Freddie's star of Olympique
Freddie Lindgren assumed the role of Wolves' super Swede at Monmore Green last night, outshining his captain and fellow countryman Peter Karlsson to lift the Banks's Olympique trophy, writes Rob Taylor.
Freddie Lindgren assumed the role of Wolves' super Swede at Monmore Green last night, outshining his captain and fellow countryman Peter Karlsson to lift the Banks's Olympique trophy, writes Rob Taylor.
Karlsson had to settle for fourth as Coventry duo Scott Nicholls and Chris Harris battled it out for runners-up spot.
Nicholls got the edge from the gate in that one, leaving Harris - who won the British title on this track in June - to battle in vain to make up the lost ground.
The night undoubtedly belonged to 13-point Lindgren, whose determination was evident from the opening race when he led home another of his team-mates, Billy Hamill.
The Wolves star went on to record three more victories, his only setback coming in heat 11 when he went off the 20-metre mark and could make no impression on Nicholls and former Monmore man Daniel Nermark.
Going into the final round of races, it had boiled down to a straight fight between Lindgren and Nicholls for the title.
But after Nicholls missed out to Harris and Hamill, the Wolves youngster clinched victory by winning heat 19.
While most of the attention was focussed on the battle for honours, though, a large Monmore crowd also witnessed three young stars in the making.
Brother Nicolai Klindt, Tai Woffinden and Ludvig Lindgren all finished with modest five-point totals but each had reason to feel pleased with their endeavours.
Wolves new signing Klindt even managed a race win on his first appearance at the track, holding off Monmore asset Woffinden on the last bend of heat 13, while Lindgren, younger brother of the eventual champion, produced some steady, promising form to record five third places on another Monmore debut.
As for Karlsson, the Wolves skipper started with a comfortable win but made life difficult for himself when he managed only a point from each of his next two outings.
Points scorers: F Lindgren 3-3-1-3-3 13, S Nicholls 3-2-3-2-1 11, C Harris 3-1-3-1-3 11, P Karlsson 3-1-1-2-3 10, K Hansen 2-3-0-3-1 9, D Nermark 2-2-2-2-1 9, J Lyons 2-0-3-0-3 8, B Hamill 2-1-2-0-2 7, C Kerr 0-3-1-1-2 7, C Louis 0-3-0-3-0 6, W Lawson 1-2-2-1-0 6, A Skornicki 1-0-3-0-2 6, T Woffinden 1-R-2-2-0 5, N Klindt 0-2-0-3-0 5, L Lindgren 1-1-1-1-1 5, C Wortman 0-0-0-0-2 2.
Heat details: 1 F Lindgren (55.56), Hamill, Woffinden, Kerr. 2 Karlsson (55.78), Nermark, Lawson, Louis. 3 Nicholls (55.76), Lyons, L Lindgren, Wortman 4 Harris (55.97), Hansen, Skornicki, Klindt. 5 Hansen (57.53), Nicholls, Karlsson, Woffinden (ret). 6 Louis (57.10), Klindt, Hamill, Lyons. 7 F Lindgren (56.0), Lawson, L Lindgren, Skornicki. 8 Kerr (57.93), Nermark, Harris, Wortman. 9 Harris (57.50), Woffinden, L Lindgren, Louis. 10 Skornicki (57.80), Hamill, Karlsson, Wortman. 11 Nicholls (57.69), Nermark, F Lindgren, Klindt 12 Lyons (57.56), Lawson, Kerr, Hansen. 13 Klindt (58.09), Woffinden, Lawson, Wortman. 14 Hansen (57.05), Nermark, L Lindgren, Hamill. 15 F Lindgren (56.90), Karlsson, Harris, Lyons. 16 Louis (57.69), Nicholls, Kerr, Skornicki. 17 Lyons (57.97), Skornicki, Nermark, Woffinden 18 Harris (58.19), Hamill, Nicholls, Lawson. 19 F Lindgren (58.29), Wortman, Hansen, Louis. 20 Karlsson (58.38), Kerr, L Lindgren, Klindt. Run-off for 2nd place: Nicholls (57.60), Harris.
