GRESHAM Oxford Cheetahs' young England star Paul Hurry put up a spirited performance to take the bronze medal in the British speedway final at a sweltering Coventry Stadium yesterday.

However, there was no luck for Cheetahs' other hopeful Lawrence Hare who finished in the ruck in a meeting dominated by Ipswich and England grand prix star Chris Louis who finished where he left off in Friday's grand prix round in Prague to land the title with a superb 15 point maximum.

Runner-up was Joe Screen with 14 points ahead of Hurry on 12.

It now means that Hurry will join Steve Johnston in the Overseas final at Coventry on June 14.

Hurry was over the moon with his placing. "The first objective was to qualify today," he said. "Now I have got to do it again and then hopefully make the grand prix challenge."

Hurry found Simon Wigg in sharp form in his opening ride and had to settle for second place ahead of Gary Havelock, but in the following heat he made short work of Andy Smith for the most encouraging of starts.

Any chance he had of winning the title disappeared with a third place behind the two principals Louis and Screen in heat 12, but he was still up for a place on the podium if he could get back to winning ways.

This he certainly did and after taking heat 14 with ease, he had to wait until the penultimate ride before sealing his third spot as he finished in style with two victories.

Hare, making his debut in the big time, made a nervous start holding third place at one time but trailed in last as he did in his next ride.

A fall in his next outing threatened to ruin his big day, but with a large following of his fan club in support he gave them something to cheer when pulling off a great victory in heat 13, beating David Norris and Ray Morton. But the day was all about Louis. Runner-up to his brother-in-law Mark Loram after a run-off last year, he grabbed the one title he really wanted.

His delighted team, wife, daughter and dad all rushed forward to embrace him after a really professional show.

No doubt about the showman of the day. That was Screen who wheelied for a lap and a half after clinching runners-up spot.

Finishing order: Louiis 15, Screen 14, Hurry 13, Wigg 11, Havelock 10, Tatum 9, A Smith 9, Clouting 8, Nicholls 7, Cunningham, Norris, Stonehewer 5, Morton 4, Hare 3, Stead 3, S Smith 0. HEAT DETAILS Heat 1: Screen, Morton, Stead, Tatum 61.8 secs.

Heat 2: Clouting, A Smith, Norris, Cunningham 61.0.

Heat 3: Louis, Stonehewer, Nicholls, S Smith 60.1.

Heat 4: Wigg, Hurry, Havelock, Hare 61.9.

Heat 5: Hurry, Smith, Nicholls, Morton (e/f) 60.7.

Heat 6: Louis, Clouting, Stead, Hare 61.3.

Heat 7: Havelock, Tatum, Stonehewer, Norris 60.6.

Heat 8: Screen, Wigg, Cunningham, S Smith 61.4.

Heat 9: Wigg, Clouting, Morton, Stonehewer 61.6.

Heat 10: Havelock, A Smith, Stead, S Smith, 60.8.

Heat 11: Tatum, Nicholls, Cunningham, Hare (f/exc) 62.3.

Heat 12: Louis, Screen, Hurry, Norris 61.4.

Heat 13: Hare, Norris, Morton, Clews 62.0.

Heat 14: Hurry, Cunningham, Stonehewer, Stead 61.2.

Heat 15: Louis, Tatum, A Smith, Wigg 61.9.

Heat 16: Screen, Nicholls, Havelock, Clouting 61.9.

Heat 17: Louis, Havelock, Cunningham, Morton 61.4.

Heat 18: Wigg, Norris, Nicholls, Stead 62.3.

Heat 19: Hurry, Tatum, Clouting, Simmonds 62.5.

Heat 20: Screen, A Smith, Stonehewer, Hare 62.4.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.