Heat by Heat Results - April 1976

Graham Plant took delivery of new machinery before the meeting with Wolverhampton, and scorched to a magnificent 12 point maximum as the Dukes saw off the Wolves.  Chris Pusey again saw his maximum chances spoiled by an engine failure, whilst Kroeze dropped his only points to the gritty Thomsen in the final race.  The reserve pairing of Newton and Cusworth impressed, with Steve Finch away, riding in a World Championship preliminary round.  Other than Thomsen and new signing McMillan, the Wolves had little threat, although they did track the mysterious Italian Giuseppe Marzotto - who would later become renowned as the creator of the GM engine in the 1980s.

Halifax took a rare draw away from Belle Vue, as Chris Pusey and Henny Kroeze continued their good start to the season.  Peter Collins scored his usual maximum for the Aces, but the Dukes took full advantage of a lack of support for Collins, filling in the minor places, and even taking the lead when Kroeze and Plant scored a 5-1 in heat 8.  the same two combined again in heat 12 to set up the last race, and Pusey and Olkiewicz gladly took advantage of Morton grinding to a halt to take an unlikely point.

Halifax scraped home by the narrowest of margins against a surprisingly strong Newport, for whom the ultra-fast Crump was unbeaten.  Henny Kroeze again proved the star of the night however, being unbeaten in the five heats he completed.  Plant and Pusey could do nothing about Crump, but took their points where they could, with Plant's pairing with Cusworth in heats 8 and 9 proving vital to getting the Dukes into the lead.  Ian Cartwright's return signalled a return to Denmark for the time being for Mike Lohmann, but Halifax were already working on plans to bring him back permanently...

The 1975 Dukes had won at Swindon on their way to the top of the table.  But there was no repeat for the 1976 version, as they were comprehensively beaten by the Robins, despite Chris Pusey's first full maximum.  Pusey finally got his reward with a meaningless win in heat 13 with the match already lost.  Graham Plant offered minor support, but the rest of the Dukes were outclassed, failing to beat a single opponent all night, as the bottom half of the team looked exposed once again.  Even Henny Kroeze had an off-night.

Halifax got their second win in the Northern Trophy, again by the narrowest of margins, with Henny Kroeze the hero in the last heat.  With the Dukes unable to get past the flag first, they will look back at Newton and Finch's 5-1 in the reserve race as being the difference.  Finch and Cartwright got Halifax into a 2 point lead in heat 8, which they held until the unbeaten Wyer and Allott levelled the tie with a race left.  But Kroeze made no mistake in the decider, and with Plant seeing Allott behind him, Halifax hung on.  Adam Olkiewicz failed to score once again...

The second part of the Easter weekend fixtures saw the Dukes end their Northern Trophy campaign, this time with defeat to the Aces.  It was once again Pusey and Kroeze who kept the Dukes in the tie, but with no-one else able to win a race, the outcome looked inevitable from the moment Collins and Hodgson took a 5-1 to put Belle Vue in front for the first time in heat 9.  With Collins and the equally impressive Morton in 3 of the last 4 races, the Dukes needed something from heat 11 to give themselves a chance, but Wilkinson made a fast start, and the chance had gone.

Halifax took on the Polish touring team, and took a relatively easy win.  Plant was back to his best with a full house, whilst Kroeze, Pusey, Cartwright and Steve Finch all had good nights.  It was Andy Cusworth's turn to struggle, whilst Olkiewicz failed to score against his compatriots - his fifth meeting in a row without a single point.  The Poles would have been expecting more from star riders Jancarz and Plech, but Jancarz faded after a bright start, and Plech was plagued by mechanical problems all night.

Mike Lohmann was back in the team for the trip to Poole - but his inclusion, at the expense of Olkiewicz made no difference, as the Dukes were humiliated by the Pirates.  Henny Kroeze took their only heat win in heat 9, and only the flying Dutchman and Chris Pusey could gain any credit from the performance, with the remaining five Dukes all failing to beat an opponent.  The Pirates hit home 12 heat advantages, starting with 4 consecutive 5-1s, with Simmons and Broadbelt easing to maximums, as the Dukes away-day woes continued.