Mildenhall 40
1. Garry Sweet. 2 Ef Ef Ef Ef. =2
2. Gavin Hedge 1' 2 1' 1 2' =7+3
3. Philip Knowles 1 2 1 0 =4
4. R/R for Peter Johnson.
5. Dean Garrod. 1 2 2' 1 =6+1
6. Barrie Evans. 1 0 Ex 3 =4
7. Steve Camden. 3 3 2 3 3 3 =17
8. Simon Brown. Did not ride.

Buxton 43
1. Neil Painter. 0 1 0 2' =3+1
2. R/R for James Mann
3. Aiden Collins. 3 3 3 2' 2 =13+1
4. Paul Burnett. 2' F 3 Fx Fx =5+1
5. Adam Allott. 3 2 3 2 3 =13
6. Lee Smethills. 2 1 Ex 1' =4+1
7. Mark Steel. Ex F 3 Fx 1 1 =5
8. Richard Moss. Did not ride.

1. Allott. Sweet. Hedge. Painter. 55.8 (3-3)
Great ride by Allott, with Sweet pushing him all the way. Hedge got third after a good battle with Painter.
2. Re-Run Camden. Smethills. Evans. 54.8 (7-5)
Mark Steel was excluded on the first time of asking, after taking Steve Camden's front wheel away. Camden won the re-run. Barrie Evans was struggling with a sick bike.

3. Collins. Burnett. Knowles. Sweet.(Ef) 55.3 (8-10)
An easy 5-1 for Buxton. Gary Sweets bike died on the first lap.

4. Camden. Allott. Garrod. Steel. 56.1 (12-12)
Steve Camden lead from the gate with Mark Steel nibbling at his back wheel three times. Steel finally nibbled too hard and fell on the last bend, gifting third place to Dean Garrod who had been a long way behind.

5. Collins. Knowles. Painter. Evans. 55.1 (14-16)
Collins lead by a good 100yards, Painter took Evans on the last bend, to snatch a 4-2 for Buxton.

6. Allott. Hedge. Smethills. Sweet (Ef). 55.5 (16-20)
A good win for Allott after an early challenge by Hedge. Sweet's bike failed him again, despite the fact his engine had just been returned from the tuners 45 minutes before the meeting!

7. Collins. Garrod. Burnett. (Fell.) Evans. Ex (after being lapped) 56.0. (18-23)
Collins won easily. Evans bike spluttered round. Burnett fell and retired, but Evans couldn't make the third place because he was lapped.

8. Steel. Camden. Hedge. Painter. 55.2 (21-26)
A great ride from mark Steel, to pass Steve Camden on the first lap.

9. Re-Run Camden. Allott. Knowles. Steel. (F.Ex.) 56.8. (25-28)
Camden took Allott on the first lap, to win in great style.

10. Burnett. Collins. Hedge. Sweet (Ef.) 56.6 (26-33)
Easy 5-1 for Buxton. Poor Gary Sweets bike failed again.

11. Camden. Garrod. Steel. Burnett. (no time race awarded) (31-34)
The race was awarded after both Buxton riders fell. There was a delay whilst the riders examined the track on the third bend.

12. Camden. Collins. Smethills. Knowles. 56.7 (34-37)
Great ride from Camden again, and this guy is riding an upright! Who needs a laydown when he can ride like this?

13. Allott. Painter. Garrod . Sweet (Ef) 57.4 (35-42)
Buxton fought back with a determined 5-1, to open up a 7 point lead.

14. Evans. Hedge. Steel. Burnett. (Fx) (no time race awarded) (40-43).
The Mildenhall pair took the lead, and Paul Burnett took a nasty looking fall on that third bend again. Mark Steel couldn't avoid his team mate, and crashed straight into the fallen rider, which sent him flying across the track and into the fence in a horrifying looking crash. Both riders lay on the track, whilst we all feared they were both badly hurt. After a few minutes Mark Steel got to his feet and walked off unaided, Paul Burnett was not so lucky, and was taken to hospital with a gashed knee, which would require some stitches. He was very lucky to have escaped without more serious injuries.

At this point, the fiasco began. A large crowd of riders, officials and track staff made their way to the infamous third bend to examine the large crater that had appeared, causing the falls. The next 45 minutes were spent working on this piece of track, to try and rectify the problem. Finally after an inspection by the referee, the match was abandoned!

Despite assurances by announcer Malcolm Vasey that the problem was caused by the "track cracking in the excessive heat" I would strongly dispute that. I have watched many meetings at Mildenhall, and this spot on the third bend has been a problem for a long while. I have seen numerous riders fall, or loose control at this very spot, and only two weeks ago during the match against Kings Lynn, I watched a large patch appear there which seemed to be so deep, you could see the base of the track appearing. Efforts were made then to fill/cover it, so this problem is not a new one. There were a lot of very unhappy fans on the terraces, who could not believe they were seeing a meeting abandoned in hot sunshine. This is not the first time this season that track preparation has had to be done before or during a meeting. I for one, will be very reluctant to spend my money at Mildenhall again.

Dave Lomas.