British Under 21 Championships
Final
Arena Essex Raceway, Purfleet
Saturday 4th April 1998
The first incident occurred before the meeting when Roger Lobb of Exeter failed a breath test and was replaced by Newport Conference League rider Paul Oughton. Lobb denied having had anything to drink for fur days and vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
The field consisted of:
Glasgow reserve Brian Turner was the reserve for the championships.
The meeting was won by favourite Scott Nicholls, amid allegations of unfair riding. This came in particularly from the camps of Leigh Lanham and Lee Richardson who both picked up injuries after clashing with Nicholls. Defending champion and home favourite Leigh Lanham was the main casualty from the fancied riders. He was beaten by David Meldrum in his first heat, won his second outing but taped in this third run. Finally he withdrew from the meeting after picking up an injury in Heat 16.
Heat 1: David Meldrum, Leigh Lanham, Lee Dicken, Paul Clews [62.1]
David Meldrum gated for a good win. Lanham fought off Dicken for second place picking up on the dirt coming out of the corners.
Heat 2: Lee Richardson, Grant MacDonald, Oliver Allen [62.7]
Paul Oughton hit the fence and fell. In the re-run Richardson gated once more while Grant MacDonald battled past Allen for second.
Heat 3: David Howe, André Compton, Simon Stead [awarded]
A similar incident to the previous race as Andrew Appleton fell and was excluded but the race was awarded to David Howe ahead of Compton.
Heat 4: Paul Lee, Scott Nicholls, Blair Scott [59.9]
Nicholls gated while Barry Campbell made a fair start and was passed by Blair Scott. Paul Lee fell and remounted at the back. He was given a reprieve when Campbell collided with Scott who had bounced off the fence into his path. This was the third incident in that spot. Barry Campbell was excluded. In the re-run Paul Lee gated and broke the lap record beating Nicholls and Scott.
Heat 5: Paul Lee, Lee Dicken, Paul Oughton, Andrew Appleton [60.5]
Paul Lee kept up his 100% record with a win over Hull teammate Lee Dicken.
Heat 6: David Howe, Blair Scott, David Meldrum, Oliver Allen [61.0]
Blair Scott gated but David Howe rounded him to win.
Heat 7: Scott Nicholls, Lee Richardson, Paul Clews [61.2]
Nicholls v Richardson ding-dong at the first bend, \Richardson lost control and fell but all four invited back. Nicholls gated in the re-run and Stead fell. Richardson taken wide by Nicholls and fell again. All three back after Stead excluded! Finally Nicholls won as Richardson passed Clews.
Heat 8: Leigh Lanham, André Compton, Grant MacDonald, Barry Campbell [62.3]
Barry Campbell came out on Grant MacDonald’s spare bike and trailed Lanham Compton and MacDonald.
Leading positions after two rides each:
Paul Lee 6, David Howe 6, Scott Nicholls 5, Leigh Lanham 5, Leigh Richardson 5.
Heat 9: Simon Stead. Lee Dicken, Oliver Allen, Barry Campbell [62.3]
Barry Campbell out again had a brave attempt to pass Allen but failed.
Heat 10: Scott Nicholls, André Compton, David Meldrum, Paul Oughton [60.4]
Nicholls won from the gate ahead of Compton and Meldrum.
Heat 11: Grant MacDonald, Blair Scott, Paul Clews, Andrew Appleton [62.1]
Blair Scott passed Paul Clews to finish behind Grant MacDonald.
Heat 12: Lee Richardson, Paul Lee, David Howe, Brian Turner [62.3]
Leigh Lanham touched the tapes. Brian Turner came in as reserve. Richardson wins from Lee and Howe.
Leading positions after three rides each:
Scott Nicholls 8, Lee Richardson 8, Paul Lee 8, David Howe 7.
Heat 13: Lee Richardson, André Compton, Blair Scott [61.4]
Blair Scott was at the back when Lee Dicken fell after tangling with Compton. Dicken was excluded and Blair lifted at the start of the re-run and finished third.
Heat 14: Simon Stead, Paul Lee, David Meldrum, Grant MacDonald [61.7]
Simon Stead round Paul Lee for a fine win ahead of Meldrum and MacDonald.
Heat 15: David Howe, Paul Clews, Barry Campbell, Paul Oughton [62.2]
Barry Campbell gained his third point ahead of Oughton behind Howe and Clews.
Heat 16: Scott Nicholls, Oliver Allen, Andrew Appleton [62.6]
Nicholls collected Lanham’s back wheel and both fell. All four invited back but Lanham injured and unable to continue. Brian Turner in as reserve fell and was excluded as Nicholls wins.
Leading positions after four rides each:
Scott Nicholls 11, Lee Richardson 11, Paul Lee 10, David Howe 10
Heat 17: Scott Nicholls, Lee Dicken, David Howe, Grant MacDonald [61.8]
Nicholls moved into pole position for the title with a win over Dicken and Howe.
Heat 18: David Meldrum, Lee Richardson, Barry Campbell, Andrew Appleton. [63.3]
A good win for Meldrum over Richardson as Barry Campbell collected his second point. It was now 10.31 PM!
Heat 19: André Compton, Paul Lee, Paul Clews, Oliver Allen [62.6]
Compton and Lee secured their places in the next round.
Heat 20: Blair Scott, Brian Turner, Paul Oughton [62.3]
The water bowser brought down three fence panels and many spectators left. Blair Scott was passed by Simon Stead who then fell and was excluded. Blair Scott easily won the re-run from reserve Brian Turner to equal Meldrum’s score of 9 points.
|
Scores after five rides each |
|||||||
|
Scott Nicholls (Ipswich) |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
14 |
|
Lee Richardson (Reading) |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
|
13 13 |
|
Paul Lee (Hull) |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
12 |
|
David Howe (Peterborough) |
3 |
3 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
|
11 |
|
André Compton |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
|
11 |
|
Blair Scott (Edinburgh) |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|
9 |
|
David Meldrum (Berwick) |
3 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
|
9 |
|
Simon Stead (Peterborough) |
1 |
X |
3 |
3 |
X |
|
7 |
|
Lee Dicken (Hull) |
1 |
2 |
2 |
X |
2 |
|
7 |
|
Grant MacDonald (Glasgow) |
2 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
|
6 |
|
Leigh Lanham (Arena Essex) |
2 |
3 |
T |
N |
- |
|
5 |
|
Paul Clews (Peterborough) |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
|
5 |
|
Oliver Allen (Peterborough) |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
|
4 |
|
Paul Oughton (Newport) |
X |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
2 |
|
Barry Campbell (Edinburgh) |
X |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
|
Brian Turner (Glasgow) [Reserve] |
0 |
X |
2 |
|
2 |
||
|
Andrew Appleton (Newport) |
F |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
|
1 |
Heat 21: Blair Scott, David Meldrum [62.6]
David Meldrum gated in the re-run for reserve place in the Quarter Finals but Blair Scott passed to win. The clock had now reached 10.55PM almost three hours after the start.
It was particularly unfortunate for Blair and Barry to collide in their first heat. Barry came out of things worse being excluded and having to borrow a bike from Grant MacDonald that obviously wasn’t set up right for him. Blair did well to take the reserve spot and would have qualified but for the dramatic cut in the numbers qualifying from eight to five. Apperently it had been increased to six before the meeting but no-one was told and the place allocated to Leigh Lanham!
The meeting was also overshadowed by allegation that Scott Nicholls was using unfair tactics with very hard ‘Elite League style first bends. Many of the youngsters could not cope with this on a tight track like Arena and injuries to Richardson and Lanham occurred.
Arena Essex was probably the wrong track to stage such an event.
Qualifiers: Scott Nicholls, Lee Richardson, Paul Lee, David Howe, and André Compton.
Reserve: Blair Scott
Nicholls and Richardson were seeded through to the Semi-final while Lee, Howe, and Compton had to compete in the Quarter-finals in Germany or Slovenia. Blair Scott was not expected to travel because of the expense and disruption to domestic competitions.
John Lowe