Tomorrow (6th June) see's sixteen of Britain's finest riders do battle for the national title with the wildcard for the British Grand Prix on the line too. The winner of the British final or second place if Harris wins will be rewarded with a place at the Millenium Stadium Cardiff competing with the top 15 riders in the world.
Last month two semi finals were held to secure the line up for the final.
The first semi was held at Owlerton Stadium, Sheffield. Scott Nicholls won the meeting, dropping his only point to Richard Hall. The other 6 qualifiers were Ben Barker (Birmingham/Plymouth), Richard Hall (Leicester), Danny King (Birmingham), Chris Harris (Belle Vue), Jordan Frampton (Rye House) and Ricky Ashworth (Sheffield). Scott Nicholls last won the British title in 2008 and there's no doubt that he's determined to be British champion for the 6th time, he's been scoring consistently for Swindon this year and will be one of the favourites going into the meeting. Nicholls nearest challenger Ben Barker is having a great run of form at the moment especially top scoring for Team GB against Aus on friday and being the only rider to beat Emil Sayfutdinov at Birmingham on Thursday, dont rule him out from being on that rostrum tomorrow night. Chris Harris is the current British champion after winning it for the third time last year. Chris hasn't had the best start to the Grand Prix series so far, sitting in 15th place and with talk about him not being fast enough on the GP tracks, there's pressure on him to up his game, especially being the sole representative for Great Britain but there's a reason why he's in the GP series, he's the best of Britain and along with Scott will be one of the favorites to win the British title.
The second semi final took place at the Eddie Wright Raceway, Scunthorpe which saw David Howe come out on top with a 15 point maximum. Many say this was down to home track advantage but Howe used to ride for Wolverhampton (where the British final is being held) and is having a superb season so he could be a dark horse. The other qualifiers from this semi were: Eddie Kennett (Coventry), Ben Wilson (Scunthorpe), Stuart Robson (Lakeside/Newcastle), Leigh Lanham (Newport), Lewis Bridger (Eastbourne) & Lee Richardson (Lakeside). Eddie Kennett has always been there or therabouts when it comes to British Finals, coming second in 2008 and 2009 but is still trying to go one better and become British champion, which he is definitely capable of and would be nice to see him do, it would also take his career a step forward. Unfortunately Ben Wilson has had to withdraw from the meeting due to injury and is replaced by Kings Lynn star Olly Allen, a rider who on his day can be up there with the top Brits and can make an impact on this meeting. Although they qualified lowered down, Lewis Bridger and Lee Richardson have having brilliant seasons and you can't count them out either.
There were 2 wild cards given for this event which went to Tai Woffinden (Wolverhampton) & Josh Auty (Coventry/Sheffield). I think both deserved their place. Tai has been out injured and therfore had to miss his semi, there's no doubting he's a top rider and will do well especially on his home track. Josh would have qualified from his semi had until he had trouble with his chain whilst leading his last race. Unfortunately he broke his ankle whilst riding in an under 21 meeting in Slovakia yesterday and has had to withdraw which is a real shame and unlucky for him, he would of made his debut in the British final. Auty's place will be taken by Ipswich witch Jerran Hart who scored 7 points in his semi at Scunthorpe. Some people thought Simon Stead should have been given a wildcard as he was in the same situation as Woffinden and has been on the sidelines for 2 months, before the semi's took place, I would of given the wild cards to Stead and Woffinden but due to Auty's effort in his semi, you can't blame him for receiving a place.
In my opinion this is one of the most wide open British finals in recent years and it's so hard to pick a winner. There's about 8 riders that are in for a shot. It will be probably be wrong but I'll go with 1) Nicholls. 2) Harris. 3) Barker. 4)Kennett. Let's hope for a thrilling meeting with Britain's best.
BRITISH FINAL LINE-UP: Tai Woffinden, Lewis Bridger, Daniel King, David Howe, Scott Nicholls, Oliver Allen, Jordan Frampton, Stuart Robson, Richard Hall, Edward Kennett, Ben Barker, Jerran Hart, Leigh Lanham, Chris Harris, Lee Richardson, Ricky Ashworth.
P.S lack of blogs due to uni work. :)
