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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1532121
Team GB Dominates Speedway Match Race F or a season opener, the newly renamed Kevin Harvick's Kern County Raceway Park, in Kern County, California, hosted the best that Britain has to offer in a test match against the home crowd. Many times, California AMA Na - tional and International Team riders Broc Nicol, Max Ruml, Billy Janniro, Slater Lightcap and Team Captain Gino Manzares squared off against seven of England's finest. Dan Bewley, British Champion in 2022, '23 and '24, brought 2021 British champ Adam Ellis, Tom Brennan, Leon Flint, Jordan Jenkins, Dan Thompson and Ashton Boughen to the fight from across the pond. Although Speedway is usually a 20-heat series of races with riders scoring points of three, two or one point, with the rider scor - ing the most points taking the victory, we Yanks prefer a final or main event. So, Saturday's match used a slightly hybrid program of 15 heats, with the eight top points scorers meeting in four winner-goes-to- the-final matches to determine the top rider of the event. While last year's USA versus the World was a close match, this year, the Brits were on it. After the first half, the invaders were up by over 50 percent. Although the track was prepped often, there were more than the usual numbers of crashes, none too serious, thanks to the air fence obtained by British ex-pat promot - er Steve Evans. But Ashton Bough- en got his bell rung two-thirds of the way through the program and was done for the day. The Yanks are normally able to hold their own, but by the end of the heats, the score was GB 55 and Team USA 35. From there, it went to the four winner-take-all heat races. Britain won the first three races, and only Luke Becker made it to the final. And then, only because Britain pulled their last rider to ensure that there was at least one Yank in the final. In the end, Adam Ellis, the Brit - ish champ in 2021, ran away with the final to seal the deal for the UK Team. Richard Haight FINAL (Top 5) 1. Adam Ellis (UK) 2. Tom Brennan (UK) 3. Dan Thompson (UK) 4. Luke Becker (USA) WIND IN THE P40 Max Ruml (left) and Broc Nichol (center, blue helmet) lead Dan Bewley and Dan Thompson during the USA versus Great Britain Speedway match in California. PHOTO: RICHARD HAIGHT Bou Scores 18th Barcelona Victory R epsol Honda HRC rider Toni Bou won again in Barcelona on February 1 at round four of the FIM X-Trial World Champion- ship, making it a career total of 18 for him in 20 participations of the event in Palau Sant Jordi. From the first lap, Bou took the lead in the standings after accru- ing just a single penalty point at zone three. That took him directly into the final alongside his team - mate Gabriel Marcelli and Sher- co's Adam Raga. In it, he kept up his form and went on to win the race, claiming a sixth consecutive victory ahead of Raga, who beat out Marcelli by a single point. "Barcelona is always very spe- cial, and I'm very happy with the victory," the Spaniard, Bou, said. "We had extra pressure as it was our home race, and the first lap was very tight, but I felt strong from the start, only making one mistake at zone three. After competing in the Superpole, I had to open up zones in the final, but we managed to recover, and from zone two on - wards, we were very consistent." After the fourth round of the X-Trial World Championship, Bou leads with 75 points, followed by Jaime Busto (GasGas) with 52 points and Raga with 48. CN OVERALL (Top 5) 1. Toni Bou (Mon) 2. Adam Raga (She) 3. Gabriel Marcelli (Mon) 4. Benoit Bincaz (She) 5. Aniol Gelabert (TRRS)