The season that largely never was for Kent and British Speedway came to an end behind closed doors up in the Borders last Wednesday (21/10) with the club’s two representatives Alex Spooner & Daniel Gilkes making their debut appearances in the prestigious GB Under 21 Championship Final at Berwick.
Club stalwart Spooner who has been intended to feature in Kent’s National League side the Iwade Garage Royals finished on one point and for TouchTec Royals’ Gilkes (denied as was his club a second tier debut due to the Covid-19 pandemic meaning for the first time in 90 years there was no league racing in peacetime in the UK) it was also to be an ultimately frustrating evening up in Tweedside.
After a more than promising return of four points (from a possible six) in his first two outings, the Northants-based teenager faced his biggest challenge in heat 9 when along with team mate Spooner he came up against hot ante post favourite, GB World Cup rider Dan Bewley. A nasty coming together on the first bend saw both Bewley and Dan down but sadly for Gilkes suffering concussion it was down and out of the meeting.
He commented later, “I learnt a lot up at Berwick in the biggest individual meeting so far in my career and there were many positives to take away from it. Sadly my night was cut short, but I’d like to thank all the medical staff at Shielfield Park for their help.”
Bewley was destined to go through the card unbeaten with his crunch win being in heat 16 which extraordinarily saw all four undefeated riders pitched together – the others being home star and eventual runner-up, Leon Flint and two Kent Kings from 2019, Drew Kemp and Anders Rowe. This time it was Kemp who suffered a costly fall – proving to be even more costly when the curfew intervened after all 20 heats were completed meaning the possible repechage hope of a semi final and a second bite of the cherry was denied him.
Hard for anyone to deny that Bewley was anything other than a deserved champion though and it’ll be go again for Gilkes, Spooner and their Central Park compatriots come March next year.