Wilson walks off with PLRC.

Home hero Sean Wilson carried off the 2003 Premier League Riders Championship at a packed Owlerton Stadium on Sunday evening. Over 4,000 fans crammed the terraces and the majority were sent home happy by a sensational ride by the Tigers skipper to win the Grand Final.

Wilson faced his great rival Carl Stonehewer and defending Champion Adam Shields, as well as Newport's Craig Watson in the decider, and it was no surprise when Stonehewer and Shields elected to take the inside gates to leave Wilson a difficult job off gate three.

Shields made the best start with Wilson battling for second place with Stonehewer on the first bend - but having cleared the Workington rider, Wilson found the smallest of gaps inside Shields on turn three to blast into
the lead to spark scenes of jubilation amongst the crowd.

Stonehewer had earlier been wheel-perfect on his way to a maximum score from the qualifying heats, and along the way he had been the only rider to beat Shields.

Wilson's defeat to Stonehewer in heat 6 and a third place in his final outing, behind Shields and Garry Stead, saw him finish outside the top two in the qualifiers, and that forced him into the last-chance semi final. He won that from gate one with Watson fending off a strong challenge from Stead to join him in the Final, although the Australian was never a factor off the unfavoured gate four in the decider.

Racing was hard-fought throughout, and the meeting really boiled up in the closing stages with the riders desperate to make a top six place and remain in contention for the title.

Chris Harris pulled a brilliant move on his Peteborough team-mate Shane Parker to win heat 18 and take a semi-final place, but his chances ended with a fall whilst he was trying to make up ground in the semi.

Parker was left regretting last places in his second and third outings which cost him a place in the top six, whilst Joonas Kylmakorpi failed to repeat some excellent Owlerton form from earlier in the season and had to be content with a mid-field finish.

And two of the Danes in the line-up, Kenneth Bjerre and Frede Schott, failed to find the consistency to trouble the top six despite their superb League form this season. But that was of no concern to the Tigers supporters, who got the result they wanted with Wilson's decisive Final move.

Premier League Riders' Championship, Sheffield:

Final
Sean Wilson, Adam Shields, Carl Stonehewer, Craig Watson.

Semi-final
Sean Wilson, Craig Watson, Garry Stead, Chris Harris(f)

Qualification scores
Carl Stonehewer 15, Adam Shields 14, Sean Wilson 12, Craig Watson 11, Chris Harris 9, Garry Stead 9, Shane Parker 8, Kenneth Bjerre 7, Frede Schott 7, Michal Makovsky 6, Joonas Kylmakorpi 6, Paul Fry 5, Andrew Appleton 5, Jan Staechmann 3, Mark Lemon 3, James Grieves 0