Vortex Hammers see off Lions resistance

The Vortex Lakeside Hammers continued their early season run of form with a 52-42  victory over a Leicester Lions team, who continued to take the fight to the end of the meeting.

In a similar fashion to the previous weeks fixture, the Hammers took control of the opening half of the evening, but The Lions dug deep in their first appearance at The Raceway,  forcing their way back into the meeting and leaving the Essex based club with work to do to secure the three points.

The Hammers initially opened up a ten point lead after the first three heats, which included the return of former Hammer Peter Ljung in the Lions side.  The following two heats were shared, first with Hammer Mikkel Bech taking the chequered flag, before Mads Korneliussen then got the better of Peter Karlsson and Lewis Bridger.

The Hammers took a heat advantage in heat six, with Captain Davey Watt delivering a great first bend, before the Lions then nominated Simon Stead for the first of two consectutive heat tactical rides for the Midlands team. As Richard Lawson lead from the front in heat 7, Hammers fast track star Adam Ellis almost caught  Stead, whilst in heat 8, Ljung in the black and white helmet, lead from the tapes before making a mistake on the exit of the second bend, which allowed Watt through to take the victory as Lions riders Ljung and Korneliussen worked to keep Bech at the back.

Negotiating both tacticals to only a two point deficit, and with a ten point advantage moving into the second half of the meeting, the Hammers then allowed the Lions to creep back into contention, rather than delivering the final blow.

In heat 9, Adam Ellis lifted and crashed on the fourth bend whilst leading on a 5-1 with Ben Morley, with the Southend born rider winning the shared re-run.  Peter Karlsson showed a return to form as he led from the gate in heat 10 for another shared heat, before Jason Doyle and Korneliussen showed they had dialed into the Raceway with a 5-1 advantage in heat 11.  The impressive Lawson and Ellis returned the favour in the next heat, before Doyle and Hougaard gated on a 5-1 in heat 13.  The Danish rider however also slid off on the fourth bend, with the re-run again producing a shared heat.

The Hammers looked to have sewn the points up in heat 14 as Ellis and Bech led on a 5-1 before the young Hammer reserve took another nasty looking tumble, this time on the second bend.  The resulting shared heat left the Lions in with a chance of gaining a point from the meeting, however a classy first bend move from Karlsson in the final nominated heat 15, relegated Korneliussen to the back resulting in a final shared heat  enabling the Hammers to take all three points and an early lead of the Elite League table.

Scores and heat results.
Lakeside Hammers = 52

1. Peter Karlsson 2*, 2, 3, 2, 2 = 11+1
2. Richard Lawson 3, 3, 0, 3 = 9
3. Davey Watt 3, 3, 3, 0, 1* = 10+1
4. Mikkel Bech 3, 1, 0, 3 = 7
5. Lewis Bridger 2*, 1*, 1, 1* = 5+3
6. Ben Morley 1, 0, 3 = 4
7. Adam Ellis 3, 1, Fx, 2*, F = 6+1

Leicester Lions = 42

1. Jason Doyle 1, 0, 3, 3, 3 = 10
2. Peter Ljung R, 2, 4!, 0 = 6
3. Mads Korneliussen 1, 3, 1*, 1*, 0 = 6+2
4. Simon Stead 0, 4!, 2*, 2 = 8+1
5. Patrick Hougaard 0, 2, 2, Fx = 4
6. Max Clegg 0, 0, 2, 1* = 3+1
7. Tom Perry 2, 1*, 1*, 1 = 5+2

Heat Results

Heat 01: Lawson, Karlsson, Doyle, Ljung (R) 5-1 (5-1) 59.6
Heat 02: Ellis, Perry, Morley, Clegg 4-2 (9-3) 61.6
Heat 03: Watt, Bridger, Korneliussen, Hougaard 5-1 (14-4) 59.6
Heat 04: Re Run: Bech, Ljung, Perry, Morley 3-3 (17-7) 60.0
Heat 05: Korneliussen, Karlsson, Bridger, Stead 3-3 (20-10) 60.3
Heat 06: Watt, Hougaard, Bech, Doyle 4-2 (24-12) 59.7
Heat 07: Lawson, Stead, Ellis, Clegg 4-4 (28-16) 60.1
Heat 08: Watt, Ljung, Korneliussen, Bech 3-5 (31-21) 60.1
Heat 09: Re Run: Morley, Clegg, Perry, Ellis (Fx) 3-3 (34-24) 61.3
Heat 10: Karlsson, Hougaard, Korneliussen, Lawson 3-3 (37-27) 59.9
Heat 11: Doyle, Stead, Bridger, Watt 1-5 (38-32) 60.1
Heat 12: Lawson, Ellis, Perry, Ljung 5-1 (43-33) 60.1
Heat 13: Re Run: Doyle, Karlsson, Bridger, Hougaard (Fx) 3-3 (46-36) 60.2
Heat 14: Bech, Stead, Clegg, Ellis (F) 3-3 (49-39) Awarded
Heat 15: Doyle, Karlsson, Watt, Korneliussen 3-3 (52-42) 60.0

Courtesy of @speedwayupdates

Image: Richard Lawson of Lakeside Hammers –  CREDIT: Rob Newell/TGSPHOTO