Aggregate score: Somerset Rebels 102-78 Newport WaspsThings didn't go well right from the start: Rebels inspirational skipper, Magnus Zetterstrom, only managed a third place behind Michal Rajkowski and Chris Schramm. Schramm was the architect of Zorro's defeat. After making a quick start to lead, he slowed just as Zorro was about to pounce, causing the Rebels' number one to take evasive action. This allowed Rajkowski a free run around both of them on the second bend. With little drive on the outside, Schramm was able to defend the inside easily. The reserves' race only got as far as the first turn, and all except Nick Simmons ended in a heap on the floor. From the gate, Simmons was engaged in a battle of elbows with Jordan Frampton, and a robust shove just as they entered the bend sent Frampton wide. This left those on his outside with nowhere to go - with the inevitable result. Amazingly the referee put all four back in, and Simmons made the best of his luck taking the re-run from Frampton. Danny Warwick took one more ride, before retiring from the meeting with a hand injury sustained in the first-bend crash. Tomas Suchanek and Emil Kramer raised the Rebels' hopes in the next, with an all-the-way 1-5 advantage, never being troubled by the Wasps' pair after the gate. It was a short-lived hope, as the Wasps struck back immediately with a 5-1 of their own. Burchatt, deputising for the injured Mason, made a slick start alongside Hawkins and Warwick with Morris close up. As Hawkins delivered a challenge, he appeared to catch a rut and momentarily lose a bit of control. It was all Morris needed to drive through the gap inside the second turn, and he team-rode the less experienced partner home. A shared heat followed with Zorro back on the winning trail. After a swift start, he led from bend one and took the heat with ease from his Wasps' counterpart, Tony Atkin. The respite was again only temporary, as the Wasps hit back with two more 5-1s. Firstly Chris Schramm made another lightning gate to lead from the two Rebels - Hawkins and Frampton - with all three running a tight first turn. Rajkowski made the best of the bunching, riding around their outside to lead into the back straight. From then on there was no way back for the two Rebels. The bigger blow of the two came in the second of these heats, heat seven. Steve Bishop sent Emil Kramer out with the black-and-white helmet in an attempt to claw back some points, but the normally reliable Swede appeared to have left his gating boots at home. He was caught in no-man's-land at the first bend, shut out by the fast-starting Wasps' pair of Morris and Simmons. Heat eightHeat eight was shared courtesy of Jordan Frampton, who took the win after he bolted out of the gates, leading up the excellent Schramm. Simon Walker has been in some good form of late, but did not seem comfortable, and ended this heat, and his meeting as it turned out, on the centre green after suffering an engine failure. Speaking after the meeting, he said that he thought his earlier run of bad luck was over, but it had returned with the same engine, which seized on the stand at Rye House in the opening fixture, giving up the ghost again. Heat nine was shared, this time after a battling performance by Ritchie Hawkins. Fast away alongside Wasps' new boy, Tom Hedley, he just lost out in a very tight fight for supremacy off the second turn. The young Australian squeezed through an almost impossible gap to grab the lead, but Hawkins replied in the same spot on lap three, after a close-fought couple of laps. Hedley wasn't about to give up his race lightly and again tried to squeeze through, but this time without success. Jordan Frampton was putting the pressure on Tony Atkin for third spot after being forced out by the Wasps' skipper at the first turn, but the experienced Atkin resisted to the line. The Rajkowski/Schramm pairing racked up another 5-1 in heat 10, with an almost identical start to their previous race. Schramm got away and allowed Rajkowski a clear run on the outside, with Tomas Suchanek the recipient this time. Emil Kramer was again slowly away and was caught out wide in the dust on the first bend where there was no grip to allow any kind of fight back. Heat 11 was shared, with Zorro again producing the goods, but not before he had repelled the challenge of Phil Morris who appeared up his inside on the second turn. Once in front, Zorro pulled away to win with ease. Jordan Frampton was all over the back of Nick Simmons, until he locked up whilst throwing in a challenge on bend three of lap three. He recovered to renew the chase over the last lap, and was closing fast on the line. Heat 12 again saw the points shared, when the Wasps' pair of Hedley and Burchatt made the gate. Emil Kramer came flying around the outside of the second turn, only to be impeded by his own team-mate, Jordan Frampton, who got caught out in the turn, and ran wide. Frampton made amends though and chased down Hedley. He put in a superb inside move to pass coming off the final turn of lap two. Hedley then became a victim of the lack of grip, running wide into the dusty stuff in turn one and falling. The heat was stopped, Hedley was excluded and the points shared. Hawkins moved at the tapes in heat 13, and this set Morris off, he lunged forwards as the tapes rose, and touched them, catching them under his wheel. He was excluded. Clearly unhappy with the decision, he made his feelings known to the referee. In the end he took the 15-metre penalty and set off after the others at speed. As it turned out, Hawkins was his immediate target. He caught the Somerset man, but Hawkins didn't give an inch, sticking tight to the grippy inside line. At the first bend of lap three, Morris charged hard under Hawkins, with absolutely no chance of a pass, and was lucky not to collect his rival in the process. At the third turn on the next lap, he lunged around the outside. With no grip on offer Morris took a nasty looking fall, with the bike ending up on top of him. It took a while for anyone to reach him, and some time for him to regain his feet when they did. For the record, Zorro took the win from Michal Rajkowski, and Ritchie Hawkins was third.  | | Magnus Zetterstrom and Michal Rajkowski in heat 13 |
The last two heats went 4-2 to the Wasps and then 2-4 to the Rebels. Heat 14 was won by Tony Atkin, who gated alongside the Rebels' Tomas Suchanek. At the second bend, Suchanek threw down a challenge, only to be clamped hard against the kerb. He had to back off and locked up in the process, allowing the other two to pass him, with Jordan Frampton taking up the chase. He never allowed Atkin a moment's peace, and was nipping away at his lead right up to the line. Zorro took the final heat with another quick start, from Chris Schramm. Ritchie Hawkins battled back from last place to nip up the inside of Rajkowski on the second bend of lap three. The young Pole did not get the chance to reply, as he was the victim of engine problems later in the race and coasted round at the back. For the Somerset Rebels, after an early blip, Zorro turned in a great performance as usual. It is easy to get blasé about Zorro's contribution, but it is not just scoring that he brings to the team, it's also about inspiration. Jordan Frampton was magnificent, taking the workload for the injured Danny Warwick and filling in for Simon Walker after his engine problems. He returned a nine-point total when some might have crumbled under the pressure. Ritchie Hawkins continues to improve with every meeting. Queensway Meadows may not be his cup of tea, but he stuck to the task. He ended a difficult day with a heat win and a good supporting role, with some spirited racing thrown in for good measure. It was just unfortunate that on a day when gating turned out to be the requirement, it deserted those who can normally be relied on to produce the goods. | 
