Star Struck
(Posted 20/08//09)

Glasgow were well beaten as they became the latest team to be steam rollered by the impressive King's Lynn at Saddlebow Road last night.

There had been hopes that Glasgow would again provide a decent resistance against the Stars and the opening heat seemed to back that up. Shane Parker came out of the opening bends ahead and had to use all his experience to hold off Darcy Ward for the entire race. Unfortunately Josh was left struggling at the back from the early stages.

Hopes were quickly dashed with a home 5-1 from the tapes in heat 2 with Lee well off the pace and in fairness Mitchell was unable to mount a serious challenge to the Stars pairing.

Again it was the home side who led from start to finish in heat 3 with it being clear from the early stages that Sandi Conda was still struggling with his injury and having problems turning his bike. William Lawson was surprisingly off the pace in this one and changes were made to the bike on the return to the pits.

Heat 4 was also from the gate but this time James Grieves split the Stars pairing, following Topinka round in what was a pretty processional heat.

Already 10 points down, Glasgow brought Shane out in the black and white helmet in heat 5. Again the Glasgow captain had to work hard for his points. He led out of the opening bend but for just over a lap was under severe pressure from Chris Schramm. Schramm's partner Sanchez took over the mantle towards the end of lap two and cut back inside to find grip on the inside off the final bend of lap 3 to squeeze past Parker. Shane reacted quickly however and quickly hit back with an outside pass as they entered the final lap and held on for the win.

Unfortunately Mitchell Davey found unwanted grip on the opening bends of heat 6 and was rightly excluded from the re run after accidentally collecting Eklof as he fell. It was a double whammy as Grieves had gated ahead. In the re run James again made a good gate but was beaten to the backstraight by Darcy Ward who went on to win comfortably. Eklof challenged Grieves in the early stages but James was able to hold him off relatively easily.

Again King's Lynn were fastest out of the gate in heat 7 and it looked as if they might be on to another 5-1. Lawson did not give up, chasing hard and putting Chris Kerr under pressure. On the 3rd lap Lawson basically sold Kerr a dummy, fooling him into expecting a challenge round the outside but switching lines at the last second to pass cleanly inside him on the third bend into second place.

With Eklof obviously feeling the effects of his tangle with Mitchell Davey, Kerr came in to replace him in heat 8 and won easily from the gate. Grajczonek held second place for two laps before Graversen swept round the outside of him at the start of lap 3.

Glasgow gave their last throw of the dice putting James Grieves out as a TR in heat 9 with Dicken replacing a winded Davey. After a very tight opening bend, Sanchez came out ahead and Schramm gave no quarter to make sure he got the better of Grieves. there was no way back for James and Tigers had lost another 5-1.

William Lawson was the next Tiger to try and thwart Darcy Ward in heat 10 and was perhaps a little unlucky that the heat was not called back when Ward appeared to jump the start. It was enough to give Ward the all important lead out of bend two and another processional heat saw a home side 4-2.

Heat 11 provided what was definitely the most entertaining speedway so far. Topinka made the gate followed by Parker and Grajczonek. Parker dropped back to try and team ride with Josh to hold off the persistent challenges of Chris Kerr and they did an excellent job of team riding until the final bend when they left too much of a gap between them and Kerr pounced to pass Shane and claim third spot.

The home side again gated on a 5-1 in heat 12. A determined Lawson again gave chase and quickly wound Graversen in. The two were basically side by side for a lap before Lawson made the inside line pay to pull clear on the backstraight of lap 3 to claim second spot.

Unfortunately the anticipated close contest in heat 13 never transpired with both Tigers sluggish out of the gate and Topinka and Ward taking full advantage and the heat maximum despite nearly colliding on the final bend.

Heat 14 was another easy win for the Stars from the gate.

There was an excellent display of speedway in heat 15 to round the evening off but unfortunately for Glasgow it was to their cost. Topinka gated but Parker was quick on his tail and passed up the inside of him on the second lap and started to put a little distance between them. Darcy Ward acted quickly to take up the challenge however, moving into second place at the end of the same lap and hunting down Shane. on the second bend of lap three Ward came under Parker and basically gently nudged him over to give himself the grip on the inside line to come through into first place, a position he was never going to give up.

It was a very disappointing night for Glasgow not so much from the point of view of not getting a point but more from the size of the deficit. It was clear that Josh and Sandi in particular were far from fit and Lee also struggled badly. His spill in heat 6 appeared to affect Mitchell but to be fair he had been struggling before then. Shane did what was expected of him though will no doubt be frustrated to lose out to Darcy in heat 15. William did well after his initial ride, apparently changing his set up and then never giving up. James started well enough but faded. Definitely a night for the Tigers to put behind them..

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