British Semi Final 1
 
Evergreen Martin Shaw marched to a 15 point maximum in this first Semi Final and fellow GP star Nick Ambrose also qualified with ease by picking up 12 points.  Sam McCurdy was generally expected to qualify although perhaps not in 2nd place with an excellent 13 point return.  Dennis Groves, currently plying his trade in Europe and hoping to attract the attention of UK promoters, was the other rider to reach double figures.  The remaining 4 places went to riders on 8 points with European based David Charlton and PL rider Scott Newstead living up to pre-meeting expectations by progressing to the British Final.  Another rider hoping to put himself on the radar of British promoters is Andy Lawson who could afford a last race blank and still qualify whilst Academy League rider Neil Johnston caused a real upset by being able to do the same and he will proudly represent the 4th tier of UK speedway in the final.  Of those that didn't qualify there were a couple of real hard-luck stories as John Scotney had bike troubles all afternoon and would surely have scored more than 5 points otherwise; David Bedford scored 5 from his first 2 rides and would surely have made the final but for a fall in his third race after which he had no option but to withdraw so as not to aggravate a rib injury any further.  Bedford was particularly disappointed as he was looking to add to some very good Euro League performances and make some UK promotions sit up and take notice of the quality he still clearly offers although a heat 2 win over defending World Champion Nick Ambrose certainly impressed those in attendance before his untimely withdrawal.
 
  1. Martin Shaw............... 3  3  3  3  3  15   (Qualified)
  2. Sam McCurdy............... 3  3  3  2  2  13   (Qualified)
  3. Nick Ambrose.............. 1  3  3  3  2  12   (Qualified)
  4. Dennis Groves............. 2  1  3  3  1  10   (Qualified)
  5. Andy Lawson............... 3  1  1  3  0   8   (Qualified)
  6. Scott Newstead............ 1  2  2  0  3   8   (Qualified)
  7. Neil Johnston............. 3  1  2  2  0   8   (Qualified)
  8. David Charlton............ 2  0  1  2  3   8   (Qualified)
  9. Chris Mullarkey........... 1  2  1  0  2   6   (Reserve)
 10. Andrew Williamson......... 2  1  1  1  1   6
 11. John Scotney.............. 0  R  2  E  3   5
 12. David Bedford............. 2  3  Fx -  -   5 (I)
 13. Mark Briggs............... 0  2  2  0  0   4
 14. Brendan Duggan............ 0  2  0  1  1   4
 15. Scott Salkeld............. 1  2  -  -  -   3
 16. Phil Hayes................ 2  -  -  -  -   2
 17. Tristan Bonham-Wells...... 1  0  0  0  1   2
 18. Scott Allen............... 0  0  0  1  0   1
 
 No. Results
  1: Andy Lawson, Andrew Williamson, Chris Mullarkey, Brendan Duggan 
  2: Sam McCurdy, David Bedford, Nick Ambrose, Mark Briggs 
  3: Neil Johnston, Dennis Groves, Scott Newstead, John Scotney 
  4: Martin Shaw, David Charlton, Tristan Bonham-Wells, Scott Allen 
  5: David Bedford, Scott Newstead, Andy Lawson, David Charlton 
  6: Sam McCurdy, Chris Mullarkey, Dennis Groves, Scott Allen 
  7: Martin Shaw, Mark Briggs, Andrew Williamson, John Scotney (R) 
  8: Nick Ambrose, Brendan Duggan, Neil Johnston, Tristan Bonham-Wells 
  9: Sam McCurdy, John Scotney, Andy Lawson, Tristan Bonham-Wells 
 10: Martin Shaw, Neil Johnston, Chris Mullarkey, David Bedford (Fx) 
 11: Nick Ambrose, Scott Newstead, Andrew Williamson, Scott Allen 
 12: Dennis Groves, Mark Briggs, David Charlton, Brendan Duggan 
 13: Andy Lawson, Neil Johnston, Scott Allen, Mark Briggs 
 14: Nick Ambrose, David Charlton, Scott Salkeld, Chris Mullarkey 
 15: Dennis Groves, Phil Hayes, Andrew Williamson, Tristan Bonham-Wells 
 16: Martin Shaw, Sam McCurdy, Brendan Duggan, Scott Newstead 
 17: Martin Shaw, Nick Ambrose, Dennis Groves, Andy Lawson 
 18: Scott Newstead, Chris Mullarkey, Tristan Bonham-Wells, Mark Briggs 
 19: David Charlton, Sam McCurdy, Andrew Williamson, Neil Johnston 
 20: John Scotney, Scott Salkeld, Brendan Duggan, Scott Allen 
 
Injury - David Bedford damaged a rib and was forced to withdraw but will be fit for next meeting

 

 

 

 

 

 British Semi Final 2
 
Several top quality UL performers were in this one and as expected they led the way in the scoring to progress to the next round.  Liam Reay, Scott Bridges and Hayden Wood showed their GP quality by filling the rostrum places while Luke Treadwell, Mark Black and Chris Adams didn't have too many problems, despite an engine failure for each of the latter pair, as they reached 9 points and moved to the British Final.  3 riders tied in the battle for the final 2 places in the next round with Evolution Leaguer Viv Thompson happy to see his pair of heat wins after the interval were enough to give him 7th place.  Jamie Vaughan and Stephen Trowbridge had the same race record but the former won out in their heat 13 clash which was enough to see him qualify while Trowbridge had to settle for the reserve spot.  No real shock non-qualifiers from this one although Stewart and Doyle may have fancied their chances of scraping into the final whilst Joe Finch was another who could have challenged but after a bang to the head, and with just 1 point on the board, in his second ride he made the sensible decision to withdraw as a precaution.
 
  1. Liam Reay................. 3  3  3  2  3  14   (Qualified)
  2. Scott Bridges............. 3  1  2  3  2  11   (Qualified)
  3. Hayden Wood............... 3  3  3  1  1  11   (Qualified)
  4. Luke Treadwell............ 1  1  3  3  1   9   (Qualified)
  5. Mark Black................ 2  3  2  2  R   9   (Qualified)
  6. Chris Adams............... 2  2  R  3  2   9   (Qualified)
  7. Viv Thompson.............. 0  1  1  3  3   8   (Qualified)
  8. Jamie Vaughan............. E  2  1  2  3   8   (Qualified)
  9. Stephen Trowbridge........ 0  2  2  1  3   8   (Reserve)
 10. Tony Clipstone............ 3  1  3  0  0   7
 11. Alex Stewart.............. 2  2  0  2  1   7
 12. Peter Doyle............... 2  0  1  1  2   6
 13. Steve Edgar............... 0  3  F  0  0   3
 14. Richie Rawlins............ 1  0  X  0  2   3
 15. Steve Clark............... 1  0  0  1  1   3
 16. Joe Finch................. 1  X  -  -  -   1 (I)
 17. Ronnie Flanagan........... R  0  -  -  -   0
 18. Steven McDonald........... R  0  -  -  -   0
 
 No. Results
  1: Tony Clipstone, Alex Stewart, Luke Treadwell, Ronnie Flanagan (R) 
  2: Hayden Wood, Mark Black, Steve Clark, Steve Edgar 
  3: Scott Bridges, Chris Adams, Joe Finch, Stephen Trowbridge 
  4: Liam Reay, Peter Doyle, Richie Rawlins, Viv Thompson 
  5: Hayden Wood, Jamie Vaughan, Scott Bridges, Richie Rawlins 
  6: Mark Black, Alex Stewart, Viv Thompson, Joe Finch (X) 
  7: Steve Edgar, Chris Adams, Luke Treadwell, Peter Doyle 
  8: Liam Reay, Stephen Trowbridge, Tony Clipstone, Steve Clark 
  9: Liam Reay, Mark Black, Jamie Vaughan, Chris Adams (R) 
 10: Hayden Wood, Stephen Trowbridge, Peter Doyle, Alex Stewart 
 11: Luke Treadwell, Scott Bridges, Viv Thompson, Steve Clark 
 12: Tony Clipstone, Richie Rawlins (X), Steven McDonald (R), Steve Edgar (F) 
 13: Viv Thompson, Jamie Vaughan, Stephen Trowbridge, Steve Edgar 
 14: Chris Adams, Alex Stewart, Steve Clark, Richie Rawlins 
 15: Luke Treadwell, Liam Reay, Hayden Wood, Ronnie Flanagan 
 16: Scott Bridges, Mark Black, Peter Doyle, Tony Clipstone 
 17: Jamie Vaughan, Peter Doyle, Steve Clark, Steven McDonald 
 18: Liam Reay, Scott Bridges, Alex Stewart, Steve Edgar 
 19: Stephen Trowbridge, Richie Rawlins, Luke Treadwell, Mark Black (R) 
 20: Viv Thompson, Chris Adams, Hayden Wood, Tony Clipstone 
 
 Run-off for 2nd: Scott Bridges, Hayden Wood 
 
Injury - Joe Finch suffered a concussion and was forced to withdraw but will be fit for next meeting