Revenge for The Hammers

The Lakeside Vortex Hammers revenged their defeat in Norfolk earlier in the week, with a 51-39 victory over the King’s Lynn Stars at The Raceway.  In front of a healthy Good Friday crowd, the star of the show for The Hammers was Richard Lawson, who scorched to a paid Maximum including three victories over GP Star Niels Kristian Iversen. The Cumbrian was backed by a solid display from Edward Kennett, the fast starting Kim Nilsson and some great team riding from Hammers Skipper Andreas Jonsson.

Iversen started the meeting with victory in heat one, when he passed the quick gating Nilsson on the second lap, with 16 year old Robert Lambert keeping Jonsson at the back. The Hammers then regained the advantage in the first reserves race, with Ellis taking the chequered flag, followed by reserve guest Steve Boxhall who rode a determined first bend to move both Lynn riders out wide.

Lawson secured his first victory of the afternoon in the second running of heat 3, keeping Shlein at bay. Heat 4 saw a second shared heat with Kennett taking first, although Boxall had been holding 2nd until he overcooked it on the second bend.  Nilsson again led from the gate for a further shared heat 5, before Iversen took his second race win in the 6th, ahead of the chasing Kennett and the off-colour Bech.

Heat 7 saw the Hammers increase their advantage, when Lawson swept round the first and second bends  join Jonsson at the front.  Some controlled team riding kept the chasing Shlein at bay, although he was close to catching the Hammers Vice Captain in the dash for the line.

Kennett and Lambert clashed on the first bend of the 8th, with both riders coming down.  The resulting  re-run saw all four back, with the Hammers number 4 take victory in a shared race. Nilsson popped from the gate in heat 9, before Lawson got the better of Iversen in the 10th, to leave the Hammers 8 points up as they entered the final third of the meeting.

Heat 11 saw a great battle between Jonsson and Bjerre with the Dane challenging throughout. Boxall and Kerr replicated this in the next heat, with the Hammers guest leading the King’s Lynn reserve until lifting on the home straight of lap 3 allowing Kerr through.  Boxall fought back neatly sweeping past Kerr on the entry to the second bend of the last lap, to take victory.

Lawson continued his great gating in the 13th heat, increasing the gap between himself and Iversen, with Jonsson in hot pursuit. The resulting 4-2 heat advantage left the Hammers 10 points to the good with two heats remaining.

Schlein took victory over Nilsson in the penultimate heat, and with Bech retiring the Stars were still in with a shout of an away point.  Lawson and Jonsson had other ideas however, showing fantastic team riding in the nominated heat 15, delivering a final maximum heat advantage for The Hammers and the full Elite League points.

Hammers Co-Promoter Jon Cook commented:

“I gave Rich the nickname ‘Awesome Lawson’, but today he was even better than that!  The team made amends for Tuesday and the unbelievable team riding of AJ, twice, were like a throwback to days of old school racing. Once Mikkel and Adam find their consistency, we will be a team to fear”

Click here to listen to a BBC London Sport interview with Hammers Co-Promoter Jon Cook.

Scores and heat results.

Lakeside Hammers :: 51
1. Andreas Jonsson – 0 3 3 1 2′ = 9+1
2. Kim Nilsson – 2 3 3 0 = 8
3. Mikkel Bech – 1 1′ 0 R = 2+1
4. Edward Kennett – 3 2 3 2 = 10
5. Richard Lawson – 3 2′ 3 3 3 = 14+1 Paid Maximum
6. Adam Ellis – 3 R 0 R = 3
7. Steve Boxall (G) – 2′ R 0 3 = 5+1

Kings Lynn Stars :: 39
1. Niels Kristian Iversen – 3 3 2 2 0 = 10
2. Robert Lambert – 1 2 1′ 1′ = 5+2
3. Rory Schlein – 2 1 1′ 3 1 = 8+1
4. Kevin Doolan (G) – 2 0 2 1 = 5
5. Kenneth Bjerre – 0 0 2 0 = 2
6. Lewis Kerr – 1 1′ 2 1′ 2 = 7+2
7. Ashley Morris – 0 1′ 1′ = 2+2

Heat Results

Lakeside win the toss and will choose in heat 15.
Kingslynn off gates 1&3.

Heat 01: Iversen, Nilsson, Lambert, Jonsson 2-4 (2-4) 60.0
Heat 02: Ellis, Boxall, Kerr, Morris 5-1 (7-5) 61.1
Heat 03: Lawson, Schlein, Bech, Bjerre 4-2 (11-7) 60.1
Heat 04: Kennett, Doolan, Morris, Boxall (R) 3-3 (14-10) 61.0
Heat 05: Nilsson, Lambert, Kerr, Ellis (R) 3-3 (17-13) 59.5
Heat 06: Iversen, Kennett, Bech, Bjerre 3-3 (20-16) 59.4
Heat 07: Jonsson, Lawson, Schlein, Doolan 5-1 (25-17) 59.9
Heat 08: Kennett, Kerr, Lambert, Boxall 3-3 (28-20) 60.5
Heat 09: Nilsson, Doolan, Kerr, Ellis 3-3 (31-23) 59.3
Heat 10: Lawson, Iversen, Lambert, Bech 3-3 (34-26) 59.2
Heat 11: Jonsson, Bjerre, Schlein, Nilsson 3-3 (37-29) 60.2
Heat 12: Boxall, Kerr, Morris, Ellis (R) 3-3 (40-32) 60.1
Heat 13: Lawson, Iversen, Jonsson, Bjerre 4-2 (44-34) 59.3
Heat 14: Schlein, Kennett, Doolan, Bech (R) 2-4 (46-38) 59.4
Heat 15: Lawson, Jonsson, Schlein, Iversen 5-1 (51-39) 59.7

Courtesy of @lakesidelive and @speedwayupdates.

Image:

Heat 13: Richard Lawson (blue) and Andreas Jonsson (red) – Lakeside Hammers vs Leicester Lions, Elite League Speedway at the Arena Essex Raceway. CREDIT: Rob Newell/TGSPHOTO