American Brent Werner, an ever-present in Newport's New Year Classic, revelled in the rain to lift the trophy and in so doing denied Cornishman Chris Harris a hat trick of successive victories.

The seventh staging of the event - the only outdoor winter speedway meeting to be held in Britain - proved just as popular, with fans flocking to the venue, and riders defied the odds, rain falling for most of the meeting, to put on an excellent show.

But the weather did not deter fans, who were treated to excellent riding in difficult conditions, the meeting boosted by the inclusion of quad-bike racing as well as featuring two heats of Conference League riders, all from the Mavericks team.

Relieved promoter Tim Stone said: "We can only have praise for all the riders."

And it was another taste of glory for Werner, 31, from Los Angeles, because he was part of the Rye House team - along with Chris Neath - which lifted the Premier League crown last summer. Werner was runner-up in 2000 and on the rostrum for three successive years, but for the last two he failed to make the final.

But this time around he made no mistakes. From his five qualifying rides he gained 12 points - the same number as Neath - while Leigh Lanham and Harris finished on 11 points, qualifying for the winner-take-all final.

Werner won four of his heats but wobbled second time out when he failed to collect a point in heat six as Neath, his Rye House team-mate last summer, took first.

Sean Wilson, competing in the winter event for the first time, made a stunning start, winning heat two in 61.50, the fastest time of the meeting, but then suffered two last places before picking up to finish on seven points, the same number as Richard Hall, another first-time rider at the event.

Niels-Kristian Iversen, former Newport rider, second last year, just failed to make the final. He finished on ten points, picking up only one in his last qualifying ride after three second places and a heat ten victory, ahead of Lanham and Hall.

Iversen's fellow Dane, Mads Korneliussen, had an even leaner time, twice finishing in last place and ending the meeting on four points.

l Spare a thought for Newport's Neil Collins. He had a meeting to forget after an impressive start when he finished third behind Wilson, the Premier League riders' champion, and Coles, a former teammate. Collins had a real scrap with Coles and was just shaded. But then it all went downhill, suffering two engine failures and a last place before withdrawing from the meeting, giving Karl Mason a ride in heat 12. But Mason fell and was excluded from the rerun as Coles expertly laid down his machine to avoid an injury.

Collins held second place in heat five when the gremlins struck, and it was even worse in heat ten when he was leading, giving Iversen his single heat win.

Results (five rides) Chris Harris 11, Paul Clews 4, Chris Neath 12, Richard Hall 7, Sean Wilson 7, Michael Coles 5, Neil Collins 1, Mads Korneliussen 4, Leigh Lanham 11, Brent Werner 12, Niels-Kristian Iversen 10, Robbie Kessler, Karl Mason (one ride) 0. Final: Werner (63.47sec.), 2 Harris, 3 Lanham, 4 Neath.