Cook pleased with season opener

The Lakeside Hammers hit the ground running on Friday evening at the Arena-Essex Raceway with a comfortable victory over Swindon.

Whilst off track the new sound system experienced its own first night nerves there were no such problems on track as the team led by an undefeated Captain Lee Richardson showed no ill affects from the winter layoff or the switch to new silencers.

The Hammers Co Promoter Jon Cook commented after the meeting: “We realise there are tougher tasks ahead of us but as an opener I was very pleased with the performances of our key riders Peter (Ljung), Kakke (Nieminen) and Adam (Shields) plus, of course, Lee (Richardson) was tremendous.

“At reserve Robert (Mear) showed he just needs meetings under his belt but his gating is already up to speed while Kyle (Legault) will also benefit from more track time at our Raceway. I was particularly pleased with the standard of racing and the amount of overtaking both inside and out, which flies in the face of some of the scare stories we have heard about the new silencers and I didn’t feel the noise level was lowered to a level where one’s enjoyment of the entertainment on offer was adversely affected.

“One thing we need to improve on is the new sound system, which didn’t have the flexibility needed to bring fans the level of show we expect to provide but we will put that right in time for next Friday’s League opener against Wolverhampton.”

Cook also confirmed that the Club would be making a full statement on the situation facing their Polish rider Piotr Swiderski as a result of the PZM ban on new silencers on Monday.

Picture: Heat 12 against Swindon: Kyle Legault (blue) and Cameron Woodward (white) – Elite League Challenge Speedway at Arena Essex Raceway (Gavin Ellis/TGSPHOTO)