SOUTHAMPTON Cycle Speedway Club celebrated their 50th anniversary with a grand prix finale at their Winchester Road track.

Formed in 1962 from the Shirley Bombers and given official recognition in 1963, the meeting marked a special occasion in the club’s history as they celebrated their half century, writes Alex Cutler.

The action got under way with a under-19 event, with Poole’s Will Bristow racing to early victories with two back to back wins in heats four and five to head the field after the first round. Heat seven saw three exclusions: Jack Lush (Stockport) was unlucky when his handlebars broke at the start causing him to fall, stopping the race; Aaron Smith (Poole) then moved at the tapes, which led to his second exclusion in only two heats; then, at the restart, Joe Kemp also moved at the tapes, giving Dan Knights (Ipswich) an easy four points. Richard Fellgett (Ipswich) and Riki Johnson (Wedinsfield) took wins in their next rides to close in on Bristow.

All three topped the field on 11 points after three rides, but another second place for Bristow – behind the improving home rider Dan Miller (Southampton) – and a win saw him take the uder-19 crown.

Johnson was second overall, with Matt Smith (Sheffield) putting in a late run to take third.

A field of big stars assembled for the senior event, with reigning world champion Lucas Knowaski (Horspath), Paul Heard and Ben Mould (Wedinsfield) the early pace setters. When the riders had completed four heats Knowaski was winning on 15 points, closely followed by Chris Timms, Mark Carmicheal and Mould on 14. Knowaski took the win in heat seventeen to score an unbeatable total of 19 points and take the crown, but the real drama came in the race for second, with four riders tied on 17 points and forced into a ride-off. The decider saw Paul Heard slip off slightly going into lap two, forcing Lee Aris into taking evasive action.

This left Mould and Timms to battle it out at front with the other two unable to get back into the race. Mould eventually took the win to seal second spot.

Club spokesman Peter Chant said the day had been a resounding success.

“It was a brilliant day, with some fantastic racing,” he said.

“We had about 50 ex-riders in attendance, as well as a crowd of about 200. “We were also honoured to have our original founder, Ryan Makepeace, in attendance too, which was great.”

U19 Scores: 1st- Will Bristow (Poole) 18pts; 2nd- Ricki Johnson (Wedinsfield) 17pts; 3rd- Matt Smith (Sheffield) 17pts. Others: Jake Read 15, Richard Fellgett 15, Matt Lush 13, Dan Knights 13, Oli Sidwick 12, Hayden Chant 12, Will Clarke 11, Dan Miller 10, Jack Lush 9, Josh Robertson 8, Aaron Smith 8, Joe Kemp 7 and Lee Kemp 7.

Senior scores: 1st- Lucas Knowaski 19pts; 2nd- Ben Mould 17pts; 3rd- Chris Timms 17pts. Others: Lee Aris 17, Paul Heard 17, Steve Harris 14, Mark Carmicheal 14, Jake Read 12, Oli Sidwick 11, Aaron Smith 11, Aaron Herbert 11, Hayden Chant 9, Leyton Glover 9, Leaon Mower 8, Jamie Chittock 7 and Dan Miller 5.