Tigers
Record First PT Home Win
Posted
03/04/05
Glasgow eventually got back to winning ways
with a home victory against Hull in a meeting that was, on the whole,
pretty dull with an incredible 9 of the 15 heats being shared.
The important thing is though that they did win and
hopefully the team will be able to build on that.
George Stancl started the meeting with a win from
the gate but with Matthew making a poor gate the race was shared.
Heat 2 was also to be shared with Branney passing Beaton on the third
bend of the first lap. Leverington won the heat by a considerable
distance.
Ashfield expert Emil Kramer won heat 3 easily but
after a bad start Bentley got round Dicken on the third bend first
time round to follow his team mate Birkinshaw home for the third shared
heat in a row. After an unsatisfactory start, Shane and Trent once
again showed themselves to be a formidable pairing with a 5-1 from
the gate in heat 4.
Jamie Birkinshaw had looked considerably better in
heat 3 than in previous weeks. His awareness of Sanchez pressing him
on the first lap of heat 5 and the hard but fair way in which he shut
the Italian - as he is now - out ensured another shared heat after
Thorp had blasted clear from the tapes.
Branney wobbled going into the first bend of heat
6 causing a re-run in which he looked a little out of control as he
tried unsuccessfully to hold off Wethers. Matthew got the better of
him on the final bend of the third lap meaning yet another shared
heat. Out front, Stead had gated well and led from gate to tapes,
becoming the only opposition rider to beat Stancl all day.
Heats 7, 8 and 9 were also shared from the gate with
Parker, Sanchez and Stead being the victors. Ksiezak had reared spectacularly
off the gate in heat 8 and the Glasgow riders either side appeared
to be affected leaving Sanchez to pull well clear. Branney did get
past Birkinshaw on the third lap of heat 9 but the Yorkshireman almost
instantly returned the compliment.
Only the second heat advantage of the day came in
heat 10 when Stancl beat Kramer with Wethers maintaining third spot
despite the close attentions of Dicken for the entire race. It was
followed by another shared heat however when, despite an excellent
gate by Thorp, Parker passed him on the first bend and led the way
home.
Heat 12 was the one to cause all the talking points
but for all the wrong reasons. Jamie Birkinshaw gated well, was leading
and looking good when Lee Dicken tried what at best can only be called
an irresponsible move on the apex of the third and fourth bend. He
seemed almost to forget to turn and completely wiped Birkinshaw out
in a very nasty looking crash which saw one of the bikes end up hanging
on top of the extended fence at that end of the track. After being
checked over, Jamie was eventually able to walk away from the accident
although Dicken took a trip in the ambulance back to the pits and
later on he went on to be checked out at the local hospital with a
suspected broken nose. There was to be more drama in the re-run when
Birkinshaw's chain went on the final bend of the third lap. He managed
to get round to the pits bend but came to a halt with the chain wrapped
in pieces round his machinery. Jamie tried hard half pushing, half
lifting his bike round-at one point with track staff behind him picking
up pieces off the track-but was timed out as he came round the fourth
bend. It was however a very determined effort appreciated by the support.
Despite gating first, Thorp was quickly passed by
Stancl and Parker in heat 13 and they went on to record a 5-1 whilst
Thorp retired on the third lap with engine troubles. As expected,
Hull then put the impressive Kramer out as a tactical rider in heat
14 and he won from the gate. Trent Leverington did well to hold off
Branney at the back and protect the slower Paul Bentley in front of
him to limit the damage.
Stead was first out of the gate in heat 15 but Stancl
executed a lovely move to push him wide on the second bend allowing
both himself and partner Shane through and after that there was no
way back for Hull. Stancl once more slowed on the line to allow Shane
to take the win and record another maximum.
This was definitely not a meeting for the purists
and passing was not particularly prevalent. Birkinshaw in particular
showed a marked improvement and was possibly worth more than his points
tally suggests. There is still along way to go for the Tigers with
gating looking a problem for one or two but there were definitely
positives to be taken from this meeting and that has to be an encouraging
sign after the last two weeks. Being realistic however, Hull were
far poorer opposition round Ashfield than Workington or Berwick. It
will no doubt be a different matter for the return on Wednesday but
the Tigers have given themselves a decent chance whilst boosting their
confidence at home at the same time.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Pictures from the meeting can usually be found on
Ian Adam's website
and Lioness
Webshots Album the Monday after the meeting
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
**** |
Good performance |
| Matthew Wethers |
** |
Gating a problem |
| Jamie Birkinshaw |
*** |
A major improvement, very gutsy |
| Paul Bentley |
** |
Scored well without riding well |
| Shane Parker |
**** |
Simply Shane |
| Gary Beaton |
* |
Still well out of his depth |
| Trent Leverington |
**** |
Quietly excelled and rode well |
