Newly crowned SL31 Club Pairs Champions Leeds have gone on again after the change in averages which allowed Oliver Steele switch to a reserve berth. Having a rider that averaged over seven in the top flight last year in the bottom two has only improved the Jaguars, three meetings, three wins this week, and an early qualification to the Division One Cup semi-finals. Already the record five-times winners of the competition, they reached the last four for the eighth time in nine years with a first round meeting to spare thanks to a 43-47 victory at Wentworth, the Jaguars securing their third straight group stage win thanks to Aaron Macaulay’s (15) victory over home heat leader Matthias Zimmerman (12) in the final race. Macaulay completed his first maximum of the year in the process, the victory had been set-up by a 5-1 from Ryan Upton and Steele (8+1) in the previous race. One maximum became two for the 37 year old Macaulay when Leeds later hosted Coventry in the league, Steele’s score of 16+1 in the 61-29 rout suggests he won’t be in the Leeds reserve berths for long. Darren Evans’s side had began the week with a winning trip to Eastbourne, it was their third successful league visit in the last five to Wilmington Gardens, this being more one-side than most given they led in the fixture from a heat two 4-2 won by Steele (11+2), who completed a busy night when taking the match winning third place in his seventh outing to the track in heat 14. A 4-2 won by Daniel Lake (10) in that taking the visitors over the line in a meeting they eventually won, 42-48.

Big rivals Stowmarket matched Leeds’ successes this week to maintain their points difference advantage at the top of the division one standings over the Jags. A narrow second away win of the campaign kept them at the summit, Coventry beaten for the first time at the Earlsdon Arena since their promotion to the top flight, the hosts going down 44-46 despite providing nine of the 15 race winners. Counting against the Bohemians was their inability to turn race wins into heat advantages, with just one going their way on the night, Stowmarket picked up two, the heat one and 13 4-2’s won by Lasse Classen (13) proving decisive. Wentworth are up to third in the standings after they became only the third side to win away from home in division one this season, there were five different race winners for the Trappers as they recorded a 40-49 success at Huntingdon, pre-season signings at second string Jacob Sinclair (9) and at reserve Mattia Molle (7+2) amongst the successful quintet.

World number two Lasse Classen (7) has exited this years World Championship after the Stowmarket rider finished outside of the top eight in his Scandinavian Semi Final. It ends a five year run of final appearances for the 29 year old, who scored just seven in the Oslo qualifier won by Kasper Brander of Horsens. Two of the last years other GP riders—Gustave Bolling (12) and Stig Martinson (8)—did make it through from the meeting, as did world number 15 Kalle Lehtonen (10) from the second of the semi-finals in Pori. That meeting was won by Denmark and Beverley teenage starlet Steen Giese, the current WU19 Champion scoring 13 to top the standings on his full World Championship debut by a point from both Petter Sordin (2nd) and Markus Kumpula (3rd).

Runcorn took their unbeaten run in all competitions to ten this season with a 43-47 Division Two Cup victory at Linlithgow. 18 year old Alex Walton paid for ten at reserve in the win which secures them a semi-final spot with a group meeting to spare. Same line-ups, same venue, hugely different result when the two sides met later in the league. Runcorn’s unbeaten run ending with a 52-38 league defeat at the Lions, whose reserve Jake Rahman scored 11+2 on this occasion having failed to take a point in the cup encounter! Runcorn’s lead at the head at the standings has been cut to two points, with Greenhill now up to second thanks to a 42-47 win at Beverley. A second successive maximum of the week for Erich Pavlik (15), who scored decisive heat 13 and 15 5-1’s alongside Nathan Warner (11+2) in the success. Derby slipped from second to fourth following a second home defeat in as many weeks, they going down 43-47 to Brickhill in the east midlands, 18 year old reserve Joseph Hicks (8+3) one of six different race winners for the visitors. Earlier Derby had kept up their excellent away form when making it four straight victories on the road in SL31 by defeating Margate 43-47 in the cup, that result in itself following a 41-49 league win at Calderwood for the Bucks. Margate also lost at home in the league, going down 44-46 to Linlithgow, while in division three Claygate scored heat 13 and 14 5-1’s to win at Swindon, 44-46.