STOKE Easy Rider Potters moved themselves off the bottom of their Premier Trophy South table with a solid all round performance to gain a comfortable 55-40 victory over the Somerset Sharp Rebels at Loomer Road on Saturday night. 

The Potters opened up with two successive 4-2 heat advantages in the opening heats and followed up with two 5-1 heat advantages from Tom P Madsen and Jason Bunyan followed immediately by Klaus Jakobsen and Phil Morris to lead 18-6 after just four heats.

Rebels team manager David Croucher introduced Steve Johnston as a tactical ride in heat five but the move failed to have any impact as Potters rider Jason Bunyan took the chequered flag ahead of Johnston and with Madsen taking third after Cory Gathercole suffered his second retirement of the night due to mechanical problems left the heat drawn 4-4 maintaining Stoke’s twelve point lead. The Potters extended their lead in heat six as Glen Phillips took victory with Lee Complin blasting his way from last to second firstly passing Potters asset Tom Brown and then overhauling Justin Sedgmen as he dived up the inside of Sedgmen going down the back straight before hitting the dirt line coming off the final bend to join his partner for a Potters 5-1 extending Stoke’s lead to sixteen points making the score 27-11 in favour of the Potters.

Rebels brought Emil Kramer in as a tactical ride in heat seven and Kramer took a comfortable victory over Kristiansen and Morris to give the visitors a 6-3 heat advantage making it 30-17 at the half way stage of the meeting.

Klaus Jakobsen rode a hard first bend to take Rebel Gathercole wide allowing partner Glen Phillips into second place leaving the Stoke pairing to take a comfortable 5-1 extending the Easy Rider Potters lead up to seventeen points at 35-18 after eight heats.

The Rebels had a mini revival with two heat advantages on the bounce with a 4-2 heat win from Simon Walker and Emil Kramer in heat ten and this was followed with a 5-1 from Cory Gathercole and Rebels skipper Steve Johnston in heat eleven as the Rebels reduced the deficit to eleven points with the score at 41-30.

Stoke extended their lead in twelve as Jakobsen took his fourth victory of the night with partner Tom P Madsen who had his best night of the season in the Potters colours as they took a hard fought 5-1 after Simon Walker pushed the pairing all the way before falling going into the first turn on the final lap as he tried to pass the Potters duo. Despite Walker’s attempts to remove himself and the bike from the track referee Graham Reeve has no alternative but to stop the race and award the result. A 4-2 from Jason Bunyan and Kristiansen in heat fourteen sealed all three points for the Potters although Cory Gathercole showed what may have been for the Rebels as he stormed to victory in heat fifteen to head home Bunyan and Johnston ruining Jakobsen’s hopes of taking a five ride maximum as the Rebels gained a 4-2 heat advantage but it was not enough for the Rebels and they left Loomer Road empty handed as the Easy Rider Potters ran out victors 55-40. 

Scorers: Stoke 55: Klaus Jakobsen 12, Jason Bunyan 10+1, Tom P Madsen 9+1, Lee Complin 9+1, Glen Phillips 6+1, Phil Morris 5+3,
Jesper Kristiansen 4. 

Somerset 40: Steve Johnston 12+1, Emil Kramer 10, Cory Gathercole 7, Justin Sedgmen 4, Simon Walker 3, Tom Brown 2+1, Jay Herne 2.