WOLVES V Reading 11/6 ELA

[Mr 8]

WOLVES

1 PETER KARLSSON -3-2*-3-2 =10+1
2 DAVID HOWE -2*-3-2*-2*-1 =10+3
3 BILLY HAMILL -3-1-3-3 =10
4 MAGNUS KARLSSON -2*-0-2*-2 =6+2
5 FREDDIE LINDGREN -3-2-2-1*-0 =8+1
6 KENNETH HANSEN -3-1-1*-1* 6+2
7 WILLIAM LAWSON -0-3-1*-0 =4+1


Reading

1 G Hancock -1-6-3-3-3-3 =19
2 J Davidsson -0-1-2*-1-0 =4+1
3 R/R
4 M Lemon -0-0-0-1-3 =4
5 T McGowan -2-1-1-1-0-2* =7+1
6 A Smith -2-0-0-2 =4
7 B Barker -1*-0-0-0 =1+1


HEAT DETAILS

1 PK, DAVID, Hancock, Davidsson 5-1

2 KENNETH, Smith, Barker, WILLIAM ef 3-3 8-4

3 BILLY, MAGNUS, Davidsson, Lemon ef 5-1 13-5

4 FREDDIE, McGowan, KENNETH, Barker ef 4-2 17-7

5 Hancock (TR), Davidsson, BILLY, MAGNUS 1-8 18-15

6 DAVID, PK, McGowan, Smith f,exc 5-1 23-16

7 Hancock, FREDDIE, KENNETH, Lemon 3-3 26-19

8 WILLIAM, DAVID, Davidsson, Barker 5-1 31-20

9 BILLY, MAGNUS, McGowan, Smith 5-1 36-21

10 PK, DAVID, McGowan, Lemon 5-1 41-22

11 Hancock, FREDDIE, WILLIAM, Davidsson 3-3 44-25

12 BILLY, Smith, Lemon, WILLIAM ef 3-3 47-28

13 Hancock, PK, FREDDIE, McGowan 3-3 50-31

14 Lemon, MAGNUS, KENNETH, Barker 3-3 53-34

15 Hancock, McGowan, DAVID, FREDDIE ef 1-5 54-39

[Mr Fish]

Yet another team missing riders for whatever reason arrives at Monmore and is dispatched by the home team without anything to worry about, thankfully for Reading Greg Hancock did turn up and after disappointment in his first ride, was sublime. The track seemed a little slick and dry which didn't help matters, however when they did water it during the post heat 11 interval the racing got worse if anything else.

Hancock aside Reading were poor except for one inspired ride from Travis McGowan in heat 15, too little too late from the Aussie. He gave Fredrik Lindgren a shove entering the first bend which saw the Swede shut off the throttle expecting a re-run then chased down David Howe, who had looked peerless until the point that Hancock cut back beneath him on the first turn in the same heat. On the third lap McGowan really wound it on around turns 3 & 4 grabbing so much speed and diving inside Howe to take him wide as the riders entered the final lap.

Other than that heat 8 was good, a much improved if unlucky with machinery William Lawson led from the tapes with Jonas Davidsson buzzing around his back wheel. With those two riding wide Howe stuck to the slick inside with determination eventually getting past Davidson entering the final lap when the Swede promptly gave up.

Davidsson also showed flashes of his Swedish form in heat 5 joining Hancock for an 8-1 that didn't ignite a Reading fightback, the pair beat Billy Hamill who certainly to me seems to be going through the motions at Monmore right now, shutting off before entering turn 1 and relying on his gating.

On his debut Kenneth Hanson showed promise a neat cut back on lap two, turn 3 saw him overtake a disappointing Mark Lemon and along with Magnus Karlsson seemed to be faster than Lemon in heat 14 but neither man would commit to a full on blast or stick diligently to the inside as Howe did earlier.

Lawson showed signs of improvement on his recent form, overcoming Andy Smith with a swoop around the outside in heat 2 on lap 1 only for him to slow and then retire due to mechanical problems. His bike later gave up the ghost at the tapes in heat 12.

Hancock rode a superbly defensive couple of laps having got to the front in heat 13 to hold of Peter Karlsson, while it was surprising to see the Wolves skipper give David Howe all the room he needed when coming off the outside in the re-run of heat 6 even if it did mean he had McGowan on his tail for the rest of the first lap. Andy Smith falling having clipped the back wheel of Howe in the first running, looking up seeing McGowan behind the Wolves riders and promptly not moving until the red lights came on.

Rider of the Night: Greg Hancock.
Most Entertaining Rider: Tough call, one of Howe, McGowan or Hansen. On his debut I'll give it Hansen who practiced after the meeting, which was also wildly entertaining.
David Ruud gating tart award: Jonas Davidsson. He could really have overtaken Lawson in heat 11 if he had any bottle.
Gert Handberg team riding: Mark Lemon really did the faster, if useless from the back, Jonas Davidsson no favors in heat 3.

Stars.
PK, Howe, Hansen, Lawson = 8
M Karlsson = 7
Hamill, Lindgren = 6.

[Jasper]

Very well written report Mr Fish. I am in total awe of you

[The Rangdo of Arg]

Here here, excellent stuff.

There seemed a sad somber feel in the air at the begining of the meeting, perhaps because of Reading's current status. Or maybe it was just me.