After banking their away first win of the season at Newport five days ago, the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels had their sights set on taking all three available league points against the same opponents at the Oak Tree Arena. The Rebels were still without the injured Simon Walker, whilst the Wasps had Chris Kerr back in the main body of the team, with James Holder moving in the opposite direction. Over the last few weeks Kerr has been retuning some good scores from the reserve berth, and the confidence showed in Heat 1 when he broke level with Steve Johnston and Jari Mäkinen. Kerr took up the running on the first turn, and held off the determined challenge of Johnston for all four laps. Johnston tried every line possible, but despite pulling level with Kerr on several occasions, he could not find the key to unlock Kerr’s lead. Meanwhile Jari Mäkinen was riding an equally fine race to hold off Leigh Lanham for third place. On Sunday Nick Simmons could not hide his delight in winning Heat 2, and subjecting the Wasps to a 5-1 defeat. Tonight he was again part of a 5-1 combination with Justin Sedgmen as the pair made light work of taking the full house. Sedgmen broke level with James Holder but by the first turn he had seen off his fellow countryman. Simmons came charging around the wide line, and swept passed Holder on the outside of the back straight. Once Simmons was at the head of affairs with Sedgmen the Rebels duo ran away for an easy win. Emil Kramer took his first win, of what would turn out to be a terrific night for the Swede, in Heat 3. Breaking quickly alongside former Rebels, Paul Fry, Kramer soon established a lead on the run to the opening bend. Once in front he won unchallenged, pulling well clear before the flag fall. Jari Mäkinen made a slow start, but by the end of Lap 2 he got himself into a challenging position, but couldn’t find an opening against Jonas Andersson. In Heat 4 Nick Simmons again found himself as part of a winning 5-1 partnership as he and Cory Gathercole blasted the Wasps pairing into submission. A level break saw the whole field run to the bend together, with Gathercole emerging from the pack mid turn, stopping Jordan Frampton’s run in the process. Simmons took advantage of the hole left on the inside, guiding through to join Gathercole in the lead. Frampton recovered to challenge Simmons on the final bend of the lap, but once the former Wasp had blocked his inside run the Rebels took a bloodless victory. Heat 5 was quite an eventful affair, ending up being contested by only two riders. As the tapes rose Jari Mäkinen made a blinding start to lead from Leigh Lanham. Emil Kramer came with a searing run around the outside, only to be blocked by his team mate, who had run very wide, it was compounded as the field got very tight on the final bend, and Kramer was baulked again. As they ran into the opening bend of Lap 2 Mäkinen got a hefty shove from Chris Kerr, which was missed by referee Dave Robinson, and he went down, and was excluded for his trouble. In the restart Leigh Lanham’s engine exploded in a shower of sparks as the tapes rose, dumping engine parts all over the start line. As a consequence the referee had no option but to stop the race again, with Lanham now on the sidelines. The race got under way at the third time of asking, and considering there were only two riders it was a close, tight battle for two laps. Kramer and Kerr broke level, and raced side-by-side until Kramer got the upper hand on Lap 3, pulling away to win easily for a 3-2 advantage. The Rebels wasted no time in opening up a big lead over the Wasps, hammering home two 5-1’s on the trot to take a 17-point advantage. Steve Johnston made up for his earlier defeat taking Heat 6 after beating off an early Jordan Frampton challenge, powering around the boards to lead off the first turn. Justin Sedgmen, in as rider replacement, found himself at the rear in the early running, after challenging up the inside of Frampton, who blocked his run, but he didn’t panic, as he coolly breezed passed Kyle Newman at the end of the lap, and then set off after Frampton. He gradually wound up the bike, slowly reeling Frampton in, and by the final lap was right on his back wheel. Running into the third bend of the lap, he stunned Frampton, neatly cutting insid, and shooting through to take maximum points for the Rebels. Sedgmen was out again in the very next heat, and once more took part in another maximum heat win. He broke level with his partner, Cory Gathercole, and blazed around the boards to lead of the second bend. Once in front the Rebels pairing shot clear, taking the easiest of wins over Paul Fry and Jonas Andersson. The Rebels were keeping their riders busy, and it was Gathercole’s turn to take consecutive rides as he substituted for Simon Walker in Heat 8. The Wasps chose this heat to send out a tactical rider, with that responsibility going to Chris Kerr. The move did give the Wasps a heat advantage, but not the one they wanted. Kerr broke quickly, with Gathercole on his outside. He forced the Australian wide on the opening turns, halting his progress. Gathercole stayed wide, and squeezed through the narrowest of gaps as they entered the back straight. Once in the vanguard, Gathercole strolled home to thwart the Wasps tactical move. Emil Kramer added his third win of the night in Heat 9, taking his customary wide route around the outside of the quick starting Jordan Frampton, to lead running into the third bend. Frampton kept up the pressure for a couple of laps, getting close, but not able to pass the flying Swede. Once Kramer had seen off Frampton’s persistence, he pulled clear over the last two laps to take a comfortable victory. Kyle Newman held off Jari Mäkinen to share the points for the Wasps. Still 15-points down the Wasps used their second tactical, with Paul Fry sporting the ‘Black and White’. Steve Johnston broke well, with Jonas Andersson on his inside. Andersson forced the Rebels skipper so wide the pair almost ended up in the laps of the crowd on the second bend. Johnston kept it wound on, and scraped through, only to have a repeat performance from Paul Fry, who had ghosted through the inside as Johnston battled Andersson. Johnston was forced back to third place by the time they had reached the third turn, but in a stunning move, he blew by the Wasps pair on the wide outside, and was in front by the time they entered the fourth bend. Nick Simmons had a close up view of the action in front of him, and he closed over the course of the race to challenge Andersson on the final bend of the race. It was a move that looked booked for success, until Andersson unceremoniously slammed the door shut on Simmons. The 3-5 advantage only gave the beleaguered Wasps a temporary respite as the Rebels were soon to increase their lead. Heat 11 was shared, as Cory Gathercole led at the first turn, running wide to the second bend from Chris Kerr. Kerr cut inside on the back straight, just getting his nose in front. Gathercole came roaring back, and was soon in front as he ran the boards on the fourth bend. Behind them, Justin Sedgmen was having a great battle with Leigh Lanham, which the Ipswich born rider made his own late in the race. The home sides 17-point lead was restored in Heat 12, as Jari Mäkinen and Nick Simmons combined for a 5-1. Over the two encounters between these two teams Jonas Andersson has shown that he has gating amongst his armoury, and he displayed it here as he shot from the traps. Mäkinen was not far away, and as they ran into the first bend on the next lap, he shot up Andersson’s inside, and in a sublime move was quickly at the front as they exited the second bend onto the back straight, going on to take his first win in Rebels colours. Nick Simmons closed Andersson down over the four laps, and as the pair approached the final turn Simmons moved inside, grabbing a full house for the Rebels in the dying stages of the race. Another maximum followed immediately as the Rebels blitzed the visitors in Heat 13. A relatively level break saw the home pairing of Johnston and Gathercole lead before they reached the opening turn, with Gathercole taking up the running off the second bend. From there on the race was over as a spectacle, with only Leigh Lanham putting in any sort of challenge, which despite his efforts, came to nothing. Gathercole’s win gave him a paid maximum on the night. Emil Kramer completed his programmed rides with another win, but it was not without incident. He broke well, but had a fast starting Paul Fry on his inside. Like Kramer, the former Rebels knows the fastest way round the Oak Tree circuit, and is not averse to forceful tactics when it’s required. With Kramer looming up on his outside, Fry showed no compunction in slamming the door shut in the Swede’s face as they ran onto the back straight. Kramer knocked off the throttle, and avoided any major contact, and was then back on it straight away to run down the Hereford racer. For two laps he powered after Fry, and at the end of Lap 2 he was back on terms. Considering what had happened on the first lap, Kramer bravely blasted down the outside of Fry, and by the time they exited the opening turns of the third lap, he was in front. Justin Sedgmen completed another good night for him, and the Rebels, taking an easy third place from James Holder. The nominated heat saw the unbeaten Kramer join Steve Johnston at the tapes, with Chris Kerr, and strangely, Leigh Lanham for the Wasps. Lanham’s inclusion was, to say the least odd, considering he had only scored 2-points all night, with Paul Fry, who has vast experience around the Highbridge circuit, sitting in the pits on 9-points. When the tapes rose the field broke level, but by the time they had reached the first turn, Johnston was in front. Emil Kramer came sailing around the outside to move to the head of affairs. Chris Kerr was close up, and never gave Johno a moment’s peace, throwing in challenge after challenge. Kerr’s persistence finally paid dividends on Lap 3, as he moved wide on the opening turn, and eased passed the Rebels skipper. By the time Kerr was in second place, Kramer was long gone, and the Californian never got in a blow as Kramer strode to an imperious full 15-point maximum. In the space of five days the Somerset ‘Sharp’ Rebels had completely dominated their local rivals, and taken all but one of the league points on offer. Once again the whole team had contributed to the victory. The highlights of the night were Jari Mäkinen’s first win for the Rebels, and the full maximum for Emil Kramer, and a paid maximum, and ‘Rider of the Night’, from match sponsors ‘Parson’s Parts’, for Cory Gathercole. Despite a good-looking team on paper, in reality the Newport Wasps were poor, with only Paul Fry, and Chris Kerr providing any resistance. Kerr’s performance was a revelation, as he has never shown anything like this level of performance at the Oak Tree Arena before. 

The 59-34 win lifts the Rebels to third place in the table, and the big points win may prove useful if things get tight for places. Despite the third spot the hard work is still to come as the Rebels still have to visit Edinburgh, who have 4 matches in hand on Somerset, and fourth placed Sheffield, where points are always hard to come by. With only one home match left, against Scunthorpe, points are at a premium in the quest for a play off place. The first of those away fixture comes immediately, and at the time of writing the Rebels will be well on there way to Edinburgh’s Armadale stadium.