Justin Sedgmen wins his fourth Jack Young Cup
Gillman Media 31 January 2022
Justin Sedgmen brought a halt to Jake Turner’s winning run to successfully defend the Jack Young Cup at Gillman speedway on Saturday night.
Turner was just one place short of a second consecutive clean sweep after winning six out of six in the Gillman Solo Championship at the previous meeting, and all five of his heats on Saturday before Sedgmen rode away for an easy win in the final.
After his dominance in the track championship, there was a lot of focus on how Turner would go against the stronger line-up on Saturday and we didn’t have to wait long to find out as the four eventual finalists met in heat 3 and the result was Turner, Fraser Bowes, Liam May and Sedgmen.
Turner, Bowes and May all won their remaining four rides to go into the final on 15, 14 and 13 points respectively. The only change there could have been Bowes and May reversed, as May was holding a comfortable second place in heat three until he lost his line in the last corner and had to throttle off which allowed Bowes to nip through and take the 2 points.
In contrast to the top three, Sedgmen had a very untypical slow start. After his last place in heat three, he was beaten by impressive teenager James Pearson in his next ride after being the early leader, to be on only 2 points after two rides. He then won his last three heats to finish with 11 points but that was only enough to get him into the semi-final, along with Pearson and Cooper Riordan, both on 10 points, and Patrick Hamilton, 8.
From that point, however, he dominated. He had a clear cut win in the semi-final, made easier by a Pearson crash on the first lap, and then was never challenged in the final which was ultimately declared.
The first attempt to run the race saw Sedgmen clearly win the start from his favoured gate four, with Bowes, Turner and May dicing for second until May fell on the second lap. It was a disappointing end for May who has struggled with a shoulder injury all season but he was on top of his game Saturday night until his fall, and fourth place in a trophy event is still a good return to form.
In the rerun, without May, Sedgmen again won the start and it looked like a Sedgmen-Bowes-Turner finish until Bowes lost his line in turn four on the second lap and was passed by Turner. Bowes quickly gave chase to regain the position but went too fast into turn one on the next lap and spun around and fell trying to avoid crashing into Turner. As Sedgmen and Turner completed the third lap, with Bowes still on the track, the race was declared with Sedgmen the winner, Turner second, Bowes third and May fourth.
The win was Sedgmen’s fourth in the Jack Young Cup which puts him in second-place, one win behind Leigh Adams, in the all-time winner’s list.
Of the non-qualifiers the most impressive was 16-year-old James Pearson, from near Sydney in New South Wales, who gave an eye-catching display in his first appearance at Gillman as a senior rider. He started his night with two wins, including a heat seven win over Sedgmen in the fastest time of the night, but things went a little awry in his third heat. Starting in gate three, Jackson Milner in two appeared to jump the start, which seemed to catch Pearson and Bowes (gate 1) off guard and Pearson rushed to try to get around them in the first corner but had to ride too wide, got caught up in the heavy dirt and fell against the fence. He later also finished the night with another crash in the semi-final when he was second behind Sedgmen and reared onto the back wheel and crashed into the fence in turn four, fortunately without injury.
The other semi-finalists, Riordan and Hamilton, were in the mix all night, especially Riordan who was only beaten by the four finalists and Pearson in the heats.
Of the others Declan Knowles looked the most likely to reach the semi-final with a win over Hamilton in heat one, a third place in a good race for second with Riordan in heat eight, but then crashed in the last corner when running second to Turner in heat twelve and was out for the rest of the night.
Veteran Steven Graetz started with a retirement and a fall, but thereafter was only beaten by three of the finalists, Turner, Bowes and May.
New South Wales rider Michael West, a dirt track rider who I believe was the least experienced rider on a speedway bike in the line-up, also was impressive again, although a little inconsistent, as would be expected with his lack of experience, and 16-year-old Jackson Milner dropped a chain in his first two rides but continues to look a very good rider who makes very few mistakes.
In the Sidecar support events, Kane Golding/Isaac Amos top scored in the heats with 11 from a possible 12 points but it was Thomas Adams/Jaxon Rayner who took the final after a good battle with Golding/Amos. Golding was the early leader; Adams went under him on the second lap; and they were side-by-side on the last lap until Golding spun off the track in the last corner. The main talking point of the Sidecars, however, was the improved form of Wayne Lethbridge/Grantley Simounds who had a career best night and finished as the second highest scorers despite an infield exclusion in their last heat. Former Australian Champions Trent Headland and Darryl Whetstone only rook one ride in which they retired with engine trouble.
In the Flat Track Solo Races, Kyle Machin again went through the card unbeaten but he was made to work hard for all his wins by Seane Chapman, who finished second on each occasion.
