SPEEDWAY - SOMERSET Rebel Cory Gathercole finished an excellent fifth place overall in the Australian Speedway Championship following the third and final round in Newcastle, New South Wales.

SOMERSET Rebel Cory Gathercole finished an excellent fifth place overall in the Australian Speedway Championship following the third and final round in Newcastle, New South Wales.

Gathercole qualified through from the heat stages of the meeting to reach the B final, his second such B final from the three round series, where he finished in third place and by virtue of that in fifth place overall, making him the highest placed Premier League rider in the championship series which was won by Poole's Chris Holder.

Somerset's other representative in the championship, Sam Masters, who was making his debut in the series, finished in 10th place overall, his performance in the third round being his best of the campaign as he just missed out on a place alongside Gathercole in the B final.

Masters can, however, be rightly pleased with his performance throughout all three rounds of the championship, his 10th place finish placing him above far more experienced and established riders such as Stoke's James Holder and the Glasgow duo Robert Ksiezak and Josh Grajczonek, and he will now focus his attentions on the forthcoming Australian Under-21 Championships.