For a second weekend running the Kent Iwade Garage Royals secured an away victory with a final heat advantage as they maintained their unbeaten record in this season’s National League. 

Whereas last week though at Mildenhall the heat 15 climax was about holding onto a lead, on Saturday (24/7) evening at Eastbourne, the Royals trailed going into the final race and secured a memorable win at the home of their fierce local rivals with a 5-1 from skipper Ryan Kinsley and maximum man (again) Dan Gilkes.

For Gilkes his five faultless race victories made it an extraordinary 59 races out of 60 this term unbeaten by an opponent, taking him to the top of the NL averages and emphasising that he’s the teenager in red hot form in British Speedway.

Fellow teen speedster Jake Mulford was missing this time, with a Grasstrack racing commitment at Frittenden occupying his time this weekend but that potential blow to the visitors’ hopes of a third successive win on the road was effectively cancelled out by the absence also for the hosts of former King, Nathan Ablitt.

The Seagulls were using R/R for Glasgow-bound Joe Alcock and then found themselves down to just five riders on the night when their reserve Nick Laurence was called away suddenly (as these things, of course, tend to be..) due to his partner going into labour.  All were glad to hear that a little boy was safely delivered.  The newly born youngster has been named Huxley and ushering in a ‘Brave New World’ for the hosts was 15-year-old Vinnie Foord, who secured a first ever NL heat victory (winning himself the admiration of Kent co-promoter Len Silver who knows a promising Speedway talent when he sees one) in heat two.  Sadly for Foord, though often indeed motoring, it was mainly a night of high speed tumbles with four “fell excludeds” on his race card.

Four race winners from the opening six heats for the below full complement Seagulls had seen them into a 20-16 lead but thanks to a run of heat winners themselves in the all important middle stanza (Alex Spooner in heat 9 followed by a quick fire double by his skipper Kinsley and the imperious Gilkes) had turned that four points deficit into a two points lead come the end of heat 12.  Much credit too is deserving of Royals’ reserve Josh Warren, for whom this was a day when he really seemed to arrive as an NL rider.  A second place behind Foord in heat two was followed  another two points behind the homesters’ Connor King in heat eight and an important third place in the following race. A third second place when replacing stand in Jamie Sealey in the penultimate race meant Warren finished on a career best so far of seven points.

This was just as well as Kelsey Dugard was having an evening to quickly forget rivalling young Foord in the falling stakes, three times tumbling off; and when this happened in heat 14 (following quickly on from the Seagulls flying into the lead with the first maximum 5-1 of the night in an unlucky heat 13 for the Royals), it meant that the visitors were to go into the final race trailing by one. 

No worries though, as the dynamic duo of Gilkes and Kinsley were on hand in the heat 15 denouncement to deliver for the visitors a 5-1 of their own and take the match points.

Dan Gilkes commented: “It was a great meeting tonight for myself and the team.  We knew it was going to be tough as Eastbourne is such a specialist track but we all stuck together and worked well as a team”.

Next up for the Iwade Garage-sponsored Royals is a trip up to the Borders next month to take on current NL leaders, Berwick Bullets

Eastbourne Seagulls                                    43
Jake Knight         3  3  3  2* 1                      = 11+1
Connor King       1  1*  2*  3  0                   = 7+2

Rider Replacement – Joe Alcock
Danno Verge      2  2  2  2  3                        = 11
Richard Andrews  3  2  2  3 0              =10
Nick Laurence   NS  NS  NS                 = 0

Vinnie Foord     3  Fx  Fx  1  0  Fx  Fx   = 4

Kent Iwade Garage Royals                         46

Ryan Kinsley       2  3  3  1  2*                     =11+1
Jacob Clouting  0  1  1                                 =2
Dan Gilkes          3  3  3  3  3                        =15 (M)
Kelsey Dugard   0  1  1  1*                          =3+1

Alex Spooner    2  1  3  0                    =6
Josh Warren     2  0  2  1  F  2             =7
Jamie Sealey    1*  1*  0                    =2

Heat details
1 Knight, Kinsley, King, Clouting  60.7  [4-2]
2 Foord, Warren, Sealey (three riders only) 63.3  [7-5]

3 Gilkes, Verge, King, Dugard (fell rem.)  60.5  [10-8]
4 (rerun) Andrews, Spooner, Sealey, Foord (fell exc.)  61.4  [13-11]
5 (rerun) Kinsley, Verge, Clouting, Foord (fell exc.)  61.5 [15-15]
6 Knight, King, Spooner, Warren  61.6  [20-16]
7 Gilkes, Andrews, Dugard (fell rem.) (three riders only) 60.9  [22-20]
8 (rerun) King, Warren, Foord, Sealey 63.4  [26-22]
9 Spooner, Verge, Warren, Foord 62.2  [28-26]
10 Gilkes, Knight, Dugard, King 60.3  [30-30]
11 Kinsley, Andrews, Clouting (three riders only) 61.2  [32-34]
12 (rerun) Gilkes, Verge, Warren (fell), Foord (fell exc.) 60.6  [34-37]
13 Andrews, Knight, Kinsley, Spooner 60.7 [39-38]
14 (rerun) Verge, Warren, Dugard (fell rem.), Foord (fell exc.) 62.5 [42-41]
15 Gilkes, Kinsley, Knight, Andrews (fell rem.) 61.2  [43-46]