Untouchable Troy breaks Bandits’ hearts

Jewson Bandits, powered by Keenwood Karpets 41

Workington Comets      49

No dream ending in the Bandits’ final home meeting, instead a fourth defeat on Shielfield Park shale means that the dreaded wooden spoon is becoming an increasing uncomfortable possibility.

The latest reverse was a case of death by a thousand cuts, or more accurately engine failures and shredded tapes, as Troy Batchelor’s magnificent maximum fired the Comets right back into the play-off hunt.

If one statistic summed up the night it is that the mercurial Australian won five rides; the Berwick team combined four.

And yet the Bandits headed into the ninth heat six points ahead and with the Comets’ Finnish star Antti Vuolas sidelined by a very untidy heat seven crash.

Then their world came tumbling down as Workington took advantages in six of the last seven heats, Batchelor, Claus Vissing and guest Erik Riss winning five races between them.

It was an incredible turnaround after a dream start, Lewi Kerr and Danyon Hume taking advantage of Riss’ engine failure to open the night with a maximum.

The spoils were shared in the reserves’ race but Freddy Hodder survived an anxious moment as he avoided clouting the fence after narrowly avoiding the fallen Sam McGurk.

Drew Kemp continued his fine recent form as he roared around Vissing in spectacular style off the fourth bend, Jye Etheridge’s third place extending the lead.

Batchelor put down his marker for the night with a comfortable heat four win before the first shot to the foot came as Simon Lambert’s slight twitch suckered Etheridge into demolishing the tapes.

The computer responsible for the long hold took exception to the false start and there was a delay as the system reset itself, music to the ears of Kemp whose engine had seized just as his team-mate shredded the ribbons.

The Suffolk-based speedster almost ruled himself out of the rerun as in his haste to get his second bike warmed up he ran towards the pits, Berwick co-owner Scott Courtney stopping him in the nick of time from leaving the track and suffering the same fate that befell Oxford’s Luke Killeen seven days’ previously.

It was a vital intervention as Kemp won the rerun but hopes of Berwick extending their lead were dashed when Lambert caught Connor Coles on the run to the line after a four-lap battle between the pair.

Kemp had his colours lowered for the first time by Vissing who led both the initial staging of heat seven and then, after Vuolas’ tumble, the rerun, the fourth of what would be five successive shared heats.

Berwick’s ability to pack the minor places was proving enough to protect the six point lead but that ended as Workington played their tactical card in heat nine.

Kemp this time did get the better of Vissing with what has become his trademark surge down the back straight but even he couldn’t catch Batchelor out front.

Vuolas, who would later be withdrawn from the meeting with a shoulder injury, was excluded from ten but, with Vissing again well ahead, Berwick saw points disappear in a puff of smoke as Hume’s engine expired with him in second place, gifting Starke a point.

In the next heat it was the turn of Kerr to break down while second, an engine failure with costly consequences as Riss and Lambert took full advantage with the 5-1 which put Workington ahead for the first time.

Berwick were back on level terms after Etheridge won 12 from Starke, whose mechanic had to dash down to the start to make sure he had enough fuel, Hodder being rewarded for his persistence as he passed McGurk off the final turn for a home 4-2.

But when Kerr demolished the tapes, after another long hold in 13, the writing was on the wall as Vissing and Batchelor were untroubled by reserve Coles or Etheridge.

Kemp has so often been the heat 14 hero for the Bandits this season but even he could not come to grips with the fast-starting Vissing and with Starke in third place Workington were mathematically uncatchable sparking celebrations in the pits.

They were even happier when Kemp became the second home rider to demolish the tapes in heat 15. Starting off 15 metres against Batchelor and Vissing was a huge ask and with Kerr – whose appearance in the final race of the night owed as much to the lack of competitive machinery from Hume as his own performance, never looked like denying them a final 5-1 either.

Disappointed Berwick team manager Stewart Dickson said: “Workington seemed to want it more than us which was disappointing. Four race winners at home tells its own story but we go again tomorrow and I am looking for a bit more fight.”

Vuolas will decide on Sunday morning whether he can take his place at the GT Tyres Arena later in the day. He had some discomfort in his neck and shoulder following his heat seven crash but his eventual withdrawal from the meeting was a precautionary measure and he hopes to be fit for the return.

Bandits: Lewi Kerr 8+1, Danyon Hume 8+1, Jye Etheridge 4, Drew Kemp 12, R/R (4), Freddy Hodder 3+2, Connor Coles 6+2

Comets: Erik Riss 8+1, Simon Lambert 7+2, Antti Vuolas 0, Claus Vissing 12, Troy Batchelor 15, Sam McGurk 0, Paul Starke 7

Pictures: Keith Hamblin