Wolves deliver Hammer blow

Arena Essex Lakeside 39 Wolves 51 (Wolves win aggregate bonus point 100-83)After suffering one of their worst weeks in recent memory, Parry's International Wolves bounced back to form in style in Essex last night as they defeated the Lakeside Hammers in a superb Elite League encounter.

For the first time in several matches the squad exuded an air of confidence from the visitors' pits on a damp and drizzly night at the Purfleet Raceway, with all seven team members well and truly in the thick of the racing during the evening.

The Hammers were missing Joonas Kylmakorpi, for whom the rider replacement facility yielded a solitary point, Edward Kennett and Paul Hurry due to injury, and with Henning Bager less than 100 per cent fit, the Wolves seemed to quietly fancy their chances prior to the meeting.

Wolves' Swedish young guns proved to be the star turns of the evening, with both Fredrik Lindgren and Magnus Karlsson displaying some superb form throughout.

Lindgren had clearly been practicing his gating as he leapt from the start in each of his first three rides to win them easily, before missing out from the tapes in heat 13. Undaunted, he quickly powered past Bager and was within touching distance of home captain Adam Shields, but had to settle for third.

Out in the nominated final heat, Lindgren produced a superb switch of line on the second bend to sweep inside Shields and Krzysztof Kasprzak to join Billy Hamill in an excellent 5-1.

Karlsson, meanwhile, was a revelation following some disappointing showings in recent weeks. After his first ride in heat two it looked set to be another evening of struggle for the Swede as he trailed in last, but in his next ride in heat four he bolted out of the start and rode a magnificent defensive race to hold off Shields for four laps, resisting everything the Aussie threw at him.

More fine gating followed for the rest of the night, although Karlsson was caught out in heat 10 as referee Frank Ebdon released the tapes early. Two heats later he produced a brilliant last bend move to snatch third place from Leigh Lanham right on the line.

Billy Hamill may have been returning from injury, but he showed no sign of it as he dropped just one point all night, when he was beaten by Shields in heat seven. The Bullet lived up to his nickname as he produced some seriously rapid racing around the tricky Purfleet race strip.

Theo Pijper predictably found the going tough on his track debut, while Carl Wilkinson enjoyed a good battle with Bager in heat 6, the pair passing constantly until Bager crashed into slowing team-mate Christian Hefenbrock.

Lindgren certainly seemed pleased with his own performance as well as that of the team, despite his dislike of the Lakeside track. "We have been throwing too many points away recently," he said, "so it's good to see the side pull together."

"This is probably my least favourite track in speedway," he commented, "but I can still score points here."