Vortex Hammers see off Bees fightback

The Vortex Lakeside Hammers maintained their unbeaten home run, with a close 51-44 victory tonight over the Coventry Bees, in an entertaining meeting which contained numerous good races and passes.

The Bee’s opened their account in heat one, with Hans Anderson gating and keeping Peter Karlsson honest, with Richard Lawson losing out  to the impressive Coventry guest Max Fricke, in the fight for third place.  The away team looked to enhance their lead in heat 2, after Morley slid off on the third bend, but determined perseverance  from Hammers reserve guest Steve Worrall, saw him snatch the win from Jason Garrity on the line for a shared result.

The Hammers finally got into their stride in the third heat, with Davey Watt leading from the second bend, followed by a great ride from Lewis Bridger on the third lap to join his partner at the front, and push the Hammers into the lead for the first time.  Bech and Morley increased that lead further with Bech getting the better of Fricke in heat four.

Karlsson and Bridger teamed up in heat five to deliver a further 5-1 heat advantage, with Bridger hunting down and then passing Fisher in an excellent move. Davey Watt then became the only Hammers rider to get the better of Anderson, with a tapes to flag victory in the sixth, to increase the score to 10 points.

The Bees nominated Kenneth Hanson for a tactical ride in the seventh, and despite Richard Lawson taking the victory, Worrall was unable to catch Jason Garrity in third, resulting in a 2 point heat advantage to the Midlands team.

Mikkel Bech then delivered another barnstorming ride in the next heat, swapping places with Fricke on numerous occasions before finally partnering his skipper Watt to a 5-1 to the Hammers. The reserves race saw a further heat advantage to the Hammers with Ben Morely taking his first victory of the night.  Heat 10 saw the Bees gate on a 5-1, before Karlsson showed his pure class with a great move to take the lead from Harris on the first bend of the second lap. With Fisher then sliding off, Lawson picked up third, to give the Hammers a 16 point lead.

Anderson became the second Bees tactical nomination in heat 11, taking victory despite the close attention of Watt, whilst at the back, despite his best efforts, Bridger could find no way past Hansen. With the score reduced to nine points, the Bees suddenly found their stride and belief, with Fricke and Garrity teaming up for a first away 5-1 advantage of the night, in a great race involving Richard Lawson.

Anderson again got the better of the Hammers in heat 12, with Peter Karlsson in second and Bridger third. A further shared heat in the fourteenth, with Ben Morley keeping Garrity at the back, left the Bees needing a heat advantage in the nominated heat 15, to take a point.

As Anderson again led from the tapes, the classy Karlsson and Watt combined to keep Hansen at the back and ensure that the Hammers unbeaten run was maintained and that all three league points remained in Essex.

Hammers Co-Promoter Jon Cook, standing in for Team manager Neil Vatcher, commented after the meeting  “It got a bit squeaky at the end for the bonus point, thanks to Coventry’s use of the tactical rule, but credit to our boys for sitting on the 3-3 alls needed at the end,  and well done to Ben Morley for coming into heat 14 and taking the important scalp of the impressive Jason Garrity.”

Score and heat results.

Lakeside Hammers = 51

1. Peter Karlsson – 2, 3, 3, 2, 2 = 12
2. Richard Lawson – 0, 3, 1, 1 = 5
3. Davey Watt – 3, 3, 3, 0, 1′ = 10+1
4. Mikkel Bech – 3, 1, 2′, 2 = 8+1
5. Lewis Bridger – 2′, 2′, 2, 1′ = 7+3
6. Ben Morley – F, 1, 3, 0, 1′ = 5+1
7. Steve Worrall (G) – 3, 0, 1 = 4

Coventry Bees = 44

1. Hans Andersen – 3, 2, 6^, 3, 3 = 17
2. Max Fricke (G) – 1, 2, 1, 3 = 7
3. Ryan Fisher – 0, 1, 0, F = 1
4. Kenneth Hansen – 0, 4^, 1, 3, 0 = 8
5. Chris Harris – 1, 0, 2, 0 = 3
6. Jason Garrity – 2, 1′, 2, 2′, 0 = 7+2
7. James Sarjeant – 1, 0, 0 = 1

Heat Results

Heat 01: Andersen, Karlsson, Fricke, Lawson. (2-4)…59.1
Heat 02: Worrall, Garrity, Sarjeant, Morley (Fell). (3-3)…5-7…61.6
Heat 03: Watt, Bridger, Harris, Fisher. (5-1)…10-8…58.8
Heat 04: Bech, Fricke, Morley, Sarjeant. (4-2)…14-10…59.7
Heat 05: Karlsson, Bridger, Fisher, Hansen. (5-1)…19-11…59.4
Heat 06: Watt, Andersen, Bech, Harris. (4-2)…23-13…58.9
Heat 07: Lawson, HANSEN, Garrity, Worrall. (3-5)…26-18…59.9
Heat 08: Watt, Bech, Fricke, Fisher. (5-1)…31-19…59.5
Heat 09 (Re-Run): Morley, Garrity, Worrall, Sarjeant. (4-2)…35-21…60.6
Heat 10: Karlsson, Harris, Lawson, Fisher (Fell). (4-2)…39-23…59.9
Heat 11: ANDERSEN, Bridger, Hansen, Watt. (2-7)…41-30…59.6
Heat 12: Fricke, Garrity, Lawson, Morley. (1-5)…42-35…60.7
Heat 13: Andersen, Karlsson, Bridger, Harris. (3-3)…45-38…59.8
Heat 14: Hansen, Bech, Morley, Garrity. (3-3)…48-41…60.0
Heat 15: Andersen, Karlsson, Watt, Hansen. (3-3)…51-44…59.8

Courtesy of speedway updates

Image: Peter Karlsson of Lakeside Hammers – Lakeside Hammers vs Eastbourne Eagles, Elite League Speedway at the Arena Essex Raceway. CREDIT: Rob Newell/TGSPHOTO