Post by Lawt on Aug 26, 2004 18:48:41 GMT
Arena Essex 48, Wolves 42, ELB, Wednesday August 25th
Arena Essex
1. Mark Loram 2-2-3-3-2-2 =14
2. Greg Walasek 1*-0-0-R-1 =2+1
3. Roman Povazhny 1-2-2*-3-0 =8+1
4. Gary Havelock 3-0-3-3-2*-1* =12+2
5. R/R 0-3-3-0 =6
6. Leigh Lanham 3-1-0-3 =7
7. Ray Morton 0-3-2-0 =5
Wolves
1. Mikael Max 3-3-2-3-3 =14
2. R/R 0-2-1-1* =4+1
3. Fredrik Lindgren F-0-1-1* 2+1
4. Sam Ermolenko 2-2-2-1 =7
5. David Howe 1*-3-0-1-0 =5+1
6. Chris Neath 0-1*-1-1-1-1* =5+2
7. Adam Skornicki 2-2-3-0-2-0 =9
Arena Essex took gates 1 and 3.
Heat 1. MAX, Loram, Walasek, NEATH. 3-3
From the gate it was a comfortable win for Mikael who rode the inside line very well. Chris not too far adrift at the back.
Heat 2. Lanham, SKORNICKI, NEATH, Morton. 3-3, 6-6
From the gate with Morton tailed off quite badly at the back. Adam passed Chris for second place.
Heat 3. Havelock, ERMOLENKO, Povazhny, LINDGREN (fell) 4-2, 10-8.
Freddie spins off (from last place) and falls on the 1st bend but clears the track quickly and is unhurt. Sam takes a couple of laps to wind it up but gets round the outside of Roman for 2nd place on the last bend of lap 2.
Heat 4. Morton, SKORNICKI, HOWE, Walasek. 3-3, 13-11
David moves at the start which prompts Walasek to go through the tapes. Ref excludes him and he goes off 15 metres in the rerun. Amazingly Morton flies out of the start and wins easily with neither Wolf mounting a decent challenge.
Heat 5. MAX, Povazhny, NEATH, Havelock. 2-4, 15-15
Mikael bursts out from a tight first bend into the lead. Chris holds off Havelock easily for 3rd place to put Wolves level.
Heat 6. HOWE, Loram, NEATH, Walasek. 2-4, 17-19
David from the gate as Chris has a superb battle with Mark Loram, passing and repassing. Chris leads him into the 3rd band of last lap, but Mark goes for the big swoop around the outside, passes Chris and almost catches David on the run in to the line but David moved wide to block him when we thought Loram would take the win.
Heat 7. Havelock, ERMOLENKO, Lanham. LINDGREN. 4-2, 21-21
Clear win for Havelock. Lanham pushed Sam really hard for 2nd place in laps two and three but Sam woke up and pulled away from him on the last lap. Freddie seemed to find the track unfathomable and keeps the throttle wide open.
Heat 8. SKORNICKI, Morton, LINDGREN, Walasek(EF) 2-4, 23-25
Adam from the start but Arena shut Freddie out for the 3-3 until Walasek's bike stops on the third lap.
Heat 9. Havelock, Povazhny, NEATH, HOWE. 5-1, 28-26
David gates but is easily passed by the Arena pair in the first two bends and he goes backwards. Chris challenged Povazhny but couldn't find a way past.
Heat 10. Loram, ERMOLENKO, Walasek, SKORNICKI. 4-2, 32-28
Loram won from the gate in fastest time of the night. Adam was a long way off the pace.
Heat 11. Loram, MAX, NEATH, Lanham. 3-3, 35-31
A good ride from Chris who held out Lanham well. The track is not good for passing and we have now had a lot of races with little or no possibility of passing.
Heat 12. Povazhny, SKORNICKI, LINDGREN, Morton. 3-3, 38-34
Predictable race result. The most exciting event was afterwards when the tractor that should have been watering the track demolished a big section of the back straight fence. So we’ve had a late start, an electrical fault on the tapes and a smashed fence. It’s not as if there was a long journey home afterwards or anything…….
Heat 13. MAX, Loram, HOWE, Povazhny. 2-4, 40-38
Loram tried everything to pass Mikael and seemed to have more speed but couldn't convert this into a pass.
Heat 14. Lanham, Havelock, ERMOLENKO, SKORNICKI. 5-1, 45-39
Sam got skilfully squeezed out on the first bend and threw everything at the Arena pair to get back on terms. But he was pushing too hard and hit the kerb at one point trying to force his way through and then had too much speed and went far too wide on subsequent bends.
Heat 15. MAX, Loram, Havelock, HOWE. 3-3, 48-42
Same as heat 13... Loram throws everything at Mikael who just holds him off by about half a wheel on the line. Strange choice to select David for this heat instead of Sam.
I found the meeting lacking in excitement and there was certainly very little passing. The races seemed to be very short due to the small size of the track and this was even more evident after seeing those few races at the much larger Swindon track last week. Overtaking lines were not really available and I reckon that if there were a bit more dirt and steeper banking then an advantage could be gained coming off the bends. We should have won the meeting as Arena were understrength but with Freddie once again showing that he doesn’t like the small track and David lacking in scoring ability we handed them the two points. Thankfully the bonus point was always safe.
WEATHER *** A fairly pleasant, warm evening with cloud cover during the meeting. Rain threatened in the afternoon but held off meaning that the track had to be watered.
TRACK CONDITIONS *** It didn’t appear too slick but riders were not able to generate sufficient drive to pass opponents in most cases. Good gating was crucial.
ATTENDANCE ** A Thames water vole. At 7.15 there were only about 250-300 people in the stadium but this number probably trebled by the start time.
WOLVES PERFORMANCE ** We did not take advantage of the weakened position of the Arena Essex team. Freddie and David were the weaker links here.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE ** The stadium is very pleasant and viewing is very good indeed but the quality of the racing was poor with little to create excitement in this meeting. It certainly makes you appreciate the racing we see at Monmore Green. Mind you the QE2 bridge provided a little light entertainment as it filled up with cars and made me wonder how many it could take.
Faulty tapes and self-inflicted damage to safety fence added up to a 10pm finish which meant hitting the late evening roadworks on the motorways.
REFEREE Mike Posselwhite. Ran the meeting well – the delays were not his fault.
WOLVES MAN OF THE MATCH – Mikael Max by a distance. He showed consistent speed and rode a quick, midtrack line to record four good wins.
RIDERS’ PERFORMANCES:
MIKAEL **** Good night’s work – only beaten once by Loram.
CHRIS **** He did everything that could be expected of him and a little more. His performance was worth more than his paid 8 score.
DAVID ** Was off the pace all night apart from his win in heat 6 when he gated and just held on to beat Loram.
SAM *** Never really came to terms with the track but showed plenty of effort throughout the meeting.
FREDDIE ** Always struggling. But I guess everyone can have a bad meeting and he has served us well recently. I hope that Arena does not become a bogey track for him.
ADAM *** Overall it was a good meeting for Adam but his form did dip alarmingly in his third and fifth rides when he was way off the pace and unfortunately these were vital heats.
It was a meeting that we could have, and should have won. Now we must take the full five points off Belle Vue next week…….
Lawt
Proud to be a Wolf
Arena Essex
1. Mark Loram 2-2-3-3-2-2 =14
2. Greg Walasek 1*-0-0-R-1 =2+1
3. Roman Povazhny 1-2-2*-3-0 =8+1
4. Gary Havelock 3-0-3-3-2*-1* =12+2
5. R/R 0-3-3-0 =6
6. Leigh Lanham 3-1-0-3 =7
7. Ray Morton 0-3-2-0 =5
Wolves
1. Mikael Max 3-3-2-3-3 =14
2. R/R 0-2-1-1* =4+1
3. Fredrik Lindgren F-0-1-1* 2+1
4. Sam Ermolenko 2-2-2-1 =7
5. David Howe 1*-3-0-1-0 =5+1
6. Chris Neath 0-1*-1-1-1-1* =5+2
7. Adam Skornicki 2-2-3-0-2-0 =9
Arena Essex took gates 1 and 3.
Heat 1. MAX, Loram, Walasek, NEATH. 3-3
From the gate it was a comfortable win for Mikael who rode the inside line very well. Chris not too far adrift at the back.
Heat 2. Lanham, SKORNICKI, NEATH, Morton. 3-3, 6-6
From the gate with Morton tailed off quite badly at the back. Adam passed Chris for second place.
Heat 3. Havelock, ERMOLENKO, Povazhny, LINDGREN (fell) 4-2, 10-8.
Freddie spins off (from last place) and falls on the 1st bend but clears the track quickly and is unhurt. Sam takes a couple of laps to wind it up but gets round the outside of Roman for 2nd place on the last bend of lap 2.
Heat 4. Morton, SKORNICKI, HOWE, Walasek. 3-3, 13-11
David moves at the start which prompts Walasek to go through the tapes. Ref excludes him and he goes off 15 metres in the rerun. Amazingly Morton flies out of the start and wins easily with neither Wolf mounting a decent challenge.
Heat 5. MAX, Povazhny, NEATH, Havelock. 2-4, 15-15
Mikael bursts out from a tight first bend into the lead. Chris holds off Havelock easily for 3rd place to put Wolves level.
Heat 6. HOWE, Loram, NEATH, Walasek. 2-4, 17-19
David from the gate as Chris has a superb battle with Mark Loram, passing and repassing. Chris leads him into the 3rd band of last lap, but Mark goes for the big swoop around the outside, passes Chris and almost catches David on the run in to the line but David moved wide to block him when we thought Loram would take the win.
Heat 7. Havelock, ERMOLENKO, Lanham. LINDGREN. 4-2, 21-21
Clear win for Havelock. Lanham pushed Sam really hard for 2nd place in laps two and three but Sam woke up and pulled away from him on the last lap. Freddie seemed to find the track unfathomable and keeps the throttle wide open.
Heat 8. SKORNICKI, Morton, LINDGREN, Walasek(EF) 2-4, 23-25
Adam from the start but Arena shut Freddie out for the 3-3 until Walasek's bike stops on the third lap.
Heat 9. Havelock, Povazhny, NEATH, HOWE. 5-1, 28-26
David gates but is easily passed by the Arena pair in the first two bends and he goes backwards. Chris challenged Povazhny but couldn't find a way past.
Heat 10. Loram, ERMOLENKO, Walasek, SKORNICKI. 4-2, 32-28
Loram won from the gate in fastest time of the night. Adam was a long way off the pace.
Heat 11. Loram, MAX, NEATH, Lanham. 3-3, 35-31
A good ride from Chris who held out Lanham well. The track is not good for passing and we have now had a lot of races with little or no possibility of passing.
Heat 12. Povazhny, SKORNICKI, LINDGREN, Morton. 3-3, 38-34
Predictable race result. The most exciting event was afterwards when the tractor that should have been watering the track demolished a big section of the back straight fence. So we’ve had a late start, an electrical fault on the tapes and a smashed fence. It’s not as if there was a long journey home afterwards or anything…….
Heat 13. MAX, Loram, HOWE, Povazhny. 2-4, 40-38
Loram tried everything to pass Mikael and seemed to have more speed but couldn't convert this into a pass.
Heat 14. Lanham, Havelock, ERMOLENKO, SKORNICKI. 5-1, 45-39
Sam got skilfully squeezed out on the first bend and threw everything at the Arena pair to get back on terms. But he was pushing too hard and hit the kerb at one point trying to force his way through and then had too much speed and went far too wide on subsequent bends.
Heat 15. MAX, Loram, Havelock, HOWE. 3-3, 48-42
Same as heat 13... Loram throws everything at Mikael who just holds him off by about half a wheel on the line. Strange choice to select David for this heat instead of Sam.
I found the meeting lacking in excitement and there was certainly very little passing. The races seemed to be very short due to the small size of the track and this was even more evident after seeing those few races at the much larger Swindon track last week. Overtaking lines were not really available and I reckon that if there were a bit more dirt and steeper banking then an advantage could be gained coming off the bends. We should have won the meeting as Arena were understrength but with Freddie once again showing that he doesn’t like the small track and David lacking in scoring ability we handed them the two points. Thankfully the bonus point was always safe.
WEATHER *** A fairly pleasant, warm evening with cloud cover during the meeting. Rain threatened in the afternoon but held off meaning that the track had to be watered.
TRACK CONDITIONS *** It didn’t appear too slick but riders were not able to generate sufficient drive to pass opponents in most cases. Good gating was crucial.
ATTENDANCE ** A Thames water vole. At 7.15 there were only about 250-300 people in the stadium but this number probably trebled by the start time.
WOLVES PERFORMANCE ** We did not take advantage of the weakened position of the Arena Essex team. Freddie and David were the weaker links here.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE ** The stadium is very pleasant and viewing is very good indeed but the quality of the racing was poor with little to create excitement in this meeting. It certainly makes you appreciate the racing we see at Monmore Green. Mind you the QE2 bridge provided a little light entertainment as it filled up with cars and made me wonder how many it could take.
Faulty tapes and self-inflicted damage to safety fence added up to a 10pm finish which meant hitting the late evening roadworks on the motorways.
REFEREE Mike Posselwhite. Ran the meeting well – the delays were not his fault.
WOLVES MAN OF THE MATCH – Mikael Max by a distance. He showed consistent speed and rode a quick, midtrack line to record four good wins.
RIDERS’ PERFORMANCES:
MIKAEL **** Good night’s work – only beaten once by Loram.
CHRIS **** He did everything that could be expected of him and a little more. His performance was worth more than his paid 8 score.
DAVID ** Was off the pace all night apart from his win in heat 6 when he gated and just held on to beat Loram.
SAM *** Never really came to terms with the track but showed plenty of effort throughout the meeting.
FREDDIE ** Always struggling. But I guess everyone can have a bad meeting and he has served us well recently. I hope that Arena does not become a bogey track for him.
ADAM *** Overall it was a good meeting for Adam but his form did dip alarmingly in his third and fifth rides when he was way off the pace and unfortunately these were vital heats.
It was a meeting that we could have, and should have won. Now we must take the full five points off Belle Vue next week…….
Lawt
Proud to be a Wolf
