Sky Sports Elite League B - Monday 14th August 2006
Former World Champion Nicki Pedersen and his Eastbourne Eagles came to town but they were not at the races as Panthers made up a 20 point deficit to take the bonus point and win the meeting.
At one stage fans wondered if there would even be a meeting. When they arrived at the track they were greeted with the sight of a severely flooded first bend and a soggy looking fourth bend. Panthers’ number three Ryan Sullivan even pitched in with some track grading but the start time was still delayed by an hour.
Meanwhile Captain Hans Andersen was facing a race against time after his flight to Heathrow was delayed by more than four hours. Luckily he arrived at the track just after 8pm with the meeting getting underway half an hour later.
The scores were encouraging for the home side from the off. It wasn’t until heat 9 that the visitors recorded a heat advantage when Pedersen scored a double points win over Niels Kristian Iversen and Sullivan. And that heat still left Eastbourne trailing Panthers 35-22.
The previous heat was quite possibly the race of the night with Karol Zabik and Ulrich Ostergaard lining up against Dean Barker and Lewis Bridger. Zabik showed that two Eastbourne riders were no match for him. He endured a three abreast tussle down the back straight on lap one and was elbowed out towards the fence the second time the riders went down the back straight but never gave up. He found a way past Barker to the cheers of the grandstand.
But it wasn’t just that race that the crowd witnessed Zabik’s exploits. In heat 2 the 19-year-old over took fast-starting Cameron Woodward to take the race win while in heat 4 he led Pedersen for a lap before the Dane powered past. And in heat 12 he teamed up with Sullivan for a 5-1 which for the first time put Panthers in the lead for the bonus point.
Not surprisingly the Pole was awarded Man of the Match and justified his inclusion in the nominated heat 15 by finishing second.
Fellow reserve Richard Hall joined him in that heat with the bonus point already decided thanks to the 5-1 he achieved with Iversen in heat 14. The pair team rode to maximum points to ensure that Barker, who was nominated for double points, finished third. Under the new ruling this year Barker finished the race without his points being doubled as he had failed to beat an opponent.
Double points also failed to work for the Eagles in heat 11 when Adam Shields, wearing the black and white helmet colour, and Barker came up against Andersen and Hall. With two race wins to Andersen’s name and a second place (behind Pedersen) the Panthers’ Captain always looked odds on favourite to win the heat. And Hall held onto a valuable third place to keep Shields at the back.
As for the Panthers team as a whole. Well, it was solid scoring throughout. Ostergaard chipped in with some important third places to give Panthers heat advantages, Iversen made some good gates and contributed four race wins and Sullivan scored 10+4.
Panthers deserved to find themselves back in second place in the league and they settled a few nerves after Thursday’s close encounter.
Report by Sarah Tooze
Peterborough Panthers = 61 (96)
1. Hans Andersen 3, 2, 3, 3, 3 = 14 2. Ulrich Ostergaard 1, 1', 1', 0, 1 = 4+2 3. Ryan Sullivan 2', 2', 1', 3, 2' = 10+4 4. Niels Kristian Iversen 3, 3, 3, 2, 3 = 14 5. Jesper B Jensen R/R 6. Richard Hall 1, 2', 1, 2', 1' = 7+3 7. Karol Zabik 3, 2, 3, 2', 2 = 12+1
