The Lakeside Hammers roared to a superb 19 point win over play-off hopefuls, the Eastbourne Eagles, on Monday night at their Arena-Essex Raceway. The match, which was sponsored by the Royal Air Force, was screened live by Sky Sports and provided some great racing for not only the fans at the Raceway but also the large TV audience.
Time and time again the Eagles riders made better starts than the home side but the Hammers riders repeatedly found their way from the back with manoeuvres that saw them come through both on the inside and outside of their opponents.
After the initial seven heats the Hammers were only four points in front but over the course of the next three heats they extended their lead to 16 with a series of maximum 5-1 heat advantages. Despite a win from Scott Nicholls for the Eagles in heat 11 whilst taking a ‘Tactical Ride’ and, therefore, scoring six points the Hammers had the meeting won after another 5-1 in heat 12.
The win moved the Hammers up to top place in the Sky Sports Elite League and they have matches in hand over all their nearest rivals.
The promotional duo of the table topping Lakeside Hammers, Stuart Douglas and Jon Cook, expressed their delight at seeing their team gain first spot in the Elite League live on Sky Sports Monday night. The victory was enough to elevate Lakeside to the top of the Elite League for the first time in their history.
"There are no medals for hitting the top step at this stage of the season," said club owner, Stuart Douglas. "Nevertheless, it is a significant milestone in the Club's lifetime and really demonstrates just how far we have come in just a couple of seasons. I must pay full credit to Jon Cook and all the riders for their sheer hard work and determination to succeed this year. I'm very proud of them".
Team Manager and Co-Promoter Cook was equally upbeat;"Eastbourne represented a major challenge at out home track, and I'm thrilled with the way we managed to despatch them with aplomb," remarked Cook. "It was a close call for the first half of the meeting, but when we thumped in three consecutive 5-1 heat advantages I felt we stamped our authority on proceedings. There's still a long way to go until the end of the season and talk of Champions is premature, but the lads were tremendous and I have every faith in their ability to push all the way.”
The Hammers travel down to Dorset on Wednesday to face the Poole Pirates, whom they replaced at the top of the table. This will be a difficult match for the Essex based Club as the Pirates have been performing well recently around their Wimborne road circuit.
In a busy week the Hammers then face third placed side, the Swindon Robins, back at their Arena-Essex Raceway on Friday, 8th August. This is a match they need to win to continue their push to claim a top two play off place at the end of the season.
The action gets underway at their Raceway on Friday at 8pm, although they will be continuing in providing their youngsters with important track time with a series of junior heats commencing at 6.45pm.
