Heat by Heat Results - August 1985

With Kenny Carter away at the Intercontinental Final in Sweden, the Dukes might have had their work cut out to defeat Coventry - but the Bees were lacking their own trio of Knudsen, Jorgensen and Tatum, and even though their guests performed well, their own riders could only contribute 9 points. Halifax were boosted by the inclusion of Alan Grahame - they originally planned to use rider replacement, but swooped for Grahame when Cradley called off their match in the morning. Grahame scored 9 points to joint top score with Hunter and Ross - and a returning Willmott grabbed a race win, even though appearing to struggle.

England travelled to California for the WTC final minus Kenny Carter - and Halifax travelled to Belle Vue for the first leg of the Northern Cup. The Dukes drafted in John Eskildsen as guest, but his 3 points were disappointing and Halifax slipped to a 6 point loss. Evitts led from the front with 2 storming wins, as Halifax opened up a 6 point lead, with Hansen and Hunter also seeing the flag first. But the Aces grew into the match from heat 6 onwards, with Morton, Collins and Blackbird leading the way. But Halifax were confident that they could overcome a 6 point loss in the second leg.

The Dukes exit from the Cup left an open date to fill - so The Shay staged the Northern Fours, between Halifax, Sheffield, Middlesbrough and a Select side. Supporters were looking forward to seeing Middlesbrough's exciting teenager Gary Havelock in action as talk of a transfer for 1986 was circulating, but Havelock broke a collar bone in a second half crash 2 days earlier and was ruled out. Some good racing was provided, as Sheffield edged the win, 4 points clear of Halifax, with the Select side (including Ross and Hunter) a further 7 points behind. Former Duke Martin Dixon, now back with Middlesbrough, was their top scorer, albeit with only 4 points.

Halifax were well beaten and threw away a 20 point lead to relinquish the bonus point in another lacklustre away performance. With Hansen away at the Danish Championship, Doug Wyer again stepped in - but failed to score, and Monaghan, Ross and Willmott all failed to make an impression. Neil Evitts and guest Chris Morton tried to stem the tide, but an inevitable 5-1 in the final race from the unbeaten Andersson, and newly-crowned Under 21 champion Jonsson, took all 3 points. Ross and Willmott were again beset by mechanical problems, although Hunter's win over Davis in heat 10 was a bright spot.

World Final week kicked off with a surprisingly comfortable home win over Cradley Heath - despite a magnificent 15 point maximum from defending World Champion Erik Gundersen. The Dukes exploited his lack of support however - with the rest of his team-mates strangely subdued. The margin of victory would have been greater had John Davis not shed a chain shortly after the start of heat 11. The remaining Dukes showed the fans what might have been with solid scoring throughout - Davis' stoppage and a last for Monaghan in heat 8 being the only times a home rider failed to score.

The Dukes travelled to Cradley for the return leg on August Bank Holiday Monday, and whilst hopes of victory might have been non-existent, the bonus point would surely be safe...But Halifax conspired to lose on aggregate, with only Evitts and guest Peter Collins showing any fight. In the case of Collins, his 3 wins in 4 races in the middle of the match were the only positives, as Gundersen eased to another maximum on a dry track, whilst Phil Collins, Grahame, and Cross all found the form they lacked on Saturday night. The Dukes home form was allowing them to cling onto the league lead, but the teams behind had matches in hand, so losing bonus points like this was likely to be crucial.

A bumper crowd squeezed into every corner of The Shay following the World Final, and saw a surprisingly comfortable win for the Dukes over Belle Vue. Star of the show was skipper Neil Evitts, who stormed to a 12 point maximum, but he received plenty of support from Hunter, Ross, Willmott and guest Simon Wigg - before receiving the bumps after he crossed the line in heat 12. Chris Morton was the Aces main threat, with only Carl Blackbird managing a win in addition. The Dukes rattled off 9 heat advantages as they stayed ahead of the pack as the season headed into September...