Mitchell Young was at yesterday’s meeting at lakeside:-
The Lakeside Vortex Hammers end their seven defeats streak as they secured three points in their push for promotion with a 35-26 victory against Poole Pirates at Arena Essex.
The meeting was abandoned after only ten heats at the Captains agreement due to a downpour during heat seven.
The Lakeside Hammers burst out of the starting blocks as Kim Nilsson got to the first bend infront and won in a sharp 58.6 seconds. Captain Davey Watt passed Dakota North on lap three to take second and an early 5-1.
Adam Ellis led on lap one but Kyle Newman found a way round to gain back a 4-2 which was aided by Benji Compton.
Race three could not separate the two side as Daniel King for ‘The Hammers’ with a superb run but Poole held firm with Maciej Janowski and Vaclav Milik in second and third.
Lewis Bridger got his first race win under his belt even with North and Newman on his heels but ‘The Southend Sensation’ Ben Morely was struggled to get going.
‘The Hammers’ extended their narrow lead up to six as Watt beat the bunch to the bend and saw his victory through as King held off pressure from Josh Grajczonek.
Bridger claimed his second race of the night as he stormed to the line with Janowski in second with Richard ‘Awesome’ Lawson in third on heat six as the home side stretched to a 22-14 lead.
The rain began to loom over heat seven and caught out Ellis on bend three caused him to fall so too did the rain which caused a 40 minute delay.
The visitors looked for a postponement but the Lakeside ground staff and volunteers got to work with clearance of the excess water and sawdust to speed up the delay and to keep the meeting alive.
Once the meeting recommenced Nilsson had a great race despite the track conditions and won as Grajczonek slipped on lap two at bend three with Compton in second.
Bridger made a hat-trick of wins in heat eight to push ‘The Hammers’ closer to victory with Lawson in support to cement a trio of 5-1, with the score at 30-17.
Race nine had a double fall as Ellis went down on the first bend and Compton attempted to overtake Morely on the last bend and fell. The race was awarded to Newman as he was in the lead and Morely took second with Compton excluded.
The away side used the tactical ride in heat ten which nominated rider Janowski won but Nilsson and Watt picked up the pieces to take second and third.
The meeting was then abandoned by mutual agreement from both Captains due to the lack of visibility from the riders on the track with the result standing.
The Lakeside Hammers will welcome back The Poole Pirates on the Friday for their second visit to The Arena for ‘The Hammers’ hoping for a repeat performance to keep their play-off hopes alive.
Heat 01: Nilsson, Watt, North, Pedersen 5-1 Time: 58.60
Heat 02: Newman, Ellis, Compton, Morley 2-4 7-5 Time: 60.00
Heat 03: King, Janowski, Milik, Lawson 3-3 10-8 Time: 59.20
Heat 04: Bridger, North, Newman, Morley 3-3 13-11 Time: 59.80
Heat 05: Watt, King, Grajczonek, Milik 5-1 18-12 Time: 60.10
Heat 06: Bridger, Janowski, Lawson, Pedersen – Retired 4-2 22-14 Time: 59.40
Heat 07: Nilsson, Grajczonek, Compton – Fell 3-2 25-16 Time: 62.40 (Ellis – Fell / Excluded)
Heat 08: Lawson, Bridger, North, Milik – Retired 5-1 30-17 Time: 63.10
Heat 09: Race Awarded: Newman, Morley, Compton – Fell / Excluded, Ellis – Retired 2-3 32-20
Heat 10: Janowski, Nilsson, Watt, Milik – Retired 35-26 Time: 61.50
