Robert Eriksson continued his blistering start to the season with second place in the Karl Friar Memorial Trophy at Berwick on Saturday.
There were a number of changes in the line-up. André Compton replaced James Grieves and Jesper Olsn came in for Bjarne Pedersen. Steven McAllister was not present sincehe was in the Under-21 Semi-final at Newport. Wesley Waite blew up his engine during the warm-up lap and took part in the meeting. this left a number of heats with two or three riders.
The event was curtailed due to overrunning because of a number of (none too serious) accidents and poor time-management. Alan Mogridge pulled out after a fall and Paul Bentley due to a cracked frame. Originally it was to be a 20-heat event with each rider having five outings. The winner was to be the one with the highest score over five heats.
The revised format was over 16 heats with only four rides each. This led to an unbalaced heat format and a final was added to decide the winner. This final was won by Jesper Olsen followed by Robert Eriksson, Sean Wilson, and surprise package David Meldrum.
Edinburgh's three riders all had their moments with Eriksson doing just enough to qualify for the final while Brady and Little missed out.
Results
|
Sean Wilson |
Sheffield |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
- |
12 |
|
David Meldrum |
Berwick |
3 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
- |
11 |
|
Jesper Olsen |
Newcastle |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
- |
11 |
|
Robert Eriksson |
Edinburgh |
1 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
- |
8 |
|
Paul Bentley |
Berwick |
3 |
2 |
2 |
N |
- |
7 |
|
Alan Mogridge |
Berwick |
2 |
F |
3 |
2 |
- |
7 |
|
Scott Smith |
Berwick |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
- |
7 |
|
Ross Brady |
Edinburgh |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
- |
6 |
|
Scott Lamb |
Berwick |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
- |
6 |
|
André Compton |
Peterborough |
2 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
- |
6 |
|
Kevin Little |
Edinburgh |
1 |
2 |
0 |
2 |
- |
5 |
|
Emiliano Sanchez |
Glasgow |
2 |
X |
N |
1 |
- |
3 |
|
Freddie Stephenson |
Berwick |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
- |
3 |
|
Will Beveridge |
Newcastle |
1 |
1 |
X |
N |
- |
2 |
|
Wesley Waite |
Hull |
N |
N |
N |
N |
- |
0 |
|
Steven McAllister |
Berwick |
Absent |
|||||
Heat details
|
Heat no |
Result |
Time |
|
1 |
David Meldrum, Alan Mogridge, Will Beveridge, Scott Lamb |
68.9 |
|
2 |
Paul Bentley, André Compton, Scott Smith, Freddie Stephenson |
68.6 |
|
3 |
Sean Wilson, Emiliano Sanchez, Robert Eriksson |
68.3 |
|
4 |
Jesper Olsen, Ross Brady, Kevin Little |
70.2 |
|
5 |
David Meldrum, Paul Bentley, Ross Brady [Emiliano Sanchez X] |
69.1 |
|
6 |
Jesper Olsen, Scott Smith, Will Beveridge |
69.4 |
|
7 |
Sean Wilson, André Compton, Scott Lamb |
68.8 |
|
8 |
Robert Eriksson, Kevin Little, Freddie Stephenson [Alan Mogridge F] |
69.4 |
|
9 |
Sean Wilson, David Meldrum, Scott Smith, Kevin Little |
68.9 |
|
10 |
Robert Eriksson, Paul Bentley [Will Beveridge X] |
70.2 |
|
11 |
Jesper Olsen, Scott Lamb, Freddie Stephenson [Emiliano Sanchez N] |
69.9 |
|
12 |
Alan Mogridge, André Compton, Ross Brady |
66.9 |
|
13 |
David Meldrum, Jesper Olsen, Robert Eriksson, André Compton |
67.9 |
|
14 |
Sean Wilson, Ross Brady, Freddie Stephenson |
70.3 |
|
15 |
Scott Lamb, Kevin Little [Paul Bentley N] |
70.5 |
|
16 |
Scott Smith, Alan Mogridge, Emiliano Sanchez |
68.9 |
|
Final |
Jesper Olsen, Robert Eriksson, Sean Wilson, David Meldrum |
- |
Over the first seven days of the speedway season in Scotland, Robert has achieved three great results on markedly different tracks. Third place behind Jesper Olsen and Emiliano Sanchez at Glasgow last Sunday was followed by him top-scoring at Armadale on Friday. Finally on Saturday to took second place, again behind Olsen, on the big Berwick track. This was ahead of a number of noted big track specialists including Premier League Riders' Champion Sean Wilson.
If Robert continues this sort of form, James Grieves could become a most popular figure at Armadale! But for James's defection to Glasgow, Robert would almost certainly be wearing Tigers' colours this year.