BACK ON SONG

WEYMOUTH DOONAN WILDCATS 51

STOKE SPITFIRES 40

WEYMOUTH Doonan Wildcats skipper David Mason hailed last night's fine win over the Spitfires at the Wessex Stadium as a "great all-round team performance" and then admitted he feels back "on song."

The Radipole Lane outfit controlled the encounter from start to finish and their talismanic captain is confident that they can continue improving.

David Mason said: "I think it was a great all-round team performance tonight. Terry Day rode a good meeting and so did Karl Mason, and everyone showed signs of improvement.

"Hopefully we can now go to their place and get the bonus point and who knows even grab the win. We all like the track there and there is no reason why we can't do both.

"At the start of the season you always have to blow the cobwebs out and the more experienced rider you are the more you tend to change things. I did that but now I have gone back to basics and feel back on song."

David Mason got his side off to a fine start with a tapes-to-tapes victory to help claim a 4-2 but in the next heat fellow Wildcat George Piper lost control entering the first bend and caused Day to fall and damage his bike. Piper was excluded but in the re-run the Spitfires failed to take advantage.

Leading into the first bend the Stoke pair looked well placed but Day overtook them both in a superb ride to limit the damage to a 3-3.

The next race saw the Wildcats claim their first maximum with Nathan Irwin and Lee Smart comfortably seeing off Sam Dore and Kriss Irving.

Leading 12-6 the hosts then continued their impressive start with a win for Karl Mason in heat four. Day started well but a fine passing move by John Branney split the Wildcats duo.

A mechanical problem that caused Irwin's bike to momentarily catch fire on the start line in heat five meant he had to start from 15 metres back in the re-run. Thankfully for the home supporters Smart held off Barrie Evans to win and protect his side's eight-point advantage.

The visitors needed something special to try and break the Wildcats' hold on the meeting and in the next race John Branney produced a fantastic ride to snatch victory on the line.

The talented rider passed both David Mason and Hurst on the final lap after the hosts looked on course for a 5-1. But still the deficit remained eight points.

The Spitfires then finally recorded their first heat advantage in seven with Evans taking the win in a 4-2. Piper withdrew from the meeting due to his earlier fall so Day stepped in as reserve but could only come fourth.

In heat eight Weymouth reclaimed dominance with Hurst and Day grabbing a 5-1 but in the next race Branney once again impressed, leading Irwin before the action was stopped due to safety reasons after Smart and David Haigh both fell. A 3-2 was awarded to the Spitfires by the referee.

Branney came out on top again in heat 10, which saw the away side capture their first 5-1 to cut the Wildcats' lead to 32-27. Hurst pushed Dore all the way but fell on the final bend.

Weymouth hit back with two 4-2s with Karl Mason and Smart capturing their second wins of the night increasing their lead to nine points with three heats remaining.

The Spitfires desperately needed a positive result in heat 13 but Branney and Evans had to settle for fourth and third respectively as Karl Mason and race winner David Mason grabbed their side a 5-1.

Dore took a tactical ride in the penultimate race but it ended in a 4-4 with Irwin claiming first and Day third. Heat 15 was won by Evans but it was too little too late.

n Poole Pirates' stars Jason Crump and Bjarne Pedersen line up in the Swedish GP at Eskilstuna tonight (6pm) with the reigning world champion aiming to dig into Nicki Pedersen's big lead at the top of the scorechart.

SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS.Weymouth Wildcats.David Mason 3 1* 1 3 2 10+1.Sam Hurst 1 2 3 0 6.Lee Smart 2* 3 fx 3 0 8+1.Nathan Irwin 3 0 2 3 8.Karl Mason 3 2 3 2* 10+1.George Piper fx. 0.Terry Day 3 1 0 2* 1 1 1 9+1.Team manager: Phil Bartlett.STOKE SPITFIRES.Barrie Evans 2 2 3 2 1 3 13.Kriss Irving 0 0 1* 1 0 2+1.R/R Sam Dore 1 1 2* 2 4 10+1.John Branney 2 3 3 3 1 12.David Haigh 2 0 fx 2.Oliver Gay 1* 0 0 0 0 1+1.Team manager: John Woolridge.Referee: Margaret Vardy.Ht 1: D Mason, Evans, Hurst, Irving 54.3 4-2.Ht 2: Day, Haigh, Gay (fell remounted twice), Piper (fx) 56-3 7-5.Ht 3: Irwin, Smart, Dore, Irving 12-6 55.4.Ht 4: K Mason, Branney, Day, Gay (ret) 16-8 54.0.Ht 5: Smart, Evans, Irving, Irwin (start offence, 15m) 53.4 19-11.Ht 6: Branney, Hurst, D Mason, Haigh 55.5 22-14.Ht 7: Evans, K Mason, Dore, Day 54.2 24-18.Ht 8: Hurst, Day, Irving, Gay 56.4 29-19.Ht 9: Branney, Irwin, Haigh (fx), Smart (fx) awarded 31-22.Ht 10: Branney, Dore, D Mason, Hurst 55.4 32-27.Ht 11: K Mason, Evans, Day, Irving 54.3 36-29.Ht 12: Smart, Dore, Day, Gay (fell, retired) 54.9 40-31.Ht 13: D Mason, K Mason, Evans, Branney 55.5 45-32.Ht 14: Irwin, Dore (tactical), Day, Gay (retired) 56.5 49-36.Ht 15: Evans, D Mason, Branney, Smart 55.4 51-40.LAST NIGHT'S RESULTS.Elite League: Arena Essex-Lakeside 58 (Krzysztof Kasprzak 15) Ipswich 35 (Chris Louis 13+1), Oxford 49 (Lubos Tomicek 13+1) Belle Vue 41 (Joe Screen 10+2). Premier League KO Cup: Edinburgh 48 (Matthew Wethers 15+2) Somerset 41 (Magnus Zetterstrom 14+1). Conference League: Boston 49 (Simon Lambert 11+1) Plymouth 43 (Adam Roynon 15) Best Pairs (at Plymouth): 1 Ben Hopwood 15, Kyle Hughes, 15 - 30, 2 Jamie Westacott 17, Jason Prynne 9 - 26, 3.Jack Roberts 15, Nick Mallett 6 - 21.