EDDIE K WINS BLUE RIBAND ON THIS DAY IN 2016

14/10/20

It needed two run-offs to determine the rostrum places of Poole Speedway's season closer four years ago to this day.

For the first time in three years, the Blue Riband, an individual meeting synonymous with the Poole Pirates especially throughout the seventies and eighties, returned to the calendar and Matt Ford set about producing a field with a blend of experience and new faces as a farewell meeting to the 2016 campaign. 

Essentially, it was the experience brigade that came to the fore, as Edward Kennett (a Pirate in 2005 and 2007 before getting recalled late term in 2017) and Scott Nicholls (of 1999 & 2000 vintage) finished on a level 13 points a-piece.

Two points behind them were Chris Harris (who later went on to star as a Pirate in 2018) and Kacper Gomolski (returning to Wimborne Road after winning many plaudits in 2015) and it was Bomber that prevailed in the penultimate heat to ensure an all British rostrum  

The season could not have ended in a more epic manner as  Kennett just managed to squeeze the verdict from Nicholls as the final race finished went down to the wire, the win coming by the narrowest of margins. 

Kennett had won back to back heats in four and five to take the early lead in the standings but was then beaten by popular Poole Pirate Kyle Newman in his third ride,  before returning to winning ways in his fourth outing to leave him  just one victory away from the outright title.

To achieve that he needed to beat Chris Harris but 'Bomber' succeeded in heat 19 thus setting up those two separate run-offs to determine the final finishing positions of the top four.

In scoring six points, Grzegorz Zengota showed enough flare to become the only rider on show to be included in the 2017 starting line up for the Pirates, although Kennett and Newman both had stints that year as the 2017 campaign evolved.

1st E.Kennett 13+3 (3,3,2,3,2)
2nd S.Nicholls 13+2 (3,2,2,3,3)
3rd C.Harris 11+3 (2,3,3,0,3)
Others: K.Gomolski 11+2 (3,2,2,2,2); N.Morris 10 (2,3,1,1,3); T.Batchelor 9 (3,0,3,1,2); K.Buczkowski 9 (2,3,2,2,0); K.Newman 7 (2,2,3,0,0); B.Pedersen 7 (0,1,3,2,1); A.Skornicki 6 (1,0,0,2,3); G.Zengota 6 (1,2,0,3,0); S.Wozniak 4 (1,1,1,0,1); F.Jakobsen 4 (1,1,0,1,1); A.Ellis 3 (0,0,0,1,2); M.Nowak 1 (0,1,0)
 

POOLE SPEEDWAY BLUE RIBAND ROLL OF HONOUR
1970 Barry Briggs 1971 Ole Olsen 1972 Ray Wilson 1973 Anders Michanek
1974 Ole Olsen 1975 Malcolm Simmons 1976 Malcolm Simmons 1977 Malcolm Simmons
1978 Malcolm Simmons 1979 Bobby Schwartz 1980 Dave Jessup 1981 Bruce Penhall
1982 Bobby Schwartz 1983 Erik Gundersen 1983 Mitch Shirra 1985 Stan Bear
1986 Kevin Smith 1987 Mel Taylor 1988 Steve Schofield 1989 Steve Schofield
1990 Chris Louis 1991 Marvyn Cox 1992 Mitch Shirra 1993 No Competition
1994 Lars Gunnestad 1995 Lars Gunnestad 1996 Lars Gunnestad 1997 Craig Boyce
1998 Jimmy Nilsen 1999 No Competition 2000 No Competition 2001 Tony Rickardsson
COMPETITION NOT STAGED BETWEEN 2002 AND 2012
2013 Darcy Ward 2014 No Competition 2015 No Competition 2016 Edward Kennett

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