Peterborough Panthers 54 Belle Vue Aces 39 – Elite League A
Peterborough restored some pride to both the management and the supporters with this comfortable victory over Belle Vue.
The Panthers simply had to much all round firepower for the Aces who relied heavily on no 1 Kasprzak and reserve Morten Risager, and could even cover for a rare off night for Kenneth Bjerre.
Nevertheless the Aces started with a 5-1, but it didn’t take very long before the Panthers got into their stride and successive 5-1’s in heats 4 and 5 set the tone for a very comfortable win with everyone winning at least one race.
Bjerre won the 6th, his only race win of the evening and Captain Iversen was back to his best with his second win in the 7th but it was the form of the two reserves which again tipped the scales heavily in Panthers favour, as they picked up the minor places to ensure Peterborough had a 10 point lead after the first 7 heats.
They were at it again in heat 8 with Belle Vue electing to put Hougaard in the black and white. Ace Hougaard hit the deck on the first corner of the first attempt and despite it being all four back in the rerun, was powerless to prevent another home maximum as the Panthers pair increased the Aces deficit.
Morten Risager surprised the home pairing by forcing his way to the front in heat 9 and although forcibly challenged by Bager he kept his nerve and hung on for a share of the spoils.
Heat 10 looked like going the same way initially as Vissing led with the Aces in close support, Forsberg then lost it on the 4th bend, and went down with Ostergaard following closely behind left with nowhere to go and he ploughed into his stricken team mate.
It took some time to treat both riders with Ostergaard thankfully able to walk away after treatment, Forsberg wasn’t quite so lucky and following an ambulance ride back to the pits he was conveyed to hospital with back and concussion injuries. Panthers took a 4-2 in the rerun with Ostergaard seemingly okay as he held off Bjerre for second place.
Belle Vue played their second tactical in heat 11 and this one worked with Kasprzak storming away after a classic start to dent Iversen’s unbeaten run and with Wright somehow managing to run down and pass Vissing, the Aces got a deserved 7-2.
That was as close as it got however as Hansen despite an indifferent start in heat 12 produced his own magic to somehow stalk and pass race leader Risager on the run in to the flag. Heat 13 was another cracker with initial race leader Bjerre passed by Iversen and Kasprzak, as all three raced wheel to wheel for 3 laps. Iversen hung on to win but you could have covered all three with the proverbial blanket at the finish.
It was Bager’s turn in heat 14 to star as Risager led for most of the race, Bager however switched to the outside for his first time of the night and just got the verdict on the line.
Kasprzak got his second win over Iversen with another good start and first corner, but as him and Iversen battled it out at the front Hansen was winning his own duel with Risager that saw the Panthers finish with another heat advantage.
This was Hansen’s third consecutive double figure return and with another 11 from Vissing it’s clear that the Panthers have their own Aces at reserve.
Team Manager Trevor Swales said "It wasn't all plain sailing tonight but overall it was a great team effort and a convincing win, I think we all benefited from an earlier team meeting in which we exchanged views and it was a good outcome for both the riders and the management”.
