Comets Clean Up
Posted 09/04/06

Many felt that Glasgow had given themselves a good chance of obtaining the bonus point in this afternoons meeting but instead it was the Comets who returned home with all three points on offer from a meeting that was, with the exception of one incredible pass by James Wright, rather bland.

David McAllan was unsurprisingly missing from the Tigers line up, still suffering the after effects of last weeks crash. Kauko, Lee Robert and James were all eligible to take rider replacement rides and Glasgow drafted in Jon Bethall at no 8 as cover.

After an unsatisfactory start with Paul Thorp jumping the tapes, heat 1 was the first of many wins from the gate. Danny Bird won by a comfortable margin but with Lee Dicken coming in at the back the heat was also the first of may shared heats.

The following two heats were also shared. Although Cockle and Ksiezak looked to be first out of the gate in heat 2, Collins came out of the second bend ahead and went on to win comfortably whilst Wright won heat 3 easily from Nieminen and Dicken.

At last there was some passing in heat 4. James Cockle had outgated his Workington counterpart but Aidan Collins but was only able to hold him off for just over a lap, Collins passing him at the end of the back straight on the second lap. Meantime, up front Stead led Parker for the majority of the race although Shane was close for the entire race, lining him up for a hard but fair pass coming into the third bend of the final lap with neither rider giving any quarter. Stead tried to come back at Shane coming off the fourth bend but Shane just held him off.

A shocking gate from both Glasgow riders in heat 5 left them with a very difficult task and although Nieminen past Piszcz round the outside on the second bend of the penultimate lap, the Pole went under Kauko very hard, bordering on the dangerous coming out of the third bend causing Kauko to pull back and a 1-5 was conceded.

It was back to shared points in heat 6 with Stead appearing to get away with jumping the gate but going on to win comfortably from Bird.

The best speedway of the day was undoubtedly witnessed in heat 7. Once again Shane Parker was using every ounce of skill and riding a superb protecting race to shield Robert Ksiezak who was out in front. However he was upstaged by a magnificent piece of speedway by James Wright on the final bend. Wright had looked to be thwarted by Parkers efforts but seized on a small error by Robert Ksiezak on the final bend to pass both Glasgow riders and claim the win. It could be said that Roberts inexperience had perhaps resulted in him leaving the smallest of gaps on the outside but it should not take away from the skill of Wright in identifying and acting on it with a courageous swoop through a gap on the outside that did not appear to be there. Wrights judgment was spot on, the manoevre was pure class and it is unlikely that a better move will be witnessed at Ashfield this season.

Although James Cockle gated well enough in heat 8 he came out of bend two in last place although team mate and rider replacement Kauko Nieminen had gone round the outside to take the lead and that was how it remained. Heat 9 was also to be shared from the gate.

Robert Ksiezak came in as rider replacement in heat 10 but was to be replaced by James Cockle after hitting the tapes. Once again we had a shared heat from the tapes although this time James was challenging the team riding Workington pair for most of the race and almost caught Wright on the line.

Things were a little hotter in heat 11. Parker was last out of the gate and was working his way round the outside when Piszcz appeared to be a little over zealous in showing Shane towards the fence. Experience showed as Shane backed off a little then powered round the outside of the Pole on the third and fourth bends appearing to give him a cheeky little wave as he did so. Piszcz was certainly annoyed enough to go storming into Shane's pit area at the end of the race but was quickly calmed down.

Only the second race so far not be shared went the way of the Comets again in heat 12. Robert Ksiezak, in as reserve switch for James Cockle, held Ritchie Hawkins off for almost two laps but once Hawkins was past he pulled clear to win.

Glasgow were really needing a 5-1 in heat 13 but it was not to be. Paul Thorp was being very trying coming to the start, aiming to unsettle the Glasgow pairing and annoying the crowd at the same time. However, when they finally came to tapes he was outsmarted by Danny Bird on his inside and it was Thorp who went through the tapes and was replaced by Collins. The re-run saw Glasgow get their first heat advantage of the afternoon with a well strung out from the tapes win for Shane Parker.

It was back to a shared heat from the gate for heat 14 and Glasgow were in the situation that they needed a 5-1 in the final heat to get a draw at home. The Tigers won the toss but surprisingly took gates 1 and 3. There was a relatively even start, Shane and Garry Stead taking the outside line and coming out of the second bend in first and second respectively with Danny in third. The heat became a well spread out procession and although the Tigers got their second heat advantage of the day it was not enough to stop Workington claiming all three points on the day.

The Comets were worthy winners on the day but it was worrying from a Glasgow point of view that the racing was very poor and the team seemed a little jaded so early in the season. The track appeared to be down to only one line again and the difference between last weeks racing and this weeks was vast.

Tiger Performance Points:-
(based on expectations)

R003