Post by Pieman on Sept 10, 2006 23:22:21 GMT
OXFORD 44 WOLVES 46, ELITE LEAGUE B, THURSDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER
Cheetahs:
Todd Wiltshire 2 3 R 2 0 =7
Adam Skornicki 1* 1 3 2 =7+1
David Howe 1* 2 3 2* 1 =9+2
Davey Watt 2 R 1 X =3
Adam Shields R 2 2 0 =4
Lubos Tomicek 2* 0 R =2+1
Eric Andersson 3 2 2* 3 2 =12+1
Parry’s International Wolves:
Peter Karlsson 3 3 3 3 3 =15 (max)
Christian Hefenbrock 0 1 1 1 =3
Ronnie Correy 0 1 1 0 =2
Billy Hamill 3 3 3 3 2* =14+1 (paid max)
Freddie Lindgren 3 2 2 1 =8
William Lawson 0 0 0 1 1 =2
Chris Schramm 1 1 0 =2
Wolves win 92-88 on aggregate.
After the home loss to Swindon on Monday and the drubbing at Reading on Wednesday, hopes for Wolves were pretty low for this match, especially as Oxford had only lost by seven points at Poole the night before. Incredibly, the Wolves defied everyone’s expectations in a super-close display – they may have only led for one heat, but it was the one that counted! Yet again it was our top names who did the hard work, with Billy and PK leading by example with two brilliant maximums, ably supported by Freddie.
Magnus was absent as he was riding for his Swedish club Valsarna in a play-off match (which gave rise to the situation documented on the forum) and former Oxford Conference League rider Chris Schramm was a fairly reasonable replacement at short notice. Christian showed a little improvement from his poor performance at Reading, with William continuing his decent form at this tough level, while Ronnie still looked a little out of touch.
The start of the meeting was delayed, apparently due to some riders not being happy with the track conditions. It was later revealed that this was partly due to the track not having dried out properly after earlier watering, and also due to problems with the riders’ tyres. (Thanks to British Speedway Forum member and Oxford track worker “Fat Tractor Man” for more info on this – for a full insight see page 12 of the thread on the BSF covering this match!).
The result of the toss was not known due to Oxford’s terrible PA system, but Wolves lined up in gates one and three for the first heat.
(NB: Due to said PA problems, some race times may be incorrect.)
Heat 1: Karlsson, Witshire, Skornicki, Hefenbrock, 59.09. 3-3, 3-3.
Peter – using Freddie’s back tyre thanks to the aforementioned problems – made the start and held off Wiltshire all the way, while Christian struggled to come to terms with what proved a very bumpy track, eventually falling into the fence on the last bend although he was not injured.
Heat 2: Andersson, Tomicek, Schramm, Lawson, 61.13. 5-1, 8-4.
The Oxford pair led off and won by the length of a straight.
Heat 3: Hamill, Watt, Howe, Correy, 60.49. 3-3, 11-7.
Oxford tracked a questionable pairing here (Howe and Watt…geddit?) but they had no answer to Billy. Howe almost lost it on the very troublesome pits turn allowing Ronnie into third place, with the ex-Wolf taking until lap three to retake Ronnie. Watt almost hit the fence on the last turn in his fruitless pursuit of Billy.
Heat 4: Lindgren, Andersson, Schramm, Shields (ret), 60.92. 2-4, 13-11.
Impressive reserve Andersson led away tracked by Freddie, and down the back straight for the second time Freddie rounded his fellow countryman to lead with a fine rapid switch of line.. Oxford guest Shields pulled out on lap three and it was widely reported that he had aggravated the troublesome hip injury he sustained earlier this year. Schramm was slipping and sliding all over the pace in third.
Heat 5 (rerun): Karlsson, Howe, Hefenbrock (ret, pushed home), Watt (ret), 60.89. 2-4, 15-15.
Christian and Watt seemed to make contact on the first turn and the Aussie fell causing a stoppage. All four were allowed back in the rerun, with PK leading as Watt passed Christian for third until a mistake on the bumpy surface allowed the German back ahead. On lap three the Aussie retired but seconds later Christian’s machine also failed. Cheered on by the travelling Wolves contingent he proceeded to determinedly push his bike round for over half a lap to take the point for third place – which would later prove to be a match-winning action!
Heat 6: Wiltshire, Lindgren, Skornicki, Lawson, 59.33. 4-2, 19-17.
Freddie tried to take Wiltshire wide and took the lead, holding on tenaciously until lap three when the Aussie found some grip on the inside of the back straight.
Heat 7: Hamill, Shields, Correy, Tomicek, 60.58. 2-4, 21-21.
Billy rounded Shields on the first turn to lead, while Ronnie got the line right at turn four and forced “Loobrush” Tomicek wide, holding on to level the score once again.
Heat 8: Skornicki, Andersson, Hefenbrock, Schramm, 61.05. 5-1, 26-22.
Oxford cleared away from the gate once again, with ex-Wolf Adam taking the win much to the pleasure of one travelling Wolves fan.
Heat 9: Howe, Lindgren, Watt, Lawson, 60.20. 4-2, 30-24.
Freddie and David almost made contact on turn four as they fought for the lead, but they recovered with David taking the win.
Heat 10: Hamill, Skornicki, Correy, Wiltshire (ret), 60.02. 2-4, 32-28.
Wiltshire chased the fast-gating Billy until his bike died on lap three (Wiltshire seems to have one engine failure in every meeting, doesn’t he?) leaving Billy clear for his third straight win. Ronnie couldn’t quite get close enough to Adam for second.
Heat 11: Karlsson, Shields, Hefenbrock, Tomicek (ret), 59.77. 2-4, 34-32.
PK rode the pit bend superbly on the first lap to take Shields for the lead, while Loobrush pressured Christian only for his bike to stop on the final lap.
Heat 12: Andersson, Howe, Lawson, Correy, 61.59. 5-1, 39-33.
Back went the deficit to six points as Oxford team-rode to the 5-1, with Ronnie looking a bit out of sorts at the back.
Heat 13: Karlsson, Wiltshire, Lindgren, Shields, 60.30. 2-4, 41-37.
Wolves made the gate and PK led all the way, while Freddie resisted everything Wiltshire could throw at him for three and seven-eighths of a lap, but the Aussie knew where to find grip on the last turn and just stole the place on the line.
Heat 14 (rerun): Hamill, Andersson, Lawson, Watt (f.exc), 61.33. 2-4, 43-41.
At the first attempt Billy led with Will trying to pass Watt for third, the Aussie falling on turn four although it was clear no contact was made. Billy kept Andersson on a wide line in the rerun to take his fourth win.
Heat 15: Karlsson, Hamill, Howe, Wiltshire, 61.68. 1-5, 44-46.
Wolves needed a 4-2 to secure the bonus and a 5-1 to win the match…and they got the latter! PK and Billy blasted out of the gate and sped away to complete their respective maximums, and the Oxford fans were left to wonder just how they had thrown this one away!
Comment/Summary:
Weather: Dry and a little cold, with a superb full moon.
Track: Not as deep as it first appeared following the early problems, and proved very uneven and rutted.
Attendance: Very disappointing for an Elite League club.
Wolves Performance: Another “top end” performance, with the lower order doing just enough.
Entertainment: Reasonable racing given the conditions.
Referee (Margaret Vardy): Nothing really to report – everything called correctly.
Man of the Match: It has to be Billy Hamill for his very rapid riding all night.
Rider Ratings: (now on a scale of ten with 6 being the average expectation)
Peter Karlsson: 10 Not headed all evening – exemplary.
Christian Hefenbrock: 6 Looked a little ragged at times, but this was probably due to the conditions.
Ronnie Correy: 4 Below par once again.
Billy Hamill: 10 One of his best performances in Wolves colours.
Fredrik Lindgren: 7 Worked hard to fend off the Cheetahs’ challenges.
William Lawson: 6 Did his job of a couple of points a match.
Chris Schramm: 3 It was never going to be easy for him, but he did look very wayward in the tricky conditions.
Our playoff hopes are still alive – let’s hope for a big win over Ipswich on Monday, and more surprise successes on the run-in with away matches at Poole and Coventry.
Once a Wolf, always a Wolf
Dave Goddard a.k.a. Pieman.
Cheetahs:
Todd Wiltshire 2 3 R 2 0 =7
Adam Skornicki 1* 1 3 2 =7+1
David Howe 1* 2 3 2* 1 =9+2
Davey Watt 2 R 1 X =3
Adam Shields R 2 2 0 =4
Lubos Tomicek 2* 0 R =2+1
Eric Andersson 3 2 2* 3 2 =12+1
Parry’s International Wolves:
Peter Karlsson 3 3 3 3 3 =15 (max)
Christian Hefenbrock 0 1 1 1 =3
Ronnie Correy 0 1 1 0 =2
Billy Hamill 3 3 3 3 2* =14+1 (paid max)
Freddie Lindgren 3 2 2 1 =8
William Lawson 0 0 0 1 1 =2
Chris Schramm 1 1 0 =2
Wolves win 92-88 on aggregate.
After the home loss to Swindon on Monday and the drubbing at Reading on Wednesday, hopes for Wolves were pretty low for this match, especially as Oxford had only lost by seven points at Poole the night before. Incredibly, the Wolves defied everyone’s expectations in a super-close display – they may have only led for one heat, but it was the one that counted! Yet again it was our top names who did the hard work, with Billy and PK leading by example with two brilliant maximums, ably supported by Freddie.
Magnus was absent as he was riding for his Swedish club Valsarna in a play-off match (which gave rise to the situation documented on the forum) and former Oxford Conference League rider Chris Schramm was a fairly reasonable replacement at short notice. Christian showed a little improvement from his poor performance at Reading, with William continuing his decent form at this tough level, while Ronnie still looked a little out of touch.
The start of the meeting was delayed, apparently due to some riders not being happy with the track conditions. It was later revealed that this was partly due to the track not having dried out properly after earlier watering, and also due to problems with the riders’ tyres. (Thanks to British Speedway Forum member and Oxford track worker “Fat Tractor Man” for more info on this – for a full insight see page 12 of the thread on the BSF covering this match!).
The result of the toss was not known due to Oxford’s terrible PA system, but Wolves lined up in gates one and three for the first heat.
(NB: Due to said PA problems, some race times may be incorrect.)
Heat 1: Karlsson, Witshire, Skornicki, Hefenbrock, 59.09. 3-3, 3-3.
Peter – using Freddie’s back tyre thanks to the aforementioned problems – made the start and held off Wiltshire all the way, while Christian struggled to come to terms with what proved a very bumpy track, eventually falling into the fence on the last bend although he was not injured.
Heat 2: Andersson, Tomicek, Schramm, Lawson, 61.13. 5-1, 8-4.
The Oxford pair led off and won by the length of a straight.
Heat 3: Hamill, Watt, Howe, Correy, 60.49. 3-3, 11-7.
Oxford tracked a questionable pairing here (Howe and Watt…geddit?) but they had no answer to Billy. Howe almost lost it on the very troublesome pits turn allowing Ronnie into third place, with the ex-Wolf taking until lap three to retake Ronnie. Watt almost hit the fence on the last turn in his fruitless pursuit of Billy.
Heat 4: Lindgren, Andersson, Schramm, Shields (ret), 60.92. 2-4, 13-11.
Impressive reserve Andersson led away tracked by Freddie, and down the back straight for the second time Freddie rounded his fellow countryman to lead with a fine rapid switch of line.. Oxford guest Shields pulled out on lap three and it was widely reported that he had aggravated the troublesome hip injury he sustained earlier this year. Schramm was slipping and sliding all over the pace in third.
Heat 5 (rerun): Karlsson, Howe, Hefenbrock (ret, pushed home), Watt (ret), 60.89. 2-4, 15-15.
Christian and Watt seemed to make contact on the first turn and the Aussie fell causing a stoppage. All four were allowed back in the rerun, with PK leading as Watt passed Christian for third until a mistake on the bumpy surface allowed the German back ahead. On lap three the Aussie retired but seconds later Christian’s machine also failed. Cheered on by the travelling Wolves contingent he proceeded to determinedly push his bike round for over half a lap to take the point for third place – which would later prove to be a match-winning action!
Heat 6: Wiltshire, Lindgren, Skornicki, Lawson, 59.33. 4-2, 19-17.
Freddie tried to take Wiltshire wide and took the lead, holding on tenaciously until lap three when the Aussie found some grip on the inside of the back straight.
Heat 7: Hamill, Shields, Correy, Tomicek, 60.58. 2-4, 21-21.
Billy rounded Shields on the first turn to lead, while Ronnie got the line right at turn four and forced “Loobrush” Tomicek wide, holding on to level the score once again.
Heat 8: Skornicki, Andersson, Hefenbrock, Schramm, 61.05. 5-1, 26-22.
Oxford cleared away from the gate once again, with ex-Wolf Adam taking the win much to the pleasure of one travelling Wolves fan.
Heat 9: Howe, Lindgren, Watt, Lawson, 60.20. 4-2, 30-24.
Freddie and David almost made contact on turn four as they fought for the lead, but they recovered with David taking the win.
Heat 10: Hamill, Skornicki, Correy, Wiltshire (ret), 60.02. 2-4, 32-28.
Wiltshire chased the fast-gating Billy until his bike died on lap three (Wiltshire seems to have one engine failure in every meeting, doesn’t he?) leaving Billy clear for his third straight win. Ronnie couldn’t quite get close enough to Adam for second.
Heat 11: Karlsson, Shields, Hefenbrock, Tomicek (ret), 59.77. 2-4, 34-32.
PK rode the pit bend superbly on the first lap to take Shields for the lead, while Loobrush pressured Christian only for his bike to stop on the final lap.
Heat 12: Andersson, Howe, Lawson, Correy, 61.59. 5-1, 39-33.
Back went the deficit to six points as Oxford team-rode to the 5-1, with Ronnie looking a bit out of sorts at the back.
Heat 13: Karlsson, Wiltshire, Lindgren, Shields, 60.30. 2-4, 41-37.
Wolves made the gate and PK led all the way, while Freddie resisted everything Wiltshire could throw at him for three and seven-eighths of a lap, but the Aussie knew where to find grip on the last turn and just stole the place on the line.
Heat 14 (rerun): Hamill, Andersson, Lawson, Watt (f.exc), 61.33. 2-4, 43-41.
At the first attempt Billy led with Will trying to pass Watt for third, the Aussie falling on turn four although it was clear no contact was made. Billy kept Andersson on a wide line in the rerun to take his fourth win.
Heat 15: Karlsson, Hamill, Howe, Wiltshire, 61.68. 1-5, 44-46.
Wolves needed a 4-2 to secure the bonus and a 5-1 to win the match…and they got the latter! PK and Billy blasted out of the gate and sped away to complete their respective maximums, and the Oxford fans were left to wonder just how they had thrown this one away!
Comment/Summary:
Weather: Dry and a little cold, with a superb full moon.
Track: Not as deep as it first appeared following the early problems, and proved very uneven and rutted.
Attendance: Very disappointing for an Elite League club.
Wolves Performance: Another “top end” performance, with the lower order doing just enough.
Entertainment: Reasonable racing given the conditions.
Referee (Margaret Vardy): Nothing really to report – everything called correctly.
Man of the Match: It has to be Billy Hamill for his very rapid riding all night.
Rider Ratings: (now on a scale of ten with 6 being the average expectation)
Peter Karlsson: 10 Not headed all evening – exemplary.
Christian Hefenbrock: 6 Looked a little ragged at times, but this was probably due to the conditions.
Ronnie Correy: 4 Below par once again.
Billy Hamill: 10 One of his best performances in Wolves colours.
Fredrik Lindgren: 7 Worked hard to fend off the Cheetahs’ challenges.
William Lawson: 6 Did his job of a couple of points a match.
Chris Schramm: 3 It was never going to be easy for him, but he did look very wayward in the tricky conditions.
Our playoff hopes are still alive – let’s hope for a big win over Ipswich on Monday, and more surprise successes on the run-in with away matches at Poole and Coventry.
Once a Wolf, always a Wolf
Dave Goddard a.k.a. Pieman.
I suspect the Polish scarf will now be packed in moth balls for the Winter 
;D 