Vortex Hammers claim a point at Wolves

The Vortex Lakeside Hammers left Wolverhampton with an Elite League point, losing 48-42, on a night when they remained in contention throughout the meeting.

Stars of the show for the Hammers were Captain Davey Watt,  who led by example with 11 points, track specialist Peter Karlsson with 9 and reserve guest Steve Worrall, who used his experienced gained from racing at the Monmore Green track in the National League, with 8 paid 10.

With World Champion Tai Woffinden having an off night, matched by the Hammers Lewis Bridger throughout his scheduled rides, the match swung too and fro, first with The Hammers, who established a four point lead after heat 5.

A first bend mistake by Karlsson after leading from the gate in heat 6, levelled the meeting when the Wolves riders led for a home maximum advantage. The Hammers regained a slender lead in the 8th heat, with Watt and Lawson combining for a 4-2. and could have extended this further with Worrall and Morley leading on a 5-1 in the nineth, before race was stopped after Jacobs fell, with the re-run delivering a 4-2.

Proctor and Pawlicki teamed up to get the better of Karlsson in heat 11, with Bech suffering from ignition problems, to level the score again, before the home team took consecutive 4-2 heat advantages in the 13th and 14th to lead into the nominated race by 4 points.

With a 5-1 to the Hammers needed to salvage a draw, Piotr Pawlicki again led Karlsson home, with Wells picking up third, ahead of Watt.

Scores and heat results.

Wolverhampton Wolves = 48

1. Tai Woffinden – R , 1′ , 2 , 1 = 4+1
2. Jacob Thorssell – 1 , 2 , 1′ , 3 = 7+1
3. Ty Proctor – 1 , 2′ , 0 , 3 = 6+1
4. Ricky Wells – 3 , 3 , 2 , 3 , 1 = 12
5. Piotr Pawlicki – 3 , 2 , 2′ , 3 , 3 = 13+1
6. Joe Jacobs – 0 , 0 , F/X , (AM – 0) = 0
7. Ashley Morris – 2 , 1′ , 2 , 0 , 1 = 6+1

Lakeside Hammers = 42

1. Peter Karlsson – 3 , 1 , 1 , 2 , 2 = 9
2. Richard Lawson – 2′ , 2 , 1 , 2 = 7+1
3. Davey Watt – 2 , 3 , 3 , 3 , 0 = 11
4. Mikkel Bech – 0 , 3 , R , 2 = 5
5. Lewis Bridger – R , R , R , (BM – 0) = 0
6. Ben Morley – 1 , 0 , 1 , 0 , (SW – 0) = 2
7. Steve Worrall (Guest) – 3 , 1′ , 3 , 1′ , 0 = 8+2

Heat Results

Heat 01: Karlsson, Lawson, Thorssell, Woffinden – Retired 1-5 Time: 54.11
Heat 02: Worrall, Morris, Morley, Jacobs 2-4 3-9 Time: 56.29
Heat 03: Pawlicki, Watt, Proctor, Bridger – Retired 4-2 7-11 Time: 54.68
Heat 04: Wells, Lawson, Worrall, Jacobs 3-3 10-14 Time: 55.60
Heat 05: Watt, Pawlicki, Woffinden, Bach 3-3 13-17 Tim: 54.98
Heat 06: Wells, Proctor, Karlsson, Bridger – Retired 5-1 18-18 Time: 55.44
Heat 07: Bech, Thorssell, Morris, Morley 3-3 21-21 Time: 56.13
Heat 08: Watt, Wells, Lawson, Proctor 2-4 23-25 Time: 55.18
Heat 09: Worrall, Morris, Morley 2-4 25-29 Time: 57.25 (Jacobs – Fell / Excluded)
Heat 10: Watt, Woffinden, Thorssell, Bridger – Retired 3-3 28-32 Time: 56.16
Heat 11: Proctor, Pawlicki, Karlsson, Bech – Retired 5-1 33-33 Time: 56.39
Heat 12: Thorssell, Lawson, Worrall, Morris 3-3 36-36 Time: 56.77
Heat 13: Pawlicki, Karlsson, Woffinden, Morley 4-2 40-38 Time: 56.03
Heat 14: Wells, Bech, Morris, Worrall 4-2 44-40 Time: 56.83
Heat 15: Pawlicki, Karlsson, Wells, Watt 4-2 48-42 Time: 55.87