‘Freedom Day’ action sees Wolverhampton Wolves grab top spot with convincing win

It was a fourth successive victory for the Parrys International Wolves who leapfrogged Peterborough on the back of their home defeat to Belle Vue.

And it was the perfect way for Peter Adams’ side to launch a run of four consecutive home meetings at Monmore Green – and a big crowd were treated to a fantastic night of action on ‘Freedom Day’.

The hosts were kept on their toes by the Foxhall outfit in the first half of the meeting, before a dominant second period saw them coast to a third win over Ipswich this season. Drew Kemp, who was runner-up in Friday’s British Under-21 Final, made a blistering start to hit the front in the opener for the visitors.

But Luke Becker charged underneath the youngster into bend three, taking him wide and allowing Sam Masters to follow him through for an opening maximum.

It was Kemp again who made the fastest start in the second and was partnered by teammate Paul Starke.

But the latter shut off drastically after thinking he’d seen the red lights go on, allowing Nicol to come through and split the visiting pairing. The hosts responded with a 4-2 of their own in Heat Three with Nick Morris taking the chequered flag after pulling off a smart move to get around Danny King at the end of the first lap and a frantic first lap of the next saw skipper Rory Schlein get by his rivals to take the lead.

Morris and Schlein both made the most of quick reactions and strong first turns in their next two to maintain their unbeaten start whilst in between that Masters and Becker combined for another heat advantage to open-up a six-point gap.

The visitors temporarily moved back to within two in Heat Eight though with Becker unable to catch the Ipswich pairing of Starke and Kemp in the third attempt from a 15-metre handicap after breaking the tapes in the initial staging, while fellow American Nicol crashed out of the second. But the Parrys International Wolves knuckled down to finally seize control of the fixture with a key run of races to go into the interval 39-27 up.

Morris recorded his hat-trick of race victories in the ninth and was followed home by Aussie compatriot Ryan Douglas who rode solidly to hold off some late pressure from Craig Cook. The deadly duo of Masters and Becker both produced stunning rides to seal their second maximum of the night in Heat Ten before Schlein worked his way from the back to add a third win to his scorechart with Nicol working overtime to take a point off three-time World Champion Jason Crump.

Masters completed a paid maximum in Heat 13 to wrap up the points for the Wolves while Morris and Schlein were denied a max of their own by King and Starke in what was the final race of the night.

The Parrys International Wolves are back at Monmore next Monday July 26, 7.30 with Belle Vue the visitors this time.

Wolverhampton 52: Nick Morris 14, Rory Schlein 12, Sam Masters 9+3, Luke Becker 8, Broc Nicol 6, Ryan Douglas 3+1, Alfie Bowtell 0.

Ipswich 38: Paul Starke 10+1, Drew Kemp 9+2, Danny King 8+2, Jake Allen 5+1, Craig Cook 4, Jason Crump 2, Anders Rowe R/R.

Wolverhampton Speedway reports provided in association with Parry’s International Travel.