Sheffield Speedway Match Reports 2006

Key:   + = from 15m handicap    * = Tactical ride for double points    ! = Golden Double Tactical Substitute from 15m
Sheffield PIRTEK 'Tigers' v Glasgow Premier Travel Inn 'Tigers' Premier Trophy 27th April

Referee: Jim McGregor

 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 Tot+Bp
1.Ricky Ashworth 7.54 1' 1' 2 2' 3 9+3
2. Ben Wilson 5.37 2 2 3 1' 8+1
3. Emiliano Sanchez 6.89 ef 1' 1 2 4+1
4. Kyle Legault 4.57 3 2 3 2 10
5. André Compton © 8.48 3 3 3 3 2' 14+1
6. Paul Cooper (B) 2' 1 0 0 3+1
7. Benji Compton (B) 3 1 2' fx 6+1
Reg Wilson 3 5 3 4 3 3 4 5 4 3 3 2 5 2 5
PIRTEK 'Tigers' 3 8 11 15 18 21 25 30 34 37 40 42 47 49 54 98
Glasgow 'Tigers' 3 4 7 9 12 15 17 18 20 23 28 32 33 40 41 92
Stewart Dickson 3 1 3 2 3 3 2 1 2 3 5 4 1 7 1
1. Danny Bird 9.19 3 3 *4 0 0 10
2. David McAllan  3.70 0 ef - 1' 1+1
3. Lee Dicken  3.31 1' ef 0 - 1+1
4. Kauko Nieminen  6.82 2 2 3 *6 1 14
5. Shane Parker ©  9.60 2 3 !ef 2 1 8
6. Robert Ksiezak (B) 0 0 0 1 1
7. James Cockle (B) 1 0 1 3 1 6
Fastest this season; 60.3
André Compton, 14 April		 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15
61.9 64.0 62.8 61.8 62.3 62.4 62.5 63.5 62.6 62.1 61.8 64.5 63.0 64.0 63.3

The Scottish Tigers gave us a good run and took the bonus point to a last heat decider. Danny Bird made a blistering start to heat one, (which Jim McGregor had delayed because we were two minutes ahead of the scheduled start time) with Ricky dropping a place on the last lap after a wobble on the 3rd turn. James Cockle and Paul Cooper (on his Sean Wilson Racing freshly re-vamped engine) swapped paces for the first couple of laps of heat 2 before Paul got the extra ground he needed and pulled clear. Emiliano Sanchez joined Kyle at the front in heat 3 but then began to slow down on the second lap before stopping altogether on the last lap. André was never troubled by Shane Parker in heat 4 and Benji easily outpaced James Cockle but Shane suffered some kind of engine problem and stopped on the run-down lap. Danny Bird made another blistering get-away to win heat 5 from Kyle and Emiliano made hard work of rounding David McAllan just before David's machine slewed to a halt.

Glasgow's one point aggregate lead was maintained as Shane Parker fought his way to the front in heat 6. Ben Wilson trapped and Ricky looked to have rounded Shane out of turn two, but Shane wasted no time diving back into second place on the third turn. Shane then powered around Ben on the pits turn on the second lap, and although Ben chased hard he never looked like regaining the place. André took another clear-cut win in heat 7 with Paul Cooper rounding Lee Dicken out of turn two to put the sassenachs ahead for the first time. That also signified the start of Stewart Dickson's tactics and he immediately chose to give Shane Parker a tactical substitute ride (off a 15 metre handicap) against youngsters Ben and Benji in heat 8. James Cockle tried his best to get in on the act but the home pair both passed him on the first turn and put their heads down. Shane made up a little ground but James virtually stopped on the third turn to let him past on the third lap before regaining third place on the run to the finish line as Shane's rear tyre disintegrated. With a replacement fitted Shane was back out in heat 9 but after a flying start Kyle rode a perfect line and Shane never got near enough to mount a challenge. After a poor start Emiliano left it until the last turn before rounding Robert Ksiezak for the odd point. Kauko Nieminen powered into the lead in heat 10 and resisted firm pressure from Ricky but the home Tigers were looking comfortable with a seven point aggregate lead.

Stewart Dickson gave the unbeaten Danny Bird the black & white helmet in heat 11 but André wasn't impressed and ran out the easy winner, while at the back David McAllan was able to hold off Paul Cooper who is still struggling for power. James Cockle replaced Lee Dicken in heat 12 (re-started after Benji tumbled into the fence on turn 1) and team rode Robert Ksiezak for two and a bit laps with Emiliano climbing all over their back wheels. James edged into the lead leaving Robert defending 2nd place by taking Emiliano wider and wider until Potty dived for the white line to pass him on the last corner. Emiliano likes to leave it late doesn't he! A three point aggregate lead looked precarious considering that Shane Parker and Danny Bird were the opposition in heat 13 and Ricky had scored four points from three rides. Perhaps that made him hungry because he thundered from the tapes to join André in the lead and never looked like being caught. Kauko was wearing the black & white as expected in heat 14 and he made no mistake to lead the field. James Cockle stuck to his line and Paul Cooper just couldn't make any impression while Kyle was floundering at the back. Kyle powered around Paul on the pits turn on the second lap and then scythed under James on the second turn but Kauko was by then un catchable. The last heat became an aggregate decider with the visiting Tigers requiring a 1-5 to steal the point. Ricky made a great start from the outside gate and even André couldn't compete with his pace as they combined to make the final score line look more comfortable than it really was.

The track looked very smooth following the two days of Stock and Banger cars over Easter but passing was at a premium and certainly didn't favour the home team. Shane's puncture while on a tactical substitute ride was a big blow and could have swung the match a completely different way...

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