Birmingham Brummies V Poole Pirates

Poole failed to return from this away fixture with any points and that is only the second time this season they have experienced such, but on both occasions there have been mitigating circumstances.

For their trip to Glasgow earlier in the season resulted in having to ride the meeting without Rory Schlein who was injured in a first race crash; here at Birmingham it was Stefan Nielsen who was unable to see the meeting out as he lost control on the fourth turn, collided with an unsuspecting Valentin Grobauer.

The incident which, correctly, led to Nielsen's disqualification from the re-run, caused a lengthy delay as Nielsen's condition necessitated a visit to hospital via a county ambulance, whilst the track came in for some remedial work and close inspection.

Once given the green light to resume, Rory Schlein, who had fast been drifting out of the initial staging of the race due to lack of power in his machine, made a storming start to salvage a heat share from what had looked previously like being a big reverse for the Pirates. But Schlein was revealing the secret of any success. It was vital to get off the starts rapid as overtaking opportunities were of a high premium on the inconsistent surface.

Michele Castagna did just that in heat two as again Poole had only one representative, Danyon Hume who chased hard but with  little chance of making any inroads on closing down the Italian. Steve Worrall made things look easy in heat three as he gained the initiative, behind him Ben Cook was doing a solid holding job on the Brummies middle order pairing of James Shanes and Ashley Morris.

Skipper Danny King was far too quick for anyone, recording the first sub sixty seconds time of the meeting but it was a lone outing for him as the Pirates had to shuffle their options to now cover two absentees, largely through Danyon Hume alone! Poole's rising star couldn't do anything to prevent Morris and Shanes from collecting the Brummies' first 5-1 of the night, whilst partner Schlein was looking a pale shadow of the rider he has proven to be this year and struggled at the rear. King was invincible again in heat six in another of those three-rider only heats.

Birmingham broke the deadlock with a strung out 4-2 led by Riss with Worrall splitting him from Castagna, 22-20 the home side led. Jack Thomas was sharper than the rest in heat eight but with Grobauer still suffering the effects of that opening heat incident, offering little to threaten the Poole pairing, Cook and Hume were happy to share the spoils.

Heat nine did at last bring about a genuine pass, and it was Danny King who delivered. Morris made the gate and was enjoying life out at front. In a quest to try and chase, Hume ran things too wide early on and hit the deck. Clearing himself and machine off the track, the race was able to continue and King responded superbly, finding the power and the line to take him by Morris in the infancy of the third lap, going on to establish an unassailable lead in the remainder of the heat.

Worrall made the running all the way in heat ten but did have keen interest from Harris, who after shrugging off Cook looked a real threat. With Worrall holding out the meeting levelled up again.

For the five-man Pirates it was one representative only again in heat eleven, but with that being Schlein on an evening in which he was really struggling, it proved a step too far and Riss and Castagna dealt the crucial blow. Worrall took the honours of heat twelve but Hume was unable to promote himself from the back and so the four point separation remained. King and Schlein were able to cut that by half, Harris packing up just as he was lining up a move on third-placed Schlein.

Birmingham assured themselves of victory with Castagna and Morris combining for a huge 5-1 in heat fourteen and Poole had only one option open to them for nominations for heat 15. Both King (four wins from four rides) and Worrall (three wins and a second) had replicated their scores from Sunday's home affair against the Brummies and if they could maintain that in the final race Poole would be going home with a well-deserved point. But, that heartbreaker of a rider called Chris Harris saw to it that King wouldn't go unbeaten whilst Riss sneaked in for third place to make the final score 49-41 in favour of the home side.

BIRMINGHAM 49
Chris Harris 2,2,2,R,3 =9
Valentin Grobauer 1',1',0 =2+2
James Shanes 1,2',1',1' =5+3
Ashley Morris 0,3,2,2' =7+1
Erik Riss 2,3,3,2,1 =11
Michele Castagna 3,1,2',2,3 =11+1
Jack Thomas 1,0,3,R =4
.
POOLE 41
Rory Schlein 3,0,1,1 =5
Rider Replacement 
Steve Worrall 3,2,3,3,0 =11
Ben Cook 2',0,2,1,1 =6+1
Danny King 3,3,3,3,2 =14
Stefan Nielsen  XD,NS,NS =0
Danyon Hume 2,1,1,1',F,0,0 =5+1
.
Ht.1 R.Schlein,C.Harris,V.Grobauer,S.Nielsen  (Disqualified),3-3 3-3 (60.34)
Ht.2 M.Castagna,D.Hume,J.Thomas,S.Nielsen  (N/S),4-2 7-5 (60.44)
Ht.3 S.Worrall,B.Cook,J.Shanes,A.Morris,1-5 8-10 (60.25)
Ht.4 D.King,E.Riss,D.Hume,J.Thomas,2-4 10-14 (59.97)
Ht.5 A.Morris,J.Shanes,D.Hume,R.Schlein,5-1 15-15 (61.54)
Ht.6 D.King,C.Harris,V.Grobauer,S.Nielsen  (N/S),3-3 18-18 (59.43)
Ht.7 E.Riss,S.Worrall,M.Castagna,B.Cook,4-2 22-20 (60.46)
Ht.8 J.Thomas,B.Cook,D.Hume,V.Grobauer,3-3 25-23 (61.96)
Ht.9 D.King,A.Morris,J.Shanes,D.Hume (fell),3-3 28-26 (60.53)
Ht.10 S.Worrall,C.Harris,B.Cook,J.Thomas (rtd),2-4 30-30 (60.53)
Ht.11 E.Riss,M.Castagna,R.Schlein,5-1 35-31 (61.12)
Ht.12 S.Worrall,M.Castagna,J.Shanes,D.Hume,3-3 38-34 (60.87)
Ht.13 D.King,E.Riss,R.Schlein,C.Harris (rtd),2-4 40-38 (59.25)
Ht.14 M.Castagna,A.Morris,B.Cook,D.Hume,5-1 45-39 (61.69)
Ht.15 C.Harris,D.King,E.Riss,S.Worrall,4-2 49-41 (59.65)
SCB Referee: Dave Watters
Gates:  Birmingham won the toss and took 1&3.  Poole  chose 1&3 in heat 15
Rider of the Night: Danny King
 

picture: Chris Simpson