IT was a mixed weekend of fortunes for the three Somerset Rebels, who were in action over the weekend with Cory Gathercole claiming second place in the South Australian State Championship.

IT was a mixed weekend of fortunes for the three Somerset Rebels, who were in action over the weekend with Cory Gathercole claiming second place in the South Australian State Championship.

This followed on from his runner-up placing in the recent Victoria State title, but the Australian Under-21 Championship was to prove to be a disappointment for Sam Masters and Dakota North.

Gathercole had to do things the hard way as although he scored 11 points from his five qualifying rides, but it was only enough to take him into the B final.

He missed out being seeded directly through to the grand final on countback, as he was one of four riders to finish on 11 points.

As it was, Gathercole made no mistake in winning the B final, this after the race had to be re-run following a Cameron Woodward fall, who was subsequently excluded.

The win took Gathercole through to the grand final and whilst he finished ahead of Elite League riders Ricky Kling and ex-Rebel Jason Doyle, he had to settle for second place as defending champion Troy Batchelor won the title for the fourth successive year.

The same evening saw the Australian Under-21 Championship held at North Brisbane, the meeting being in doubt for most of the day due to torrential rain that had fallen in the area.

Despite this, the track staff worked wonders for the meeting to proceed, but it was to be a disappointing night for Somerset’s representatives, Sam Masters and Dakota North who scored eight and four points respectively. Poole’s Darcy Ward won the title for the third year in a row.