Speedway fans could be forgiven for staying at home on Saturday (12 May) when Hoddesdon was to stage the qualifying round of the World Junior Championship. 

Torrential rain all afternoon falling on an already wet track made racing almost impossible.  But the “almost”  turned into the unlikely situation of “Racing On” at seven o’clock as the heavy rain petered out.  The hardier fans then flocked into the stadium, most heading for the fish restaurant and the licenced bars for quick refreshment prior to watching the action.

What they witnessed was the most astonishing meeting ever staged at the Lea-side track with the riders from all parts of the World making light of the tricky conditions and providing racing of the highest calibre.  The scene was set by Rocket’s newest teenage star, Tai Woffinden who scorched to victory in the first race, riding at full throttle for four laps in spite of the wet and unpredictable surface.  The other riders quickly took note of what they saw and the scene was set for high speed action.

Nobody expected the two unknown Russians to make much impression given that their homeland tracks are almost twice the size of the Rye House bowl.  How wrong everybody was as in the final tally both of them were on the rostrum filling the first and third positions with Britain’s Lewis Bridger sandwiched between them in second place.

Woffinden may well have been up among the top three but for a fall in heat 12 when he was challenging New Zealander, Andrew Bargh for the lead.  As it was he totalled a well taken 11 points, the same as Australian star Troy Batchelor.

With Russian Emil Sayfutdinov who rides in Poland for Bydgoszcz massing 13 points (beaten only by Woffinden and fellow Russian Ivanov) a tie on 12 points each forced a run-off between Daniil Ivanov and Lewis Bridger, the latter powering to victory to take the second spot.

Seven riders progressed to the Semi-Finals in either Denmark of Latvia to join the seeded Edward Kennett.  They are, of course, the top seven in the finishing order.

Scorers
Russia   Emil Sayfutdinov 13
GB  Lewis Bridger  12
Russia  Daniil Ivanov  12
Austalia Troy Batchelor 11
GB  Tai Woffinden  11
GB  William Lawson 10
Australia Robert Ksiezak 9
New Zealand Andrew Bargh  8
Poland  Kamil Brzozowski 7
USA  Kenny Ingalls  5
USA  Dale Facchini  4
Poland  Maciej Piaszczynski 4
France  Matt Tresarrieu 3
Germany Stefan Kurz  3
France  Jeremy Diraison 3
Germany A Stanek  2
Reserves, one ride each Steve Boxall 2, Adam Roynon 1.