Hammers shock Belle Vue

The Arena-Essex Husqvarna Hammers pulled of the shock of the season when they went to Manchester on Monday evening and defeated the Belle Vue Aces on their own Raceway. The Aces, who are in second place in the SkyBet Elite Speedway League, were expected to have an easy win as the Husqvarna Hammers had already lost by 33 points up at the Kirkmanshulme Lane Stadium in the "A" fixture in May.

There were no signs of a Husqvarna Hammers win in the early stages of the meeting as the home side raced into a 10 point lead after just five heats. This was despite Mark Loram defeating Jason Crump in heat four. This was Loram's first race in this Country since his serious hand injury sustained back in March.

The Husqvarna Hammers boss, Ronnie Russell, nominated Loram for a "Tactical Ride" in heat No.6 but the Aces veteran Andy Smith made the start, and, despite the efforts of the Arena captain, claimed the win. The result was a 4-4, which kept the homes side's advantage at 10 points. That advantage increased to 14 points in the next race when Crump shepherded home Simon Stead for Stead's only points of the night.

In heat No.8 Paul Hurry too the "Tactical Ride" but his partner Roman Povazhny led from the start and Hurry found himself under pressure in second place from the home pairing of Smith and Rusty Harrison. Povazhny did extremely well to allow Hurry through on the run in to the finishing line to give the Husqvarna Hammers a most welcome 8-1, which reduced Arena's deficit to seven points.

The home side's lead was then reduced to just five points following the next race that saw Loram claim the victory but the Husqvarna Hammers No.8 Phil Morris, who was replacing the injured Josh Larsen, picked up the vital third place in front of Belle Vue's Jason Lyons, who up until then had been undefeated. Lyons fell attempting a desperate move to pass Morris but was able to get back on his bike to allow the race to finish.

The next two heats were shared with Sergey Darkin claiming his first race victory of the night in heat No.10 ahead of the Aces Kenneth Bjerre and Smith. Arena's other representative Leigh Lanham was at the back and at that stage the Ipswich based Husqvarna Hammers rider had scored just one point from his three rides.

However, Lanham put in a superb ride in heat No.12 where he overtook the reigning British Champion Joe Screen on the final lap to take the race win and with Phil Morris claiming the third place the Husqvarna Hammers were now only three points behind with three heats to go.

The home side got their lead back to five points in heat No.13 when Crump managed to hold off Loram but Kenneth Bjerre just managed to pass Gary Havelock on the line to gain the third place. The penultimate heat saw the two Arena-Essex Russians, Darkin and Povazhny, take the lead over Lyons and Stead and at one stage it looked as though the Russians were going to gain a maximum 5-1 heat advantage but the Aces Australian Lyons managed to force his way past Povazhny to claim second place.

The resultant 4-2 in favour of the Husqvarna Hammers meant that the two sides entered the final heat with the home side three points in front. Nothing less than a 5-1 to Arena-Essex was needed to give the visitors an unexpected win but with the current World Champion, Jason Crump, and the current British Champion, Joe Screen representing the Aces it looked a very difficult task for the Husqvarna Hammers pairing of Mark Loram and Sergey Darkin.

However, the home crowd were silenced when the two Arena-Essex riders made the start and led the two home track experts. Going into the final bend with the Arena riders still holding the match-winning 5-1 advantage Crump, who was in third place, had an engine problem. The Arena riders crossed the finishing line in front to give them the well deserved victory but it was a close thing as Mark Loram's engine blew as he crossed the line.

The win sent the small group of travelling Husqvarna Hammers supporters into ecstasy but it also sent a huge shockwaves through the Sport and Belle Vue had been tipped by many as favourites to win the League and those experts also believed the Arena-Essex would finish at the bottom of the table.

The away victory was well earned as the best team on the night won. It was a good all-round performance from all of the Husqvarna Hammers riders and it just goes to show how much the Essex based Club have missed their inspirational captain, Mark Loram. He was at his very best but special mention must also be made of the contribution of the Husqvarna Hammers new signing, Sergey Darkin, who finished the evening with three important race wins.