Reigning champion Aidan Collins was in imperious form, reeling off five straight wins to win the third round of the Grand National UK Flat Track Championship at Oxford Stadium last night.

However, the meeting was marred by a multiple-rider accident halfway through the 15-lap final, with Lincoln-shire’s Tim Neave coming off the worst. With the safety fence damaged, and Neave being attended to by medics, the final was ruled null and void, with positions awarded on the qualifying order for the final.

Collins already had a quarter-lap lead at the time of the stoppage.

The toughest test for Warrington-based Collins came in heat 12, when he started off the back grid. But he passed ten riders on the first circuit, and led by the end of the third lap.

With 12 riders per race, there was plenty of thrilling action.

In the first heat Adam Allott withstood major pressure from Australian Kevin Doolan, who then slipped from second to fifth.

The best race came in the final of the Thunderbikes support class, with four riders still in contention at the end of an absorbing ten laps.

Neave moved from third to first on the final lap, with Oxford’s Anthony Brown snatching third place on the line after a late tumble by Alan Birtwistle.

RESULTS.

Grand National UK Flat Track Champ-ionship 3rd round 1 A Collins, 2 R Mason, 3 A Birtwistle.

Thunderbikes: 1 T Neave, 2 N Martin, 3 A Brown.

Speedway demonstration final: 1 K Doolan, 2 C Wilkinson, 3 J Courtney.