Scorpions Sweep Tigers Aside
(Posted 26/08/08)

Glasgow were brought back down to earth with a bump at the Eddie Wright Raceway, suffering a significant defeat in what was in all honesty a rather poor performance, with one or two notable exceptions.

It was clear right from the start that Glasgow were going to be up against it when Richard Hall flew from the gate, winning the heat impressively in a time that knocked over half a second off the previous track record.  What made it even more impressive was that the track looked far from perfect for racing. Birthday boy Lee Dicken had made a decent gate to sit in second until sliding off on the final bend of the opening lap.  Bergstrom came through into second place and was unchallenged for the remainder of the heat.

Ben Powell won from the tapes in the reserve heat.  The Glasgow duo had filled the minor placing's until the end of lap 3 when Bekker took full advantage of what looked like a possible bike problem to slip passed Mitchell Davey.

Heat 3 was to take 3 attempts to run, Sanchez touching the tapes and then Anders coming off on the third bend of the opening lap, the home sides Magnus Karlsson leading at the time thanks to some outside grip coming out of the second bend taking him past Shane Parker.  In the third running however there was no question of anything other than a win for Parker as he made a superb gate and was soon pulling clear of the field.

If any indication were needed that Josh is far from fit since his spill at Scunthorpe just over a week earlier it came in heat 4.  He made the gate but looks to be struggling with the corners, Wilkinson taking advantage to pass him on the outside at the end of the opening lap and Bekker managing to find the same route through a lap later despite the youngsters attempts to stop him.

Magnus Karlsson and Robert Ksiezak contested a tight opening bend in heat 5, Karlsson coming out ahead and from then on in being relatively untroubled.  It was Lee Dickens turn to suffer the engine gremlins though, pulling up on the back straight whilst third.

Heat 6 saw the home side record a 5-1 from the gate in untroubled fashion before the expected appearance of Shane Parker in the black and white helmet cover in heat 7.  Josh Grajczonek also came in as a replacement for the slow gating Anders Andersen presumably to help to mix it in the opening bends. As it was, it was actually Ben Powell who made the gate but Shane’s experience allowed hi to take advantage of being inside Powell to ease him wide and pass up the inside coming out of bend two.  From then on Shane was never troubled.  The ballet for the minor placing's took an unexpected twist on the final lap when Wilkinson, who had looked comfortable in second place, lost control and Josh was unable to avoid clattering in to him.  The race was awarded with Wilkinson excluded but another jolt cannot have done Josh any favours.

Any hopes of the TR win spurring Glasgow on in the way it did at Redcar in the previous away meeting were quickly dashed however, both Tigers making poor gates in heat 8 leaving the home side clear to record another 5-1.

In contrast, Mitchell Davey made an excellent gate in heat 9 and Karlsson had to work very hard to come out of bend two in front using the outside grip.  It left Tigers filling the minor slots with Mitchell never really in any danger but Sanchez at the back pressed Leverington for two laps before cutting up the inside into third.

New track record holder or not, Richard Hall had to play second fiddle to Shane Parker in heat 10 in a closely contested battle for the win.  Shane came out of bend two ahead and held Hall off for all four laps, taking full advantage of the track conditions by riding very wide making sure Hall could not get the grip to challenge.

Robert Ksiezak made the gate in heat 11 but Carl Wilkinson was right on his tail.  Robert tried to emulate Shane in the previous ride by keeping wide but Wilkinson found the same inside line on the fourth bend that Sanchez had used earlier and came through to lead.  At the rear, the fast gating Powell had outgated Mitchell Davey.  Mitchell was all over the back of him and clearly looked to be the quicker rider but the track provided few opportunities for passing and despite trying everything he could Mitchell was unable to find a way through.

Parker and Karlsson were almost side by side for three bends in heat 12 before Shane got the advantage and pulled clear again for another race win. Mitchell had again found himself at the rear but a perfectly timed move at the start of the second lap saw him pass Byron Bekker as if he was not there into third place.

There was a ray of hope for a while in what was to be possibly the best race of the day in heat 13 when the Tigers pairing of Ksiezak and Leverington hit the front, albeit by the slenderest of margins. Both Scorpions were buzzing at the back of the Tigers pairing looking for a route through.  Hall was the first to find it, getting round the outside of Trent at the end of the opening lap and the momentum he build up enabled him to pass Robert Ksiezak on bend two lap two with Wilkinson getting passed Trent just shortly afterwards on the back straight.  All four remained in close contention but there was to be no further passing and the home side had yet another heat advantage.

Mitchell came out for Josh in heat 14 to partner Anders.  The initial running was halted after Sanchez fell and was excluded but in the re run the Tigers pairing were outgated by Ben Powell who went on to claim the win in an uneventful race.

The formality of heat 15 gave Glasgow their only 5-1 of the afternoon.  Robert Ksiezak gated and Shane Parker slotted in behind him shepherding him round all four laps holding of the advances of Karlsson and Wilkinson who were snapping at his heels.

A disappointing afternoon for the tigers with too many riders having an off day.  Shane of course was an exception and looked stylish all afternoon.  Robert did well enough when he gated and Mitchell continues to improve and was worth more than his points tally.  Trent, Lee and Anders all struggled whilst as previously mentioned Josh looks far from fit but gave it his all.

.

 

 

.

Glasgow Tigers speedway - posted on glasgow speedway dot com, an unofficial glasgow tigers speedway website.