Dan Berwick proved to be in a class of his own in the opening round of the Solo Dirt Track British Championship at Oxford Stadium last night, writes Robert Peasley.

The Plymouth Devils rider romped home to a 15-point maximum in his qualifying heats, before seeing off Karl Rushen and John Yeldham in the final. Darren Drew fell and was excluded in the first attempt to hold the race.

Berwick had faced a race to get to the meeting in time, having ridden in a National League speedway match at Lakeside earlier in the day.

Chinnor’s Jason Newitt, a former Oxford Cheetah, just missed out on the final, coming fifth on ten points.

Ben Richmond won a thrilling final in the Quad event. He banged wheels with eventual runner-up Andy Heitman, as they passed each other four times on the opening two laps.

Defending champion Carl Bunce was relegated to third.

A crowd of 500 turned out for a meeting containing no fewer than 42 races.

Solo Dirt Track British Championship 1st round: 1 D Berwick, 2 K Rushen, 3 J Yeldham, 4 D Drew.

QRA Quad Oval British Championship 1st round: 1 B Richmond, 2 A Heitman, 3 C Bunce, 4 D Smith.