Glasgow Thrash Jaded Fen Tigers
Posted 14/08/06

In a rather poor meeting, only really livened up by a superb display from visiting rider Danny King, Glasgow ran out comfortable winners against a Mildenhall side who were perhaps a little jaded at the end of their three day northern tour.

Mildenhall came with a reputation that promised a good battle and a very welcome traveling support who were a credit to their club but unfortunately on the day the racing did not live up to expectations. Much of the meeting can be summed up in three words - from the gate.

The opening heat saw Danny Bird make an electric gate followed by David McAllan and they went on to claim the first of an incredible eight 5-1's for the home side by a comfortable margin with Jason Lyons disappointingly looking slow. The second came in heat 2, again from the gate with Robert Ksiezak winning by a considerable margin. Danny Warwick, a late replacement for the injured James Cockle, rode a good race particularly in the early stages to hold off the challenge of Jordan Frampton to claim second place.

Danny King gave an indication of what was to come from him in heat 3, winning a well strung out heat by a comfortable margin and looking very impressive. Unfortunately for Mildenhall his brother trailed in at the back and the heat was shared.

It was back to the 5-1's in heat 4, Shane Parker winning by a considerable margin. Once again Danny Warwick had to work hard to hold off Jordan Frampton for second place with the experienced Brent Werner disappointingly off the pace at the back.

Already 12 points down, Mildenhall brought Jason Lyons in as a TR in heat 5, one of the few heats that produced any passing. Lyons gated but Kauko came round the outside on the second bend, passing Lyons down the backstraight. It was short lived however as a slight error by Kauko at the start of lap two was pounced on by Lyons who came back through the inside into the lead. Lee Dicken was pressed by Jason King at the end of the third lap after he locked up slightly but was able to recover quickly enough to retain third place.

Heat 6 saw Danny and David win again from the gate, Werner again looking very poor at the rear, before Danny King came out and did something few riders have managed this year at Ashfield in heat 7 by beating Shane Parker. King made a superb gate and although Shane chased all the way, King never really looked in any danger as he won the heat in what was to be the fastest time of the meeting.

The TR made an appearance again in heat 8 with Danny King wearing the black and white helmet cover as rider replacement and as expected winning by a mile. McAllan and Warwick were ahead of Frampton but seemed to want to ride the same line through bend four which allowed Frampton to pass outside Warwick and claim third place. Back to from the gate action however in heat 9, this time Kauko Nieminen outgating Brent Werner. Lee Dicken pressed Werner for a couple of laps, James Brundle was well of the pace at the back and retired on the last lap.

David McAllan gated superbly in heat 10 but the impressive Danny King swept round the outside on the opening two bends and although David tried very hard to keep up it was basically race over. As often happens at Ashfield in heat 11, Shane and Robert team rode, Shane holding off the challenges of Jason Lyons to give the home side another 5-1 in what was fast becoming a very mundane meeting at best.

Mildenhall gave Glasgow a fright in heat 12 when Danny King and Jordan Frampton gated ahead of their Glasgow opponents. Kings was untouchable but Lee Dicken worked hard to come back, checking the outside line at the end of lap 2 before sweeping past Jordan Frampton one lap later.

Michael Max on centre green refers to heat 13 as the 'Shane and Danny Show' and it certainly was that with the Glasgow pairing winning easily.

After the referee correctly called an unsatisfactory start in heat 14, the re-run of the heat was to end somewhat bizarrely. Kauko Nieminen won easily from the gate followed by Robert Ksiezak. Mildenhall reserve Jordan Frampton was lying third when his team mate Jason King rode hard under him and the two riders came down in a tangle on the fourth bend. King reacted quickest to get up and cross the line although it was in vain as Frampton had already rightly been awarded third. In fairness to Jason, he looked to be ensuring it was not a 5-0 as he immediately then went round to the bemused Jordan Frampton and ferried him back to the pits.

Meeting and bonus point settled, heat 15 was technically a formality but with Danny King on a maximum so far pride was no doubt at stake for Shane and Danny Bird. this time however it was the Danny of the Bird variety who gated, Shane did his outside swoop on the opening bends into the lead. Danny King was not going to give up his maximum claim easily however and there was a blast of good hard racing between the two Danny's at the end of the opening lap into the first bend of the second lap. Danny Bird came out on top and it was all over.

It's a shame that one of the best traveling supports this season had to witness one of the poorest meetings at Ashfield in a long time with virtually no passing.Tthe Glasgow team all pulled together and there wasn't a failure amongst them, everyone playing their part. Its not really fair to single anyone out but David McAllan is riding well above expectations and he finally scored the points his riding has deserved of late.

Mildenhall were presumably tired at the end of their northern tour with most of their riders looking weary. Jordan Frampton gave a good account of himself and deserved his heat 15 place but obviously Danny King was their star man by a mile, scoring more than half their points. He was not only a joy to watch on track but came across very well when interviewed. On this showing he will go far.

Tiger Performance Points:-
(based on expectations)

R003