Vortex Hammers see off the Panthers challenge

On a blustery evening, The Vortex Lakeside Hammers eventually eased to a 51-39 victory against a dogged and determined Peterborough side.

The away team, who like the Hammers were fresh from a confidence building victory against the Poole Pirates, started proceedings brightly with heat victories in the first two races, with Hammers pairings packing the minor placings.  The home team then took heat advantages in the following two heats to open an initial four point lead, before the away team hit back with their own 5-1 in heat 6, with impressive Panthers reserve Patrick Hougarrd taking second place behind Kenni Larsen.

The Vortex Hammers hit back with successive heat advantages, first in heat 7, with Captain Davey Watt returning to home action following his recent injury layoff, leading from the front, followed in heat 8 with home pairing Kim Nilsson continuing his recent form delivering a 5-1 with Robert Mear, against Nicolai Klindt and Hougarrd.

Hougarrd returned to the action again in heat 9, in what would be a busy night  for the Panthers Danish reserve,  teaming up again with Larsen to deliver a reverse 5-1, reducing the deficit back to 2 points.  The Vortex Hammers Swedish pairing of Peter Karlsson and Kim Nilsson returned the favour in heat 10 with a hard fought back straight, to re-establish a 6 point gap, which was maintained until heat 13, when a 4-2 from Rider of the month Karlsson and skipper Watt gained further breathing space.

Heat 14 delivered one of the races of the night, with man of the match Robert Mear regaining the form that had deserted him during the Hammers previous two away trips, teaming up with the consistent Piotr Swiderski to deliver a final 5-1 to see off the Panthers challenge.

The victory and the three points gained, moves the Vortex Hammers up to 5th in the Elite League table, one point behind the Birmingham Brummies, who are the next opponents at the Raceway, this coming Friday the 17th of May.

#RICO – gone but never forgotten.

Scores and heat results:

Lakeside Hammers = 51

1. Peter Karlsson 2, 1, 3, 3, 1* = 10+1
2. Kim Nilsson 1*, 0, 3, 2* = 6+2
3. Lewis Bridger 1, 1*, 0, 1* = 3+2
4. Piotr Swiderski 3, 2, 1, 2*, 2 = 10+1
5. Davey Watt 3, 3, 3, 1 = 10
6. Richard Lawson 1*, 1, 0 = 2+1
7. Robert Mear 2, 1, 2*, 2, 3 = 10+1

Peterborough Panthers = 39

1. Kenneth Bjerre 3, 3, 2, 2, 3 = 13
2. Nicolai Klindt 0, 0, 0 = 0
3. Ryan Fisher F, 2, 1, 3, Fx = 6
4. Linus Sundstrom 2, 0, 0 = 2
5. Kenni Larsen 2, 3, 3, 0 = 8
6. Patrick Hougaard 3, 2*, 1, 2*, 1*, 0, 1 = 10+3
7. Dakota North 0, F, 0 = 0

Heat Results

Heat 01: Bjerre, Karlsson, Nilsson, Klindt 3-3 3-3 59.4
Heat 02: Hougaard, Mear, Lawson, North 3-3 6-6 59.8
Heat 03: Swiderski, Sundstrom, Bridger, Fisher (F) 4-2 10-8 59.0
Heat 04: Watt, Larsen, Mear, North (F) 4-2 14-10 58.6
Heat 05: Bjerre, Swiderski, Bridger, Klindt 3-3 17-13 59.0
Heat 06: Larsen, Hougaard, Karlsson, Nilsson 1-5 18-18 59.0
Heat 07: Watt, Fisher, Lawson, Sundstrom 4-2 22-20 59.3
Heat 08: Nilsson, Mear, Hougaard, Klindt 5-1 27-21 60.2
Heat 09: Larsen, Hougaard, Swiderski, Bridger 1-5 28-26 59.6
Heat 10: Karlsson, Nilsson, Fisher, Sundstrom 5-1 33-27 59.8
Heat 11: Watt, Bjerre, Hougaard, Lawson 3-3 36-30 59.4
Heat 12: Fisher, Mear, Bridger, Hougaard 3-3 39-33 60.2
Heat 13: Karlsson, Bjerre, Watt, Larsen 4-2 43-35 59.5
Heat 14: Mear, Swiderski, Hougaard, North 5-1 48-36 60.2
Heat 15: Bjerre, Swiderski, Karlsson, Fisher (exl) 3-3 51-39 59.3

Images: Heat 4: Davey Watt (red), Robert Mear (blue) and Kenni Larsen (white) – Lakeside Hammers vs Peterborough Panthers, at the Arena Essex Raceway, Pufleet – 10/05/13 –  CREDIT: Rob Newell/TGSPHOTO

Lakeside Hammers Rider of the Month Peter Karlsson – Lakeside Hammers vs Peterborough Panthers, Elite League Speedway at the Arena Essex Raceway, Pufleet – 10/05/13 –  CREDIT: Rob Newell/TGSPHOTO