SPEEDWAY
A RESOUNDING 58-35 victory against the Peterborough Panthers on Friday evening was the reward of some extraordinary work by the Lakeside track staff to get this Craven Shield fixture on.
The match saw the Hammers side dominate proceedings from the very first heat.
The initial staging of that race was stopped on the second lap when the Panthers number two Zdenek Simota took a tumble on the exit to the second bend.
At the time of his fall the Hammers pairing of Andreas Jonsson and Leigh Lanham were on their way to a maximum 5-1 heat advantage over Peterborough's Danish Grand Prix star, Hans Andersen.
However, the Hammers supporters did not need to worry as their duo stormed to a maximum heat advantage in the re-run with Andreas Jonsson taking the chequered flag in a time of 56.9 seconds, which equalled the track record.
This proved that the work done by the track staff had been successful and they had provided a suitable track surface for both teams to race on.
That opening 5-1 was followed by seven further maximum heat advantages by the Hammers over the course of the remaining 14 heats.
The only slight hiccup in proceedings came in heat No7, where Peterborough's Kenneth Bjerre claimed six points for a win whilst taking a Tactical Ride' and resulted in an 8-1 to the Panthers as his race partner Morten Risager followed him home.
That reduced the Hammers lead to just seven points but after a shared heat No8 the home side pulled away again to register a 23 point victory.
The Hammers number one Andreas Jonsson completed a superb 15 point maximum but he was well supported by all of the Hammers riders in what was a good overall team performance.
Hammers Boss, Stuart Douglas, said: "Maximum credit is due to Jon Cook and the track staff. We watched the forecast, and at 3.00pm we thought we could put on a show.
"After last week's effort against The Witches, it was imperative to re-assert our home track authority.
"Led by an outstanding one, two, pairing of Andreas Jonsson and Leigh Lanham, the boys certainly did the business tonight.
"We could have called this meeting off at 3.00pm, thinking the track was too tricky for racing, but the fans expect better of this promotion, and I'm thrilled the positive attitude has paid off.
"We will go to Peterborough next Thursday looking for the points that will take us into the next stage of the Craven Shield competition.
"The Hammers fans deserve some silverware and I believe we have the team to achieve that this season."
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