Heat by Heat Results - May 1968

The Dukes once again were found lacking on their travels, with the heat leaders scoring all but 4 points of Halifax's total in a 7 point defeat.  Comfortably behind throughout, courtesy of Nygren and Hedge, the Dukes suddenly came alive in the last 4 races, scoring 5-1s in heats 10 and 12 to remarkably reduce the deficit to just 3 points.  But Boothroyd and Kentwell were not on the pace enough to threaten the Dons top two, and the inevitable last heat 5-1 to the hosts sealed the Dukes fate.

Halifax suffered their heaviest defeat to date with a disastrous trip to the County Ground. Dave Younghusband was unable to travel, defending a driving offence in Manchester (in which he was successful) and the rest of the Dukes had enough bad luck to last a season.  Sharpe and Kentwell both seized engines in heat 1, Boocock twice stopped whilst way in front, and both Alan Jay and the filling-in Terry Lee were also down on power as the Falcons eased to victory.  A heat five 4-2 from Boocock and Jameson was the only bright spot on a long night for the Dukes.

Somewhat predictably, the Dukes' involvement in the Knock-out Cup ended in defeat at Monmore Green. After keeping the score respectable early on, the match was effectively ended by three consecutive 5-1s for the Wolves in heats 7, 8 and 9, the final one of those coming against Boocock and Younghusband.  Halifax produced the winner in only 4 of the 18 races, and whilst the majority seemed to have cured their mechanical problems of the previous week, Halifax were still way off the pace to be able to cause an upset.

The World Championship qualifying rounds were now in full swing, and finally managing to get a home fixture ridden, Halifax staged their leg of the rounds.  Proving his Dews Trophy victory in 1967 was no fluke, Wolverhampton's Jim Airey won the meeting with an impressive 14 points, beating all the Dukes stars on the way.  Solid scoring from Younghusband (2nd), Kentwell (3rd), Boothroyd (5th) and Boocock (7th) would be sufficient for all four to progress through to the British Semi Final stages.