Team talk with coach Steve Mullinder Saturday 23 rd April wasn’t just celebrating St Georges Day it was also round 2 of the BYJL at East Park and this meant the strong squad of 18 Wednesfield Aces foxes were ready to compete against the best young cycle speedway riders from across the Midlands.
The Foxes were fielding three new riders Heidi Williams , Joban Soori and Ethan Lloyd who all made the crowd realise the Wednesfield Aces Tuesday club conveyer belt had again turned out three more talented riders.
First up were the under 8s with champion Boyd Haines having to defend his position as Midlands no1. The foxes had eight riders attending but were reduced to six with the withdrawal of Joseph Turner (Illness ) and Kylan Bould not yet fully recovered from his nasty crash at Birmingham. All riders progressed to either the B or A final with Heidi Williams and Joban Soori picking up their first BYJL wins in the heats. Special mention must go to Ewan Turner who is the smallest rider in the club but must have the biggest drive and determination to race and his time will come to pick up the points in the future. Our riders were well paced in the B final with Ewan Turner finishing on 11 points , Heidi Williams finishing on 13 points behind East Parks Sophie Ball on 14 points.
The A final was an all Wednesfield affair with all four places being taken by the foxes, Boyd Haines progressed with another 16 point maximum, Logan Haddock who followed his second Tuesday club rider of the week award with a well earned place in the final, Cory Burt riding his new Archie Wilkinson Junior bike and the rider of the day for Wednesfield was Joban Soori on another Archie Junior bike not only racing in his first ever BYJL round but earning a well deserved position on the A final line up.
Tapes up and it was a blistering gate from Cory Burt on gate one to hold off current BYJL Midlands champion Boyd Haines, Boyd soon came back at Cory in the third bend but found the inside line closed by Cory and with the slippery East Park shale track covering his Foxes shirt, as it was Boyd who had to pick himself up off the track and find a way back into the race. Joban and Logan battled for third place with Joban just taking it in front of Logan who again showed the Haddock family has another rising star in cycle speedway. Try as he did Boyd couldn’t get close enough to stop Cory Burt being crowned Midland BYJL U8s round 2 champion levelling the series with one round each.
A fantastic achievement by all the U8s today in what was an excellent Midlands line-up.
In the u10s Charlotte Parfitt and Finley Burden were the foxes representing Wednesfield and enjoyed success in their respective heats. Charlotte again used the East Park track to show how lines into and out of the bend should be ridden with a natural gift for banking the bike , Finely Burden who has now stepped up to training with the current u17s Aces and Dragons squad showed the gating coaching is coming along. Both Charlotte and Finely both found enough points to earn a place in the B final with Finley coming out on top with 14 points and Charlotte close to him with 12 points. Once again a fantastic result for both riders.
In the under 12s the foxes had three riders with the daring Todd Rowley who plotted his way into the A final with two seconds and a race win. Megan Burt comfortably earning her place in the B final and Ethan Lloyd who is another of our new Tuesday club riders making his BYJL debut. Ethan has learnt cycle speedway the hard way with a number of falls in his early Tuesday club races while on the way to now having this valuable experience under his belt at BYJL level. It was Megan who delivered the race win of the day with passes on both the inside and the outside of the East Park track that any Elite League rider would have been proud of. Todd Rowley on gate four in the A final clearly fancied his chances after receiving last minute tactical information from father Glyn and Burtie to try and take the crown off Coventry’s surprise rider of the season Jack Reynolds who had only dropped one point from 32 available so far this season .But Todd from gate four had to settle for second place as it was jack who came out on top.
In the Under 14s it was again Tyler Bould racing as the lone Fox , with the chasing pack trying to stop Tyler from reaching yet another A final. Tyler did not disappoint the East Park crowd with the now familiar Andy Angel gate set up ritual of making his opposition know who they are up against. Tyler made his way to the final with two wins and two second places where he again came up against Coventry’s Ben Wells. Ben came out on top and has already showed champion winning pedigree with two near flawless rounds so far. Tyler finished a close second.
In the Junior Girls sections it was a reduced line up with just the four midlands riders taking part, Georgia Burt now settling comfortably into the girls racing and on the back of an excellent appearance in the Women’s league at Wednesfield Georgia showed again that she is well on the way to being a top women’s rider, finishing on 16 pts in the women’s final.
The final racing of the day was the under 17s category with Wednesfield Foxes having five riders lining up , Kyle Ryan , Carl Parfitt , Adam Tipton , Alex Aris and Brandon Whetton. This was without doubt the most ferociously competitive junior cycle speedway racing you will see at any track this season .With Welsh international Carl Parfitts attendance anything short of 100% commitment is not in his vocabulary and Carl didn’t disappoint the watching crowd with the first race line up against Brandon Whetton, the sound of spokes being bent in the first bend became a familiar occurrence. Brandon was pushed all the way by both Carl and Birmingham’s Ewan Hancocks throwing his now familiar all or nothing move into the final bend was not enough to stop Brandon taking the first win. Carl made up for his early loss by winning two out of his next three races and earning his position in the A final. Adam Tipton who had a tough draw in the early races coming up against Carl , Ewan and Brandon had a chance of putting some points on the board when lining up against team mates Kyle Ryan , Alex Aris in heat 9 , a repeat of many training night sessions , Adam on gate two was unlucky to be told by the referee that a movement had taken place and was to receive the first exclusion of the afternoon , it was left to Alex to show Kyle the best way round the track in a two man heat rerun. Adam had no time to dwell on his bad luck when lining up against Ewan, Kyle and Leicester’s Max wells in heat 11. The strongly fancied Ewan Hancocks broke from the gate early with Adam closely behind and Kyle having his own battle with Max for third place .However on the third lap with Adam comfortably in second place a front wheel slip on the recently watered East Park track saw Adam hit the deck and Kyle unable to move out in time ride over Adams shoulders and into the East Park fence. After first aid treatment on the track Adam rose to be told of his second exclusion of the day and from the rerun for causing the race to be stopped , this allowed Kyle to slot into the B final with Alex ,while Carl and Brandon had already starting planning their race tactics for the A final. Adam had to pick himself up and race Max wells in the C final and came out on top with a well earned win and 9 more points adding to the Foxes total.
The A final saw the top four on the day with Brandon earning the pick of the gates having finished with a 16 point max chose gate one and with Carl Parfitt tactically wanting to be as close to Brandon on the start gate on two, Ewan Hancocks on gate three and not forgetting East Parks Jake White who was no way there just to fill the numbers. The crowd knew with both Carl Parfitt and Ewan Hancocks in any final line no quarter would be given and that was how it panned out with several clashes taking place behind Brandon Whetton who from gate one on the track where he’s won so many BYJL heats was a bike length in front of the chasing trio . Carl Parfitt never far away the thrills and spills of competitive cycle speedway racing had to make his move on Brandon but hit the track and in doing so not only stopping the race but also stopping the rider behind him with his head after taking a front wheel at full pace to the back of his head and was rewarded with an exclusion from the rerun. Once the rerun started Brandon Whetton then showed why for the last three seasons he’s the best under 17 cycle speedway rider in Britain with another A final victory.
The team winners on the day were once again the Wednesfield Aces Foxes with close to 200 points and now look forward to round 3 at Coventry in May before returning to the Wednesfield arena in June where they will wear their new sponsored “Fox at Shipley “shirts at home for the first time promoting Birmingham Children Hospital.
The Foxes were fielding three new riders Heidi Williams , Joban Soori and Ethan Lloyd who all made the crowd realise the Wednesfield Aces Tuesday club conveyer belt had again turned out three more talented riders.
First up were the under 8s with champion Boyd Haines having to defend his position as Midlands no1. The foxes had eight riders attending but were reduced to six with the withdrawal of Joseph Turner (Illness ) and Kylan Bould not yet fully recovered from his nasty crash at Birmingham. All riders progressed to either the B or A final with Heidi Williams and Joban Soori picking up their first BYJL wins in the heats. Special mention must go to Ewan Turner who is the smallest rider in the club but must have the biggest drive and determination to race and his time will come to pick up the points in the future. Our riders were well paced in the B final with Ewan Turner finishing on 11 points , Heidi Williams finishing on 13 points behind East Parks Sophie Ball on 14 points.
The A final was an all Wednesfield affair with all four places being taken by the foxes, Boyd Haines progressed with another 16 point maximum, Logan Haddock who followed his second Tuesday club rider of the week award with a well earned place in the final, Cory Burt riding his new Archie Wilkinson Junior bike and the rider of the day for Wednesfield was Joban Soori on another Archie Junior bike not only racing in his first ever BYJL round but earning a well deserved position on the A final line up.
Tapes up and it was a blistering gate from Cory Burt on gate one to hold off current BYJL Midlands champion Boyd Haines, Boyd soon came back at Cory in the third bend but found the inside line closed by Cory and with the slippery East Park shale track covering his Foxes shirt, as it was Boyd who had to pick himself up off the track and find a way back into the race. Joban and Logan battled for third place with Joban just taking it in front of Logan who again showed the Haddock family has another rising star in cycle speedway. Try as he did Boyd couldn’t get close enough to stop Cory Burt being crowned Midland BYJL U8s round 2 champion levelling the series with one round each.
A fantastic achievement by all the U8s today in what was an excellent Midlands line-up.
In the u10s Charlotte Parfitt and Finley Burden were the foxes representing Wednesfield and enjoyed success in their respective heats. Charlotte again used the East Park track to show how lines into and out of the bend should be ridden with a natural gift for banking the bike , Finely Burden who has now stepped up to training with the current u17s Aces and Dragons squad showed the gating coaching is coming along. Both Charlotte and Finely both found enough points to earn a place in the B final with Finley coming out on top with 14 points and Charlotte close to him with 12 points. Once again a fantastic result for both riders.
In the under 12s the foxes had three riders with the daring Todd Rowley who plotted his way into the A final with two seconds and a race win. Megan Burt comfortably earning her place in the B final and Ethan Lloyd who is another of our new Tuesday club riders making his BYJL debut. Ethan has learnt cycle speedway the hard way with a number of falls in his early Tuesday club races while on the way to now having this valuable experience under his belt at BYJL level. It was Megan who delivered the race win of the day with passes on both the inside and the outside of the East Park track that any Elite League rider would have been proud of. Todd Rowley on gate four in the A final clearly fancied his chances after receiving last minute tactical information from father Glyn and Burtie to try and take the crown off Coventry’s surprise rider of the season Jack Reynolds who had only dropped one point from 32 available so far this season .But Todd from gate four had to settle for second place as it was jack who came out on top.
In the Under 14s it was again Tyler Bould racing as the lone Fox , with the chasing pack trying to stop Tyler from reaching yet another A final. Tyler did not disappoint the East Park crowd with the now familiar Andy Angel gate set up ritual of making his opposition know who they are up against. Tyler made his way to the final with two wins and two second places where he again came up against Coventry’s Ben Wells. Ben came out on top and has already showed champion winning pedigree with two near flawless rounds so far. Tyler finished a close second.
In the Junior Girls sections it was a reduced line up with just the four midlands riders taking part, Georgia Burt now settling comfortably into the girls racing and on the back of an excellent appearance in the Women’s league at Wednesfield Georgia showed again that she is well on the way to being a top women’s rider, finishing on 16 pts in the women’s final.
The final racing of the day was the under 17s category with Wednesfield Foxes having five riders lining up , Kyle Ryan , Carl Parfitt , Adam Tipton , Alex Aris and Brandon Whetton. This was without doubt the most ferociously competitive junior cycle speedway racing you will see at any track this season .With Welsh international Carl Parfitts attendance anything short of 100% commitment is not in his vocabulary and Carl didn’t disappoint the watching crowd with the first race line up against Brandon Whetton, the sound of spokes being bent in the first bend became a familiar occurrence. Brandon was pushed all the way by both Carl and Birmingham’s Ewan Hancocks throwing his now familiar all or nothing move into the final bend was not enough to stop Brandon taking the first win. Carl made up for his early loss by winning two out of his next three races and earning his position in the A final. Adam Tipton who had a tough draw in the early races coming up against Carl , Ewan and Brandon had a chance of putting some points on the board when lining up against team mates Kyle Ryan , Alex Aris in heat 9 , a repeat of many training night sessions , Adam on gate two was unlucky to be told by the referee that a movement had taken place and was to receive the first exclusion of the afternoon , it was left to Alex to show Kyle the best way round the track in a two man heat rerun. Adam had no time to dwell on his bad luck when lining up against Ewan, Kyle and Leicester’s Max wells in heat 11. The strongly fancied Ewan Hancocks broke from the gate early with Adam closely behind and Kyle having his own battle with Max for third place .However on the third lap with Adam comfortably in second place a front wheel slip on the recently watered East Park track saw Adam hit the deck and Kyle unable to move out in time ride over Adams shoulders and into the East Park fence. After first aid treatment on the track Adam rose to be told of his second exclusion of the day and from the rerun for causing the race to be stopped , this allowed Kyle to slot into the B final with Alex ,while Carl and Brandon had already starting planning their race tactics for the A final. Adam had to pick himself up and race Max wells in the C final and came out on top with a well earned win and 9 more points adding to the Foxes total.
The A final saw the top four on the day with Brandon earning the pick of the gates having finished with a 16 point max chose gate one and with Carl Parfitt tactically wanting to be as close to Brandon on the start gate on two, Ewan Hancocks on gate three and not forgetting East Parks Jake White who was no way there just to fill the numbers. The crowd knew with both Carl Parfitt and Ewan Hancocks in any final line no quarter would be given and that was how it panned out with several clashes taking place behind Brandon Whetton who from gate one on the track where he’s won so many BYJL heats was a bike length in front of the chasing trio . Carl Parfitt never far away the thrills and spills of competitive cycle speedway racing had to make his move on Brandon but hit the track and in doing so not only stopping the race but also stopping the rider behind him with his head after taking a front wheel at full pace to the back of his head and was rewarded with an exclusion from the rerun. Once the rerun started Brandon Whetton then showed why for the last three seasons he’s the best under 17 cycle speedway rider in Britain with another A final victory.
The team winners on the day were once again the Wednesfield Aces Foxes with close to 200 points and now look forward to round 3 at Coventry in May before returning to the Wednesfield arena in June where they will wear their new sponsored “Fox at Shipley “shirts at home for the first time promoting Birmingham Children Hospital.
