Tigers Awesome at Stoke
Posted 30/07/06, by DJW

Glasgow coasted to an easy victory at Loomer Road last night. They were so far superior to their opponents you could almost wonder of it was the Spitfires on track rather than the Potters - some Stoke fans felt the Spitfires would have provided better opposition. That is a bit unfair however on a superb Glasgow team who basically fired on all cylinders and most definitely deserved their victory margin-in fact it should have been by more.

Right from the start, the Tigers made their intentions clear with an opening heat maximum courtesy of Danny Bird and David McAllan. David had come round the outside of the opening bends and was in the lead heading into the back straight. Partner Danny Bird showed yet another aspect to his riding by slotting in behind him making it impossible for Stoke's Mark Lemon to mount any serious challenge.

With the Tigers reserves first out of the traps in heat two it looked as if we may get a repeat but Barry Evans had different ideas, firstly getting past Ksiezak and then trailing Cockle for three laps before choosing his time to go round him on the final lap second bend to claim the win.

Heat three was also shared, Kauko winning comfortably with Lee unfortunately sliding off on the opening bend and finishing at the back. More disappointingly, heat four followed suit. Shane won the race comfortably but James Cockle was well off the pace at the back behind McKinna.

Things then took a rather bizarre turn with the referee being called to the pits to examine the tyres which had been provided. Many were found to be faulty and the teams had to agree to race on with tyres being shared.

After a lengthy delay, racing got underway with Alan Mogridge leading on the first lap of heat 5 before Danny sailed past him as if he was not there and into the lead. David McAllan finished comfortably in third. Mark Lemon then gave Stoke a little hope with a win in heat 6 after passing the fast gating Ksiezak at the end of the opening lap but with Robert and Shane finishing in the minor placing's, the heat was shared.

Kauko and Lee continued their recent superb away form by coming out and securing a 5-1 for the Tigers in heat 7 to give Glasgow a bit of breathing space and also remarkably ensure the bonus point, barring four races without a Glasgow finisher! Although Kauko won from the gate, Lee had to work hard to get round the outside of Robbie Kessler on the opening bends but once he was past, both Tigers pulled well clear.

David claimed his second heat win of the evening from the gate in heat 8 with James Cockle fighting hard for third on the final bend after Evans drew level and pushed him all the way. An uneventful heat 9 was shared, Shane winning but Robert at the back, before Stoke brought Mark Lemon in as the expected TR in heat 10. Although he was outgated by Lee Dicken, Lemon was able to get round the outside of Lee on the second bend and went on to claim his 6 points. To compound matters, Kauko Nieminen suffered an engine failure whilst in third to gift a point to Trent Leverington who had been well off the pace at the back. It was to be the one and only time on the night that Stoke took more points out of a heat than their visitors.

Another two heats from the gate followed, Glasgow getting a heat advantage in heat 11 courtesy of Bird and McAllan. More importantly, a superb ride from Dicken and Ksiezak in heat 12 gave Glasgow another 5-1 well ahead of Paul Clews in third place wearing the black and white helmet.

In the first running of heat 13, a hard opening bend between Lemon and Bird resulted in Danny testing the safety fence. Rather harshly, Danny was excluded rather than the normal first bend bunching being given. However, Stoke were still unable to claim a heat advantage, Shane Parker winning the re-run from the gate to share the spoils.

Glasgow also suffered a bit of misfortune in heat 14 when the race was stopped with the Tigers being on a 5-1 coming out of the second bend. Unfortunately Alan Mogridge had come off at the back on the second bend. The re-run saw Barrie Evans gate and Glasgow had to settle for another shared heat.

The formality of heat 15 saw a slightly unusual pairing of Danny Bird and Kauko Nieminen come to tapes. Danny gated and won by the proverbial country mile. Meantime Kauko shadowed Robbie Kessler for the entire race and chose to pass him on the final run in to the line giving Glasgow yet another 5-1 and one of the most comfortable away victories they are likely to record.

Stoke fans were unimpressed by their teams lack of competition but nothing should take away from what was a tremendous team effort from the Tigers. All along, Tigers fans have known that if all seven riders rode to their ability in one night someone would get a thrashing and that is exactly what happened to a poor Stoke side tonight. Stars? Just give them all 5, they deserved it. Everyone played their part but obviously you have to single out David and Lee for special mentions with scores well in excess of their averages and no less than they deserved.

Tiger Performance Points:-
(based on expectations)

R003