Berwick
Report
by
PP Posted 03/07/05
What a difference a week makes. After all
the elation of last Sunday, Tigers have had a demoralising week with
firstly Madsen returning home at the last hour and then, whether through
bad advice or poor understanding, having to ride with only 5 riders
at Berwick when Leverington was ruled an illegal replacement.
The announcement so late on, only shortly before
tapes up, that Glasgow were having to ride with only 5 riders did
not go down well with the large travelling support and a meeting that
was always going to be tough to take anything from became impossible.
The track looked very heavy and wet and possibly energy sapping.
With the first heat only having three riders, Stancl
was always going to be up against it. Rymel gated and led from start
to finish. George did well to mix it in the opening bends to claim
second ahead of Schramm. A strong Berwick reserve pairing of Wilkinson
and Pietraszko shot from the gate in heat 2 and looked as if they
were on an easy maximum until the Pole's engine gave way gifting the
Tigers a share of the spoils. Heat 4 was also shared as Shane Parker
recorded the victory from the gate.
Stancl surprisingly took the rider replacement ride
in heat three and Tigers luck looked to have changed as he had Stancl
gated and led the Berwick pairing. However, Claus seemed to have problems
reading the track, making a complete dogs breakfast of the third bend
and allowing Smith under him. A lap later he fell, turning a potential
1-5 into a shared heat.
The second of the three rider heats saw Stancl at
the back from the gate but he shadowed Madsen, passing him on the
third lap to claim second place. Shane won heat six from the gate
again. It was almost like the old Berwick as yet another heat from
the gate followed in heat seven with the Berwick pairing claiming
an easy 5-1, Kristensen looking very disappointing.
Heat 8 was to provide one of the talking points of
the meeting with a split between home and away fans as to how it was
seen. George Stancl cane in as a Golden Double Tactical sub from 15m
in place of the absent no 2. He battled hard and on the third lap
caught and passed Schramm on the home straight. There was contact
between the two riders, Schramm ended up in the fence and George was
excluded. Glasgow fans felt that Schramm had been at fault, hitting
Stancl's back wheel whilst the Berwick view was that George had cut
across Schramm. Could have gone either way but this time it went against
Glasgow. Unfortunately, as Cockle was leading, the referee also decreed
the race be re-run. Berwick were lying on a 5-1 in the re run when
Wilkinson fell on the final bend, allowing James to come through for
second.
Another from the gate win with Parker on a TR in
heat 9 followed, intelligent riding from Adam Roynon allowing him
to hold on to third place at the expense of Madsen.
The Glasgow pairing gated in heat 10 but Cockle was
pushed wide and ended up at the back. The race was stopped when Cockle
came off at the back with Kristensen leading and in the re-run although
Claus was first out of the gate he was quickly relegated to the back.
Kristensen did make a determined attempt to get past Schramm but the
Berwick rider shut the door on him.
Stancl yet again took on Berwick on his own in heat
11 and this time claimed the win, having to work hard for it thanks
to the close attentions of Makovsky. Kristensen was given the final
TR in heat 12 but failed to make any impression on the Berwick pairing
who had a relatively easy win.
Although he didn't make the start, Shane Parker came
through at the end of the first lap and there was to be no catching
him. With Stancl in third it was only the second heat advantage all
night to the Tigers.
First bend bunching was to prove costly for Cockle
in heat 14, something going on his bike after he came off. In addition
he took a heavy knock as he fell and was unable to take his place
in the re run, being replaced by Adam Roynon but the Berwick pairing
were able to claim their teams fourth maximum of the night with the
young Cumbrian in third.
Heat 15 was academic, the only thing to be decided
was whether Shane would get his maximum. He did, comfortably, from
the gate and the heat was shared.
Glasgow were left with no chance in this meeting
before a wheel was turned in all honesty. The efforts of George, Shane,
James and Adam were laudable, the best that can be said for Claus
is that he was disappointing.
It was certainly a baptism of fire for Adam Roynon
who coped well and showed quite a bit of promise.
The scorecard and heat details can be found here.
Tiger Performance Points:
| George Stancl |
**** |
excellent display in the circumstances |
| no rider |
|
|
| r/r Stefan Ekberg |
|
|
| Claus Kristensen |
* |
very disappointing |
| Shane Parker |
***** |
as with George and with a broken collar bone! |
| Adam Roynon |
*** |
cannot fault effort and looked promising |
| James Cockle |
*** |
not the luckiest rider, tried hard |
