The British Under-21 Final will take place at Wolverhampton on Monday weather permitting. For the first time in recent years there have been no qualifying meetings. Over the past four or five years there have been a couple of semi-finals. One would be in the nort at a track such as Berwick or Workington and one in the south. The top five or six riders from each would join a small group of four or five riders 'seeded' directly into the final.
Indeed, going back to 1996, there was ever quarter-finals to qualify for the semi-finals. Blair Scott became the youngest rider ever to win a World Championship qualifying round when he was victorious in the Linlithgow quarter-final just after his 15th birthday.
This year all riders in the final have been 'seeded' through. This devalues the event to some extent. It appears that the semi-finals have proved to be loss-makers for the tracks concerned and hence they are not being run this year.
Two Monarchs have made it through to the final. Blair Scott is in his sixth and final attempt to win the event. Edinburgh assett Ross Brady also has been selected for the event. He will be hoping to find a new team after leaving King's Lynn recently.
The full line-up is as follows:
1. Lee Smethills (Workington), 2. Simon Stead (Sheffield), 3. Rob Grant (Newcastle), 4. Oliver Allen (Swindon), 5. Ross Brady (Edinburgh), 6. David Howe (Peterborough), 7. Mark Steel (Swindon), 8. Glen Phillips (Isle of Wight), 9. Chris Neath (Newport), 10. Blair Scott (Edinburgh), 11. Andrew Appleton (Oxford), 12. Adam Allott (Sheffield), 13. Paul Lee (Coventry), 14. Marc Norris (Reading), 15. Aidan Collins (Glasgow), 16. Chris Harris (Trelawny).
One or two riders have fitness doubts including Chris Neath, who has yet to race since suffering a bad injury in Australia, and Aidan Collins. This may open the way for replacements such as former Monarch, David McAllan.
The top six in the event will qualify for the Continenal rounds of the World Under-21 Championship. In addition the top placed rider (apart from the already qualified David Howe) will take a place in the British Senior semi-final at Newport.