27th March 2005... Elite League Pairs Final

[Mr X]

Group A

Arena Essex 26
1. Tony Rickardsson 4, 4, 3, 4 = 15
2. Gary Havelock 2, 2, 4, 3 =11

Wolves 19
3. Mikael Max 3, 4, 2, 2 = 11
4. David Howe 0, 2, 3, 3 = 8

Eastbourne 18
5. David Norris 3, 0, 0, 0 = 3
6. Nicki Pedersen 4, 3, 4, 4 = 15

Oxford 10
7. Greg Hancock 2, 2, 2, 4 = 10
8. Travis Mcgowan 0, 0, 0, 0 = 0

Poole 17
9. Ryan Sullivan 0, 3, 3, 2 = 8
10. Bjarne Pedersen 3, 4, 2, 0 = 9

Group B

Ipswich 16
11. Piotr Protasiewicz 4, 0, 3, 0 = 7
12. Hans Andersen 3, 2, 2, 2 = 9

Peterborough 14
13. Peter Karlsson 0, 3, 3, 4 = 10
14. Sam Ermolenko 2 ,Fx, 0, 2 = 4

Swindon 27
15. Leigh Adams 3, 3, 4, 4 = 14
16. Lee Richardson 4, 4, 2, 3 = 13

Coventry 15
17. Andreas Jonsson 0, 2, 0, R = 2
18. Scott Nicholls 2, 4, 4, 3 = 13

Belle Vue 18
19. Jason Crump 2, 3, 0, 4 = 9
20. Joe Screen 4, 0, 2, 3 = 9

Heat 01: Rickardsson, Max, Havelock, Howe 60.3 AE 6 Wol 3
Heat 02: Protasiewicz, Andersen, Ermolenko, Karlsson 60.0 Ips 7 Pete 2
Heat 03: N Pedersen, Norris, Hancock, Mcgowan 61.0 East 7 Ox 2
Heat 04: Richardson, Adams, Nicholls, Jonsson 62.0 Swi 7 Cov 2
Heat 05: Re-run Max, B Pedersen, Howe, Sullivan 62.5 Wol 6 Poole 3
Heat 06: Re-runX2 Screen, Karlsson, Crump, Ermolenko Fex 62.5 BV 6 Pete 3
Heat 07: Rickardsson, N Pedersen, Havelock, Norris 60.2 AE 6 East 3
Heat 08: Richardson, Adams, Andersen, Protasiewicz 62.5 Swi 7 Ips 2
Heat 09: B Pedersen, Sullivan, Hancock, Mcgowan 63.2 Poole 7 Ox 2
Heat 10: Nicholls, Crump, Jonsson, Screen 63.2 Cov 6 BV 3
Heat 11: N Pedersen, Howe, Max, Norris 62.6 East 4 Wol 5
Heat 12: Adams, Karlsson, Richardson, Ermolenko Swi 6 Pete 3
Heat 13: Havelock, Rickardsson, Hancock, Mcgowan 64.1
AE 7 OX 2
Heat 14: Nicholls, Protasiewicz, Andersen, Jonsson 62.7
Cov 4 Ips 5
Heat 15: N Pedersen, Sullivan, B Pedersen, Norris 63.4 East 4 Poole 5
Heat 16: Adams, Richardson, Screen, Crump 63.8 Swi 7 BV 2
Heat 17: Hancock, Howe, Max, Mcgowan 64.0 Ox 4 Wol 5
Heat 18: Karlsson, Nicholls, Ermolenko, Jonsson ef 63.9 Pete 6 Cov 3
Heat 19: Rickardsson, Havelock, Sullivan, B Pedersen 64.1 AE 7 Poole 2
Heat 20: Crump, Screen, Andersen, Protasiewicz BV 7 Ips 2
SEMI FINAL 1: Rickardsson, Screen, Crump, Havelock 63. 1 BV 5 AE 4
SEMI FINAL 2: Adams, Richardson, Max, Howe 63.4 Swi 7 Wol 2
3rd Place Race Rickardsson, Havelock, Max, Howe fell AE 7 Wol 2
GRAND FINAL: Adams, Crump, Richardson, Screen
Swi 6 Bv 3

[Mr X]

Starting the meeting as 20-1 rank outsiders, Wolves surprisingly qualified for the Semi Finals of the Elite League Pairs before losing out to eventual winners Swindon Robins who dominated the event throughout.

Wolves, represented by Mikael Max and David Howe were drawn in Group A in a strong looking line up. The inside gates were a big advantage early on, and we had to settle for 3 points from the outside gates in Heat 1 as Mikael split the Arena pair of Rickardsson and Havelock from the start. They were out again in Heat 5, this time against Poole, and Mikael and David gated first. David drifted wide on the 4th bend and was passed by Bjarne Pedersen, but managed to hang on to 3rd in front of the disappointing Ryan Sullivan. Mikael came under pressure from Pedersen late on in the meeting but just held on for the win. 9 points from two rides just about kept us in contention for 2nd place behind runaway leaders Arena Essex.

Wolves were next out in Heat 11, and trailing Eastbourne by a point needed a decent result in this one. From the outside gates the Eagles pair made the better start only for Nicki Pedersen (off gate 2) to produce a classic piece of Pedersen “teamwork”, taking his partner David Norris way out wide on the 1st bend allowing Max and Howe through to fill the minor placings. I wonder why we showed Pedersen the exit door?!

After three rides this put us level with Eastbourne and a point behind Poole. When Norris missed out again in his final ride the Eagles were virtually eliminated, leaving Wolves looking for a good result against the Oxford pairing of Hancock and McGowan to qualify. The Oxford pair had failed to beat an opponent between them before this heat, but were surprisingly first away from the tapes. However both Mikael and David rounded an out of touch Travis McGowan on the 3rd and 4th bend to fill the minor placings behind Hancock. This left us on a total of 19 points, one ahead of Eastbourne but hoping for a favour from Arena Essex against Poole in the final heat of the group stage. Rickardsson and Havelock duly obliged with an easy 7-2 after both Pirates made big mistakes in the race.

Amazingly, after four steady, sensible but fairly unconvincing rides from the Wolves pairing, we had qualified for the Semi Finals. Unfortunately, this pitted us against the winners of Group B, the Swindon pairing of Leigh Adams and Lee Richardson who had dominated the group stages, losing points only when Lee Richardson was passed by Peter Karlsson in heat 12. Barring some sort of miracle there was only going to be one outcome, and so it proved with the Robins pair easily outpacing the Wolves with a 7-2 from the gate. Belle Vue surprisingly eliminated Arena Essex in the other semi final thanks to some smart team riding from Jason Crump who cleverly trapped Gary Havelock on the inside of the first bend allowing Joe Screen to come around them into the vital 2nd place.

The B Final (3rd place playoff) unfortunately saw another dismal heat from our duo who were comprehensively beaten by Rickardsson and Havelock, with David sliding off in 3rd place. A disappointing end to the night.

In the Final, Swindon started as big favourites and justified the tag with a 6-3 win over Belle Vue. Crump led from the start only to be passed by the flying Leigh Adams around the outside of bend 4. Crump smartly realised he could let Adams go and try to help his partner, but his attempts to slow Lee Richardson failed when the Swindon rider passed him. Crump regained 2nd but Screen was never in contention and Swindon were very worthy winners. Adams completed his sixth unbeaten ride, and Richardson – a Panther in 2004 – put his track knowledge to good use with a fine performance.

In the group stages, ex Wolves, now Panthers duo Peter Karlsson and Sam Ermolenko were unlucky with a couple of harsh refereeing decisions in the early stages. PK had his front wheel almost removed by Protasiewicz in Heat 1 but referee Rob perks let it go, and then Sam was harshly excluded for a first bend incident with Joe Screen in heat 6. PK produced some trademark passing moves later in the meeting, notably against Crump in heat 6 but Sam was generally off the pace and struggled in this company.

So ultimately a pleasant surprise in the result as few would have expected Wolves to finish 4th. It still baffles me as to why our riders can’t get to grips with the Peterborough track. We seem to simply lack the pace required around the big circuit, yet Mikael used to love the track and David spent years as a home rider. If other small track riders can adapt why do our boys struggle so much? Is it machine set up or confidence?

Overall a big crowd, an attractive looking event, worthy winners but only moderate entertainment. The format puts a big emphasis on teamwork, and avoiding last places, yet team riding is notoriously difficult on the wide open spaces at Alwalton, where it is so difficult to block an opponent successfully. Only Jason Crump had any success at this, with the other pairs generally running their own races and hoping it worked out for their partner. I’m sure this meeting would be much more exciting run on a small track… maybe next year?

Wolves next match is Belle Vue at home tomorrow night (Bank Holiday Monday). Can we win by 12 points and claim the first bonus point of the season? Should be a cracker…

See you there,

Mark Rowe.

[Mr X]

I forgot the funniest part of the night. The trophy presentation... the trophies looked like they cost all of 50p each from the local shoe repairers. The riders' reaction to them was priceless... not impressed! ;D



The report is now available on the web site as a Word document.