THE Premier League speedway match between Redcar SG Petch Bears and Workington Comets took place on Thursday last week on a slick and dusty track which saw the home team suffer a narrow defeat.

The match got off to a bad start for the Bears when captain Lasse Bjerre’s engine seized on the last lap of the opening heat, which gave the Comets a 5-1 lead. In heat two, the Comets scored a 4-2 when Bears rider Lee Payne had a fall, although home rider Simon Nielsen claimed a second place. The Bears reversed that score in heat three with a win for Jonas B Andersen, and Hugh Skidmore in third, to trail 11-7.

In the next two heats the scores were split, with a win for Bears ace David Bellego in the fastest heat of the match followed by a victory for Andersen. In heat six, the Bears scored a 5-1 with a win for Bjerre, now with a new engine fitted, and Jacob Bukhave in second after Comets rider Claus Vissing had a fall, leaving the score all square at 18-18.

The points were again split in heats seven and eight with wins for Bellego and Comets’ Rasmus Jensen. Bears scored a valuable 5-1 in heat nine with another win for Andersen and Skidmore in second, although Comets’ Adam Roynon saw his bike stop on the last lap, leaving him to push it home to record a valuable point.

The Bears were now leading 29-25 and Bjerre won the next heat with Comets riders Kenneth Hansen and Mason Campton in second and third for a 3-3 score. Jensen won the next heat with Bellego second and Comets captain Ricky Wells in third for a 4-2 for the away side, reducing the Bears lead to two points. Heat 12 saw a win for ex-Bear Roynon ahead of Hansen, with Bears’ Lee Payne in third, meaning Comets led 37-35.

In the next heat, Bellego had a fall, leaving Vissing to win his only race of the match ahead of Bjerre in second and Wells in third. Comets now held a four-point lead, but the Bears bounced back in heat 14 with a win for Andersen ahead of Campton and Payne in third, reducing the deficit to just two points.

Into the final heat and it wasn’t to be for the Bears as Comets took first and third, with Wells and Jansen leaving Bellego in second, to end the evening with a scoreline of Bears 43 Comets 47.

BRANDS Hatch was the venue for the third round of the MCE British Superbike Championship, where riders in the various support classes endured a weekend of varying fortunes.

Hoping for a repeat of his fantastic victory at Oulton Park in the previous round was Saltburn’s Davey Todd, but it was a different story in the much drier conditions. Qualifying the Morello Kawasaki in fifth place, a race-long battle saw Todd eventually cross the line in ninth place, dropping to second in the Pirelli Superstock 600 Championship standings as a result.

Bedale sidecar passenger Stuart Ramsey just missed out on a podium finish in both rounds of the Hyundai British Sidecar Championship as he and Lancashire driver John Holden were placed fourth and fifth aboard their Silicone Engineering/Barns Racing LCR Suzuki, although they maintained third place in the title race.

Making good progress in the Pirelli National Superstock 1000 Championship in his debut season at this level was Hutton Rudby rider Neil Bainbridge. Aboard the KLM Motorsport/Hare Bulk Haulage-sponsored Kawasaki, he endured an electrical problem during qualifying which relegated him to 30th on the grid. But Bainbridge held 24th for much of the 24-lap race before a slight mistake cost him a few places and he finished 26th with a best lap of just over a second behind the winner's.

Middlesbrough’s Rik Rooney was in action in the Ducati TriOptions Cup and, after qualifying in 29th place on the Highsparks Motorsport Panigale, he retired in Saturday’s race before clinching 26th place in Sunday’s race.

WITH less than a month to go to the region’s biggest motorsport meeting, Croft Circuit, near Darlington, is gearing up to welcome the MSA Dunlop British Touring Car Championship, which will see an array of more than 30 cars contesting three races in round five of the 10-round series.

The event takes place over the weekend of June 18 and 19 and traditionally sees some of the closest racing of the year around the historic 2.13-mile circuit which first hosted a round of the country’s premier saloon car series back in 1968.

Newcastle-born Jason Plato will be in action in the new Silverline Subaru and will be up against the likes of Yorkshireman Sam Tordoff (Team JCT600 BMW) and the Halfords Honda of defending champion Gordon Shedden. Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher, who plays Andy Sugden in the popular ITV soap, is contesting the series full time this season in his Power Maxed Racing Chevrolet Cruze.

There’s plenty of local interest in the support classes, starting in the Michelin Ginetta GT4 Supercup, which sees Fraser Robertson, from Brompton-on-Swale, up against Bedale’s Chris Ingram, John Wall, from Middlesbrough, and Kirkbymoorside driver Mike Newbold.

Durham’s Charlie Fagg is the sole local hope in the Simpsons Race Products Ginetta Junior Championship, while Marske driver John McCullagh drives for the local Redline Racing Team in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB.

But many eyes will be on the Renault UK Clio Cup, which sees two drivers in action whose fathers are steeped in Croft rallycross history. Max Coates, from Scorton, is an established driver who follows in his father Rob’s footsteps and this year has won races in the Graduate Cup class for Ciceley Motorsport, managed by Darlington businessman Norman Burgess.

Many fans will remember the awesome Ford Capri campaigned by Driffield’s Tony Proctor back in the 1980s and his grandson Senna will also be in action in the Graduate Cup class driving for Team BMR with Pyro.

Advance tickets are still available, offering a saving on gate prices. Adult tickets for the Saturday’s qualifying action cost £11 each in advance or £14 at the gate. Raceday on the Sunday costs £24 in advance or £28 at the day. Weekend tickets cost £33 in advance and £36 at the gate. For further information or to purchase tickets, call 01325 721815 or visit croftcircuit.co.uk. Advance sales close on Friday, June 10, and this facility also allows fast track entry to the circuit. Accompanied children aged 15 and under are admitted free.