Arena mauled at Peterborough.

It was a disappointing Bank Holiday Monday for the Husqvarna Hammers as they were well beaten by the powerful Peterborough Panthers in a SkyBet Elite Speedway League match at the East of England Showground.

On arrival at the track it was obvious to most that there was a problem with the racing surface. It appeared to have been over-watered and was very wet especially along the starting straight and first bend, which were in the shade of the main stand. The trackstaff attempted to tyre pack the whole track but this left a problem going into the first bend. At the due start time of 7.30pm two tractors and four other vehicles were still tyre packing the circuit but racing did eventually get underway half an hour late at 8pm.

The opening heat went ahead without too many problems although all the riders appeared to struggle with the inconsistent surface. This resulted in a 4-2 to the home team with Gary Havelock managing to split the Peterborough pair of Peter Karlsson and Henning Bager. Then, in heat No.2 Lukas Dryml gained the win pushing Paul Hurry wide on the exit to the second bend. The Kent based Arena-Essex rider slowed down during the later stages of the race but he followed his partner Roman Povazhny home for a share of the points. However, on his return to the pits it was obvious that Hurry was in a fair amount of pain. Apparently he had jarred his shoulder when he picked up some unexpected grip down the main straight.

The next three heats saw a total of five falls - all on the first bend. At the first staging of heat No.3 Adam Skornicki was pushed wide and fell. The race was stopped by the referee and the Husqvarna Hammers Pole was excluded. In the re-run Leigh Lanham fell on the entry into the first bend when he had no grip. His bike went into the air fence at speed, which lifted the fence up and Lanham then followed his bike in but went straight under the fence knocking his knee against the wooden fence. He eventually got to his feet and was assisted into the ambulance and taken back to the pits area where he was examined by the doctor. Although clearly shaken he was then able to walk back to his pit area and prepared himself for his next race. He was, however, excluded and the referee awarded the race to the Panthers 5-0. The next heat saw home rider Lukas Dryml fall in the same place whist attempting to go around Arena's Mark Loram. He was able to walk away from the crash but he too was excluded from the re-run, which resulted in another shared heat as his brother Ales took the win. Heat five saw Sam Ermolenko collide with Sergey Darkin in the very same place causing both riders to fall. The Husqvarna Hammers Russian damaged a finger in the crash, which he appeared to be the innocent party of, but his bike was written off. Ermolenko spectacularly fell and at one stage it appeared that he was going to clear the air fence but he finished up landing on the top of it. At this stage the referee brought proceedings to a halt as he was concerned about the state of the track going into the first bend. After discussions with both teams representatives and the trackstaff it was decided that further grading was needed. Once this was completed the meeting got underway again with all four riders back in the race. Ermolenko and Jesper B Jensen took maximum points in front of Darkin, who was mounted on his spare machine, and Havelock. This put the home side 20-9 up.

Mark Loram, who was unhappy with his bike in his opening ride, came out on another machine in the next heat and the Husqvarna Hammers Team Manager, Ronnie Russell, nominated him for a "Tactical Ride" where any points he scored would be doubled. However, the Hammers captain had no answer to the speed of Peter Karlsson and he had to settle for second place and with Roman Povazhny at the back the heat was shared 4-4.

Following a shared heat seven, which saw Ales Dryml claim his second win of the evening, Lukas Dryml won heat No.8 when he went past Gary Havelock coming out of the second bend of the first lap in a manoeuvre similar to his pass of Hurry in the second heat where he gave the Hammers riders very little room causing them to have to throttle down. Bager was able to also get past the hammers pairing to give the home side another maximum heat advantage.

A similar scoreline looked to be on the cards in the next heat but Jensen pulled onto the infield with a suspected machine problem when he appeared to have been pushed wide between the first and second bends by his racing partner Ermolenko. This allowed the Husqvarna Hammers riders, Mark Loram and Roman Povazhny, to take the minor places in what was the fifth shared heat of the night.

Karlsson and Bager roared to another 5-1 in heat No.10, which saw Leigh Lanham pull up, obviously still suffering from the knee injury he sustained in heat No.3. Ronnie Russell then nominated Gary Havelock for a "Tactical Ride" in the next heat. Havelock was well fired up for this race as he still felt somewhat aggrieved following the incident with Lukas Dryml a few heats earlier. However, once again, The Arena riders had no answer to the power of Ales Dryml of Peterborough. Darkin was able to keep Daniel Davidsson at the back enabling the Husqvarna Hammers to gain a 5-3 heat advantage. It transpired that this was to be the only heat advantage the visitors gained all evening.

Lukas Dryml and Jenson claimed another 5-1 in the next heat despite Roman Povazhny making a good start. The Peterborough pair took very little time in powering their way past the Arena rider. Once again, Leigh Lanham pulled up whilst at the back. It was a difficult situation for the hammers team manager, Ronnie Russell, as Lanham was clearly struggling but his only possible replacement in the heat would have been Paul Hurry, who was also riding through the pain barrier with his jarred shoulder.

Karlsson and Ales Dryml easily won heat13 as Sergey Darkin struggled with a machine problem on his second bike having already written off his preferred machine in that heat 5 incident with American Ermolenko. The Panthers American completed his four ride paid maximum when he won the penultimate race but with Davidsson at the back for the fourth time the points were shared. The final race of the night saw Ales Dryml complete his five ride paid maximum with Jesper B Jenson taking second place. The resultant home 5-1 saw the final result of 61-32 as the Panthers take the match by 29 points.

It was a disappointing evening for the Husqvarna Hammers on a very difficult track, especially in the early stages. However, on numerous occasions the Arena-Essex riders were either first out of the start or entered the first bend level with their opponents but time and time again the straight line speed achieved by the Peterborough riders saw them power past the Hammers riders going down the back straight. It left the Husqvarna Hammers with a lot of head scratching going on in the pits as they attempted to set up their machines up in a manner that would emulate the speed achieved by the home riders.

The Husqvarna Hammers riders will need to put this disappointment behind them as they concentrate on gaining a home win at their Arena-Essex Raceway on Wednesday (31st August) when they take on the Swindon Robins in SkyBet Elite Speedway League action.