COVENTRY 50 PETERBOROUGH 43
COVENTRY: PETERBOROUGH:
G.Hancock 2 3 2'3 2 2 14(1) J.Crump 3 3 3 0 9
A.Jonsson Rider Replacement N.Sadler Rider Replacement
B.Andersen 3 2 2'1'2 1' 11(3) R.Sullivan 2 2 1 3 3 11
St.Robson X F 2 2'3 7(1) M.Jirout 1 1'1'0 1 4(2)
J.Screen 2 3 6 2 1' 14(1) S.Tesar 3 1 3 3 R 10
Sc.Robson R R 0 0 A.Compton 2'1 0 1 0 0 4(1)
S.Tacey 1 0 0 1'2' 4(2) J.Andersen 3 1 0 1 0 5
HEAT DETAILS:
Ht 1:Crump, Hancock, Jirout, Sc.Robson(ret), 61.6 2-4 2-4
Ht 2:J.Andersen, Compton, Tacey, Sc.Robson(ret), 64.5 1-5 3-9
Ht 3:B.Andersen, Sullivan, Jirout, St.Robson(f,exc), 62.7 3-3 6-12
Ht 4:Tesar, Screen, J.Andersen, Tacey(f,rem), 62.3 2-4 8-16
Ht 5:Crump, B.Andersen, Compton, St.Robson(f), 61.6 2-4 10-20
Ht 6:Hancock, B.Andersen, Tesar, Compton, 62.7 5-1 15-21
Ht 7:Screen, Sullivan, Jirout, Sc.Robson, 62.3 3-3 18-24
Ht 8:Screen(g/d), Hancock, Compton, J.Andersen, 62.4 8-1 26-25
Ht 9:Tesar, St.Robson, B.Andersen, Compton, 62.5 3-3 29-28
Ht10:Hancock, St.Robson, Sullivan, Jirout, 62.2 5-1 34-29
Ht11:Crump, Screen, J.Andersen, Tacey, 62.3 2-4 36-33
Ht12:Sullivan, B.Andersen, Tacey, Compton, 61.8 3-3 39-36
Ht13:Tesar, Hancock, Screen, Crump, 62.2 3-3 42-39
Ht14:St.Robson, Tacey, Jirout, J.Andersen, 63.1 5-1 47-40
Ht15:Sullivan, Hancock, B.Andersen, Tesar(ret), 92.1 3-3 50-43
BARMY RACING ON A balmy evening, with the Exide Bees returning to winning ways, and the Panthers probably leaving Brandon for the second time this season wondering quite how they managed to let things slip so dramatically. The win absolutely 100% guarantees Coventry's place in the Craven Shield semi-finals, and so there's now no need to watch out for unlikely Eastbourne away wins armed with a calculator to work out the race points.
Another decent crowd turned out on a hot evening - the old faces always come out of the woodwork when the team is winning - but for the first five races, things were dire, with the racetrack being more suited to scrambling than speedway. There may have been a stock-car meeting the week before, but it had been dry and hot all week, so there was no reason why the riders should have had to face such a bumpy, rutted surface. The Bees riders have been told not to criticize the track, but it is very hard to know what else they could have done in this meeting, and it will not help our quest for honours if the track continues to be so vastly different from week to week. Another point to note is that the meeting the week after the next stock car fixture is the potentially massive clash with Poole, so the system for preparing the track after the cars must surely be reviewed before that one.
The Under-21 final took three competitors from the match, although Andreas Jonsson, who will now miss that event, wouldn't have been able to ride in this meeting anyway after Sam Tesar introduced him at very close quarters to the Showground fence on Friday night. Tesar, not surprisingly, was given an extremely hot reception, which was no doubt magnified by the fact that he actually did suprisingly well!
There was a bizarre start to the meeting, with referee Paul Ackroyd showing unusual generosity as Greg Hancock got into all sorts of trouble on the first bend of Heat 1 as he almost speared Jason Crump. In avoiding an accident, Hancock was left trailing as the Panthers took a clear lead, only for the red flags to go out and an unsatisfactory start ruled. Unless this was for an incident at the starting gate, this was a very strange ruling. Crump won the re-run without any problem, but Hancock this time was in a comfortable second place, as Mario Jirout took three laps before finally getting inside Scott Robson.
Mr Ackroyd continued to play a starring role in the meeting by losing sundry papers which blew out of the control box window, but Heat 2 indicated just how difficult the track was going to be. Shaun Tacey, starting from the outside, was squeezed out on the first lap, and could then make no impression on either Jan Andersen or Andre Compton, despite the Panthers pairing getting into trouble on almost every corner. That gave the visitors a 9-3 lead, and Bees' hopes of pulling points back in Heat 3 vanished almost immediately, as Stuart Robson produced a literal translation of Peter York's introduction - "Red Robbo flies again!" As Brian Andersen and Ryan Sullivan disputed the first corner, Robson, on the inside, picked up huge lift and careered across the pack. How there weren't bodies everywhere after this I'm not too sure, but Andersen and Sullivan took swift avoiding action and Jirout had virtually come to a stop before he met the fallen Robson. With no lasting damage done, Robson was excluded, and the re-run saw a clever ride from Andersen, who quickly saw that he had been outgated, and smartly cut inside Sullivan up the back straight, then taking a most uncomfortable ride on the bumps to victory.
There was plenty happening in Heat 4 as well, with Tesar starting swiftly ahead of Bees guest Joe Screen, and Tacey moving ahead of Jan Andersen, who appeared to be fading out of the race. As Screen chased Tesar, Tacey fell at the end of the second lap, managing to re-mount before Andersen came by. However, Tacey slowed dramatically on the last lap and Andersen grabbed the point, with Screen also coasting by the end of the race. That put Panthers eight-up, and there was more bad news for Bees in Heat 5, as Crump scorched away from Brian Andersen, and Stuart Robson lost third place on the last bend to Compton when he fell almost exactly where Tacey had previously. Compton had managed to get into the race thanks to Mr Ackroyd's newly-invented stopwatch, which actually only counts one second out of every two - well, that can be the only explanation for a rider receiving assistance on the outer track some 50 seconds after the 30 second warning and still making it into the race!
Tactical subsitutes were now clearly needed by Coventry, and Brian Andersen duly took over one of the rider replacement spots for Heat 6, the move paying off as he and Hancock made their way to a 5-1 over Tesar, the only real danger being the track with prevented any formal team-riding as nobody dared go to the inside of the third bend. Screen, however, showed that there was a proper racing line in Heat 7 as he took a lap to line up Sullivan and then calmly rode round the outside for a splendid pass. Scott Robson completed his rides again at the back behind Jirout, and with Bees six points down going into Heat 8, everyone knew what was coming next!
There's no doubt that, like it or not, the Golden Double increases the atmosphere and excitement, and after Heat 7 it was no real surprise that Screen was nominated to go off the handicap, with Hancock also coming into the race. It was actually Jan Andersen who gated, but Hancock first shoved Compton wide to allow Screen a clear path into third place on the first bend, and then quickly rounded Andersen. Screen then moved into second without too much of a fight, going through on the inside at the end of the lap, and there was then a fairly easy place-swap on lap four to enable Screen to take the six points. For the third night running, Coventry had managed an 8-1, and this was probably the easiest race of the three.
Somehow, Coventry had moved into the lead, and they maintained this in a processional Heat 9 in which Tesar was not threatened by either Stuart Robson, who happily finished the race, or Andersen. But a big 5-1 came in Heat 10 with Robson, taking the rider replacement ride, making a jet-propelled start to get out with Hancock and force Sullivan wide. Almost from nowhere, we were rapidly approacing the situation where Peterborough could use a Golden Double of their own, and this had to be avoided, as Heat 14 looked a likely target!
That prospect diminished in Heat 11 when Crump reeled off his third win, this time against Screen, with Tacey left trailing behind Jan Andersen. Sullivan got his act together to win Heat 12 ahead of Andersen, but this time Tacey was placed, fending off Compton's challenge. The clash of the big guns, Heat 13, featured Hancock and Screen against Crump and Tesar, and we had the equivalent of motor racing's reshuffled grid at the start as Crump hit Robson's spot on the first bend and did very well to hang on. This dropped him to the back, but team-mate Tesar moved into the lead. Screen and Hancock launched a fierce challenge, but all the time they had to be aware of Crump's presence. Things got very tight indeed on lap three with Crump driving inside Screen, which took him alongside Hancock, who was himself trying to get to grips with Tesar! Eventually that was how things finished, and in actual fact Tesar probably owed his win to Crump's fruitless challenge from the back!
The improved Stuart Robson had the pressure on him to win Heat 14, and it was good news for Coventry when he gated, but it was even better news when Tacey got out with him and proceded to ride the perfect line to beat off Jirout's challenge - and all of a sudden, the expected last-heat decider had totally failed to materialise as Bees had moved into a seven point lead at just the right time!
Each team had three riders who they could have made a case for in the nominated heat - Bees went for the two Coventry riders, Hancock and Andersen, whilst Crump was left out for Panthers. Andersen caused mayhem at the start as it was his turn to hit the patch on turn 1, and this took him right across Hancock and Tesar. As they took avoiding action, Sullivan sprinted clear into the lead. Hancock showed no mercy to Tesar, barging him aside in a very popular manoevre, and then gradually reeled in Sullivan without ever quite getting in a challenging blow. Andersen spent five laps lining Tesar up and finally moved inside him going into the last lap, Tesar coasting to a halt on the last bend and not finishing the race.
So definitely a scoreline that didn't tell the full story of another highly eventful meeting, with Bees again showing their never-say-die spirit. Their three-pronged assualt on honours is now well and truly underway, and the encouraging factor continues to be that they are winning without riders. And they will have to continue to do so, because although Billy and Andreas should be back next week, Greg has a compulsory US return, and so will miss the Ipswich match. Having said that, Bees should be able to get an adequate guest, and high praise must be given to Joe Screen for his efforts over the past two nights. Brandon is certainly a great place to Bee at the moment!
Back to index
Back to fixtures