The Thirteenth Bonanza: Full report
Latest News Thursday 30th March 2023, 2:19pm
ONE of the event's greatest supporters, Danny King, became only the second rider to win the event twice when he took the 13th Ben Fund Bonanza at King's Lynn to add to his victory at Scunthorpe in 2020.
It was an enjoyable evening in front of a bumper Adrian Flux Arena crowd which delighted the organisers.
As well as taking his second title, King became the highest scorer in the history of the Bonanza, overtaking Ben Barker whose contribution to the event is legendary.
Home fans will have been delighted to see Michael Palm Toft taking a fairly easy win in heat one, showing what he is capable of. Danny King forced his way into second, which proved to be his only defeat all day.
Freddie Lindgren made his bow in heat two, one of the races of the day. Tom Brennan pushed his way past Kyle Howarth for the lead, and was then pressed for much of the heat by Jacob Thorssell. But most eyes were on the veteran Swede as he fluffed the start and was still at the back after a lap. He passed Howarth as well, then swept round Thorssell and was just a length down on Brennan at the finish.
Lindgren indeed missed most of his gates, and would certainly have won any award as top entertainer. Perhaps he was using the event to practise his passing!
Richie Worrall took the first of four race wins in heat 3, and Charles Wright was the other winner in the opening quartet of heats.
Two of the winners met in heat 5 and again Palm Toft took an excellent victory even though Wright had led into the first corner.
Heat 6 was another Lindgren blast from the back, last to second, but Justin Sedgmen just held on to take the win. King beat Brennan in heat 7 and another powerhouse ride by Richie Worrall in heat 8 saw him take his score to 6, matching Palm Toft.
Fast Freddie did make a start at last in heat 9 and thus took the first point from Palm Toft, who just held off a spirited challenge from Simon Lambert. Richie Worrall won his third heat comfortably, but King (against Kyle Howarth) and Brennan (with Ben Barker) had an early leader to overtake before winning again.
So after three heats each we had Richie Worrall 9, Palm Toft, King and Brennan 8, Lindgren and Wright 7 leading the chase for the four man final.
Heat 13 was an important one with three of the meeting leaders coming together, and there was a tremendous opening couple of laps with Richie Worrall rounding both Brennan and Palm Toft for an excellent victory.
Charles Wright, Danny King and Freddie Lindgren won the next three heats as the meeting leaders continued to dominate the scoring. Lindgren was in passing mood again, gating last but getting quickly into second, then catching Lewis Kerr as they entered the last lap. His gating was shocking but the crowd would not be complaining!
After four rides, we had Richie Worrall 12, Danny King 11, Lindgren, Wright and Brennan 10, and Palm Toft 9, all of these looking good enough to win the meeting.
Palm Toft took an important race win in heat 17, and then had to await the other results to see if he had a final place. There was a shock in heat 18, or perhaps it was just a reminder that you can never discount Simon Lambert who used the outside line to great effect as he passed Tom Brennan and held on to win.
Heat 19 featured four of the day's big guns, and it was Danny King who shot off the inside to lead all the way as Lindgren again came from the back to pip Wright for second, with Richie Worrall this time at the back! Sadly for Freddie, he came up just short for reaching the final due to the usual method of race placings followed by who-beat-who.
King was through with 14 points from his five rides, with Richie Worrall on 12 (4 wins) also qualifying. Palm Toft's last win was enough for him, and Tom Brennan pipped Lindgren due to having defeated him in heat 2!
As soon as King hit the front in the decisive race it looked all over as the others fought for the minor places, with the other podium positions eventually going to Palm Toft and Brennan, who made his way past Worrall off the last bend.
From the support races provided by a group of Neil Vatcher's youngsters, what supporters will remember is just how impressive Cooper Rushen was. He was really swooping round the King's Lynn turns and will surely be one to watch in future.
The Vintage boys were there too and as entertaining as usual, when their machines managed to keep going.
Fresh from his victory, King said: "It's always nice to win any meeting, and in the early season quite often you're worried about how things are going to go.
"But I felt really good, really comfortable, so hopefully this is a sign of things to come, and I can hit the ground running and have a good season.
"I was running a brand-new engine at King's Lynn, I've never ridden it before and I just strapped it in and hoped for the best, and it ran exceptionally well.
"It was brilliant to see such a strong field for this year's Bonanza meeting. It's a fantastic event and I always try to support it as and when I can."
"I have missed a few meetings for one reason or another in recent years but if I'm able to do the meeting, there will never be any hesitation from myself.
"I'm a massive supporter of the Speedway Riders Benevolent Fund and I will always continue to back them wherever possible."
