KERR SURVIVES RUN-OFF TO SECURE BRITISH FINAL BERTH

Lewi Kerr rode himself into a three-man run off with a last place in his final qualifying heat at Leicester on Thursday, but conquered in the heat that saw the first two home secure their places in the British Final (May 12th).
 

Heading into the his final ride Lewi had already accumulated nine points through a second place in his opener, then a heat eight victory followed by a third place in his third outing. His impressive win over Dan Gilkes in heat sixteen made him look a nailed-on certainty to make the six-man cut and whilst he had to meet the unbeaten and immaculate Dan Thompson in heat twenty, on paper he was good value for a point as he also faced Simon Lambert and Vinnie Foord. But a bad start left him playing catch-up and whilst he sneaked momentarily into third place, Lambert came back stronger to leave Kerr having to face-off against Craig Cook and Connor Mountain to determine the fifth and sixth qualifying places.
Having beaten both riders in the heats, Lewi made no mistakes and stormed to victory as Cook became the unfortunate victim to miss out on a top six finish.
Some of the meeting was staged with a thunder and lightning show circumventing the Hydroscan Arena as Dan Thompson (15) Drew Kemp (14), Leon Flint (13), and Dan Gilkes (10) all finishing ahead of Kerr and Mountain booking their places in the British Final and a potential British GP wild card.
Poole's Matt Marson was the meeting reserve for the semi final and had one ride, as a replacement for Ashton Boughen in heat 17.
Heat Details
Ht 1 D.Kemp,L.Kerr,A.Bowtell,C.Cook (64)
Ht 2 D.Gilkes,J.Edwards,V.Foord,A.Boughen (64.53)
Ht 3 L.Flint,C.Mountain,S.Lambert,D.Hume (64.78)
Ht 4 D.Thompson,J.Thompson,S.Hagon,N.Ablitt (64.03)
Ht 5 D.Kemp,C.Mountain,V.Foord,N.Ablitt (63.5)
Ht 6 D.Thompson,L.Flint,D.Gilkes,A.Bowtell (62.4)
Ht 7 C.Cook,J.Thompson,S.Lambert,J.Edwards (64.03)
Ht 8 L.Kerr,S.Hagon,D.Hume,A.Boughen (64.8)
Ht 9 D.Kemp,D.Gilkes,S.Hagon,S.Lambert (63.84)
Ht 10 V.Foord,D.Hume,J.Thompson,A.Bowtell (63.81)
Ht 11 D.Thompson,C.Cook,C.Mountain,A.Boughen (rtd) (63.43)
Ht 12 J.Edwards,L.Flint,L.Kerr,N.Ablitt (64.19)
Ht 13 D.Thompson,D.Kemp,J.Edwards,D.Hume (63.75)
Ht 14 N.Ablitt,S.Lambert,F.Hodder,A.Bowtell (fell dq),A.Boughen (dq2mins) (awd)
Ht 15 C.Cook,L.Flint,S.Hagon,V.Foord (69.81)
Ht 16 L.Kerr,D.Gilkes,C.Mountain,J.Thompson (65.78)
Ht 17 D.Kemp,L.Flint,J.Thompson,M.Marson,A.Boughen (dq2mins) (64.06)
Ht 18 C.Mountain,J.Edwards,S.Hagon,F.Hodder,A.Bowtell (non starter) (63.81)
Ht 19 N.Ablitt,D.Gilkes,C.Cook,D.Hume (63.78)
Ht 20 D.Thompson,V.Foord,S.Lambert,L.Kerr (62.97)
Ht 21 Race Off (for positions 5-7) L.Kerr,C.Mountain,C.Cook (63.78)

Points Summary
15:D.Thompson; 14:D.Kemp; 11:L.Flint; 10:D.Gilkes; 9:L.Kerr,C.Mountain, C.Cook;
8:J.Edwards; 7:V.Foord; 6:N.Ablitt,J.Thompson,S.Hagon; 5:S.Lambert; 3:D.Hume
1:A.Bowtell,F.Hodder; 0:A.Boughen,M.Marson