Belle Vue 42 Wolves 48

[Mr X]

Details taken from Wolfgang's excellent live updates thread...

Friday 6 April 2007. Elite League (A).
Belle Vue Aces 42 Wolves 48

BELLE VUE:
1. Gary Havelock 2...1'..0 = 3+1
2. Ryan Fisher 0...2...EF = 2
3. Joe Screen 2...3...2...1'..0 = 8+1
4. Adam Skornicki 1'...1...1'..3 = 6+2
5. Kaj Laukkanen 3...1...3...0...1 = 8
6. Lee Smethills Ex..0...0 = 0
7. Kevin Doolan 3...2'...2...3...2...1...2 = 15

WOLVERHAMPTON:
1. Peter Karlsson 3...2...2...3...3 = 13
2. David Howe 1...0...3...1' = 5+1
3. Billy Hamill 3...2'..2...3...2' = 12+2
4. Magnus Karlsson 0...3...1'..0 = 4+1
5. Freddie Lindgren 1...3...3...2' = 9+1
6. Chris Kerr 1'..0...F = 1+1
7. Theo Pijper 2...0...1...0...1 = 4

Heat 1: PK, Havelock, David, Fisher 2-4 = 2-4
PK, off 4, gated and won easily. David missed the gate but passed Fisher when he went too wide on lap 2 1st bend. Track looks ok, Fisher and Havelock struggling to turn a bit, which suggests there is a reasonable amount of dirt out there.

Heat 2: Doolan, Theo, Chris, Smethills Ex 3-3 = 5-7
First run saw the Wolves pair miss the gate by a mile. Smethills lost control on the thrid bend of lap one, causing Doolan to bail out and the ref to exclude Smethills. In the re-run Theo made a great start, but lifted on the second bend of lap 1, letting Doolan in for a comfortable win.

Heat 3: Billy, Screen, Skornicki, Magnus 3-3 = 8-10
Billy won straight from gate 2. Magnus also made a decent start, but had a wayward first turn, letting the Aces pair through. Billy looks up for it.

Heat 4: Laukkanen, Doolan, Freddie, Theo 5-1 = 13-11
Reasonable gate from Freddie, but no aggression in the first bend, leaving the Belle Vue pair to cruise to an easy 5-1.

Heat 5: Screen, PK, Skornicki, David 4-2 = 17-13
It's a gater's track tonight. All from the gate in this one. David is very slow from the starts.

Heat 6: Freddie, Fisher, Havelock, Chris 3-3 = 20-16
All from the gate again, but the track is slickening off on the first bend, which seems to suit Freddie more.

Heat 7: Magnus, Billy, Laukkanen, Smethills 1-5 = 21-21
If you can gate, you can win. Magnus made the gate, Billy sat back in a comfortable second place and let him go.

Heat 8: David, Doolan, Theo, Fisher EF 2-4 = 23-25
David flew from the start and recorded the fastest time so far, 0.6 faster than anyone else. Fisher was safe in third place until his bike stopped on the last corner.

Heat 9: Freddie, Screen, Skornicki, Chris Fell 3-3 = 26-28
Good start from Freddie off gate one. Chris made a decent start too and hampered Screen enough to let Freddie get clear (I think that's what MM2 said, although it might have been that Chris gave Screen a hamper of food which distracted him ). Chris slid off on the second bend of lap 4 when last, but has walked away. Having raced through the first 9 heats, there will now be a lengthy interval...

Heat 10: Doolan, Billy, Magnus, Havelock 3-3 = 29-31
Doolan, in for Fisher, but they can't hear the announcer on the grassy knoll so they thought something was amiss. Anyway, all from the gate, surprise surprise.

Heat 11: Laukkanen, PK, David, Smethills 3-3 = 32-34
The race of the season at Kirky Lane with passing on almost every corner. No, I lie, it was all over by the back straight yet again. Theo in for Chris in the next one.

Heat 12: Billy, Doolan, Screen, Theo 3-3 = 35-37
Another one from the gate, Billy coming across ruthlessly from gate four. Screen let Doolan past later on.

Heat 13: PK, Freddie, Doolan, Laukkanen 1-5 = 36-42
We gated, they didn't. Doolan got close to Freddie, but there's no chance of a pass so he needn't have bothered.

Heat 14: Skornicki, Doolan, Theo, Magnus 5-1 = 41-43
As expected, an easy 5-1 to the Aces, from the gate in case you hadn't already guessed.

Heat 15: The line up is Screen, Laukkanen, Peter, Billy, Wolves 1&3. Live update...we're on a 5-1 on lap 1, still winning on lap 3...YESSSSSSS, Jingle Bells, etc....Here's the result - PK, Billy, Laukkanen, Screen. 1-5 = 42-48
All from the gate, Billy slowed a lot towards the end, still held on. Cue lots of singing and scenes of great joy. Billy doing celebratory wheelies down the straights.

[Mr X]

An enjoyable Bank Holiday day out, a great curry and a Wolves away win!

This was always a must win match as soon as the Belle Vue team was announced. Apparently the home side averages 35.45 at EL level which is more like a PL team. That said, away matches are rarely easy and so it proved.

The track looked well prepared on arrival. It wasn't really deep with dirt but certainly wasn't slick, yet the racing was almost as bad as Good Friday last year. For some reason, there was just one line, mid track. Anyone venturing out for grip found nothing, and the tight inside line wasn't working either.

We started unconvincingly, but our heat leaders soon sorted out their starts and had just enough support from David and Magnus to win.

It was great to see the reaction of the riders at the end. There was a good turn out on the 2nd bend grassy knoll - the vast majority Wolfcry members. The riders really appreciated the support - PK, Billy and David in particular, and the riders walked out of the pits to the second bend to applaud us at the end. Great to see that our riders still appreciate our support even if the miserable management don't!


Ratings -

Track: 5 - Rode worse than it looked.
Entertainment: 7 - Racing was poor but you have to enjoy these away wins. They don't come along very often. ;D
Wolves Performance: 7 - Just enough to win.

Rider Ratings
PK: 8 - Not quite at his best but excellent team work in 13 and 15.
David: 6 - Struggled from the start in his first two rides, then really found his form with an ultra quick win in heat 8.
Billy: 9 - Man of the match. Excellent performance, and he even found some speed round the outside in heat 15 to team up with PK for the match winning 5-1.
Magnus: 6 - Erratic but his surprise win in heat 7 was just enough for an away win.
Freddie: 7 - Far from convincing and seemed to lack speed, but he dug deep to recover well from a 1-5 first time out.
Chris: 5 - A tough meeting but he was far from disgraced. You could only really expect him to beat Smethills but he gave every race full effort.
Theo: 4 - Disappointing. Not sure whether he has ridden the track before so maybe my expectations are too high?

The return at Monmore is Monday live on Sky but the Aces look even weaker for that one. I think it will definitely be the armchair for me...

[Yozza]

trust you to jump in first! lol.....can i just add that that is probably the best performance I have seen from Billy in a Wolves race-jacket, he set the standard from his first race, and looked decidedely quick all night, and as for the riders at the end of the meeting..........QUALITY! They really topped off my 1st away win (at the 12th attempt)