Hammers back in the winning groove

The Lakeside Hammers got back into the winning groove with a comprehensive 59-36 point victory over the King’s Lynn Stars, banishing the memories of their Monday night defeat at the hands of Swindon.

On a superbly prepared track, which produced numerous good races, heat leaders Peter Karlsson and Davey Watt lead the way with 17 and 13 points respectively, with good back up from the entire team, noticeably Robert Mear and the back in form Kim Nilsson.

After the two opening heats were shared, Karlsson and Mear combined to deliver the first 5-1 of the night in heat 3, quickly followed by a second maximum heat win in heat 6 from Davey Watt & Kauko Nieminen.

From this point on, the Hammers began to extend their lead, with Swedish pairing Karlsson & Nilsson delivering a further 5-1 in heat 9. A 14 point lead for the Hammers at this stage enabled the visitors to take their first tactical ride in heat 10, with Janowski wearing the chequered helmet cover. Despite being relegated to fourth after the second bend of the first lap, Davey Watt delivered one of the races of the night, passing team mate Nieminen and then hunting down and powering past the Pole for a stunning last to first victory.

A second tactical ride for the Stars in heat 11 delayed the onslaught for a while, when the impressive Niels Kristian Iversen pipped Karlsson on the line to prevent the Swede from taking a full 18 point maximum, but from that point onwards, the Hammers dominated the remaining four heats of the meeting.

Hammers Co-Promoter Jon Cook was delighted with both the result and the evening as a whole and commented “It was a night to saviour, with some stunning racing and the team back in form. The weather all around wasn’t good today and so it’s especially pleasing that ours fans who took a chance that we missed the worst of the weather were suitably entertained”

The Hammers will be looking to continue this momentum and push on from their current 3rd position in the Elite League table when they take on local rivals, the Eastbourne Eagles, at Arlington on Monday in front of the Sky Sports cameras. Somerset rider Alex Davies now rides as guest reserve for the Hammers.

Scores:

Lakeside Hammers = 59

1. Davey Watt 2, 3, 3, 3, 2′ = 13+1
2. Kauko Nieminen 1′, T, 2′, 1, 1 = 5+2
3. Peter Karlsson 3, 3, 3, 2, 3, 3 = 17
4. Kim Nilsson 2′, 0, 2′, 1, 3 = 8+2
5. Rider Replacement (KN: T. JS: 0), (RM: 2), (PK: 2), (KN: 1) = (5)
6. Justin Sedgmen 2, 0, 1′, 2′ = 5+2
7. Robert Mear 1′, 3, 2, 3, 0, 2′ = 11+2

King’s Lynn Stars = 36

1. Niels Kristian Iversen 3, 2, 6!, 2, F = 13
2. Mads Korneliussen Ex, 1′, 2, 1 = 4+1
3. Maciej Janowski 1, 3, 4!, 1, 1 = 10
4. Joe Screen 0, 0, 0 = 0
5. Daniel Nermark, 2, 1, 1, 0 = 4
6. Mateusz Szczepaniak 3, 0, 0, 1 = 4
7. Kevin Wolbert 0, 1′, 0, 0, 0 = 1+1

Heat Results

Heat 01: Re-run: Iversen, Watt, Nieminen, Korneliussen (Ex) 3-3 (3-3) 58.2
Heat 02: Szczepaniak, Sedgmen, Mear, Wolbert. 3-3 (6-6) 59.9
Heat 03: Karlsson, Nilsson, Janowski, Screen. 5-1 (11-7) 58.8
Heat 04: Re-run: Mear, Nermark, Wolbert, Sedgmen. 3-3 (14-10) 58.9
Heat 05: Karlsson, Iversen, Korneliussen, Nilsson. 3-3 (17-13) 57.9
Heat 06: Watt, Nieminen, Nermark, Szczepaniak. 5-1 (22-14) 60.2
Heat 07: Janowski, Mear, Sedgmen, Screen. 3-3 (25-17) 59.8
Heat 08: Mear, Korneliussen, Nieminen, Wolbert, 4-2 (29-19) 59.3
Heat 09: Karlsson, Nilsson, Nermark, Szczepaniak. 5-1 (34-20) 58.5
Heat 10: Watt, JANOWSKI, Nieminen, Screen. 4-4 (38-24) 59.4
Heat 11: IVERSEN, Karlsson, Korneliussen, Mear. 2-7 (40-31) 59.0
Heat 12: Karlsson, Mear, Janowski, Wolbert. 5-1 (45-32) 59.2
Heat 13: Watt, Iversen, Nilsson, Nermark. 4-2 (49-34) 58.2
Heat 14: Nilsson, Sedgmen, Szczepaniak, Wolbert. 5-1 (54-35) 59.9
Heat 15: Karlsson, Watt, Janowski, Iversen (F). 5-1 (59-36) Awarded