Tom Bacon holds off Danny Ayres challenge
Birmingham skipper Tom Bacon stormed to a 15-point maximum last night as he won Cradley’s F.A.S.T Golden Hammer individual.
It was a keenly-fought contest at Monmore Green which went down to the final set of heats.
Both Bacon and former Heathens favourite Danny Ayres had made a series of impressive gates to win all four of their opening rides before meeting in Heat 18.
And while it was Ayres who made the best gate in that one, it was the Brummies man who showed no fear to squeeze through a gap around the outside off bend number two to send the Perry Barr fans home happy.
Bacon said: “I was really looking forward to the meeting in the build-up and I knew it wasn’t going to be easy.
“There were a lot of fast guys out there and fortunately I made some really quick starts which always helps.
“It was tight with Danny in that last one but I managed to get through and I knew that was enough to win the meeting.
“I’m absolutely delighted to join such a brilliant list of names who’ve won this event in years gone by and this is an achievement I’m proud of.
“It’s been a really good season for me personally; I feel like I’ve made plenty of progression which is always the aim and coming out on top in a line-up as strong as this shows that I guess.”
While Bacon and Ayres took the top two rostrum places, it was a battle of two former Heathens title winners for third spot.
Tom Perry looked set to take it until he was beaten by Max Clegg in Heat 17, handing the final podium position to the Yorkshire racer on countback with the pair scoring 12.
From a Cradley perspective, teenage sensation Drew Kemp, who turned 16 on Saturday, was involved in the thick of the action and narrowly missed out on a rostrum place scoring 11.
Jason Edwards and Kyle Bickley struggled with track conditions early on, but both got better as the night went on, picking up a win apiece along the way.
Skipper Alfie Bowtell was ruled out of contention early on, suffering two falls in his opening outings, but regrouped to score five points from his final three rides.
Wolves’ SGB Premiership clash at King’s Lynn fell victim to the weather last night.
