Beneath menacing storm clouds Swindon and Belle Vue produced a truly extraordinary speedway meeting that was laced with drama, misfortune and gallant individual performances.
The Robins’ were forced to compete with just four riders from heat six onwards as two separate falls for the reserve duo of Manuel Hauzinger and Seb Alden in heat seven led to their withdrawal from the meeting.
Meanwhile the Aces, who were already without Joe Screen, lost Billy Forsberg in his opening ride as the Swede picked up a hand injury on the first corner of heat three.
But it was Swindon who dug deepest and produced a memorable performance to grab an unlikely draw despite only being able to track one competing rider in five of the concluding nine heats.
The Robins’ prevailed in the face of adversity though and brilliantly managed to keep the scores locked at 42 apiece entering heat fifteen.
However, the Belle Vue pairing of Crump and Doolan seemed to have
grabbed a 4-2 heat advantage which would have handed the overall victory to the Manchester side. But high drama ensued as the luckless Doolan suffered a machinery failure on the final bend of lap four which allowed Mads Korneliussen to surge past and ensure a draw on the night.
It was a bizarre conclusion to what had been a dramatic evening of sporting action and perhaps a fair outcome considering the extensive problems that had besieged both sides.
A heavy pre meeting shower did little to diffuse this memorable encounter and whilst the track was understandably greasy in early stages, it produced an array of top notch racing as the nigh progressed.
Swindon were well led by a thirteen point contribution from Captain fantastic Leigh Adams and also a paid thirteen point haul from a typically lively Mads Korneliussen.
Elsewhere, James Wright recovered from a slow start to post a creditable paid nine point score whilst the ever improving Travis McGowan notched an identical figure.
The visitor’s score chart was topped by the hard charging Jason Crump who was a mere whisker outside the Blunsdon track record in heat fifteen. Guest rider Kevin Doolan proved to be a shrewd acquisition whilst Charlie Gjedde excelled on his old stomping ground.
Leigh Adams and Jason Crump got proceedings under way in spectacular style with a scintillating opening race duel that eventually saw the Swindon captain prevail.
Further back James Wright and Kevin Doolan scrapped for the entirety but it the Belle Vue guest rider successfully repelled the challenge of the Swindon’s tenacious Brit.
Belle Vue’s recently acquired young Danish rider Patrick Hougaard caught the eye in the ensuing race with a well engineered race win that Seb Alden simply had no answer for. Manuel Hauzinger tucked into third spot to secure the second points share of the evening and shuffles both sides to six points.
A hectic heat three first corner saw Aces’ number four Billy Forsberg take an awkward looking fall and the Swedish rider immediately appeared in severe discomfort. After consultation with the medical staff Forsberg opted to withdraw from the meeting with a wrist injury.
The Robins’ collected their first heat advantage of the night in the re-run as Korneliussen and Wright combined to move Swindon two points ahead and a heat five points share maintained the cushion. Adams eased to victory in heat six as Seb Alden fell innocuously whilst holding third spot and hailed himself off the track.
Heat seven proved pivotal in the eventual outcome of the meeting and it was Manuel Hauzinger who was on the receiving end of a chaotic first bend. The diminutive Austrian took a nasty tumble as received medical attention on track before being transported by ambulance to the Blunsdon medical room.
Seb Alden took Hauzinger’s position in the re-run and the Swedish rider conjured a superb start to join Travis McGowan out front exiting turn two of lap one. However, under pressure from Charlie Gjedde, Alden fell awkwardly on turn four and was subsequently forced to withdraw from the meeting with an ankle injury.
Gjedde reigned victorious in the third staging of heat seven as the resultant 4-2 in Belle Vue’s favour handed them the ascendancy for the first time. Doolan and Simmons bolstered the away sides advantage with a second successive 4-2 in race eight before Korneliussen and Wright got Swindon back on level terms with a well worked 5-1 in heat nine.
Adams eased to victory in race ten before McGowan brought the crowd to their feet as he lowered the colours of Crump in eleven. Korneliussen repelled the challenge of Gjedde in twelve to keep the scores level before a determined Crump reeled in and passed Adams in thirteen.
James Wright held his nerve wonderfully to grab victory in heat fourteen which kept the scores level entering race fifteen.
Jason Crump executed a textbook cut back to grab the lead whilst Kevin Doolan slotted into third spot as Mads Korneliussen was unable to make an impression at the rear despite Leigh Adams’ attempts to slow the race.
Just as it seemed Swindon were going to be defeated, Doolan’s machine failed on bend four of the final lap which provided Korneliussen with a simple route to third spot.
