Kristian Lund fronted a fine display by a trio of Newport riders, Tony Atkin and Mads Korneliussen were the others, in the indoor ice meeting at Telford yesterday when he claimed the British Open Championship with a 15 point maximum during the evening session (writes Neil Evans).

"I'm absolutely delighted with this win and hopefully it is a good omen for the 2005 season," said the 20-year-old Dane who is due to meet Wasps promoter Tim Stone tomorrow to complete his contract for the coming season.

It had not been an easy ride for the Dane who struggled to get his bike going before the start of the afternoon session due to ignition problems. Once that was sorted, Lund chipped in with 8+1 from four rides and Korneliussen 9+1 in a 44-34 victory for the Rest of the World side over an England septet that included Atkin.

"It was really good fun out there even though the racing was very competitive," said Korneliussen who was involved in three 5-1s, two with Mario Jirout and one with Jan Staechmann, in the latter stages of the meeting that swung the result.

"I learned from my first ride and after that I had a much smoother ride. I was getting to the first turns in a good position and that enabled me to control the races a bit easier.

"The bike went well all day and I've really enjoyed it".

Atkin reached the final of the Best Pairs event, the second part of the afternoon session, along with partner Jack Hargreaves but had to settle for runners-up behind Stephan Katt and Jirout.

"I got my wheels in front in the final and tried to slow Mario up to let Jack through. But Mario was too quick for that and the better pairing won," said Atkin.

Lund had established himself as a threat to Staechmann's hopes of winning the championship three times on the trot and the two Danes were unbeaten when they clashed in heat 11. A pile-up at the first turn left Lund nursing a foot injury after it got caught in Ronnie Correy's wheel as Lund explained: "I was lucky not to do more damage because my foot was jammed tight.

"It was very painful and the impact ripped my kevlars and the boot as well. But it wasn't going to stop me going out again".

Lund won the rerun off the inside gate position and went on to complete his maximum by beating Les Collins in heat 15 and Katt in heat 19. "We had a very good set-up for the bike which I'm not going to tell anyone about and once we had sorted out the early ignition problems, it worked a treat all day.

"I'm really pleased with the way things have fallen in to place for me today and hopefully I'll be asked to go back next year to defend the title."

Results England 34: L Collins 5, A Smith 3+3, S Tacey 4, C Harris 10, T Atkin 5+2, J Robertson 2+1, J Hargreaves 5. Rest of the world 44: J Staechmann 11+1, K Lund 8+1, R Correy 1, M Korneliussen 9+1, M Jirout 6+2, S Katt 8+1, K Pecyna 1. Best pairs: M Jirout and S Katt beat T Atkin and J Hargreaves. British Open Championship: K Lund 15, J Staechmann 14, Aidan Collins 13. (M Korneliussen 10, T Atkin 6).