteen. Alex Lane nearly doubled his overall score with a well earned three points. Daniel Knights impressed his Ipswich supporters with his first win over Gifkins in heat sixteen. Lee Kemp also gained a confidence boost with his first win as well, again, over Gifkins. Fellgate however, was not after his first win of the day but his fourth. He added four points in his final ride to impressively dropping just one point throughout the semi final and finished on a high after beating the unbeaten Phillips. After two exclusions Richard Hudson managed to put the mistakes behind him and raced for pride in heat nineteen and without the pressure he managed to finish the day nicely by winning his final ride in front of Jack Herbert. The final heat of the semi final saw Overett tally his score up from fifteen to nineteen and he could get his mind set on challenging for the title in the main event.
Semi 2 Qualifiers: [Adam Phillips 19][Adam Overett 19][Richard Fellgate 19][Matthew Turner 16][Lee Kemp 14][Daniel Knights 13][Jack Herbert 13][Mathew Gifkins 12]
Non Qualifiers: [Kristina Mines 10][Terry Gilbert-Rolfe 10][Joshua Alden 9][Richard Hudson 9][Joshua Renicks 8][Alex Lane 8][Daniel Cox 8]
And finally on to the Grand Finale of the day. The heat in Exeter was something the riders in the Grand Final could do without but the strong field battled on into the final at 4pm. Exeter's James Robinson took the win in heat one over Richard Felgett from Ipswich. This was considered as a great win for the young Ace after defeating Felgett who dropped just one point in the semi final. Liam Johnson-Rich carried on from where he left off with a win over another Ipswich star, Daniel Knights, but could Knights top his score of thirteen from the second semi final? Maximum Man from Semi 1, Matt Haddock continued his fine form into the finale with an important victory infront of Poole's Harry boucher. Bretford's very own Lee Kemp enjoyed the win in heat four beating Gifkins who qualified into the final on twelve points. Heat five was one of Johnson-Rich's easier races which he took full advantage of to put his score up to eight points out of eight whilst Overett more than doubled his current score, up to five points.
Two winners from the first round of racing faced each other in race six. Heat four winner Lee Kemp was on the inside gate with heat one winner Robinson, off of three. Robinson put in all the determination needed for a good ride to finish in front of the Bretford Bulldog who actually came last. Second went to Jacob Soper from Wales. Harry Boucher who failed to win his first ride needed to pull something out of the hat for his next, and did so brilliantly with a fine win over Felgett who was closely followed by Knights. Haddock kept the pressure on all other riders to perform by paving the way for another win in his next ride of the day. Going from third to first really showed the crowd just how special this rider is. He passed Stockport's Matthew Turner and then Astley and Tyldesley's Adam Phillips. With Haddock on top form, Boucher again needed to keep hot on Matt's heals with a win in heat nine over Hill. Haddock then returned the favour and added his third win of the final to the collection this time ending Robinson's maximum but it wasn't all plain sailing for the young Sandwell lad.
Liam Johnson-Rich was in the lead but half way through the race, was excluded by Legge for forcing Haddock over the inside line. Liam could only hope for a miracle to happen for his dreams of becoming champion to be kept alive. Felgett made a great start from grid two in heat eleven to take control of the race and taste victory for his first time in the Final. He was closely followed by Phillips. With one Ipswich rider taking his first win of the grand final, team mate Knights decided it was his turn to do the same thing. He beat Turner, Tidball and Soper. Heat thirteen, unlucky for some, but not for Haddock who shot out from gate four with one thing in mind, that top spot. Four more points to keep his ideal maximum going ensured a second place would do him in his final ride. Knights finished in second place to bring his score after four rides to twelve. It was good to see a variety of riders winning the day's races with Phillips going for gold in heat fourteen, again for his first time in the final. Four points for Phillips put him on eleven but he could be more glad of the fact he beat James Robinson who was doing great for his age, dropping just two points after four rides.
Felgett made the most of heat fifteen and obtained another win as well as beating Johnson-Rich to the finish line. Adam Phillips was improving throughout the match and after scoring one point in his first ride, he would have been glad to finish his day on a high with another win to put him on a total of fifteen. Jacob Soper wrapped his day up with a second place with Overett finishing in third. A good win for James Robinson in his final heat gave him good hope of finishing on the podium, just a year after he was Under 10 British Champion. Felgett levelled himself with Robinson in the next heat by gaining four points to put him on eighteen, which would see them participate in a run off later on. The last programmed race of the day went to Johnson-Rich who had ridden excellently all match. Some people had the opinion that his exclusion was wrong and East Park should be very proud of his performance, he finished on fifteen with Harry Boucher coming second to top his score up to fourteen. With Matthew Haddock a clear winner on nineteen points, just one run off was remaining for the silver position.
Robinson and Felgett tossed a coin with Robinson choosing to take gate 2, however he didn't make the best of starts and Felgett made the most of it to get himself into the first bend in front and led for the four laps, with Robinson seeming to settle for third place overall quite happily and deservedly.
Grand Final Scores:
1st: Matthew Haddock, 19pts, Sandwell
2nd: Richard Felgett, 18pts, Ipswich
3rd: James Robinson, 18pts, Exeter
[Liam Johnson-Rich 15][Daniel Knights 15][Adam Phillips 15][Harry Boucher 14][Matthew Turner 12][Matthew Hill 12][Jacob Soper 11][Adam Overett 11][Rosie Woollard 8][Will Tidball 8][Lee Kemp 8][Jack Herbert 7][Matthew Gifkins 7]
The day in general at Exeter Aces Cycle Speedway Club went very well and smoothly. The track and surroundings were in perfect condition and fantastic racing ensured that Saturday 22nd May was a day to remember, especially for young Matthew Haddock who performed brilliantly all day to become this year's British Under 13 Individual Champion.
Great thanks go to everyone at Exeter CSC for the organisation and preparation put in place to make the day such a success. The atmosphere was fantastic and we couldn't have wished for it to have gone any better. Well done to all riders who participated in the event and thanks to all officials who kept the day running the way it did. British Cycling's Chris Yates was in attendance and on the day, cycle speedway really did show British Cycling how much of a great family orientated sport it is.
