The only winner on Sunday was the great British summer weather as the Buxton Hitmen’s Conference League speedway meeting against the Redcar Cubs was postponed due to a waterlogged track.
The eagerly awaited clash between the teams was unable to go ahead after heavy rain on Saturday and all through the night into Sunday. The meeting was called of early so as to stop people from travelling and a date for its restaging will be publicised as soon as one is agreed. Everything pointed towards a great meeting with Redcar containing several riders with Buxton experience including Scott James and Aaron Summers.
One rider who did get to race at the weekend was Jack Roberts as he took part in the European Under 19 Championship at Krsko in Slovenia. In his first experience of racing overseas, he faced a tall order to qualify on a big continental circuit that was much more suited to the Czech and Polish riders but he went over to do his best and at least gain valuable experience.
The 17-year-old from Stockport picked up a point in his opening ride behind Michal Hadek and Dawid Lampert before taking victory in his next outing to put him high up the leaderboard. He ran a last place in his third race behind top Czech rider Matej Kus and when he trailed in at the back next time out, his hopes for qualification had gone. After a good start to the day, he tailed off to finish with just four points in total but bags of experience gained. Kus, who rode at last years Czech Grand Prix, won the meeting ahead of Poles Lampert and Maciej Janowski with Kus’s fellow compatriot Hadek fourth.
Buxton, with Roberts back in the team, have a home meeting this Sunday when the Sittingbourne Crusaders travel North for the Conference League encounter. Last month the team met at Sittingbourne with the Hitmen taking a 46-44 away win thanks to outstanding performances from Roberts and Gareth Isherwood. Buxton trailed by eight points after just five races but Lewis Dallaway and Ben Taylor teamed up for maximum points in Heat 7 to close the scores. Roberts and Isherwood did likewise in Heat 11 to tie the scores at 33-33 and when they did the same again two races later, the Hitmen led 40-38. The Crusaders came back to level the scores with a 4-2 in the penultimate race before Roberts beat former team-mate Dean Felton in the final race and with Dallaway coming home in third place, the Hitmen took the narrowest of wins. This Sunday’s meeting could be just as close with the racing starting at 3pm so come along if you would like to see a great afternoon entertainment.
