Edinburgh’s Craig Cook deservedly took the inaugural Peugeot International Speedway Championship after a sensational
last bend pass on Richard Lawson in the final.
Cook missed the gate in the final and was last going into the first bend. He passed both Josh Grajczonek and Aaron Summers on the fourth bend and looked like he would do likewise to Lawson on the second bend of lap 2 only for the Glasgow rider to get around him. With a lap remaining Lawson looked like the winner, only for Cook to wind it on around the outside for the entire last lap and round Lawson coming off the last bend for the win.
Cook had been largely untroubled in the qualifying heats, seeing off Jonas B Andersen after a two lap battle in his first, before making four swift gates for 15 points. Lawson joined him with his only losses being to Sedgmen in heat 1 and Cook in heat 20.
Sedgmen started well but gradually faded as the meeting progressed, finishing last in the semi final after Josh Grajczonek and Andersen passed him during the race. Aaron Summers won the semi final but both he and Grajczonek were left fighting it out for the minor spots in the final.
The qualifying heats threw up some surprises with Jonas B Andersen continuing his good form from last week, edging out Jack Holder and Richie Worrall, whilst Nick Morris struggled to get out of the starts in his return from injury. There were a number of good heats, with Aaron Summers winning the most exciting rider, after a thrilling battle with Sedgmen in heat 11 and just failing to catch James Sarjeant in heat 18 after taking three laps to pass Sam Simota.
1st Craig Cook 2nd Richard Lawson 3rd Josh Grajczonek 4th Aaron Summers Qualifying Scores: 1. Nike Lunna 0 X2 FX 1 0 1 2. James Sarjeant 1 2 2 1 2 8 3. Justin Sedgmen 3 3 2 1 2 11 Q 4. Richard Lawson 2 3 3 2 3 13 QF 5. Craig Cook 3 3 3 3 3 15 QF 6. Josh Grajczonek 1 3 3 0 3 10 Q 7. Jonas B Andersen 2 1 2 2 3 10 Q 8. Nicolai Klindt 0 1 0 XT 3 4 9. Aaron Summers 3 2 3 1 1 10 Q 10. Alex Davies 1 1 0 2 1 5 11. Jack Holder 2 2 2 2 1 9 12. Ziga Kovacic 0 0 0 0 0 0 13. Richie Worrall 3 1 1 3 1 9 14. Hynek Stichauer 1 0 1 3 0 5 15. Nick Morris 2 0 1 2 2 7 16. Sam Simota 0 2 1 0 0 3 Res Mitchell Davey 0 0 Res Ryan MacDonald 0 0 Heat 1: Sedgmen, Lawson, Sarjeant, Lunna; 57.8 Heat 2: Cook, Andersen, Grajczonek, Klindt; 57.2 Heat 3: Summers, Holder, Davies, Kovacic; 57.5 Heat 4: Worrall, Morris, Stichauer, Simota; 58.0 Heat 5: Cook, Summers, Worrall, Davey, Lunna(X2); 57.3 Heat 6: Grajczonek, Sarjeant, Davies, Stichauer; 58.4 Heat 7: Sedgmen, Holder, Andersen, Morris; 58.5 Heat 8: Lawson, Simota, Klindt, Kovacic; 58.7 Heat 9: (re-run) Grajczonek, Holder, Simota, Lunna (FX); 59.5 Heat 10: (re-run) Cook, Sarjeant, Morris, Kovacic; 57.3 Heat 11: Summers, Sedgmen, Stichauer, Klindt; 58.2 Heat 12: Lawson, Andersen, Worrall, Davies; 58.7 Heat 13: Stichauer, Andersen, Lunna, Kovacic; 60.0 Heat 14: Worrall, Holder, Sarjeant, MacDonald, Klindt(XT); 58.5 Heat 15: Cook, Davies, Sedgmen, Simota; 58.2 Heat 16: Lawson, Morris, Summers, Grajczonek; 58.4 Heat 17: Klindt, Morris, Davies, Lunna; 58.3 Heat 18: Andersen, Sarjeant, Summers, Simota; 59.6 Heat 19: Grajczonek, Sedgmen, Worrall, Kovacic; 58.8 Heat 20: Cook, Lawson, Holder, Stichauer; 59.1 Semi Final: Summers, Grajczonek, Andersen, Sedgmen; 58.8 Final: Cook, Lawson, Grajczonek, Summers; 59.3