Depleted Arena-Essex Hammers were no match for full strength Panthers as Jesper B Jensen made a welcome return to the side scoring an impressive 12 point maximum.
The 28-year-old Dane looked like he had never been away from the Showground even though it has been 10 agonising weeks since he rode for the team after breaking his shoulder in a Polish league meeting.
In the post-meeting press conference Jensen summed the night up as “unbelievable” and it came as no surprise to fans when he was awarded Man of the Match.
He said: “I was hoping to get six or eight points but it turned out really good. I felt rusty in my first couple of races but I was gating well.”
One of the few heats which Jensen did not make it from the gate was his first ride in heat 4. But he thrilled the crowd by storming up the inside of former Panther Joonas Kylmakorpi on the fourth bend of the first lap.
And he formed a potent partnership with reserve Richard Hall as they roared to 5-1’s in heat 7 and 11. Although Hall did it the hard way, sweeping round the outside of the Arena-Essex boys, whilst Jensen led from tapes to flag.
In the early stages of the meeting the scores were close with Panthers unable to muster more than a series of 4-2’s. In fact it looked like the visitors would record the first 5-1 of the night in heat 3 after they made the start over Niels Kristian Iversen and Ryan Sullivan. Fortunately for Panthers, Arena’s captain Steve Johnston made the mistake of putting two wheels on the grass and was excluded turning the heat result into a 3-3. That kept Panthers ahead 10-8.
Sullivan and Iversen redeemed themselves with a 4-2 in heat 5 and it was after that heat that it all started to go wrong for the Hammers. Already operating rider replacement for Paul Hurry they were reduced to just five men as reserve Andreas Messing withdrew from the meeting due to illness.
Arena performed their first double tactical ride of the night in heat 12 to some credit recording a 7-1 (taking the score line to 45-29) and went one better with a maximum 8-1 in heat 14. But by then Panthers had walked away with the meeting.
Reliable as ever Hans Andersen recorded a paid win in heat 13 and a victory in heat 15 to tally a paid 15 point maximum. And importantly he had the backing of Jensen and Piotr Swiderski in those heats to ensure two Panthers’ 5-1’s.
Swiderski caused more than a few raised eyebrows when he was included in the nominated heat 15 but he showed that his inclusion was justified.
His position also meant that all the Panthers riders managed a race win or paid win (as Captain Andersen pointed out). And there lay the difference between the sides as only former Grand Prix rider Mickael Max, Johnston and former Panther Henning Bager were out in front for Arena.
Report by Sarah Tooze
Peterborough Panthers
1) Hans Andersen 3,3,3,2*,3 = 14+1 2) Ulrich Ostergaard 0,1,3,1 = 5 3) Ryan Sullivan. 1*,3,1,1 = 6+1 4) Niels K. Iversen 2,1,3,1 = 7 5) Jesper B. Jensen 3,3,3,3 = 12 6) Richard Hall. 3,2*,2*,0 = 7+2 7) Piotr Swiderski 1,1,1,0,2* = 5+1
Arena-Essex ‘Duggo’ Hammers
1) Leigh Lanham 2,0,1,M = 3 2) Paul Hurry R/R 3) Steve Johnston Exc,1,2,2,4*,1 = 10+1 4) Mikael Max 3,0,0,6 = 9 5) Joonas Kylmakorpi 2,2,2,1,0 = 7 6) Henning Bager 1*,2,2,0, M,3,2* = 10+2 7) Andreas Messing 0,0, Ns,Ns = 0
