Title Partner
King's Lynn Stars
|
54 | ||||||||
| 1. Darcy Ward | 2 | E | 3 | 2* | 7 | 1 | |||
| 2. Linus Eklof | 1* | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 | |||
| 3. Emiliano Sanchez | 3 | 1* | 2* | 3 | 0 | 9 | 2 | ||
| 4. Chris Schramm | 2* | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 1 | |||
| 5. Tomas Topinka | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 15 | 0 | ||
| 6. Simon Lambert | 3 | 1 | 2* | 0 | 6 | 2 | |||
| 7. Jan Graversen | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||
Edinburgh Monarchs
|
38 | ||||||||
| 1. Ryan Fisher | 3 | 2 | 3 | F | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2. Michal Rajkowski | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 3. Max Dilger | X | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 4. Matthew Wethers | 1 | 1* | 2 | 2 | 2* | 1* | 9 | 3 | |
| 5. Andrew Tully r/r | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| 6. Aaron Summers | 2 | 2 | 2* | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 1 |
| 7. Byron Bekker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||
27 supporters on the Monarchs' Chatzone predicted between 22 and 35 points for Monarchs at King's Lynn, so our total of 38 deserves a round of applause.
Only four riders contributed to the total, Aaron Summers leading the way on 16 points. We never really let the Stars settle and recorded two 5-1 advantages, and had Ryan Fisher not crashed on his TR in heat 11 we might have topped forty.
Ryan certainly started with a bang in heat 1, heading Darcy Ward after a great battle. The young Aussie dived through to the front on the final lap but Ryan came back and was adjudged to have grabbed the win.
Aaron split the home reserves with Lambert looking like a good replacement for the injured Kozza Smith (who was present).
Max Dilger rode across the first turn of heat 3 and brought down Sanchez, earning our German an exclusion. A poor start left Matthew trailing in the rerun.
Fisher was in as rider replacement in heat 4 and rounded Graversen on the first corner to take 2 points behind Topinka.
He was straight out again and took a fine heat 5 win from Sanchez and Schramm. Rajkowski was well enough away but couldn't hold off the solid home pair.
Matthew was our next rider replacement and teamed up with Summers. Eklof led the way with Ward at the back looking unconvincing, and eventually pulling out with engine problems.
Matthew took a second in heat 7 and the Michal raced away with heat 8 backed by Aaron. Lambert was in third spot with the Swede Eklof who is perhaps a bit gate-dependant trailing. This was apparently the first visiting 5-1 at King's Lynn this season!
Sanchez and Schramm restored normality with a maximum in heat 9, and Ward finally won a heat in the next one with Matthew heading Eklof.
Now we were in TR territory though unfortunately as at Glasgow, Ryan was coming off the poorest gate, the inside. It wasn't quite such a disadvantage as at Berwick or Glasgow and he was away well enough, looking likely to get a second behind the imperious Topinka - until he lifted frighteningly and flew off the back of the machine.
Rajkowski was impeded and the heat should have been stopped, but with Ryan quickly off it was allowed to continue. This was a blow to our hopes of a decent score and as it turned out, Ryan was now out of the meeting.
We put Aaron on a TR in heat 12 and he duly delivered 4 points behind Sanchez.
He was out again in heat 13 replacing Ryan and riding a fine race to stay with Topinka and Ward for all four laps, albeit just scoring a point.
Even though it was his third heat on the trot Aaron won heat 14 and a tremendous battle between Wethers and Schramm for second went to our man by a tyre for our second 5-1!
To finish with Aaron was out yet again for four in a row, and rode well with Matthew again to keep Sanchez at the back, while Topinka completed his maximum.
It was a good effort but in our current state we really need everyone scoring points.
Having encountered something of a difficult weekend, things don?t get any easier for the Scotwaste Monarchs this Wednesday!
A trip to Saddlebow Road to face the Kings Lynn Stars has never been top of the list of ?favourite? fixtures for any side this year, let alone one which now has a rather big hole in the middle of it.
While it may have been possible to cover Thomas H Jonasson?s scoring power with Max Dilger?s best efforts, there?s no doubt the loss of Andrew Tully is a huge blow to the side. And, while the rider replacement facility can sometimes work to your advantage, I can?t quite see it being beneficial on this occasion.
And, just when you thought things couldn?t get any worse, number one Ryan Fisher took a spectacular spill at Glasgow on Sunday. It?s believed he emerged relatively unscathed although not much has been mentioned on the matter. At the time of writing, he?s listed in the declared line-ups (we?d better hope they?re correct... wouldn?t want any undue delays now!) so it would appear there?s no reason to think he won?t be in attendance. Personally, I hope he is because he?s one of the few guys in our team capable of beating the Stars? top men.
Our other main scoring threats will probably come from Michal Rajkowski and Matthew Wethers, while Aaron Summers? contribution from the reserve berth will be the key as to whether we score 25 or 30 points overall!
Rajkowski was in decent form at the weekend, taking the notable scalps of Michal Makovsky and James Grieves at Berwick and Glasgow respectively. There aren?t many visiting heat leaders who do that, let alone second strings!
Meanwhile, Wethers has been a picture of consistent scores recently. These clashes always seem to attract mentions of his time as a Star in 2005 but, while he may be popular down yonder, that doesn?t mean to say he?s the most prolific scorer at the Norfolk Arena. Hopefully this occasion will bring a double figure return.
His fellow countryman, Aaron Summers, has enjoyed mixed fortunes in Chapman country. Last April, his evening was spoiled following an expensive engine blow in heat 2. He was the hero in our victorious Play Off Final in October but suffered another off night in the ?season opening? Challenge in March of this year as more engine problems restricted his scoring.
German Max Dilger will make his Saddlebow Road debut but, unless he has some seriously fast machinery, it?ll be a bit of a surprise if he makes much of an impact. However, if nothing else, he can take some heart from the fact Frank Facher defeated highly rated Swede Linus Eklof last week!
If anyone thought we had a bad weekend, it?s probably fair to say it wasn?t the best for the Stars either! Defeat at Rye House, coupled with injury to star reserve Kozza Smith and a shock Birmingham victory in the second half of the double header, means it could yet be possible that they won?t have things all their own way at the top of the table. Indeed, the Brummies have now drawn level on points, albeit from 3 more meetings, and appear to be in the middle of a rather impressive run of results. You need look no further than that win at Hoddesdon to see how well they?re doing at the moment!
The loss of Smith means Kings Lynn will initially use guest replacements, although this may well change when Smith is given a new (much higher!) green sheet in September. The natural choice of cover is Scunthorpe?s Simon Lambert, who spent so long at the Norfolk Arena and has always impressed there. He managed to stay in the reserve berth for the month of August by the skin of his teeth, having an identical average to that of teammate Viktor Bergstrom. However, as in accordance with the rules, the previously higher rider maintains their superiority in the pecking order, thus Mr Bergstrom remains in the top 5!
Top man Darcy Ward was nothing short of spectacular in March and has continued in a similar vein right across the country. Unfortunately, we didn?t see the best of him at sunny Armadale as he crashed out in heat 5. Whether he would?ve taken to the track and scored heavily is arguable, although that hasn?t stopped the Stars? Promotion claiming moral victory on several occasions since that night. And, while their statement that they ?ran the Monarchs close with only five riders? may be factually correct, they forget to mention the other ?missing? rider was Jan Graversen, whose record at the Scotwaste Arena is about as impressive as Hibs? success rate in the Scottish Cup!
Regardless of politics, I have to say I?m looking forward to this fixture. I have absolutely no idea why though! Perhaps I?m a glutton for punishment? Who knows! However, the same can?t be said for my dad... it?s his birthday on Wednesday but he promptly turned down my invite of an all expenses paid trip south! Huh. What a lightweight!
Anyway, here?s to a decent evening of weather and speedway and, as always, may the best team win...
Line ups:
Stars: Darcy Ward, Linus Eklof, Emiliano Sanchez, Chris Schramm, Tomas Topinka, Simon Lambert, Jan Graversen.
Edinburgh: Ryan Fisher, Michal Rajkowski, Max Dilger, Matthew Wethers, r/r for Andrew Tully, Aaron Summers, Byron Bekker.
Wednesday 12th August 2009, 8:16pm
The Scotwaste Monarchs did much better than most had predicted on what is the toughest assignment of the season, scoring 38 points, but after starting well Ryan Fisher crashed spectacularly in heat 11 and had to pull out of the match.
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