The Lakeside Hammers riders, management and supporters were all delighted with Monday evening’s superb victory in their Sky Sports Elite League match up at Wolverhampton.
Despite falling behind in the early stages the whole team raised their games and eventually came out easy winners. The home side led by six points after just four heats and although the Hammers gained 4-2 heat wins in the sixth and seventh races the Hammers did not take the lead until heat 10, when Joonas Kylmakorpi and Adam Shields claimed a maximum 5-1 heat advantage over the Wolves No1 Fredrik Lindgren and Ales Dryml. That put the Hammers two points up but that soon doubled to four points when Andreas Jonsson defeated the in-form David Howe with the young Hammers reserve Ricky Kling picking up the point for third place.
Heat 12 was shared but the Hammers virtually sealed the valuable three League points in heat 13 when Jonsson and Jonas Davidsson claimed the 5-1. That meant the Wolves needed two maximum 5-1 heat advantages from the final two races to draw the match. The Hammers riders were all in determined moods and made absolutely safe the points when Kylmakorpi and Kling roared to another maximum heat advantage. With the scores standing at 48-36 in favour of the Hammers the outcome of the final heat was irrelevant and the home side finally gave their supporters something to cheer about by finishing on a 5-1 to make the final scoreline of 41-49 slightly more respectable for the Wolves.
For the Hammers it was a great all-round team performance and their success undoubtedly came from the fact that Hammers riders only finished in last place in three of the 15 heats.
The Hammers Co Promoter and Team Manager Jon Cook was understandably delighted with the result stating: "The lads adapted quickly and professionally to the track conditions and credit for the win must go to a solid team performance. Once again, when one rider slipped up, another team mate stepped up to the plate and put in a hero's performance. They gave me the ability to use a tactical strategy to help us win."
The Hammers owner Stuart Douglas had to miss the match as he was filming in South Africa. However he kept up to date with what was going on in Wolverhampton. He commented on the success saying: "I'm really, really proud of Jon and all the boys tonight. Wolves are no slouches but we caught them on the hop with a solid team performance. My wife and kids took relay turns giving me running commentary from the live Sky broadcast, and the celebration when we won was immense. The team that does well away from home this year will in the league. We built this team with that objective - now, hopefully, we are on our way. I'm completely thrilled."
The Hammers To Stage The Best Of British On FridayThe Arena Essex Raceway, the home of the Lakeside Hammers, are delighted to be staging the British Under 21 Final this Friday (25th April). The cream of young British Speedway talent will be on view in an event comprising of 16 riders over a total of 22 heats.
The 16 riders will compete in 20 qualification heats with each rider having five rides. The top two scorers will go straight into the final with the next four going into a ‘Last Chance’ heat with the first and second from that joining the top two in the final.
Jon Cook, the Hammers Co Promoter, commented on the staging of this prestigious event by saying: “I’m delighted that we have been given the opportunity of staging this event and I will be very interesting to see how the youngsters perform around our Raceway. I’m sure we will all be in for a very entertaining meeting as there is a lot at stake for these youngsters. They represent the future of the Sport in this Country.”
The parade of riders is scheduled for 7.45pm with the first heat at 8pm.
Admission prices are:- Adults £15
- Concessions £10,
- Children 12 to 15 £5
- Children 11 and under are FREE
A 32 page full colour programme will be available for £3.
Line-up:- Lee Strudwick, Lee Smart, Sean Stoddart, Ben Barker, Charles Wright, Tai Woffinden, Danny Betson, Steve Boxall, Joe Haines, Adam Roynon, William Lawson, Lewis Bridger, Harland Cook, Jack Roberts, Daniel Halsey, Josh Auty. Reserves:- Andrew Tully, Kyle Hughes, Gareth Isherwood.
