Captain and Isle of Wight-based Danno Verge leads the way as Wightlink Warriors make winning return in three-team meet with Oxford and Cradley

In the second summer spectacular race event held on the Isle of Wight, Warriors topped their three-team meet with 41 points while Cradley and Oxford Cheetah's picked up a return of 26 and 23 points respectively.

Home captain Verge went unbeaten in his five outings, which included an excellent finale to finish first in heat eight.

In an innovative twist, teams used an experimental format in which the three managers from each of the opposing teams nominated a rival rider who had to take a 15-metre starting handicap, with Verge’s blast to reel in and pass Oxford's Ryan Terry-Daley a particular highlight.

New Warrior recruit Alex Spooner also made up his handicap, racing through heat seven to join team-mate Chad Wirtzfield at the front after overhauling Cradley's Scott Campos.

Spooner's debut gave a sizeable crowd in attendance a glimpse of his qualities, as he dropped just one point to opposing riders in a very promising display.

Warriors team manager, Steve Piper, was taking charge of his first meet and could not have been happier with how things panned out.

He said: ‘That was my first meeting as team manager and what a way to start.

‘It was a real team effort, everyone did their jobs and Danno was a true captain tonight leading the team both on and off track.

‘He set the tone for the meeting and the lads responded brilliantly.

‘It’s a great honour for me to work with these riders and I could not be prouder of them all.’