The Lakeside Hammers started a busy week, which sees them race in three important Sky Sports Elite League matches, with a superb win away at Coventry on Monday evening. Despite being without their Australian captain, Adam Shields, they roared to a memorable victory over the current Sky Sports Elite League champions.
The Hammers boss, Stuart Douglas, feels much of the credit for the team's strong start to the season should go to the rider’s collective spirit.
"The camaraderie amongst our boys is terrific. We don't need the whole team to dominate each meeting, we just need the right members to step up to the plate at the right time," said Douglas. "We knew Andreas (Jonsson) would be strong riding at his former club, but we needed Joonas Kylmakorpi and Jonas Davidsson to get stuck in also. They didn't disappoint me, and all three, plus a hard fought performance from Ricky Kling, won us the night. The thing is, on a different day, I know it will be the rest of the team that will pull it out of the bag. We fight and win as a team and everyone looks after everyone else's back. I'm extremely proud of the guys."
Team boss, Jon Cook, was also full of praise for The Hammers.
"We went into the meeting without our skipper, Adam Shields, but I felt that the riders I have in this team could provide good cover in this particular fixture," said Cook. "They were tremendous and they gave me the luxury of holding my nerve and making the right decisions at the right time. I have riders here that I know I can ask to do something for the team and they will go out and do it."
The importance of the away victory, and the three Elite League points, was not lost on the management duo. "With other teams also gaining away points it was really important for us to maintain momentum near the top of the table," commented Douglas. "I feel we are nicely poised, just quietly going about our business and being in the right place when it matters."
The next meeting for the Hammers will be at Swindon this coming Thursday (15th May) and with the Robins currently heading the League table it will be an important fixture for both sides. The Robins are led by former Hammers rider, Leigh Adams, who last Saturday won the European Grand Prix, which was held at his Polish club, Leszno. That GP saw two Hammers riders competing – Andreas Jonsson scored 10 points but just failed to make the Final whereas Lubos Tomicek scored three points, coming in as a late replacement for the injured Bjarne Pedersen. However, Tomicek performed well beating the experienced Rune Holta, Scott Nicholls and Fredrik Lindgren. Swindon, who were not widely tipped pre-season as title contenders, have a very good record around their big Abbey Stadium circuit so it will not be easy for the Hammers to come away from there with the League points but the Hammers Monday performance at Coventry must give them added confidence.
Then, on Friday 16th May, the Hammers return to action at their Arena-Essex Raceway, when they take on the Eastbourne Eagles. Historically meetings between the two sides have been very competitive, hard fought affairs and Friday’s meeting is not likely to be any different. Both sides are currently on 14 League points but the Hammers are in third position in the Table, one place above the Eagles, by virtue of having a superior race points differential. The Hammers currently have matches in hard over the top two in the table, Swindon and Poole, so the Essex based Club will be looking to extend their unbeaten run of home League victories this season.
Friday’s action at the Arena Essex Raceway commences at the usual start time of 8pm although there will be a series of junior races prior to that at 6.45pm.
