Ben Shields and Christian Henry were both in action in the Australian Under-21 Final at Gillman Speedway, Adelaide.
Christian started well with two great wins but faded into the match and finished on 10 points from five rides. That was a just short of that necessary for a place in the final. Christian, like others found the dry and dusty track not ideal for passing. His gating probably cost him a final place.
Ben Shields went one better and scored 11 points from 5 rides despite a fall. This earned him a place in the final alongside Travis McGowan (15 points), Rusty Harrison (14), and surprise package Ashley Jones (12).
McGowan was hot favourite for the final after winning all of his qualifying heats. The former Glasgow rider Harrison had other ideas and gated. McGowan tracked him for three laps before attempting a pass and fell. Ashley Jones took second place with Ben Shields third.
Christian Henry was joint fifth with Kevin Doolan on 10 points ahead of Brendan Mackay (8), Dean Wiseman (7) and Nathan Headley (7).
The inside line appeared to be the place to especially in the latter stages of the meeting as the dust was getting worse. That meant that gating was at a premium and Harrison proved himself in this area. It was a great acheivement for Premier League reserve to beat an Elite League second string.
One report suggested that Ben found his ageing eqipment well past its 'sell-by' date. He will no doubt be looking forward to taking delivery of his brand new bike for the 2001 season in the Premier League. Christian will probably be disappointed to miss out on the final once more but there were some encouraging signs from his early races before the track became dusty.
Full report by Anthony McGuire