The weather gods relented and the Speedway gods looked down with favour on Central Park on Monday (23/9) evening as the 2019 Laurels ensured it would go down as one of the most eventful in all the years on the occasion the 80th anniversary of this historic competition.
To steal the chorus of Green Day’s timeless classic “it’s something unpredictable, but in the end it’s right”, the individual championship event (being held for a seventh time at Kent Speedway) can certainly be summed up with that description!
Luke Bowen, the heartbeat of the Kings for three seasons, who announced his retirement from Speedway in the summer took the chequered flag in the final, in his final competitive meeting to bow out in fairy tale fashion - and that was the way any script writer would have penned it! However, before the two minutes sounded for heat number 1 and the chequered flag falling in the Grand Final - I don’t think any script writer could have penned some of what occurred, unless they wrote for BBC’s Casualty!
The drama started prior to the opening race with Dan Gilkes being taken unwell in the pits before the meeting, missing his opening race and subsequently withdrawing, reportedly suffering from the effects of a heavy head cold, described in the post meeting press conference by TouchTec Kings’ team boss Chris Hunt.
Once the racing got underway, it was Kent heat leader Anders Rowe who laid down the early marker to take the title. He stormed to victory in the opening race in a time of 57.1 which was to remain to be the quickest of the afternoon. Rowe was to prove the man to beat in the qualifying heats as he went through the card unbeaten.
There was drama of a different kind in the second race, as returning TouchTec Kings captain Rob Ledwith, seemed to hit mechanical gremlins and suddenly slow entering the last lap, with David Wallinger falling to avoid a collision. Ledwith later admitting, me mistook the jersey of the start marshal for the chequered flag!! More Rodney, than Robert one could argue! Before the start of the meeting, there were a number of riders with the chance of winning and two very much in that bracket were Kings man Drew Kemp and three time Laurels champion Simon Lambert, both of whom looked stylish taking victories in their opening heats. Fate was to intervene however, and both riders tangled in the first corner of Heat 4. The badly shaken-up pair were withdrawn from the meeting which meant a number of races with only three or two riders as the number of competitors was reduced to 9 from the initial 12.
As the racing progressed, riders were emerging with claims to take the W.J Cearns Memorial Shield, Paul Hurry looked classy when he hit the front, defending Champion Jon Armstrong racing his first competitive meeting of the season took a fine win over Bowen, with Bowen returning the favour in the final race (by this point reduced to a match race between the two NL legends) of the qualifying section.
For the TouchTec Kings, worry levels were to increase further, as Alex Spooner took a spectacular looking spill and elected himself not to take his final ride with a swollen hand. These injury and illness concerns are certainly not good news with the play off dates just around the corner.
The latter stages of the meeting saw Anders Rowe beaten for the first time on the night by Paul Hurry in semi final 1 - this being re-run after Kings’ reserve Jake Mulford crashed on bend 2 of the opening staging. The second semi saw Luke Bowen defeat Jon Armstrong - as the previous two winners went through to the final.
The final though, was all about one man - Luke Bowen, a rider who has only ever ridden for two clubs Rye House and Kent under one man Len Silver, bowed out from a stunning career that has seen him become the heartbeat of the Hertfordshire outfit at times and the undoubted King of Kent!
An emotional Bowen reflected, ”When you make a rash decision to do one last final farewell meeting, borrow a bike back that you have sold & you win it- what a way to go out! Thanks to everyone that’s backed me over the years & thanks to my dad & (former Kent team mate)Nathan Stoneman on the spanners tonight & thank you to Robert Kashdan of Kent sponsors’ TouchTec for lending me the bike." And Bowen added in finishing, of his long time mentor, Kent and previously Rye House promoter Len Silver, “I’m a bit choked, Len promoted my very first meeting, and he’s promoted my very last.”
For the Kent TouchTec Kings, attention now turns to the all-important National League Play Off Semi Finals against the Belle Vue Colts - and the first leg in Manchester on Saturday (28/9) with the return leg at Central Park next Monday (30/9) at the usual start time of 6:30pm.
Scorer & Heat details
Paul Hurry 2 2 3 3 10 SF1: 1st Final: 3rd Dan Gilkes Withdrawn – taken ill before start Jon Armstrong 1 2 3 2 8 SF2: 2nd Final: 4th Anders Rowe 3 3 3 3 12[M] SF1: 2nd Final: 2nd Drew Kemp 3 NS Withdrawn - injured 3 Jake Mulford 2 1 2 2 7 SF1: FX David Wallinger 1 FX FX 0 1 SF2: NS Rob Ledwith 0 2 1 2 5 SF1: 3rd Simon Lambert 3 NS Withdrawn -injured 3 Luke Bowen 2 3 2 3 10 SF2: 1st Final: 1st 2019 LAURELS CHAMPION Jordan Jenkins 1 3 1 1 6 SF2: 3rd Alex Spooner 0 NS FX X2M 0
