Monthly Archives: June 2014

Vortex Hammers Co-Promoter Jon Cook hailed his sides performance tonight, as they fought back from an eight point deficit after heat six, to  take a 47-43 victory over  the King’s Lynn Stars. Speaking after watching the Hammers end the 14 match unbeaten run of the league leaders, Cook commented:

“That was a performance of pure guts, effort and determination from all of the five Hammers and our guest Ben Barker, and it ranks up there as one of the best results in the Douglas/Cook 8 year era in charge of the Hammers.”

With the Hammers operating Rider Replacement for the injured  Davey Watt, the meeting began with two shared heats, the first with Niels Kristian Iversen taking a tapes to flag victory over stand in Hammers skipper Richard Lawson and Peter Karlsson.  The impressive Lewis Blackbird got the better of Hammers reserves Ellis and Morley in heat two, before the Stars mimicked the usual Hammers early meeting domination, with Nicholls and Schlein taking a maximum heat advantage over Karlsson and Bech, with the later hitting the fourth bend air fence as he chased Schlein for all four laps.

Reserve replacement Blackbird again led from the tapes in heat four with Barker slotting in behind, whilst Morley struggled machine problems, retiring on the third lap.  A shared heat in the fifth, with Schlein sharp from the gates was quickly followed by a second heat advantage for the Stars in the sixth, when Bech was squeezed out on the second bend, leaving  Barker to hold off Iversen, as Nicholls dissappeared into the distance.

Eight points down, and the Hammers began their fightback. First when Lawson dominated heat seven, with Ellis slotting behind Lambert, before Bech and Barker then led from the second bend in the next race to produce a much needed 5-1 to the Hammers, ahead of Schlein.

Blackbird again domintated the second reserves race in heat nine, before Bech and Lawson teamed up for a pulsating race of the night in the 10th, with the Hammers Danish star acting as rear gunner and swapping places with both Schlein and Nicholls before following his skipper home to edge the Hammers in front for the first time of the night.

Peter Karlsson continued the revival, taking victory over Iversen in the eleventh, as Bech got the better of Lambert who took a nasty looking tumble on the third bend of the final lap.

Lawson capped a great Captains performance on the night in the following race, shepherding Morley home for a maximum heat victory over Blackbird. With the Hammers now eight points to the good, the tables were suddenly turned again in the thirteenth with Iversen and Nicholls getting the better of Karlsson, to bring the lead back down to four, but Barker and reserve replacement Ben Morley wrapped up victory on the night in the penultimate heat with a final 5-1 heat advantage.

The Stars claimed a league point with their own 5-1 in the nominated heat, with Iversen eventually getting the better of Karlsson to take second place behind Nicholls, but on a night when things had looked initially worrying for The Hammers early on, they will be content to have taken the win and revenge the Stars away victory at The Raceway earlier in the season.

Scores and heat results

Lakeside = 47

1. Davey Watt R/R (PK 1′, RL 1′, MB 2′, BB 0 = 4+3)
2. Richard Lawson 2, 1′, 3, 3, 2′ = 11+2
3. Mikkel Bech 0, 0, 3, 2′, 1, 0 = 6+1
4. Ben Barker (G) 2, 2, 2′, 0, 3 = 9+1
5. Peter Karlsson 1′, 1, 2, 3, 1, 1 = 9+1
6. Ben Morley 1′, R, 2, 3, 2′ = 8+2
7. Adam Ellis 2, 1, 1′ = 4+1

Kings Lynn = 43

1. Niels Kristian Iversen 3, 1, 2, 3, 2′ = 11+1
2. Jan Graversen (G) 0, 1, 0, 0 = 1
3. Rory Schlein 2′, 3, 1, 1 = 7+1
4. Robert Lambert 0, 2, F, 0 = 2
5. Scott Nicholls (G) 3, 3, 0, 2′, 3 = 11+1
6. Lewis Blackbird (G) 3, 3, 3, 1, 1 = 11
7. Lewis Rose 0, 0, 0 = 0

Kings Lynn win toss take 1 and 3

Heat Results

Heat 01: Iversen, Lawson, Karlsson, Graversen 3-3 59.4
Heat 02: Blackbird, Ellis, Morley, Rose 3-3 6-6 60.1
Heat 03: Nicholls, Schlein, Karlsson, Bech 1-5 7-11 59.2
Heat 04: Blackbird, Barker, Graversen, Morley ret 2-4 9-15 60.3
Heat 05: Schlein, Karlsson, Lawson, Lambert 3-3 12-18 59.3
Heat 06: Re-run Nicholls, Barker, Iversen, Bech 2-4 14-22 59.0
Heat 07: Lawson, Lambert, Ellis, Rose 4-2 18-24 59.5
Heat 08: Bech, Barker, Schlein, Graversen frem 5-1 23-25 59.4
Heat 09: Re-run Blackbird, Morley, Ellis, Rose 3-3 26-28 60.3
Heat 10: Lawson, Bech, Schlein, Nicholls 5-1 31-29 59.3
Heat 11: Karlsson, Iversen, Bech, Lambert fell 4-2 35-31 60.1
Heat 12: Morley, Lawson, Blackbird, Graversen 5-1 40-32 61.1
Heat 13: Iversen, Nicholls, Karlsson, Barker 1-5 41-37 59.3
Heat 14: Barker, Morley, Blackbird, Lambert 5-1 46-38 59.8
Heat 15: Nicholls, Iversen, Karlsson, Bech 1-5 47-43 59.2

Courtesy of @speedwayupdates and @lakesidelive

Image: Heat 1: Richard Lawson (blue), Peter Karlsson (red) and Nicklas Porsing (yellow) – Lakeside Hammers vs King’s Lynn Stars, Elite League Speedway at the Arena Essex – 19/05/14 –  CREDIT: Rob Newell/TGSPHOTO