Post by Pieman on Jul 30, 2006 23:50:12 GMT
WOLVES 45 READING 45, ELITE LEAGUE B, MONDAY 24TH JULY
Parry’s International Wolves:
Peter Karlsson 2 3 3 2 3 =13
Christian Hefenbrock F 1 0 =1
Ronnie Correy 0 1* 1* 2 =4+2
Freddie Lindgren 2 2 2 3 1 =10
Billy Hamill 3 1* 1 1* =6+2
William Lawson 3 2 1 0 =6
Magnus Karlsson 2* 2* 1 0 =5+2
Bulldogs (allegedly):
Greg Hancock 3 3 3 3 2 =14
Travis McGowan 1 3 F 3 2* =9+1
Janus Kolodziej (3) (3) (X) (3) =(9)
Charlie Gjedde 1 0 2 3 2 =8
Matej Zagar 1 2 3 3 0 0 =9
Glenn Cunningham 0 0 0 =0
Zdenek Simota 1 0 2* X 1 1* =5+2
This meeting may have been very entertaining on a hugely improved track, but once again Wolves did not quite have the edge over their opponents, providing only six race winners. Billy and Christian looked below par once again, but this was more than covered by some superb racing and a very close match throughout.
Janus Kolodziej (hereafter referred to as JK for ease of spelling) was apparently suffering from the mysterious “Polish disease” which seems to have affected several young Poles competing in the Elite League this season. It was difficult to envisage him scoring nine points – which his rider replacement rides managed – around Monmore, and this definitely worked in Reading’s favour.
The Wolves reserves showed an upturn in form once again, and coupled with good performances from PK and Freddie this kept the scoreline close all through the 15 heats.
For the first time in weeks, Wolves won the toss and took gates one and three.
Heat 1: Hancock, P Karlsson, McGowan, Hefenbrock (f), 55.70. 2-4, 2-4.
PK gated but Hancock just held him off all the way, while Christian lost out to McGowan on lap one, trying to win his place back but falling on the last turn.
Heat 2: Lawson, M Karlsson, Simota, Cunningham, 56.93. 5-1, 7-5.
From the gate.
Heat 3: McGowan, Lindgren, Gjedde, Correy, 56.72. 2-4, 9-9.
For the first lap, it looked like this was to be a Racers (oops!) 5-1, but Freddie managed to get ahead of Gjedde on the back straight.
Heat 4: Hamill, M Karlsson, Zagar, Simota, 56.80. 5-1, 14-10.
Billy led all the way, while a rejuvenated Magnus went inside Zagar on the first lap.
Heat 5: Hancock, Lindgren, Correy, McGowan (f), 56.53. 3-3, 17-13.
A tight first turn saw McGowan fall, albeit without any visible contact. He managed to leave the shale, and Hancock went on to win. Whether McGowan would have moved quite so rapidly if Hancock had not been leading is open to debate.
Heat 6: P Karlsson, Zagar, Hefenbrock, Cunningham, 57.19. 4-2, 21-15.
Christian took Zagar wide on the first turn, and an excellent battle ensued for the next four laps, the Slovenian eventually taking second behind PK.
Heat 7: Zagar, Lawson, Hamill, Gjedde, 57.33. 3-3, 24-18.
Billy sent Gjedde wide on turn one, letting Will through to chase Zagar but he escaped to win.
Heat 8 (rerun): McGowan, Simota, M Karlsson, Hefenbrock, 57.39. 1-5, 25-23.
Both Wolves made a fine start, so naturally the race was rerun. This saw McGowan predictably lead all the way, but one of the rides of the night came from Simota who took two laps to round Christian for third, before superbly squeezing outside Will on the back straight of the last lap, turning a potential Wolves 5-1 into a 1-5.
Heat 9: Zagar, Lindgren, Correy, Cunningham, 56.96. 3-3, 28-26.
Zagar belted Freddie wide on turn one to take the lead, and a fine battle ensued until Freddie almost lost it on lap three.
Heat 10 (rerun): P Karlsson, Gjedde, Lawson, Simota (f.exc), 57.33. 4-2, 32-28.
Simota had been trying some fairly wild lines exiting turn two in his earlier rides, and this was to prove his undoing here. Wolves led with the Czech trying his favoured outside line, but on lap two he clipped the turn two fence and was catapulted from his bike in a frightening crash. Somehow William managed to miss him and Simota escaped injury, although excluded. The rerun saw PK round Gjedde for the lead leaving the ex-Wolf to battle with Will for second, the Dane taking the place at the start of the last lap.
Heat 11: Hancock, McGowan, Hamill, Lawson, 57.49. 1-5, 33-33.
From the gate – there always seems to be one race where we let the opponents catch up, doesn’t there?
Heat 12: Gjedde, Correy, Simota, M Karlsson, 57.84. 2-4, 35-37.
Ronnie led the first lap until Gjedde rounded him, while Simota and Magnus were side-by-side for virtually the whole race, the Reading rider finally winning the place.
Heat 13: Hancock, P Karlsson, Hamill, Zagar, 56.99. 3-3, 38-40.
A brief ruck on the first turn saw Reading emerge with the lead, but the Wolves amazingly went either side of Zagar at turn four in a superb manoeuvre.
Heat 14: Lindgren, Gjedde, Simota, Lawson, 57.16. 3-3, 41-43.
Gjedde gated but Freddie led from the first turn, with Will battling with Simota once again and almost catching him on the line.
Heat 15: P Karlsson, Hancock, Lindgren, Zagar, 57.35. 4-2, 45-45.
Would Wolves slip up at the death yet again? Would Hancock complete his maximum? Thanks to PK, the answer was a resounding NO! A draw was probably the perfect result to such a close encounter too.
Comment/Summary:
Weather: Explosively hot once again.
Track: Much, much better than in recent weeks, with plenty of dirt in evidence – well done to all concerned.
Attendance: A good crowd, no doubt increased by the heat.
Wolves Performance: A fighting performance, but once again lacking that full-power punch.
Entertainment: Some superb close racing all night,
Referee (Craig Ackroyd): Apart from stopping heat eight for no apparent reason, everything correct.
Man of the Match: Almost impossible to decide this one, but I will give it to William Lawson for his maximum effort.
Rider Ratings: (now on a scale of ten with 6 being the average expectation)
Peter Karlsson: 9 Back to his best form.
Christian Hefenbrock: 4 Only just lost second in heat six, but one point is still not quite up to scratch.
Ronnie Correy: 5 A rather anonymous meeting.
Fredrik Lindgren: 8 Looked fast all night.
Billy Hamill: 4 Quite simply, his performance was not good enough for a heat leader.
William Lawson: 7 Lots of good effort, and some points as a reward.
Magnus Karlsson: 6
So, that’s the B fixture done, now our thoughts turn to the second leg of the A fixture on Wednesday night, with a scant three-point lead for the bonus. Will the Wolves be able to chase the Bulldog Racers down in this heat we are currently experiencing? Or will the promised thunderstorms arrive early?
Once a Wolf, always a Wolf
Dave Goddard a.k.a. Pieman.
Parry’s International Wolves:
Peter Karlsson 2 3 3 2 3 =13
Christian Hefenbrock F 1 0 =1
Ronnie Correy 0 1* 1* 2 =4+2
Freddie Lindgren 2 2 2 3 1 =10
Billy Hamill 3 1* 1 1* =6+2
William Lawson 3 2 1 0 =6
Magnus Karlsson 2* 2* 1 0 =5+2
Bulldogs (allegedly):
Greg Hancock 3 3 3 3 2 =14
Travis McGowan 1 3 F 3 2* =9+1
Janus Kolodziej (3) (3) (X) (3) =(9)
Charlie Gjedde 1 0 2 3 2 =8
Matej Zagar 1 2 3 3 0 0 =9
Glenn Cunningham 0 0 0 =0
Zdenek Simota 1 0 2* X 1 1* =5+2
This meeting may have been very entertaining on a hugely improved track, but once again Wolves did not quite have the edge over their opponents, providing only six race winners. Billy and Christian looked below par once again, but this was more than covered by some superb racing and a very close match throughout.
Janus Kolodziej (hereafter referred to as JK for ease of spelling) was apparently suffering from the mysterious “Polish disease” which seems to have affected several young Poles competing in the Elite League this season. It was difficult to envisage him scoring nine points – which his rider replacement rides managed – around Monmore, and this definitely worked in Reading’s favour.
The Wolves reserves showed an upturn in form once again, and coupled with good performances from PK and Freddie this kept the scoreline close all through the 15 heats.
For the first time in weeks, Wolves won the toss and took gates one and three.
Heat 1: Hancock, P Karlsson, McGowan, Hefenbrock (f), 55.70. 2-4, 2-4.
PK gated but Hancock just held him off all the way, while Christian lost out to McGowan on lap one, trying to win his place back but falling on the last turn.
Heat 2: Lawson, M Karlsson, Simota, Cunningham, 56.93. 5-1, 7-5.
From the gate.
Heat 3: McGowan, Lindgren, Gjedde, Correy, 56.72. 2-4, 9-9.
For the first lap, it looked like this was to be a Racers (oops!) 5-1, but Freddie managed to get ahead of Gjedde on the back straight.
Heat 4: Hamill, M Karlsson, Zagar, Simota, 56.80. 5-1, 14-10.
Billy led all the way, while a rejuvenated Magnus went inside Zagar on the first lap.
Heat 5: Hancock, Lindgren, Correy, McGowan (f), 56.53. 3-3, 17-13.
A tight first turn saw McGowan fall, albeit without any visible contact. He managed to leave the shale, and Hancock went on to win. Whether McGowan would have moved quite so rapidly if Hancock had not been leading is open to debate.
Heat 6: P Karlsson, Zagar, Hefenbrock, Cunningham, 57.19. 4-2, 21-15.
Christian took Zagar wide on the first turn, and an excellent battle ensued for the next four laps, the Slovenian eventually taking second behind PK.
Heat 7: Zagar, Lawson, Hamill, Gjedde, 57.33. 3-3, 24-18.
Billy sent Gjedde wide on turn one, letting Will through to chase Zagar but he escaped to win.
Heat 8 (rerun): McGowan, Simota, M Karlsson, Hefenbrock, 57.39. 1-5, 25-23.
Both Wolves made a fine start, so naturally the race was rerun. This saw McGowan predictably lead all the way, but one of the rides of the night came from Simota who took two laps to round Christian for third, before superbly squeezing outside Will on the back straight of the last lap, turning a potential Wolves 5-1 into a 1-5.
Heat 9: Zagar, Lindgren, Correy, Cunningham, 56.96. 3-3, 28-26.
Zagar belted Freddie wide on turn one to take the lead, and a fine battle ensued until Freddie almost lost it on lap three.
Heat 10 (rerun): P Karlsson, Gjedde, Lawson, Simota (f.exc), 57.33. 4-2, 32-28.
Simota had been trying some fairly wild lines exiting turn two in his earlier rides, and this was to prove his undoing here. Wolves led with the Czech trying his favoured outside line, but on lap two he clipped the turn two fence and was catapulted from his bike in a frightening crash. Somehow William managed to miss him and Simota escaped injury, although excluded. The rerun saw PK round Gjedde for the lead leaving the ex-Wolf to battle with Will for second, the Dane taking the place at the start of the last lap.
Heat 11: Hancock, McGowan, Hamill, Lawson, 57.49. 1-5, 33-33.
From the gate – there always seems to be one race where we let the opponents catch up, doesn’t there?
Heat 12: Gjedde, Correy, Simota, M Karlsson, 57.84. 2-4, 35-37.
Ronnie led the first lap until Gjedde rounded him, while Simota and Magnus were side-by-side for virtually the whole race, the Reading rider finally winning the place.
Heat 13: Hancock, P Karlsson, Hamill, Zagar, 56.99. 3-3, 38-40.
A brief ruck on the first turn saw Reading emerge with the lead, but the Wolves amazingly went either side of Zagar at turn four in a superb manoeuvre.
Heat 14: Lindgren, Gjedde, Simota, Lawson, 57.16. 3-3, 41-43.
Gjedde gated but Freddie led from the first turn, with Will battling with Simota once again and almost catching him on the line.
Heat 15: P Karlsson, Hancock, Lindgren, Zagar, 57.35. 4-2, 45-45.
Would Wolves slip up at the death yet again? Would Hancock complete his maximum? Thanks to PK, the answer was a resounding NO! A draw was probably the perfect result to such a close encounter too.
Comment/Summary:
Weather: Explosively hot once again.
Track: Much, much better than in recent weeks, with plenty of dirt in evidence – well done to all concerned.
Attendance: A good crowd, no doubt increased by the heat.
Wolves Performance: A fighting performance, but once again lacking that full-power punch.
Entertainment: Some superb close racing all night,
Referee (Craig Ackroyd): Apart from stopping heat eight for no apparent reason, everything correct.
Man of the Match: Almost impossible to decide this one, but I will give it to William Lawson for his maximum effort.
Rider Ratings: (now on a scale of ten with 6 being the average expectation)
Peter Karlsson: 9 Back to his best form.
Christian Hefenbrock: 4 Only just lost second in heat six, but one point is still not quite up to scratch.
Ronnie Correy: 5 A rather anonymous meeting.
Fredrik Lindgren: 8 Looked fast all night.
Billy Hamill: 4 Quite simply, his performance was not good enough for a heat leader.
William Lawson: 7 Lots of good effort, and some points as a reward.
Magnus Karlsson: 6
So, that’s the B fixture done, now our thoughts turn to the second leg of the A fixture on Wednesday night, with a scant three-point lead for the bonus. Will the Wolves be able to chase the Bulldog Racers down in this heat we are currently experiencing? Or will the promised thunderstorms arrive early?
Once a Wolf, always a Wolf
Dave Goddard a.k.a. Pieman.
