Panthers sent packing

The Hammers kept their quest for the Elite League play-offs very much alive with this 40 point annihilation of Peterborough Panthers to claim their biggest win of the season.

The home side were forced to track two guests in Tyron Proctor and Nicolai Klindt to cover gaps left by their recent injury woes – but as well as those guests performed, so Peterborough’s long tail was exposed as they struggled to just a single race win all evening.

Led by a sparkling maximum from Lee Richardson, it was arguably the skipper’s young reserve team mate Robert Mear who was the star of the show, remaining unbeaten after his first five rides to earn his reward in the final race only to see his run come to an end. Despite this, it was a hugely entertaining performance from Mear who was forceful on the opening laps in most of his races as he fought for his position on the track.

The opening four races were a near repeat of Panthers’ earlier visit in July when they conceded each of the heats to maximums – this was slightly better but only to the tune of a couple of points  as Linus Sundstrom split Kauko Nieminen and Kim Nilsson in heat three.

An early tactical ride for Sundstrom failed to pay dividends in heat five as he took an early lead but was picked off by Mear and the determined Nieminen, who also enjoyed a bumper points night.

It wasn’t until Troy Batchelor’s second place when riding as Panthers’ second tactical of the evening did the first shared race of the night occur – and two heats later Batchelor claimed the only heat win of the evening for his side when he got the better of Nilsson and Klindt.

The Hammers finished with a brace of heat advantages, the highlight of which as far as racing was concerned was in the penultimate heat fourteen when Sundstrom was passed by Nilsson but Nieminen was denied a maximum in third place despite plenty of effort.

Lakeside Hammers = 66

1. Lee Richardson     3, 3, 3, 3, 3    = 15
2. Ty Proctor (G)     2*,1, 2*,2*      = 7+3
3. Rider Replacement
4. Kauko Nieminen     3, 2*,3, 3, 1    = 12+1
5. Nicolai Klindt (G) 3, 3, 1, 1*,2*   = 10+2
6. Kim Nilsson        2*,1, 1, 2, 3    = 9+1
7. Robert Mear        3, 2*,3, 3, 2*,R = 13+2

Peterborough Panthers = 26

1. Rider Replacement
2. Magnus Karlsson (G) 0, 0, 1, X        = 1
3. Norbert Kosciuch    1, 0, 0, 1        = 2
4. Linus Sundstrom     2, 1, 2, 1, 2, 1* = 9+1
5. Troy Batchelor      1, 2, 4^,3, X, 2  = 12
6. Kacper Gomolski     1, 0, 0, 0, 0, R  = 1
7. Richard Lawson      0, 0, 0, 1        = 1

Heat Results

Heat 01: Richardson, Proctor, Koscuich, Karlsson 59.0 (5-1)
Heat 02: Mear, Nilsson, Gomolski, Lawson 59.2 (5-1) (10-2)
Heat 03: Niemenen, Sundstrom, Nilsson, Koscuich 59.5 (4-2) (14-4)
Heat 04: Klindt, Mear, Bachelor, Lawson 59.2 (5-1) (19-5)
Heat 05: Mear, Niemenen, Sundstrom (tactical ride), Karlsson 59.6 (5-1) (24-6)
Heat 06: Richardson, Bachelor, Proctor, Gomolski 58.8 (4-2) (28-8)
Heat 07: Klindt, Sundstrom, Nilsson, Koscuich 59.3 (4-2) (32-10)
Heat 08: Mear, Proctor, Karlsson, lawson 59.2 (5-1) (37-11)
Heat 09: Niemenen, Bachelor (tactical ride), Klindt, Gomolski 59.5 (4-4) (41-15)
Heat 10: Richardson, Proctor, Sundstrom, Gomolski 59.2 (5-1) (46-16)
Heat 11: Bachelor, Nilsson, Klindt, Karlsson (Fx) 59.4 (3-3) (49-19)
Heat 12: Niemenen, Mear, Koscuich, Gomolski 59.8 (5-1) (54-20)
Heat 13: Richardson, Klindt, Lawson, Bachelor (fell exc), Gomolski (fell n/s) 59.6 (5-1) (59-21)
Heat 14: Nilsson, Sundstrom, Niemenen, Gomolski (ret) 59.9 (4-2) (63-23)
Heat 15: Richardson, Batchelor, Sundstrom, Mear (ret) 58.9 (3-3) (66-26)

Picture: Heat 5: Rob Mear of Lakeside celebrates his heat win – Lakeside Hammers vs Peterborough Panthers – Elite League Speedway at Arena Essex Raceway – 19/08/11 – (Gavin Ellis/TGSPHOTO)