BEES: WOLVES:
B.Andersen 1'3 3 0 7(1) M.Karlsson 3 1 3 1'1 9(1)
S.Tacey 2 1 2 1 6 J.Jensen 0 0 3 1 4
A.Jonsson 1 2'2 3 0 8(1) G.Stancl 2'0 0 2 4(1)
C.Gjedde 0 3 X 1' 4(1) N.Pedersen 3 2 2 3 10
G.Hancock 3 3 2 3 2 13 P.Karlsson 2 2 3 2 3 12
R.Madsen 3 1 1'0 2 7(2) C.Taylor 1'0 1 1' 3(2)
S.Robson E 0 E 0 R.Juul 2 1'0 0 3(1)
HEAT DETAILS:
Ht 1:M.Karlsson, Tacey, Andersen, Jensen, 63.8 3-3 3-3
Ht 2:Madsen, Juul, Taylor, Robson(ef), 65.7 3-3 6-6
Ht 3:Pedersen, Stancl, Jonsson, Gjedde, 63.6 1-5 7-11
Ht 4:Hancock, P.Karlsson, Juul, Robson, 63.5 3-3 10-14
Ht 5:Gjedde, Jonsson, M.Karlsson, Jensen, 63.6 5-1 15-15
Ht 6:Andersen, P.Karlsson, Tacey, Taylor, 63.4 4-2 19-17
Ht 7:Hancock, Pedersen, Madsen, Stancl, 63.0 4-2 23-19
Ht 8:Jensen, Tacey, Madsen, Juul, 63.7 3-3 26-22
Ht 9:P.Karlsson, Jonsson, Taylor, Gjedde(f,exc) 2-4 28-26
Ht10:Andersen, Pedersen, Tacey, Stancl, 64.2 4-2 32-28
Ht11:M.Karlsson, Hancock, Jensen, Madsen, 63.8 2-4 34-32
Ht12:Jonsson, Stancl, Taylor, Robson(ef), 63.4 3-3 37-35
Ht13:Hancock, P.Karlsson, M.Karlsson, Andersen, 63.5 3-3 40-38
Ht14:Pedersen, Madsen, Gjedde, Juul, 63.8 3-3 43-41
Ht15:P.Karlsson, Hancock, M.Karlsson, Jonsson, 95.1 2-4 45-45
AN OPENING-NIGHT CHALLENGE match is always the time to iron out any problems, but this drawn fixture hardly served to answer any questions about this year's Coventry team; indeed, if anything, it left everyone even more uncertain. Wolves, on the other hand, must be more than happy with the result.
Bees never took control of the match, and although they twice established a four point lead, things never looked comfortable, and in a tight match it was no great surprise that Wolves grabbed a couple of key points towards the end, even if the final two points back came in Heat 15 and not 14. Coventry could have no complaints, having given away points throughout the evening, and face a huge task to win at Wolves on Monday and take aggregate success. More important, however, is a trip to Ipswich on Thursday, which is already looking extremely dodgy.
Track conditions were somewhat disappointing - clearly, rain was expected, but it never materialised and the result was a slick surface with an amazing amount of dust for a March night. Examples of overtaking were few and far between, especially in the early stages, and with Bees having a team of riders who can pass, the track is an area which needs to be addressed urgently.
Mikael Karlsson got off to a flying start in winning Heat 1 ahead of a lively Shaun Tacey and a sluggish Brian Andersen, who had his work cut out to hold off Jesper Jensen. Then came a very pleasing debut ride from Rene Madsen, who held off a strong challenge from Richard Juul - but far more worrying was that it took just a lap and a half to reach Stuart Robson's first engine failure of the season, gifting an uncompetitive Craig Taylor a point.
The Andreas Jonsson/Charlie Gjedde partnership is clearly going to provide plenty of ups and downs, and they started on a major down as an impressive Nicki Pedersen streaked away with Heat 3, Jonsson hitting the fence in his attempts to get past George Stancl. Gjedde was way behind at the back. Greg Hancock made a good start to his season with a win in heat 4 over a thrusting Peter Karlsson, whilst Robson, on a Tacey machine, trailed in behind Juul.
Gjedde was transformed and stormed away to win Heat 5, and with Jonsson in his wheeltracks, Mikael Karlsson was relegated to third place and Bees had drwan level again. They then went in front with a decisive first bend from Andersen giving him Heat 6 over Peter Karlsson and Tacey securing an easy third place.
Hancock was a comfortable winner of Heat 7 ahead of Pedersen, and Bees extended their lead to four points with Madsen taking advantage of a Stancl error on the first bend. Then we saw a genuine overtaking manoevre as Jensen got a good run round Tacey in heat 8, although Coventry did maintain their lead thanks to Madsen picking up another point ahead of Juul.
The Swedish tussle in Heat 9 went Peter Karlsson's way ahead of Jonsson, but all the action was at the back as Gjedde, in a comfortable third place, dropped it on the last bend and Taylor laid his bike down in avoidance. Obviously, the Wolves man was awarded third place and Bees had seen another point slip away.
Probably the best race of the night was Andersen's successful battle against Pedersen in Heat 10. He stalked him for a couple of laps, and then cut inside and overtook the Wolves man coming off the pits bend. He was then fortunate to lift across Pedersen's path, preventing a counter-attack around the outside, and with Tacey quickly getting past Stancl on the first lap, Bees had re-established their four point lead - with the interval taking place with Tacey having finished his night's work, and riders such as Hancock and Mikael Karlsson having only ridden twice!
It was Karlsson who gated in Heat 11, and made his escape as Hancock spent the first lap and a half bottled up behind Jensen. That 4-2 reduced the gap to two points. Jonsson took Heat 12 with ease ahead of Stancl, but, infuriatingly, Taylor was gifted another point thanks to Robson being mounted on uncompetitive machinery which saw him trail Taylor, and eventually pack up completely. With two points between the sides, Heat 13 could have been a key race, but in the end it was divided. Bees gated, but Andersen moved off the line coming off the second bend, and the Karlsson brothers went either side of him. Hancock's win made it 40-38 with two to go.
The start of Heat 14 was desperately tight, but Pedersen emerged in front of Madsen with Juul battling with Gjedde. Just as it looked as if the scores would be level with one heat to go, Gjedde slipped round Juul on the second lap to share the heat - and that left both sets of team managers with interesting decisions for heat 15. In the end, Bees plumped for Jonsson ahead of captain Andersen, whilst Wolves went for the tried and trusted Karlssons despite the very impressive Pedersen having outscored both.
It was a six-lap finale, and the start looked good for Bees - although Peter Karlsson moved into the lead, Hancock and Jonsson packed the places until Jonsson drifted on lap two, and that was the gap that Mikael Karlsson had been looking for. He then produced a major challenge on Hancock that seemed to take him past on one occasion, only to be immediately re-taken as Hancock held on to make sure that Bees at least did not lose the match.
But overall it was a very inconsistent performance from Coventry, admittedly against one of the teams who many think will be challenging. The strength of the Karlssons as a top two is clear, but the trump card will be Pedersen, who will be a real force in 1999. For Bees, Hancock unsurprisingly lead the way, and Tacey and Madsen both produced solid displays, but there were clearly some problems which need to be sorted out quickly. These Wolves matches mean nothing, but the real business starts on Thursday!