Tigers Claim Last Gasp Victory
(Posted 16/03/08)

For a long time this afternoon, it looked as if the opening home meeting of the season would end in defeat but two final heat 5-1's for the home side were enough to claim the two points.

Tigers certainly made hard work of it and were very slow starting both in terms of the meeting and in gating terms. Fast gating Berwick took full advantage and must feel that for them this was a chance of an away win lost.

Adrian Rymel showed the way in the opening heat and although Shane Parker tracked him he was unable to find a way through, even after Rymel had a slight wobble at the start of the final lap. Franchetti claimed third for the visitors, surviving a scare on the final bend when he went far too close to the fence and only just managed to correct it.

Magosi made a slightly better gate than Lee Dicken in heat 2 and that was to be the difference between the two, Magosi holding off Dicken for all four laps. Josh Grajczonek missed the gate completely but quickly made amends by tracking down McKinna and passing him on the inside line on bend four of the opening lap then opening up a comfortable lead over him for the remainder of the race.

Another lesson in gating gave the Tigers a bit of a shock in heat three when Berwick recorded the first 5-1 of the afternoon courtesy of Makovsky and Aarnio. Leverington gave chase and spent most of the race half a bike down on Aarnio but the young Finn held on.

Lee Dicken made the gate in the first running of heat 4 and Robert Ksiezak joined him coming out of the opening bends. With the Tigers pairing pulling well ahead by the end of the second lap, young Greg Blair at the back either had a malfunction with his bike or caught his footrest on the fourth bend fence. Either way, the result was the bike stopped dead and the youngster came down very heavily resulting in a suspected broken leg - we wish him a speedy recovery.

As all four riders had not completed 2 laps, the race was re-run. This time both Lee and Robert made the gate and recorded a comfortable and relatively easy 5-1.

Rymel was once again on fire in heat 5, pulling clear coming out of the second bend after a level gate and going on to win the heat by a good distance. Trent and Lee seemed to want to ride the same line a couple of times during the race but were able to hold off Franchetti at the back to share the heat.

A hard first bend with Ksiezak saw Magosi come off on the opening turn of heat 6, referee Ackroyd rightly inviting all four riders back for the re-run. This time Shane Parker showed the rest of the field a clean pair of heels to win from the gate. Unfortunately for Robert he missed the gate in the re-run but was past McKinna by the second bend although did not get close to Magosi in what finished a well spread out heat.

Trent Leverington had a rush to make it out for his rider replacement ride in heat 8 after discovering a puncture in his rear tyre just as he was about to take to the track. Some quick work in the pits saw his tyre replaced with the 'spare' Glasgow had due to rider replacement being in operation. Trent then took full advantage, gating like a rocket and winning comfortably. Lee Dicken meantime seemed to have mechanical gremlins coming out of the gate and although he picked up again he was unable to recover enough to mount a challenge and the heat was shared. Magosi had come back to pits with his cut out detached in heat 2 and did the same after heat 8, this time being pulled up for it as he returned to the pits gate with it clearly dangling free.

Leverington and Magosi faced each other again in heat 9 and this time it was Magosi who made the better gate. Trent never gave up but Magosi thwarted every attempt to pass. Coming off the final bend, Trent made a good drive off the outside and got very close in the race to the line but Magosi just held on by inches for the victory. Once again he removed his cut out and was warned at the pit gate.

Heat 10 saw Shane Parker get the better of Michal Makovsky on the opening bends and with Lee Dicken comfortably in third it looked as if Tigers would get the heat advantage needed to pull them level. It was not to be however as Lee appeared to loose power at the end of the third lap and Aarnio took full advantage to slip through the inside into third place.

The meeting appeared to be slipping out of reach when Berwick went 6 points up courtesy of a 5-1 in heat 11. Rymel once again shot from the tapes and he was followed by Franchetti. Ksiezak challenged for second place in the first half of the race, briefly passing the Bandit on the inside on lap two bend two but Franchetti reclaimed second on the next bend.

Once again Trent shot from the gate in heat 12 and was to prove uncatchable. Makovsky got the better of Dicken on the opening bends and with the field well spread out going into the final lap it looked as if the Tigers would get a heat advantage. However, Lee Dicken's bike packed in on the pits bend of the final lap and despite him doing everything he could to keep it going, Magosi was able to make up the considerable distance between them, passing inside Lee on the penultimate bend to claim third. Once again Magosi was warned at the pit gate on his return for detaching his cut out.

Heat 13 saw Rymel and McKinna gate but Berwick's youngster was relegated to the back by the time they came out of the second bend. Rymel looked comfortable out in front but Shane was stalking him, testing a couple of lines before fooling the Czech at the end of the second lap, powering past him on the home straight as they crossed the line and pulling clear. With Robert in third, Tigers had a heat advantage but at this stage probably most of the supporters felt this would not be enough.

Our two new Australians were out together in heat 14 against Magosi and Aarnio both of whom had looked quick and had claimed heat leader scalps. However the young Queensland duo gated well and held their nerve in a tough opening bend to come out ahead. With Aarnio suffering an engine failure whilst in third on the opening bends, it was left to Magosi to put in a challenge but Josh and Mitchell held their nerve, riding a tidy race with Mitchell on the outside line and Josh on the inside combating everything Magosi threw at them in the early stages and opening up a small gap on him towards the end. It was an excellent piece of team riding that was very much appreciated by fans and team mates alike, the support raised the roof as they took the chequered flag and all their team mates were at the pit gate to welcome them back in - and watch yet another warning for Magosi regarding his cut out!

With the scores now level it was all down to heat 15. The minute Trent and Shane gated ahead of Rymel and Makovsky, you almost felt it was all over. Disappointingly, Rymel seemed to give up quite early on but Makovsky did make a brief challenge although the Glasgow duo were able to handle it quite comfortably to ensure the points would stay at Ashfield.

It was clear early on in the meeting that the Tigers are still a little rusty whilst Berwick's good gating meant they were able to take full advantage. It was certainly a harder meeting than many expected but those final two heats, and obviously in particular heat 14, must surely give the team a little bit more confidence.

After being a little down on Friday, Mitchell in particular must take a lot of pleasure from his heat 14 win and the classy way in which he rode the race. Shane by his own admission is still not fully fit but only dropped a single point whilst Trent, after a slow start, rode well. Lee started well but was suffering bike problems all day and seized 2 engines during the afternoon. Like Mitchell, Josh struggled with the track in the early stages but that heat 14 performance showed he was learning and getting to grips with it. Hopefully the weather will now be kinder and allow them the opportunity of a few practice spins round Ashfield to build their confidence further.

Finally it was good to see Ross Brady in the pits today encouraging his team mates and joining them on the victory parade.