Diamonds duo fail to sparkle

Jul 2 2007 by Barry Wallace, Evening Chronicle

AFTER the thrill of a rostrum placing in the Premier League Pairs Championship on Friday night, it was very much a case of the Sunday blues for Newcastle’s top two riders Josef Franc and Christian Henry yesterday.

Franc had a really miserable time in the Welsh Open Championship at Newport and withdrew after three scoreless rides, which included a fall in his second outing.

The star of the Pairs Championship, Chris Holder, who, with Jason Bunyan, lifted the title for the Isle of Wight, made it a very profitable weekend for himself by winning the Welsh Open. He beat three Elite League riders, David Howe (Wolverhampton) and Arena-Essex duo Leigh Lanham and Adam Shields in the Grand Final.

Meanwhile, Henry was riding for Rye House as a guest in place of injured teenager Tai Woffinden in two Premier League matches at the Hertfordshire track.

And while Rye House defeated both Redcar (49-42) and Workington (58-37) and picked up the aggregate points as well, Henry had a couple of poor matches by his high standards, scoring five (paid seven) and three respectively.

Birmingham are set to make a team change this week and the word is that Manuel Hauzinger, who walked out on Newcastle last season, is set to resume his career in this country as a replacement for Aidan Collins.

The Austrian last rode for the Diamonds in August and, after failing to return from a commitment abroad, was deemed to be withholding his services.

Another former Newcastle rider Jamie Robertson, who is still a club asset, has lost a team place for the second time this year with Berwick releasing him after just a handful of appearances.

Robertson was loaned to Workington for the season but he was the unlucky rider in a team shake-up which saw Carl Stonehewer come out of retirement and return to racing.

A move to Berwick, his home-town track, seemed ideal for Robertson, but with the Bandits rooted to the bottom of the table with no points from nine matches, he has again been caught up in a re-shuffle of riding personnel.

Chris Harris became the first British rider to win a Grand Prix for seven years when he scored a sensational victory in the British round at Cardiff on Saturday.

Harris has moved up to fifth in the overall standings on 56 points, but the leader is still ex-Newcastle star Nicki Pedersen on 86 with six Grands Prix still to race.