Star
Performance-But Not By Tigers
Posted 21/08/05
Many may have expected Kings Lynn to come
away with nothing from this afternoons meeting but no one told their
riders. They came and rode with purpose and as a result travel back
down south with all three points.
Again there seemed to be an air of complacency about
the Tigers performance and sadly the meeting did not live up to expectations,
most heats being strung out and uncompetitive.
Olly Allen set out his stall right from the start
with a fast gating win in heat 1. Trent made a very poor gate but
got past Batchelor on the opening bends to share the first heat with
Stancl second.
It was a tale of two engine failures in heat 2, Roynon
in last place failing to make it past the second bend, while Stange
had a cruel stroke of luck when his bike gave up the ghost towards
the end of lap two whilst he was leading. Cockle won by a good margin
from Jaros. With Glasgow getting a 5-1 from the gate in heat 3 courtesy
of Kristensen and Ekberg followed by Shane's victory in heat 4, things
seemed at this stage to be going to plan.
The first rain break came after heat 4 and it seemed
to give Kings Lynn a chance to gather their thoughts. Claus was nearly
caught out with the two minute warning, being out walking on the track
with James Cockle when it was sounded and having to scamper quickly
back to the pits. Both Glasgow riders failed to make the gate and
although Ekberg managed to get past Batchelor on the second bend he
had to work all the way to stay ahead. Olly Allen won the heat by
the proverbial mile and was already looking untouchable.
George Stancl was looking slow out of the gate and
was well beaten by Topinka in heat 6. Trent should be annoyed at himself
for the lapse in concentration that allowed Stange to cut inside him
in the way Trent has been doing to other riders recently on bend 2,
resulting in another heat advantage to the visitors.
The best racing of a poor meeting came in heat 7
between Parker and Doolan. Doolan went round the outside of Shane
on bend 2 leaving Shane to chase. He did so successfully, pulling
off an excellent pass up the inside of his fellow Aussie on the second
bend of the third lap. Sadly though it did not signal a change in
Glasgow's form. The Tigers were first from the gate in heat 8 but
both Stars riders passed Cockle on the opening bends, Batchelor also
getting past Leverington and going on to win comfortably. trent managed
to hold on to second despite a puncture towards the end of the race.
Light rain was now persistent and the referee was
doing a good job of getting through the races as quickly as possible.
The impressive Allen won heat 9 comfortably, Ekberg surprisingly slowest
of the gate. It took till the end of the first lap for Stefan to drive
past Stange on the back straight to ensure a share of the spoils.
Although his team mates pulled together in the pits
to try and get Ashley Jones to the gate in time for the start of heat
10, he just failed to beat the 2 minute allowance and was replaced
by Jaros. The Kings Lynn pairing were on a 5-1 coming out of the second
bend but some hard but fair riding from Trent pushed Jaros wide on
bends 3 and 4 allowing not only Trent through but making room for
Stancl to come through into second place ahead of them both. Jaros
did wobble considerably in front of George as he came through giving
Stancl a bit of a worrying moment, something acknowledged by both
riders as they headed back to the pits at the end of the race.
By now it was obvious to most the meeting would only
last 12 heats. Olly Allen came out in heat 11 and did something very
few can claim to have done this season - beating Shane Parker comfortably
from the gate round his home track. With Batchelor getting third it
meant that Kings Lynn were in the driving seat for what most expected
to be the last heat of the day. It was Ashley Jones who was to come
out and record a bit of a surprise victory in heat 12. It looked as
if it would be a heat advantage to the Stars to finish with but James
Cockle in fourth never gave up and managed to get past Stange on the
line and claim third.
The heavens had opened and as expected racing was
suspended and then called off, result standing with 12 heats being
run. Full credit should be given to the referee Stewart Wilson for
the manner he hurried the meeting through - the result may not have
been to Glasgow's liking but the referee did an impeccable job.
There was only one team fully fired up for today's
meeting and that was the team who left with the 3 points. Whether
down to complacency or some other reason, Glasgow quite frankly did
not compete. To have a 7 point lead after heat 4 and loose is not
acceptable. Most races were well strung out and that should not happen.
Barring miracles, it looks as if Glasgow's season could be over quite
early again this year.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
** |
poor gating, sluggish performance |
| Trent Leverington |
** |
points scored flatters but at least tried |
| Stefan Ekberg |
** |
one of the few to pass anyone |
| Claus Kristensen |
** |
good first ride but still gives up if he doesn't gate |
| Shane Parker |
*** |
only beaten by a very good rider |
| Adam Roynon |
* |
seems to be struggling since his accident |
| James Cockle |
*** |
never gave up but looked a bit under power |
