Tigers Claim All 3 Points
(Posted 05/04/09)

After a poor start, Glasgow came back strongly to win their opening home fixture in the Premier Trophy campaign against Redcar.

The track this week was significantly different from last week, very heavy with shale, perhaps too heavy, and this may have played a part on the way the opening few heats went.

Heat 1 was absolutely no problem for Shane Parker who was substantially quicker than anyone else, winning the heat by almost a quarter of a lap.  In a tough opening bend, Brady tried to take Gary Havelock wide but it backfired as Havelock came out on top with Kessler getting through the big gap on the inside and Tigers had to settle for a shared heat.

Mitchell and Anders have been on excellent form of late and expectations were high for heat 2 but when the tapes went up it was Arlo Bugeja who made the gate and went on to win a rather processional heat after fighting off a challenge from Mitchell Davey on bend 2.  The heavy track was in evidence as at times all four riders looked to be having a bit of a struggle with the circuit.

Things went badly wrong for the Tigers as they lost a 1-5 from the gate in heat 3, the visitors winning comfortably with the track still looking very bumpy.

A track regrade took place at this stage and this seemed to settle conditions down and the racing began to improve.

Heat 4 saw James Grieves gate just ahead of Ty Proctor. Grieves went on to win the heat but Proctor never gave up, getting close on a few occasions especially coming off the fourth bend where he found good grip on the outside.  Andersen claimed an unchallenged third place to give the home side their first heat advantage of the afternoon.

Redcar hit back however with Glasgow suffering the second 1-5 of the day in heat 5 when Grajczonek and Juul were outgated by Havelock and Kessler in what turned into another processional spread heat.

Parker came out in heat 6 and yet again won by a clear quarter of a lap.  He and partner Ross Brady had made the gate but Proctor passed inside Brady coming off bend 2.  Towards the end of the race, Benji Compton was catching Ross Brady but Brady held out to give the Tigers another heat advantage as they started to cut into Redcar’s lead.

Wilson and Stonehewer gated for Redcar in heat 7 but under pressure from James Grieves,  Stonehewer went very wide to the boards on the opening bends sending him to the rear with Mitchell slotting into third spot behind his team mate.  Grieves came out of bend 2 ahead and despite a bit of a wobble on the pits bend of lap two never looked troubled.  At the rear, Mitchell did well to hold off the challenges of Carl Stonehewer to hold on for the point.

There was more tough racing on the opening bends of heat 8 , Ross Brady coming out on top in the battle with Robbie Kessler.  Bugeja passed outside Andersen on bend two to send the young Dane to the back but he wasn’t to stay there long.  An excellent drive round the outside of bends three and four saw him power past first Bugeja and then squeeze round Kessler into second place.  Half a lap later he had also passed team mate Ross Brady and pulled clear, going on to claim an impressive win.  Brady meantime worked hard to hold off the challenge of Kessler, especially on the final lap, to give Tigers their first 5-1 of the day.

The first running of heat 9 saw Benji Compton take a tumble in classic first bend bunching after all four riders gated level.  Compton failed to make the re-run being excluded under 2 minutes and was replaced by Bugeja.  Anders – in for Peter Juul – and Josh pushed themselves through to the front coming out of bend 2 with Josh again having to work hard to hold off Ty Proctor and give the Tigers their second 5-1 on the trot.

Another Shane Parker display followed in heat 10 with victory from the gate although the spoils were shared with Ross Brady at the rear.

Again there was some good racing in heat 11 with the Redcar pairing of Havelock and Kessler putting on a decent display of team riding after making a good gate.  After being accidentally held up by his partner on the opening two laps, Grieves spent the last two laps all over the back of Kessler and Havelock trying to find a way through but he was thwarted with some clever team riding and on the final bends some hard but fair riding from Kessler that would have seen a lesser rider than James slide off looking for a decision. The move was perfectly fair however and the Redcar pair deserved their 5-1.

It was followed by a rather mundane shared heat from the gate, won by Carl Stonehewer but with Anders Andersen chasing him all the way.

If Glasgow had started the meeting slowly they were about to finish it in style.  A level gate in heat 13 resulted in Grieves Parker and Proctor in close contention particularly on the opening lap.  Grieves held the lead but Proctor was all over Parker looking for an opportunity to get through. It looked as if he had made it when he passed outside Shane momentarily coming out of the final bend of lap 3 but Shane had regained second place by the time they went into lap four and Tigers had another 5-1.

Anders Andersen replaced Mitchell Davey for a crucial heat 14.  After a level gate, Josh hit the front with Anders in second place closely followed by Ben Wilson. It looked as if Wilson would get by on the inside of lap two bend three but Andersen thwarted the attempt and continued to ride a good race to give Tigers another 5-1 and secure the victory.

It was still possible for Glasgow to drop a point under the new scoring system if Redcar were able to get a 5-1 in heat 15.  When it came down to it however the Tigers were up to the task with Shane Parker posting yet another very impressive win.  Robbie Kessler held second place for the visitors until a superb outside pass by James Grieves through the smallest of gaps coming off the pits bend on lap two and from then on in the final score was never in any doubt.

The slow start and the poor condition of the track in the early stages was a bit of a worry but yet again Glasgow showed great character to come back into the meeting once the track settled down.  There were a few good displays today -  Shane Parker’s winning margins were almost astonishing, James Grieves rode extremely well and his heat 15 pass

was tremendous – but the plaudits quite rightly went to Anders Andersen who yet again put on a superb display and whose enthusiasm and delight at his display was infectious.

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