POOLE-based rider Brendan Johnson came out on top in the first round of the British Under-15's Championships at the Wessex Stadium on Saturday night.
The favourite lived up to expectations by winning every heat on his way to the final, where he held off the challenge of Richard Franklin (2nd), James Sarjeant (3rd) and Kyle Norton (4th).
There were plenty of spills throughout the night with riders being excluded for falls on 10 occasions. But Johnson showed his class without dropping a race all night. His first came in a re-run heat two where he went on to record the fastest time of the night.
Shane Hazelden who was awarded Most Entertaining Rider of the night, Franklin, Daniel Greenwood, Sarjeant, Norton and Montana Jowett each tasted heat victory. As did Ex-Wildcat George Meakins' son Scott, but unfortunately for the seven riders none could match the speed of the Oxford Cheetah.
Once the 12 heats had finished Johnson (12) and Sarjeant (9) automatically qualified for the final. Franklin (7), Greenwood (6) and Norton (6) managed to secure a semi-final berth, which meant that Hazelden (6), Stoneman (6), Jowett (5) and Butler (4) were left to contest the quarter-final.
The race was awarded with Jowett in the lead when Butler's fall ended the heat. Jowett though couldn't progress any further as in the semi-final, once again, the race was awarded after Greenwood went down, and the top two of Norton and Franklin made it through to the final alongside Johnson and Sarjeant.
But the Poole lad kept his form going and, after a re-run, crossed the chequered flag in first place. Followed by Franklin in second and Sarjeant in third, Norton was excluded after he went to ground.
SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS
Qualifying Race: 1 Montana Jowett, 2 Chris Bint, 3 Michael Bovis (Ex 2min)
1 Danny Stoneman fx 2 2 2 6
2 John Resch 2 1 0 1 4
3 Shane Hazelden 3 2 1 fx 6
4 Richard Franklin fx 2 3 2 7
5 Scott Meakins 1 fx 2 fx 3
6 Daniel Greenwood fx 3 fx 3 6
7 Brendan Johnson 3 3 3 3 12
8 James Sarjeant 2 3 2 2 9
9 Kyle Norton xm ret 3 3 6
10 Jack Butler 2 1 1 0 4
11 Montana Jowett 3 0 1 1 5
12 Chris Bint 1 0 0 1 2
13 Michael Bovis ret
Ht 1: (re-run) Hazelden, Resch, Franklin fx, Stoneman fx, 59.4
Ht 2: (re-run) Johnson, Sarjeant, Meakins, Greenwood fx, 55.5
Ht 3: Jowett, Butler, Bint, Bovis ret, 65.9
Ht 4: Sarjeant, Stoneman, Resch, Jowett, 58.6
Ht 5: Johnson, Franklin, Butler, Bint, 56.5
Ht 6: Greenwood, Hazelden, Meakins fx, Norton ret, race awarded
Ht 7: Johnson, Stoneman, Butler, Greenwood fx, race awarded
Ht 8: Norton, Sarjeant, Jowett, Bint, 57.0
Ht 9: Franklin, Meakins, Hazelden, Resch, 57.2
Ht 10: Norton, Stoneman, Bint, Hazelden fx, race awarded
Ht 11: Johnson, Franklin, Resch, Butler, 57.4
Ht 12: (re-run) Greenwood, Sarjeant, Jowett, Meakins fx, 57.3
Quarter-final: Hazelden, Jowett, Stoneman, Butler fx, race awarded
Semi-final: Norton, Franklin, Hazelden, Greenwood fx, race awarded
Final: (re-run) Johnson, Franklin, Sarjeant, Norton fx, 56.3
Result: 1 Brendan Johnson, 2 Richard Franklin, 3 James Sarjeant.
* Jason Crump will line up in Poole Pirates' crucial Elite League clash at Peterborough tonight (7.30pm).
Peterborough: 1 Andersen, 2 L Dryml, 3 R/r for Iversen, 4 Swiderski, 5 Bjerre, 6 King, 7 Hefenbrock.
Pirates: 1 Pedersen, 2 Batchelor, 3 Crump, 4 Boyce, 5 Kennett, 6 Boxall, 7 Doyle.
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