Tigers
Loose Out in Last Heat Decider
by DMW, Posted 30/08/05
Glasgow came away from Newcastle with their
first bonus point of the season but will surely be disappointed not
to have done better.
The Tigers looked as if they would carry on where
the left of the day before with a relatively easy 5-1 in the opening
heat. However heat 2 went the opposite way after Cockle was harshly
excluded after an incident with Newcastle's guest Adam McKinna saw
him hit the deck, Roynon being well off the pace in the re-run.
Ekberg won heat 3 with Kristensen claiming third
after Tomicek had an engine failure but Newcastle drew level when
Grieves won heat 4 with McKinna in third. Shane Parker pressed Grieves
all the way but was unable to get past. So far there had been no passing
on a poor looking circuit, Stancl winning from the gate again in heat
5. Leverington claimed third as Birkinshaw was unable to find a passing
line round him.
Another three heats from the gate followed, Parker
reeling in Franc in heat 6 after a poor start but unable to get past
and Birkinshaw falling at the back in heat 7.
Finally in heat 9 we saw that rare phenomena - a
pass. It came from that man Parker, swooping round the outside of
Tomicek at the end of the second lap to claim the win and share the
heat.
Heat 10 was a disaster for Glasgow with both programmed
riders excluded. Firstly Kristensen was excluded for delaying the
start, a fair call but one that is rarely given. The exclusion of
Ekberg was far more controversial, the Swede somehow being adjudged
to have impeded Franc on the opening bends, a disgraceful decision
which resulted in an unjust 5-1 for the home side and suddenly Glasgow
were 4 points down.
Stancl led heat 11 until Grieves pulled off the second
pass of the night, going round the outside of him on the opening bends
of the second lap. Kristensen won heat 12 at a canter and with Cockle
claiming third the deficit was down to 2 points. An engine failure
for Franc in heat 13 allowed Stancl to get the point for third place
and sharing the heat.
The very impressive looking Stefan Ekberg came out
and won heat 14 comfortably, again Cockle's third place gave the Tigers
a heat advantage and scores were all tied going in to heat 15.
Ekberg had been on fire all night and it was no surprise
that he was named in heat 15 alongside Shane Parker. Unfortunately
though, the Newcastle pairing of Franc and Grieves gated and on a
track that allowed less passing in the entire meeting than Ashfield
had done in some individual races the day before there was no way
back.
It was definitely a case of a meeting Glasgow could
have and perhaps should have won. Ekberg rode very well despite only
scoring 8, the biggest disappointment for the Tigers perhaps being
the reserves performance. The track being a gaters paradise definitely
worked against Shane although he was one of only two riders to find
an actual passing line on the night. Stefan's unjust exclusion was
very costly.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
*** |
faded towards the end |
| Trent Leverington |
*** |
quietly effective |
| Claus Kristensen |
*** |
a reasonable performance |
| Stefan Ekberg |
**** |
rode better than his points total suggests |
| Shane Parker |
*** |
worked hard and made a pass! |
| Adam Roynon |
* |
didn't beat anyone, struggling just now |
| James Cockle |
** |
looked off pace |
