Premier League Pos Team M W D L P p.d 1st Leicester 10 9 0 1 18 208 2nd Sheffield 10 8 1 1 17 98 3rd Poole 10 5 0 5 10 16 4th Gt Blakenham 9 4 1 4 9 -29 5th Wednesfield 9 3 0 6 6 -37 6th Horspath 9 2 0 7 4 -144 7th Norwich 9 1 0 8 2 -105

Premier League Combination Pos Team M W D L P Bp Tot p.d 1st Leicester 10 8 0 2 16 9 25 219 2nd Wednesfield 9 7 0 2 14 8 22 147 3rd Gt Blakenham 9 7 0 2 14 4 18 123 4th Norwich 9 5 0 4 10 8 18 -35 5th Poole 10 3 0 7 6 8 14 -67 6th Sheffield 10 3 0 7 6 4 10 -136 7th Horspath 9 0 0 9 0 4 4 -250

Midland League Pos Team M W D L F A Bp Pts 1st Wednesfield 8 8 0 0 746 641 8 24 2nd Birmingham 8 5 0 3 753 658 0 10 3rd Leics Lions 6 2 1 3 533 536 3 8 4th Sheffield 7 2 1 4 609 641 2 7 5th Leics Monarchs 5 2 0 3 426 463 1 5 6th Sandwell 6 0 0 6 451 609 0 0

Midland League Combination Pos Team M W D L F A Pts 1st Sandwell 7 7 0 0 456 316 14 2nd Wednesfield 10 6 0 4 665 564 12 3rd Birmingham 10 5 0 5 355 476 10 4th Leics Monarchs 7 4 0 3 389 339 8 5th Leics Lions 7 3 0 4 412 358 6 6th Bretford 8 3 0 5 525 464 6 7th Sheffield 7 0 0 7 189 447 0

On Saturday 30th August 2008 Wednesfield Aces staged the 3rd National Round of the British Youth & Junior League sponsored by Wosskow Brown Solicitors.



The weather was hot and sunny and the track looked immaculately prepared. The long day of racing began at 12 o'clock noon and the Wednesfield Aces club were honoured to have a very special guest present, it was none other than the Mayor of Wolverhampton City Councillor Christine Mills. Despite the Mayor having other appointments on the day she was only too pleased to present the medals for the under 8's and the under 10's. The presentation party also included Mr David Jewkes (Chairman of Wednesfield Aces), Mr Ian Brown (Wosskow Brown & Sheffield Stars) and the Mayor's Consort Mr Stuart Mills.



Unfortunately the Mayor had to leave after the under 10's presentation. However before she left young Wednesfield Aces member, 8 year old Alex Aris presented the Mayor with some flowers on behalf of the club.



The racing itself was fast and furious and very competitive around this very large track. The fine weather also probably contributed to the amount of riders who turned up on the day, in total 129 riders competed. In the end and as expected by many Wednesfield Aces won the round on 263 points followed closely by Ipswich on 237 points. Exeter and Sandwell came joint third on 98 points, Hethersett 86 points and last but not least Sheffield who ended the day on 73 points. See below how the totals added up and also the Grand Prix results.

Before this fixture began after the opening parade of both teams on the centre green, yesterday's winner of the British Under 19's Chris Timms was introduced and did a lap of honour around the track in his winners jersey,

Racing got under way with a 5-5 in the first heat with Gt Blakenham's Adam Peck the winner followed home by Wednesfields Chris Timms & Chris Jewkes,heat 2 saw the Aces grab a 7-3 with the partnership of Terry Norman & Garry Pearce over James Studd & Alex Zielinski and it looked like the Aces might start to stamp their authority on the match from the start but that was short lived because in the next heat the Aces recieved two exclusions first British Champion Lee Aris for obstruction down the back straight and then in the re-run Mark Winwood for chopping across his opponent less than a bikes length in front resulting in a 0-7,

Gt Blakenham increased there lead further in the next heat with a 6-4 but then the Aces bounced back with a 7-3 with a cracker of a race between Jewkes and Peck with the lead chopping and changeing on every staight & bend with Chris Jewkes eventually wearing Peck down on the last lap and drifting him wide with Andy Franks tucking in underneath,

the next four races upto the interval saw each side share 2 races 5-5 and a 6-4 either way with Gt Blakenham leading at the halfway stage by one point 43-44.

Earlier in the day we staged a qualifying round for the British Veteran 50+ Individual Championship 2008, this was to bring nineteen riders down to sixteen for the final at 6:30pm. The format used was based on not points scored but the position you finished, for example if you won a race you automatically qualified to the final. At the end and a lot of very tired old legs it was unfortunate that Mel Perkins did not qualify to the final. Dave Baxter was first reserve and ever young Chic Mackie second reserve.



Wow! What a final it had everything, fast racing, great passing, electric gating, determination and passion. This final had it all, even the five riders who were over 60 made it to the final albeit Chic Mackie was second reserve.



It began with Ian Lawrence and Mick Aris setting the pace winning their first two rides, followed closely by Paul Timms, Colin Wheeler and Mike Burgess who had only dropped one point. During the next ten heats you saw some fantastic racing; it was hard to believe that these riders were all over fifty years of age. After heat sixteen all the riders had completed four rides each, it was at this stage of the final that you could see who would possibly go on and be in contention at the end. For the over 50's Ian Lawrence had won all of his four rides, Colin Wheeler had just dropped one point and Mike Burgess two points. The over 60's, Colin Wheeler was in great form for his age, this to the extent that it looked as though he was going to get on the rostrum in both the over 50's and over 60's. Roger Ellis was on 10 points and John Whiting was on 8 points.



Ian Lawrence went on to win his last race from grid two and retain the title he won last year to become the British Grand Veteran 50+ Individual Champion 2008. Mike Burgess finished the final as runner up on 18 points and Paul Timms who had to beat Colin Wheeler in his last race to secure a place on the rostrum.



Colin Wheeler also retained the title he won last year to become the British Super Veteran 60+ Individual Champion 2008. Roger Ellis was runner up one position better than last year and third was John Whiting.



All the finalists were awarded medals and the top three from the both age categories enjoyed the rostrum celebrations and the traditional popping of the Champaign bottle.



Finally, despite this being a great day of cycle speedway racing at Ashmore Park Wednesfield, a special mention must go to Mick Aris who fell off in heat 11 and hurt his hand. This to the extent that Mick had to pull out of the final and first reserve Dave Baxter took the rest of his rides. After going to the hospital Mick Aris later confirmed that he had broken a bone in his hand. We all wish Mick the very best and hopefully a speedy recovery.

On Saturday 12th July 2008 Wednesfield Aces staged the British Under 19's Club Championship and the British Veteran 50+ Individual Championship. The weather was kind to us and the Wednesfield track looked immaculately prepared. The long day of racing began at 12 o'clock noon with the first semi final of the under 19's, the racing was fast a furious and very competitive around this very large track. At the half way stage you could see that the home team was beginning to take a commanding lead and that Great Blakenham and Sandwell needed to fight it out between themselves for the second place. In the end both these two teams ended the semi final on 39 points; therefore it was down to a run off to determine who would qualify. Josh Brook from Great Blakenham won the toss of the coin and chose grid two leaving Sandwell's Jamie Ball on grid four. Josh Brook was in fine form and went on to win the race with Jamie Ball sliding off on the last lap.



The second semi final only had three teams in it due to Colchester pulling out of the event in the morning, therefore each race only had three riders competing. At the half way stage Sheffield were on 26pts, followed closely by Hethersett with 25pts and Leicester 21 points. In the end Hethersett took advantage of their grid ones and won the semi final on 52 points, Sheffield finished second and also qualified through to the final.



The final at 5:00 PM saw a marvellous display of young talent; each rider rode their heart out for their respective club. Hethersett had a great first half and at the interval shared the lead with Wednesfield on 22 points, followed closely by Great Blakenham on 18 points and Sheffield 17 points. In the second half the young guns of Wednesfield Aces really turned the screw and showed determination and character around their home track. Tom Haddock was just unstoppable and ended the whole day unbeaten. Dayle Peace and Sam Smith rode brilliantly to win their last race from grid four; even eleven year old Matthew Haddock replaced Scott Doherty and came a very respective third in heat fifteen.



With regards to the team who would end up runners up, there was real fight on between Hethersett and Great Blakenham. After heat twelve Hethersett was on 30 points and had their grid two's left. However the advantage seemed to be with Great Blakenham on 26 points who ended the final with inside grids. Great Blakenham gave it their all but just could not claw back the four points that they were behind.



So there it was Wednesfield Aces were crowned British Under 19's Club Champions 2008, winning the final on 51 points. Runners up were Hethersett who finished on 40 points, third was Great Blakenham on 37 points and fourth Sheffield who ended the final on 29 points. All the finalists were awarded medals and Wednesfield, Hethersett and Great Blakenham enjoyed the rostrum celebrations and the traditional popping of the Champaign bottle.