Wolves vs Birmingham 26/03/2012 ML Report

[richiej95]

Wolverhampton vs Birmingham 26/03/12 Midland League Report

Wolves got back to winning ways as they secured a comfortable 51-39 victory over local rivals Birmingham; their first win of 2012. On a mild and dry night in front of another good crowd, both Wolves and Birmingham took to the track without their top riders Freddie Lindgren and Bjarne Pedersen respectively as they head to New Zealand for the opening Grand Prix of the season.
Despite this, Wolves got the meeting off to a great start as Ty Proctor came in to take victory, well backed up by Pontus Aspgren who was just overtaken by Martin Smolinski but still managed to remain in third ahead of Sebastian Ulamek to give Wolves a 4-2 heat advantage.
However, the Brummies hit straight back with a 4-2 of their own in heat 2 as Josh Auty did well to hold off Ricky Wells for three laps before Lukasz Sowka fell challenging Chris Mills for third, leading to the heat result being declared.
Carnage occurred in the following race though as Birmingham pairing Ben Barker and Danny King chased Proctor who had taken the lead following a neat cutback on turn 2 of the first lap. The Brummies pair tangled as they came on to the fourth lap and after Klindt dropped the bike to avoid the pair, the race was awarded as a 4-2.
Next time around Woffinden and Wells combined well to hold off a fast Josh Auty and struggling Ulamek to give Wolves their first 5-1 of the season at Monmore Green.
There could have been another heat advantage for Wolves in heat 7 as Nicolai Klindt led Josh Auty going into lap 4 but his engine failed and the heat swung to give the Brummies a 4-2 instead.
Heat 6 saw a lightning fast Woffinden give himself back to back wins as he was supported by Pontus Aspgren to give Wolves another 4-2 to stretch their advantage to 6.
Woffinden then took the chequered flag again in a 3-3 before heat 8 provided us with the most chaotic heat of the night. First time around, Ricky Wells led from the gate as behind him partner Pontus Aspgren dived underneath Smolinski on turn 2 before repeating the trick on Josh Auty on turn 4. As the Swede edged ahead down the back straight entering the second lap, the Brummie pairing tangled and fell, leading to the exclusion of Smolinski. In the rerun Auty appeared to cut across Wells from the gate and the American fell, with all 3 riders reinstated. At the third and final attempt of heat 8, Auty led from the gate to give an equal outcome for both sides.
Nicolai Klindt then won his first heat of the night after a good outside overtake on Ulamek as he and Ty Proctor extended the Wolves lead to 8.
Heat 10 ended level despite Aspgren chasing Birmingham captain King very hard, before heat 11 resulted in the same outcome following a 4th impressive heat win for Wolves stand-in captain Tai Woffinden.
Next time around Wolves wrapped up the meeting in style through Wells and Klindt who held off the fast Josh Auty well to give the home side their second maximum of the night.
Woffinden and Aspgren then combined for a 4-2 for Wolves before Barker and Auty responded with a similar advantage of their own in the penultimate heat of the night to restore the previous 12 point gap between the teams.
In the final race of the night, Woffinden was cruelly denied his maximum by opposing captain Daniel King. After King gated, Woffinden looked to challenge round the outside but got out of shape on lap 1 and was relegated to the back. Although he managed to get back into second and challenge for the lead on the last lap, Woffinden had to settle for his 17 point haul and a 3-3 as Klindt and Barker came in behind.
In the end, Wolves will be extremely happy with a comfortable win on what could have been a difficult night. The lack of number ones for both sides would have seemed to favour Birmingham, but Wolves stepped up to the plate and scored well throughout with the exception of young Sowka who is still getting to grips with British speedway.

Rider Ratings (/5)

Wolverhampton

Pontus Aspgren:- Did very well indeed and hugely improved. Mixed it well and looked extremely brave. No last places and a good 6 points. 3

Ty Proctor:- Brilliant display for Proctor. Looked as quick as he has all season so far and will be crucial to Wolves season if he can consistently perform to a similar standard. 4

Nicolai Klindt:- Very unlucky at times with an engine failure and having a race rewarded when he could have overtaken. Looked quick and could have had more points. 3

Tai Woffinden:- Easily the quickest man on the track by a long way. Easily won his first five rides and only prevented a maximum by a small mistake on the opening lap of heat 15. 5 MAN OF THE MEETING

Lukasz Sowka:- Looked improved and there is certainly potential there. Gating was improved and was in the mix in two heats but unfortunately pushed too hard and fell. 1

Ricky Wells:- Great performance from Ricky. Defended well once ahead of opponents and was a part of both Wolves 5-1’s. 4

Birmingham

Martin Smolinski:- Came back well from a quite heavy fall and picked up relatively good points. 2

Danny King:- Solid throughout. Scored well and looked one of the quickest Birmingham riders. 3

Ben Barker:- Not a good night for Ben and three rides without scoring is disappointing for a rider of his calibre. 2

Sebastian Ulamek:- Terrible night for such a highly rated rider. Did not look to have any speed and didn’t gate well, meaning he failed to challenge at all in three of his rides. 1

Chris Mills:-Struggled for pace and wasn’t really up to Elite League standard. 1

Josh Auty:- The quickest Brummie by a long way. Three good wins and always challenging when behind. 4

[Mr E]

Good work sir!

[T.N.T]

heat 8 provided us with the most chaotic heat of the night. First time around, Ricky Wells led from the gate as behind him partner Pontus Aspgren dived underneath Smolinski on turn 2 before repeating the trick on Josh Auty on turn 4.

As the Swede edged ahead down the back straight entering the second lap, the Brummie pairing tangled and fell, leading to the exclusion of Smolinski.

In the rerun Auty appeared to cut across Wells from the gate and the American fell, with all 3 riders reinstated.

Smolinski fell as Pontus dived under him going into turn two, yes there was contact but Pontus was clearly in front and as he went down, Auty couldnt help but get caught up with him.



As for the Auty cutting across Wells ..... Auty off gate 1 headed straight out into mid track and into Ricky. ... The tracks from gate 1 were up to the mid track which could clearly be seen from the pits. .... Auty very lucky to be reinstated.

[stevebrum]

A decent meeting with some good racing thrown in, despite the missing big guns. A reduction would have been a nice touch all the same.

Brum certainly looked more solid as a 6 piece and many expected the visitors to go home with a 2nd win over us.
However with improvement in all of the Wolves boys, coupled with an inconsistent (auty aside) Brummies performance there was really little doubt.

Both sides certainly lost points thru there missing number ones 8+1 v 7 however from the Wolves perspective each man stood up to be counted.

WOLVES

PONTUS - has carried on his improvement from Thursday at Birmingham. His opening 2 meetings were very much a false dawn. His gating has improved and his pace and passing abilities are clear for all to see now. Unlucky not to have started the night with a paid win. Scored in every heat and looked like he had the speed the score more in some of the heats he was in. Made Ulamek look ordinary in heat 13 (which of course he is!) 3.5/5

NICOLAI - Started a little dodgy and his engine problem in heat 5 when a clear leader meant he could have finished on 12. A pretty fair night and solid after heat 3. 3.5/5

TY - Looked to have plenty of speed early in the meeting. However looked much more comfortable and controlled. These sort of performances we have been waiting for on a regular basis. If he scores like this consistently we could make the top 4. 4/5

TAI - My word, the speed he was carrying was insane! Unlucky to lose his max in heat 15 but it wasnt for want of trying. Nowhere after a lap he was fast approaching come the last lap. Did his job and more, following on from Thursday, stunning. 5/5

LUKASZ - ok, he failed to score. However he was much more on the pace. Was battling in heat 11. Initially 2nd he was the victim of a tight 3 way scrap going into the 3rd bend. Woffy i was hoping would have eased off and help him but cant really fault Woffy for trying to `do a freddie`, which of course he did - getting 3 points. A little unlucky but the lad at least looks more on the pace and getting into scoring positions. Had a lovely warm applause on the victory parade as he promised fans he would show them what he can do. Thankfully the vast majority of Wolves fans show they like a trier. At least Lukasz is trying. 0/5 (because he didnt score).

RICKY - A paid ten score was every bit as vital as Auty`s 12. Plus out of there races together they both beat each other 2. Ricky was every bit as good value Josh for Brum. Featured in 2 5-1`s beating 2 of Brums main team riders. On this showing he is still likely to move into the main team when the averages change, but if that puts Pontus in reserve then its still a win. 4.5/5 MOTM

BRUM

Smoli - besides his pass of Pontus on heat 1 did little else . Got caught out by Pontus`s superb cut under in heat 8. Then got caught in no mans land trying to chase wide going into bend 1. Fair play to him for staying commited to the move but it was always going to end one way. No other outcome likely with his exclusion. 1.5/5

king - Consistently inconsistent. the King/Barker partnership should have been more successful but they failed to land any advantages between them. Nowhere in heat 12. 3/5

Barker - expected more. Another who you never know what you are going to get at Monmore. On this occasion he failed to deliver 2.5/5

Ulamek - A Wolves asset who still cant ride the track. Looked uncomfortable when in scoring positions. I always thought he would be Brummies weak link and on 2 away performances so far that has been the case. A gater who struggles to make any impression if he isnt in scoring positions. 1/5

Mills - Not sure if he has ridden Wolves before (cant remember seeing him!) but besides beating his opposite number once was out paced. 0.5/5

Auty - 3rd time ive seen him now this season and he is looking like the real deal this season. I doubt he will struggle in main team tho of couse wont score as many points. Was in threat in every race - at the front or if behind. Never gave up and easily Brum`s best rider of the night.

A much better showing from the Wolves boys with Pontus starting to show his potential. Apparently he is out of his depth in the EL according to some :rofl: . Im sure those who had already written us off are very quickly likely to change there minds.

Wolves looking stronger with only 1 weak link right now. Lets see what the likes of Lynn, Peterborough et al have to offer.

[superguest]

Its a pleasure being at Wolves when Tai is riding like that. OK, they had no Ward or Holder to contend with but his 6 rides were pure class.

Pontus is definitely looking like a bit of a find. Able to ride the white line without being too passable on the outside. Hes got elbows and is not afraid to use them!

Ricky rode very hard again for his points. He was very hard done by in heat 8. Winning it in the first running and then being took off by Auty at the start of the re-run. An unusual situation but having seen the replay, Auty definitely turned right on Ricky just as they dropped the clutch. Won't get away with that against top riders!

Ty scored well while the track was grippy (as his heat 1 and 3 races show) but once the track slickened off he was left looking slow and only just managed to beat Auty in his last.

Nicolai was struggling with his bikes before every race. But he rode pretty well I thought. Hope he can fix them soon!

Lukasz was riding far quicker than last week. Two falls whilst in scoring positions shows hes got a long way to go but he is giving it his all. I'd rather we stopped talking about dropping him as we can't until hes done eight meetings and just allow him to improve at his own rate.