RYE HOUSE star Olly Allen is the Premier League Riders Champion after a stunning win at Owlerton on Sunday.
In front of a packed crowd on a lovely day in Sheffield, all 16 riders on show put on a fantastic display but it was former Great Britain World Cup man Allen who emerged victorious.
After three successive second places to open up with Allen then found the front in his fourth ride, and he booked his place in the last-chance semi-final with a brilliant win over pre-meeting favourite Craig Cook in his final qualifying heat.
That set up a mouthwatering semi-final with Allen and Cook joined by Nick Morris and Rene Bach, and again the British duo battled it out at the front.
Cook made a great start but Allen swooped round the Edinburgh man on the second bend and then blocked his every move, meaning both riders sealed their place in the final.
Leicester’s Magnus Karlsson was the star of the show in the qualifying races, where he dropped only one point on his way to the final. Joining him was Somerset’s Jason Doyle, who notched 13.
Again it was Cook who made the start, joined by Karlsson, but Allen put everything on the line with a huge move round the field on bend two and he scraped the fence to get into first, and from there he didn’t put a wheel wrong to take the title for the first time.
Allen was understandably delighted after his win; “I’m over the moon, I’m so happy. I wanted gate three in the final but I knew that’d be taken, so I wanted four and I knew what I had to do.
“It’s a great feeling, I’m delighted for Rye House and for all the fans who supported me today, so thanks to them.”
The Window Centre Tigers were represented by Ricky Wells and the American just failed to make the semi-final cut after a sterling effort.
He grabbed five points from his opening two rides but a last in his third, followed by two battling third places, meant that he missed out.
He said; “It was an alright meeting for me, obviously it was tough and there were five or six of us on seven points at the end.
“I started off good and then had a blip in my third ride, then I was racing hard after that to try and get up to a semi-final spot but I just didn’t get it. It’s just one of those things and I’ll move on to the next one.”
BSPA shared events co-ordinator and Tigers team manager David Hoggart was pleased with the outcome of the meeting and praised the attitude of the riders, saying; ““The weather was fine, the crowd was excellent and everyone behaved themselves and rode well. I’m pleased for Oliver (Allen) because he rode very well and he showed a lot of guts in some of his passing moves.
“There were some very good races, in fairness to all the riders they looked after each other and rode fairly, and it was a super finale to a great meeting.”
QUALIFYING SCORES: Magnus Karlsson 14, Jason Doyle 13, Oliver Allen 12, Craig Cook 11, Nick Morris 9, Rene Bach 9, Richard Lawson 8, Ricky Wells 7, Richie Worrall 7, Sebastian Alden 7, Dakota North 7, Mark Lemon 6, Theo Pijper 4, Micky Dyer 3, Josh Auty 2, Oliver Greenwood 1 (res), Morten Risager 0, Max Clegg 0 (res)
