Pirates held at bay
Much-fancied Poole arrived amidst fanfare but were seen off by a fired-up Hammers, who held on for two Elite League points despite losing many advantages throughout the course of the meeting.
The Pirates, pre-season league favourites, swept up the consolation point in the last race thanks to the dynamic Australian duo of Chris Holder and Darcy Ward, who were pretty much the visitor’s key to remaining in touch throughout this contest. Indeed, if it hadn’t been for several points gifted from the Hammers then the margin of victory for the home side would have been much greater.
The interest started as early as the first heat when Lee Richardson took the lead from Holder only to hand it back a couple of laps later when he hit the backstraight fence. Little over a lap later Kauko Nieminen suffered a third place engine failure, turning a home 4-2 into an equivalent margin for the Pirates.
Hammers were well served by their reserves in this meeting and the lower order duo got off to a great start in heat two, both Rob Mear and Stuart Robson finding a way past race leader and Purfleet debutant Dennis Andersson for a home 5-1.
The next few heats were a close run affair with Robson falling in heat four but with the home side building a six point lead two heats later when both Richardson and Nieminen got the better of Davey Watt. Watt did recover from a disastrous start to this heat to chase down Nieminen and almost produced a classic finish, narrowly faltering during the race to the line.
There was disaster for Peter Ljung in heat seven when he crashed out in the lead, particularly as Ward was floundering in the minor positions. Perhaps typically, the re-run saw the Pirates claim a 5-1 although Mear did put together a great effort in chasing them down.
Robson and Nieminen produced another from-the-back 5-1 in heat eight, overhauling early race leader Dennis Andersson, but the homeside again lost points when Richardson was judged to have help Jason Doyle off on the second turn of the ten and was excluded, much to the chagrin of the home faithful.
The Hammers restored their six point advantage following Adam Shields’ defeat of Ward in twelve and, following a shared race in thirteen, the home side make certain of victory in the penultimate race thanks to a 5-1 from Mear and Piotr Swiderski.
Lakeside Hammers 48
1. Lee Richardson - 2 3 X 1* R = 6+1 2. Kauko Nieminen - R 2* 2* 2 = 6+2 3. Adam Shields - 2 3 2 3 1 = 11 4. Piotr Swiderski - 1* 1 1* 3 = 6+2 5. Peter Ljung - 2 X 2 2 = 6 6. Robert Mear - 2* 1 1* 2* = 6+3 7. Stuart Robson - 3 0 3 1 = 7
Poole Pirates 42
1. Chris Holder - 3 2 3 3 3 = 14 2. Renat Gafurov - 1 0 0 0 = 1 3. Darcy Ward - 3 2* 3 2 2*= 12+2 4. Jason Doyle - 0 3 1 1 = 5 5. Davey Watt - 3 1 3 0 = 7 6. Dennis Andersson - 1 0 1 0 0 = 2 7. Kyle Newman - 0 1 F = 1
Heat Results
Heat 01: Holder, Richardson, Gafurov, Nieminen (ret) (2-4) 58.5 Heat 02: Robson, Mear, Andersson, Newman (5-1) (7-5) 59.5 Heat 03: Ward, Shields, Swiderski, Doyle (3-3) (10-8) 58.5 Heat 04: Watt, Ljung, Newman, Robson (fell rem) (2-4) (12-12) 58.8 Heat 05: Shields, Holder, Swiderski, Gafurov (4-2) (16-14) 57.9 Heat 06: Richardson, Nieminen, Watt, Andersson (5-1) (21-15) 58.4 Heat 07: Doyle, Ward, Mear, Ljung (fell exc) (1-5) (22-20) 59.4 Heat 08: Robson, Nieminen, Andersson, Gafurov (5-1) (27-21) 59.8 Heat 09: Watt, Shields, Swiderski, Newman (fell) (3-3) (30-24) 58.7 Heat 10: Ward, Nieminen, Doyle, Richardson (exc) (2-4) (32-28) 59.3 Heat 11: Holder, Ljung, Mear, Gafurov (3-3) (35-31) 58.4 Heat 12: Shields, Ward, Robson, Andersson (4-2) (39-33) 59.2 Heat 13: Holder, Ljung, Richardson, Watt (3-3) (42-36) 58.8 Heat 14: Swiderski, Mear, Doyle, Andersson (5-1) (47-37) 59.9 Heat 15: Holder, Ward, Shields, Richardson (ret) (1-5) (48-42) 59.2
Picture: Heat 11: Peter Ljung (red), Chris Holder (white) and Renat Gafurov (yellow) – Lakeside Hammers vs Poole Pirates, Elite League Speedway at the Arena Essex Raceway, Purfleet – 06/05/11 – (Rob Newell/TGSPHOTO)