Narrow defeat at Ipswich as Ex-Witches feature in last heat decider
When ex-Witches Hans Andersen and Jesper B Jensen lined up at the tapes for heat 15 it was still all to play for. Four points adrift of the Witches, a 5-1 would force a draw and see Panthers take home an extra point.
And the contingent of Panthers� fans that had made their way across East Anglia had their fingers crossed that there would be a repeat of heat 13 when the pair roared to a 5-1 over the Witches.
But Andersen didn�t manage another tapes-to-flag victory and Jensen�s chances went up in a puff of smoke on the first lap. He could only watch from the centre green as Witches recorded a match winning 4-2.
The meeting began on a controversial note when it was announced that Richard Hall had been given a misshapen tyre. The team managers eventually reached agreement that the tyre could be changed and a short delay ensued.
When heat 1 got underway Panthers got off to a good start with a 4-2 but their early lead was short-lived as the Ipswich pairing of Danny King and Carl Wilkinson recorded a 5-1.
The next heat saw Ryan Sullivan miss the start and finish last. It was something of a mixed night for him. After starting poorly he recorded two race wins in heats 10 and 12.
Heat 10 saw an entertaining race between him and Mark Loram with the Ipswich rider hot on his heels all the way to the finish line - a repetition of heat 4 when Jensen was pursued by Loram.
Jensen and Andersen were clearly on form around their former track and looked impressive from the gate to ensure that there were plenty of 3-3�s to keep Panthers in with a chance of winning.
But the reserve pairing of Richard Hall and James Cockle were not so fast away from the tapes and struggled at the back for the majority of their heats on a slick track with little chance of overtaking.
There was an injury scare for Hall in heat 9 as he fell on the second bend and had to hobble back to the pits. Luckily the referee had the sense to award the heat with Jensen clearly in the lead.
But there were a few heats when the referring left the fans scratching their heads. In heat 5 the tapes went up successfully, Panthers sped away but the Witches riders remained stationary at the start. It appeared that the referee had not put the green light on.
This occurred again in heat 8. Then Carl Wilkinson rolled into the tapes, prompting Ulrich Ostergaard to drop the clutch and become tangled in the tapes.
In fact, the tapes were caught under Ostergaard�s helmet and caused him to rear up alarmingly. Luckily he emerged unscathed.
Speaking after the event Ostergaard said: �the tapes should have broken but they were too tough!�
The rest of the heats went without such incidents. But by the interval stage Panthers were eight points down. A 4-2 from Andersen and Ostergaard in heat 11 followed by the heat 13 success kept the fans hopes alive. But in the end it was all over by the first bend of heat 15. Panthers took away the bonus point and Ipswich pocketed two points.
Report by Sarah Tooze
Elite League - Thursday 8th June 2006
IPSWICH 48 1 Piotr Protasiewicz r/r 2 Kim Jansson 0, 0, 3, 1*, 0 = 4+1 3 Robert Miskowiak 3, 1*, 3, 1* = 8+2 4 Chris Louis 2, 2*, 2, 2, 3, 1 = 12+1 5 Mark Loram 2, 3, 2, 2, 1, 3 = 13 6 Danny King 2*, 0, 1, 0, 1 = 4+1 7 Carl Wilkinson 3, 1*, T, 1* = 5+2
PETERBOROUGH 42 1 Hans Andersen 3, 3, 3, 2*, 2 = 13+1 2 Ulrich Ostergaard 1, 0, 2, 1 = 4 3 Ryan Sullivan 0, 1*, 3, 3, 2 = 9+1 4 Niels Kristian Iversen 1, 2, 0, 2 = 5 5 Jesper B Jensen 3, 2, 3, 3, ef = 11 6 Richard Hall 1, 1*, F ex, 0 = 2+1 7 James Cockle 0, 0, 0, 0 = 0
