With no team action for the Buxton Hitmen, Ben Taylor and Gareth Isherwood put in solid performances when they took part in the Conference League Riders Championship at Rye House on Saturday.
The Hitmen could use either of their top two, John Branney racing for Workington in the Premier League Knockout Cup semi-final and Jack Roberts not being fit enough to return from the injury he sustained a few weeks ago, so Ben Taylor and Gareth Isherwood represented Buxton in a competition that the club has had success in in the past.
Isherwood was first in action as he was out in Heat 2 and after a poor start from gate 3, he passed Scunthorpe’s Scott Richardson on the second lap and then took second from Plymouth’s Tom Brown on the next lap. Taylor was out in the next race and had something of an eventful race. First time of asking saw Weymouth’s Kyle Newman fall on the second turn but was allowed back in the rerun and then Newman came to grief on the first turn of the second lap followed by Rob Smith two turns later with the race being stopped and both riders were excluded. Taylor took the win in the second rerun despite having a bit of a moment on the second lap.
In the second round of rides it was Isherwood who was out first again and off the outside gate he could only get into third place on the first turn. Boston’s Darcy Ward passed him on the second lap and he picked up no points from the race. Taylor was out in Heat 7 and again had to have a rerun to decide the race. Initially home rider Danny Halsey and Richardson came together on the opening lap with the Scunthorpe rider being excluded and then Halsey just managed to sneak ahead in the rerun as the riders entered the third turn on the opening lap. Taylor managed to get ahead of Plymouth’s Kyle Hughes for second and his five points from two outings put him in joint second place overall.
The two Hitmen were in opposition in Heat 9 but it was former Buxton rider Benji Compton who made the start from gate 3. Taylor off the outside gate couldn’t follow him through as Isherwood settled into second. With this being an individual event and no team orders in place, Taylor had to try and find a way past but couldn’t and he picked up just one point to move onto six while Isherwood’s two points put him on four in total.
Taylor took his fourth outing in Heat 14 and again was involved in a rerun race. Ward fell after being passed by Weymouth’s Jay Herne and was in the process of remounting when the race was stopped. With Ward’s exclusion Herne won the restart with Taylor beating former team-mate Dean Felton for second. Isherwood too had to make two attempts to complete his fourth ride as Hughes was excluded for falling and then Scunthorpe’s Byron Bekker just got the drop on him after a tight first turn and the Buxton racer had to settle for second place. Taylor’s eight points put him in sixth place with Isherwood tied one place further back on six.
Isherwood was first to complete his five races as he was out in Heat 19. From the outside gate he was blocked out on the first turn and although he was right on Felton’s back wheel for a couple of laps, he tried too hard and lost ground before settling for third place. Taylor rode in the final heat and he only managed to finish third after passing Boston’s Simon Lambert on the third lap. That put Taylor on a final total of nine points, leaving him sixth overall and Isherwood finished with seven points and that was good enough for seventh out of the sixteen competitors. The meeting was won by former Hitman Benji Compton with 14 points, one ahead of Bekker and their experience of racing in the Premier League set them clear of the rest.
It was a good showing by the Buxton duo as neither had scored particularly well when they had raced at Rye House in the Conference League back in July as Taylor scored eight and Isherwood just 4 points. Top scorer for the Hitmen that day was Jack Roberts with 18 and we can only wonder just how well he would have done if he had been fit enough to take his place in the competition.
