The Lakeside Hammers and Peterborough Panthers second leg of their Championship Play-off Semi Final was abandoned after a floodlight failure in Heat 9.
After winning the coin toss and choosing to go from gates 2 and 4, the Lakeside Hammers got off to a great start picking up a 4-2 in the opening heat race with Hammers captain Richard Lawson taking the win with Zach Wajtknecht coming third.
The Hammers picked up two more 4-2’s in the next two races with Alfie Bowtell going around the outside of Panthers guest Carl Wilkinson on lap two after Ben Morley jumped into the lead after getting a great start. Adam Ellis won heat three with teammate Kyle Newman holding off Panthers guest Tero Aarnio for third.
5-1’s On The Menu
The Hammers secured their first 5-1 of the evening in heat four with Nick Morris leading home Alfie Bowtell. Two more 5-1’s followed with Adam Ellis securing the win in heat five followed home by Kyle Newman, and Richard Lawson leading Zach Wajtknecht home in heat six.
With three 4-2’s followed by three 5-1’s, the Hammers increased their lead on the night to 18 points and 20 on aggregate.
There was a break from the 5-1’s in heat seven with the Hammers securing their fourth 4-2 of the evening with Nick Morris claiming the win with Ben Morley in third. After a great start to the meeting, the Hammers met their first hurdle in heat eight after Alfie Bowtell fell coming out of turn four on lap one – getting excluded from the re-run.
Winner Wajtknecht
Zach Wajtknecht took the win in the re-run after going in-between the two Peterborough Panthers riders on lap one down the back straight.
Heat nine saw Panthers guest Carl Wilkinson fall on lap two, turn two stopping the race and getting excluded from the re-run. The re-run saw Hammers star Adam Ellis fall on turn one on the opening lap again stopping the race.
In Darkness
It was at this point that the floodlights went out on the home straight, and after nearly two hours of trying to resolve the issue, the meeting was abandoned in the interest of rider safety. The Hammers were comfortably out in front, leading 34-14 on the night and 80-58 on aggregate.
The Lakeside Hammers only have two days left available to them from the Rye House stadium owners (Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th October) to complete their 2018 season. They will hand the result of tonight over to the British Speedway Promoters Association (BSPA) and the Speedway Control Board (SCB) to see how they will conclude their Championship season.
The Lakeside Hammers are expected to confirm the details regarding this matter shortly as well as the possible Championship Play-Off Final.
