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Post by Administrator on May 27, 2010 17:46:01 GMT
PRESS RELEASE Thursday 27th May 2010 HAMMERS LOOK TO KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING Following on from the Lakeside Hammers recent home wins against Sky Sports Elite League leaders, the Poole Pirates, and third placed side, the Wolverhampton Wolves, the Essex based Club will be looking to keep the momentum going this Friday, 28th May, when Play Off hopefuls, the Peterborough Panthers, visit the Arena-Essex Raceway. Earlier this week the Peterborough Management made several changes to their side, which has resulted in three riders joining them and four departing the club. Australian Rory Schlein has joined them from Coventry, Polish rider Kamil Brzozowski will ride in this Country for the first time and Frenchman Mathieu Tresarrieu returns to UK racing following a two year spell away. Friday will be the first time that these new riders will be seen competing for the Panthers. The current Grand Prix leader, Kenneth Bjerre will miss the meeting due to a commitment in his home country of Denmark and the Panthers Management have booked in Ipswich rider, Scott Nicholls as a guest replacement. Bjerre’s fellow Dane, Neils Kristian Iversen, will also be missing for Friday’s important meeting as he has still not recovered from an injury sustained earlier this month. The ‘Rider Replacement’ facility will be used to cover his rides and as he is second in the Panthers averages any of their riders will be permitted to take an additional ride. The remaining two riders to complete the Peterborough line-up are Polish rider Krzysztof Buczkowski and Australian Troy Batchelor. For the Hammers reserve Paul Hurry is still suffering from the broken finger he sustained in the match against Poole and is likely to be out of the team for another couple of weeks. The Hammers Team manager, Jon Cook, has brought in Australian Kevin Doolan, who rides for the King’s Lynn Stars in the Premier League as a guest replacement. The Australian has been in good form this season and top scored for the Stars earlier this week in their home match against Stoke scoring a 15 point full maximum. Jon Cook commented: “We need to keep the momentum going on Friday against the new look Peterborough team. They are looking to gain one of the four Play Off places come the end of the season and we are determined to maintain our second place in the table. "The Panthers Management appear to have made a good choice for their guest as Scott Nicholls usually goes well around our Raceway. Following our fantastic win on Monday against Wolverhampton in front of the Sky Sports cameras I’m sure the fans will be in for another great evening’s entertainment.” The action gets underway at the usual Friday start time of 8pm with the parade of riders scheduled for 7.45pm .
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Post by Administrator on Jun 3, 2010 8:38:49 GMT
PRESS RELEASE Wednesday 2nd June 2010 HAMMERS LOOK TO SEE OFF LOCAL RIVALS The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, go into this coming Friday’s Sky Sports Elite League match at the Arena-Essex Raceway against local rivals, the Eastbourne Eagles, fully aware that their opponents are very capable of making things difficult for them on the track. The Eagles include in their side two riders who rode for the Essex based Club in recent seasons. Joonas Kylmakorpi was a member of last season’s Hammers side whereas Ricky Kling left the Hammers prior to the start of last season to ride for the Eagles. However, the Hammers riders will be well aware that it will not only be these two former Hammers riders that could be a threat to them continuing their unbeaten home run in the Elite League. The Eagles No.1 this year is Matej Zagar and many will remember his performances around the Arena-Essex Raceway last season when he rode for the Swindon Robins. In addition their Australian captain, Cameron Woodward, and young Swedish ride, Simon Gustafsson, have both, in the past, put in some impressive performances at the Hammers Raceway. The Eastbourne side also includes Lukas Dryml from the Czech Republic and young Polish rider Dawid Lampart. The Pole has yet to race at the Arena-Essex Raceway having turned up too late to take part in his first programmed ride in the Good Friday meeting between the two clubs that had to be called off due to the weather after just two heats. Dryml has, in the past, made it clear that he doesn’t rate the Hammers track as one of his favourites but last season did put in a couple of good rides. The Hammers are looking to go into this meeting at full strength with reserve, Paul Hurry, hoping to return to the side following the injury he sustained in the home match against Poole resulting in him having to miss the last two home matches, against Wolverhampton and Peterborough. The Hammers Co Promoter and Team Manager, Jon Cook, stated in the build up to this important meeting: “We certainly won’t be taking it for granted that we will achieve another home win this Friday against the Eagles as they have a team that are very capable of pushing us the whole way. "They have riders who have, in the past, performed well around our Raceway and no more so that Joonas (Kylmakorpi) and Ricky (Kling) who have successfully worn the Hammers colour in the past. Although we have seen off Poole, Wolves and Peterborough in our last three home meetings I think that we will be in for a tough match on Friday but I firmly believe that we can continue our good run of home League wins but all of the Hammers team will need to be in the form they have shown recently. "We can’t afford any last places and we must ensure that we get the majority of heat winners. Providing things go to plan Paul (Hurry) should be back for this meeting and we need him to continue where he left off prior to having been the innocent party in a crash in his final ride in the Poole match.” The action gets underway at the Arena-Essex Raceway this Friday, 4th June, at 8pm with the parade of riders scheduled for 7.45pm. The weather forecast is looking very good and should be a far cry from that the fans from both sides witnessed on Good Friday.
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Post by Administrator on Jun 15, 2010 12:21:11 GMT
PRESS RELEASE Tuesday 15th June 2010 ROBBO DOES THE HAMMERS PROUD Lakeside Hammers reserve, Stuart Robson, caused a few eyebrows to be raised last night with his superb performance in the British Final, which took place at Wolverhampton’s Monmore Green track, when, after the 20 qualification heats, he claimed a place in the Semi Final ahead of more fancied British riders. In front of the live Sky Sports cameras Robbo scored nine points, which took him forward into the Semi Final, for the third to sixth placed riders. The top two from that race then joined the two highest scorers in the Grand Final. Unfortunately for the Hammers fans Robbo finished in fourth place in that Semi Final from the unfavourable outside gate so he failed to get through to the Grand Final. That Final was contested by the top two scorers, Grand Prix rider Chris Harris and his Coventry team mate Ben Barker plus the first and second placed riders in the Semi final, who were Ipswich riders Scott Nicholls and Daniel King. Harris went on to retain his British Championship in front of Nicholls who, by virtue of that second place, automatically becomes the ‘Wild Card’ in the British Grand Prix, which takes place at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on Saturday 10th July. The evening did not start well from the Lakeside Hammers rider as he had to lay his bike down on the first bend in his opening race to avoid former Hammers rider Leigh Lanham. The referee did not stop the race so Robson got back on his bike and eventually managed to pick up a point for a third place when Chris Schramm, a local Essex based rider, had machine problems. In his second ride Robson managed to pass another former Hammers rider, Oliver Allen, to claim second place behind Daniel King, who has, in the past, also ridden for the Essex based Club. Heat 10 then saw Robson up against the reigning British Champion, Chris Harris, and the Hammers reserve showed no fear for reputation as he led the Grand Prix rider out of the second bend. However, Harris eventually got past the Hammers rider to claim the win but the two points gained by Robbo moved his score up to five points after three rides. Robson then added another two points to his tally after a superb outside pass of Simon Stead in heat 16 to claim another second place. Stead went into this meeting in confident mood after winning a Grand Prix qualifier at the weekend in Italy in a meeting that also saw the Hammers No.1, Lee Richardson, qualify for the next stage of the process to achieve a place in the 2011 Grand Prix Series. Richardson will be joined in the Semi Final stages of that competition by fellow Hammers riders Jonas Davidsson and Kauko Nieminen who also qualified via their round in Denmark. Robson needed points from his final qualification race to gain a place in the Semi Final and he achieved that with yet another second place behind Edward Kennett in heat 17. He was involved in a great race with Lewis Bridger that ended when Bridger ran out of room on the third/fourth bend of the penultimate lap when attempting to go round the outside of the Hammers rider. Hammers Co Promoter and Team Manager, Jon Cook, was delighted for Robson and commented: "Stuart’s performance in the British Final, where he got to the Semi Final stage, is a further indication of just how important he will be for us in the reserve berth over the second half of the season, which re-starts at our Arena-Essex Raceway on Friday 25th June against Eastbourne in a meeting that will now be a League fixture and not the Cup match, which will now take place later in the year." Robson’s last place in the Semi Final should not detract from what was an excellent performance from the Hammers reserve.
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Post by Administrator on Jun 21, 2010 15:23:59 GMT
PRESS RELEASE Monday 21st June 2010 HAMMERS RETURN TO ACTION
The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, return to action this Friday, 25TH June, with the return of local rivals, the Eastbourne Eagles, in Sky Sports Elite League action. This is the team’s only home meeting during the period of the Football World Cup and the meeting is a must win for the Essex based Club who last raced at the Arena-Essex Raceway on 4th June and during this time of inactivity have seen their seven point lead over third placed Wolverhampton in the League table reduce to just a single point. The Hammers Team Manager Jon Cook commented: "We aren’t concerned about our lack of match fitness as all the boys, with the exception of Paul Hurry, have been racing regularly elsewhere during our break, and Paul needed the extra weeks to recover fully from his hand injury, but I am extremely wary of the fact that Eastbourne were our last visitors on the 4th June and finished the match strongly. It means we will carry little home track advantage into the meeting and will have to be on top form. It could, therefore, be a somewhat unexpected cracker of a match for the fans.” The Hammers go into Friday’s meeting against the Eagles at full strength with three of the team, Jonas Davidsson, Kauko Nieminen and Lee Richardson, all having got through their first qualification rounds for the 2011 Grand Prix Series plus reserve, Stuart Robson, putting in a good performance at the recent British Final where he eventually finished in sixth place ahead of some more fancied competitors. As far as Eastbourne are concerned their Pole, Dawid Lampart, is not expected to be able to take his place in their side as he was injured last Thursday in the Eagles home match against Wolverhampton. A collarbone injury was diagnosed resulting in him having to withdraw from the meeting. The Eagles Australian captain, Cameron Woodward, also withdrew from that meeting following a bad crash but he is expected to be fit enough to return to their side for Friday’s match. The Pole’s place is likely to be taken by the Eagles No.8, Chris Schramm. They will be led by Slovenian International, Matej Zagar and Czech Republic rider Lukas Dryml and joining them with be young Swedish rider, Simon Gustafsson. Completing the Eagles side will be two former Hammers, Ricky Kling and Joonas Kylmakorpi. The latter is currently leading the World Longtrack Championship having won the latest round. The action gets underway at the Arena-Essex Raceway this Friday, 25th June, with the parade of riders at 7.50pm with the opening heat scheduled for 8pm. Normal admission prices will apply although members of the Armed Forces and their families will be given free admission to this meeting on production of valid services ID as part of Speedway’s support of Saturday’s Armed Forces Day.
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Post by Administrator on Jun 23, 2010 10:13:52 GMT
HAMMERS LOOK TO MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME The Lakeside Hammers Speedway team, in proud association with The Royal Navy, have been called in for extra practice ahead of their local derby against the Eastbourne Eagles, which takes place this Friday 25th June at 8pm at the Arena-Essex Raceway, in an effort to make up for lost time on their home track during their break from action due to the Football World Cup. The meeting this Friday is the only time during the football festival when the Hammers race in front of their own fans and with the team battling to stay in second place in the Sky Sports Elite League table no chances are being taken to secure three more League points against a team that finished with a late flourish on their last visit to Essex. Further good news for Speedway starved fans is that the team will now run an extra fixture at their Raceway on Monday 12th June when the Poole Pirates, who are the season favourites for honours, will visit with the Belle Vue Aces now filling the Friday 16th June date the Pirates have vacated. Fans can also see the Hammers in action this coming Monday 28th June when they race live on Sky Sports away at Peterborough . The Hammers Co Promoter and Team Manager Jon Cook commented on the forthcoming fixtures by stating: "We are looking forward to getting back into action and having decided not to race the night before the Cardiff GP after requests from fans who travel the day before or early the next day it’s a real bonus to be able to confirm the Monday date. The Football World Cup was always going to mean a lengthy break for us but within 24 hours of the finish of the Final our season starts again with only one blank week in between now and the end of the summer holidays and that is due to the staging of Speedway’s own World Cup." The new Fixture List showing all of the changes can be viewed by visiting the Hammers website at www.lakesidehammers.comFriday’s match against Eastbourne is part of Speedway’s week supporting Saturday’s Armed Forces Day whereby current serving members of the Armed Forces along with their families can gain free admission to the match on production of current valid services I/D.
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Post by Administrator on Jun 25, 2010 8:56:40 GMT
JONAS DAVIDSSON INJURED
The Lakeside Hammers have confirmed that Jonas Davidsson will be out of racing for a fortnight following a crash in Poland last night. The popular Swede was hit by a stray machine and taken immediately to hospital with head and facial injuries. He is flying back to Sweden today to seek further medical treatment. Hammers Team Manager Jon Cook commented on hearing the news from Poland: "It's a blow to lose JD for tonight’s home League match against Eastbourne plus at Peterborough on Monday as he has been our form rider of late and Rider Replacement will not be a worthy cover for him but I am sure that the rest of the team will step up to the challenge. He should be fit to return in time for our meeting on the 12th July." The action against the Eastbourne Eagles gets underway at the Arena-Essex Raceway tonight with the parade of riders at 7.50pm with the opening heat scheduled for 8pm. Normal admission prices will apply although members of the Armed Forces and their families will be given free admission to this meeting on production of valid services ID as part of Speedway’s support of tomorrow’s Armed Forces Day.
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Post by Administrator on Jul 8, 2010 8:25:39 GMT
PRESS RELEASE Thursday 8th July 2010
INJURY BUG BITES THE HAMMERS AHEAD OF COVENTRY CLASH The Lakeside Hammers have been hit by another injury blow ahead of tonight’s meeting at Coventry with their No.1, Lee Richardson, ruled out with a knee injury sustained in Sweden on Tuesday evening. The England International aggravated his longstanding knee problem early in the meeting and has flown out to see a specialist in Poland to have a new brace fitted in the hope of returning to action quickly. The injury completes a miserable week for Richardson who failed to qualify for the Grand Prix Challenge Final last weekend and struggled with the injury to score just seven points from five rides in Sweden on Tuesday. The Hammers will need to change their line up for this evening’s match at Coventry as they are already without broken cheekbone victim Jonas Davidsson, who hopes to return to action in Sweden next Tuesday, and will now include former Coventry rider Rory Schlein as a guest. The Hammers Team Manager, Jon Cook, commented on this latest injury problem by stating: "It’s a blow to now be without Lee as well as JD but in both cases we expect the riders to return to action for our next home meeting, which takes place at our Raceway on Friday 16th July against Belle Vue. "The only saving grace for this whole situation is that we have had so few home meetings during this injury spell. Our list of injured riders also included Daniel Davidsson but he has, happily, declared himself fit to race tonight." The Hammers line up at Coventry is now expected to be: 1. Rider Replacement for Lee Richardson, 2. Kauko Nieminen, 3. Daniel Davidsson, 4. Rory Schlein, (guest for Jonas Davidsson) 5. Adam Shields, 6. Paul Hurry, 7. Stuart Robson.
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Post by Administrator on Jul 13, 2010 7:57:08 GMT
LAKESIDE HAMMERS SPEEDWAY PRESS RELEASE Tuesday 13th July 2010
SPEEDWAY LEGEND HITS THE HAMMERS Four times World Champion and true Speedway legend, Barry Briggs, will be guest of honour at the Lakeside Hammers next home meeting, which takes place at the Arena-Essex Raceway on Friday July 16th. Appearing as part of his round Britain charity motorcycle ride on behalf of Sport Relief, the ever popular New Zealander will be presented with a cheque donated by each of the seven Hammers riders. Briggo's ride was initially due to end last Saturday at the British Grand Prix in Cardiff, but the riders' generosity gave him the desire to alter his plans and schedule an extra date just to take in the Hammers home meeting against the Belle Vue Aces. Awarded the MBE, Briggo's presence will be highly evocative for many attending the meeting. "Barry Briggs is a household name, and probably one of the most famous in the history of Speedway," said Hammers owner, Stuart Douglas. "Most will remember him not just as a phenomenal World Champion, but also closer to home for his career as a Wimbledon Don, and I know many of those fans come to watch the Hammers these days. It will be an honour for us to pay tribute to him, and a real treat for the fans - old and young alike". The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, continue the battle at the sharp end of the Sky Sports Elite League against fellow play off contenders, the Belle Vue Aces, who are probably the most famous Speedway Club in the World on Friday 16th July, start time 8.00pm. To help celebrate the appearance of Barry Briggs the match against the Aces will be sponsored by local Yamaha dealer, Grays Motorcycle Centre. They will have a display of machines at the Raceway that will include a rare appearance of the 2010 XT1200Z Yamaha Super Tenere. The ’Super Ten’ will lead the parade of riders alongside Briggo on his Yamaha WR250R at 7.45pm.
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Post by Administrator on Jul 13, 2010 16:08:24 GMT
LEE RICHARDSON HAS BEEN TAKEN ILL The Hammers No.1, Lee Richardson, was taken ill prior to leaving for a Swedish meeting today. In addition to missing this Swedish meeting he will also miss Wednesday's match for the Hammers away at League leaders, the Poole Pirates. The Hammers promotion have acted quickly in booking in British Grand Prix rider Chris Harris to guest for them at No.1 at Poole . In addition Joonas Kylmakorpi has been put on standby to guest on Friday in case Lee Richardson is unable to take his place in the Hammers line-up for their home League match against the Belle Vue Aces.
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Post by Administrator on Jul 21, 2010 9:26:50 GMT
LAKESIDE HAMMERS SPEEDWAYRESS RELEASE
Wednesday 21st July 2010
HAMMERS TAKE ON THE BEES
The Lakeside Hammers, in proud association with The Royal Navy, take on the Coventry Bees this evening (Wednesday 21st July) in an important Sky Sports Elite League match at their Arena-Essex Raceway.
The Essex based Club are in the middle of a busy week of track action having travelled to Manchester on Monday to face the Belle Vue Aces and then tomorrow, Thursday 22nd July, they move down to the South Coast where they meet the Eastbourne Eagles at the Arlington Stadium.
This evening’s match against the Bees is one that the Hammers riders are determined to win as they need to consolidate on their third place in the League table and despite their opponents currently being down in eighth place in table the Bees side does have riders who have performed well around the Arena-Essex Raceway in the past.
Top of the Coventry averages and, therefore, riding at No.1 is a rider who is well known to the Hammers supporters as Krzysztof Kasprzak started the season in the Hammers colours. He subsequently moved on to Coventry when he was replaced in the Hammers line-up by Lee Richardson. In a powerful top two Kasprzak is joined by British Grand Prix rider Chris Harris who recently guested for the Hammers at Poole and scored a 15 point maximum.
Completing the Bees top five are three young British riders, Ben Barker, Lewis Bridger and Edward Kennett. All three have scored well around at the Essex track in the past. At reserve Coventry will be using another young British rider, Josh Auty, who has ridden the Raceway well when competing in past British U-21 Finals. Joining Auty at reserve will be a young Polish rider, Przemyslaw Pawlicki, who will be visiting the track for the first time.
The Lakeside Hammers riders will all need to perform to the best of their abilities if they are to see off the challenge of Coventry and take all three of the important League points available from tonight’s match. The Hammers go into the meeting at full strength and the fans are likely to witness an extremely competitive encounter.
The action gets underway at the usual start time of 8pm and the weather forecast this evening is for it to remain hot. A large crowd is expected to attend this meeting if past encounters between these two sides is anything to go by.
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Post by Administrator on Aug 5, 2010 16:57:20 GMT
Tuesday 27th July 2010
HAMMERS PREPARE FOR A BUSY AUGUST The Lakeside Hammers, in association with The Royal Navy, are preparing for a busy month in August following a quiet couple of months that saw the Essex based Club have only a total of four home meetings at the Arena-Essex Raceway during the months of June and July. This inactivity was caused by the Football World Cup, International Speedway events and, this present week, the Speedway World Cup. During August the Hammers will be staging a total of five home League meetings plus they also have four away matches during the month. These regular race nights coincide with the school summer holidays and the Hammers Management will, once again, be introducing the ‘Kids for a Quid’ scheme for the Friday August meetings. This will allow children between the ages of 6 and 16 entry to the Arena-Essex Raceway to watch top flight Speedway for just £1. As usual children under this age will be admitted free provided they are accompanied by an adult. In addition all children up to the age of 16 will be admitted free to the meeting on Monday 2nd August, which is against the current League leaders, the Poole Pirates. This Monday meeting will start at 7.30pm with the Friday meetings having 8pm starts, except the match against Wolverhampton on 27th August which will have an 8.30pm start time. The August Friday meetings will also have added attractions for the fans: - On 6th August the Speedway Museum Roadshow will be in attendance, on 13th August there will be a 6 heat veterans match starting at 6.45pm with two teams of four riders in race jackets depicting former clubs Hackney and Romford, then on 20 th August there will be a series of junior races starting at 7pm and finally, on 27th August, riders from Free Style MotoX will be putting on a display on the track at 8pm. The August action gets underway next Monday 2nd at 7.30pm when Poole will be the opponents. They include in their team Chris Holder, the recent winner of the British GP, the Australian World Cup captain Davey Watt, the current World U-21 Champion Darcy Ward and Danish World Cup rider Bjarne Pedersen. The Hammers are currently in third place in the Sky Sports Elite League and they have Team GB World Cup rider Lee Richardson, Swedish World Cup rider Jonas Davidsson and Finnish World Cup rider Kauko Nieminen in their side. It is likely to be an extremely competitive match with the Hammers having won the previous encounter between the two sides at the Arena-Essex Raceway in May by 53-40. Later in the same week, on Friday 6th August, the Peterborough Panthers visit the Essex based Club with both teams vying for a top four place in the table at the end of the League campaign and, therefore, progress into the end of season Play Offs.
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Post by Administrator on Aug 5, 2010 16:58:28 GMT
Tuesday 3rd August 2010
HAMMERS TALKS The Lakeside Hammers Management will spend Tuesday surveying the damage of last night’s defeat to Poole, their first home League setback of this season, before deciding on possible changes to the team line-up before Friday’s crucial home meeting with Play Off qualification rivals Peterborough. The Hammers went down by three points in a last heat decider in a thrilling encounter before the cameras of Sky Sports at the Arena-Essex Raceway on Monday evening and must now regroup in order to put their top four hopes back on track. Two controversial decisions from local official Daniel Holt played their part in the home team’s demise but with both Daniel Davidsson and Paul Hurry failing to beat an opponent the team lacked the strength in depth to see off the super strong Pirates despite some inspired riding from reserve Stuart Robson who is fast proving to the TV Speedway viewer that you don't have to be a GP superstar to provide great entertainment. After the meeting Hammers Co Promoter Jon Cook stated: "I think in simple terms the meeting itself was probably lost when Neil Middleditch, the Pirates Team Manager, won the toss in Heat 15 for gate positions but before that we had ample opportunity to win the match and having started slowly we showed real heart to get ourselves back into the meeting. I didn't agree with Mr Holt's decisions, you would expect that of course, although I have to say I wish referees at TV matches would go with their first instinct as it’s normally right, and the moment you see replay after replay on the screen you know he is questioning his own mind and you end up with a controversial outcome. Certainly Robbo should have stayed in Heat 2 and all four back would have been a fair conclusion to Heat 7. That said this defeat has been coming for a while now and although Robbo's form shows you do get results for staying loyal and backing your riders it’s pretty obvious we now have to look at Daniel and Paul's positions." He continued: "Changes this year have to be made on a like for like on average basis if your team is over the 40.95 average so it’s not an easy process as other teams have already found out. That said, we have identified targets that we think will not just do a job for us this year but may prove to be additions for the long term. We are working to make those changes in time for Friday and we would hope to have at least one new rider in the line up by then. The team as it is got us where we are now in contention for the Play Offs and we have all seven current riders to thank for that. It’s a huge shame we have to change now but we warned several of the team we needed improved performances after our defeat at Coventry in early July and they have had enough meetings to respond, and to be fair both Kauko (Nieminen) and Robbo did just that." The Hammers face Peterborough this Friday, 6th August, at the Arena-Essex Raceway. The start time is the usual Friday time of 8pm. The ‘Kids for a Quid’ scheme will be in operation whereby children between the ages of 6 and 16 inclusive will pay just £1 to watch top quality Speedway.
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Post by Administrator on Aug 5, 2010 16:59:25 GMT
Tuesday 3rd August 2010
HAMMERS WELCOME LJUNG AS PLAY OFF RACE HEATS UP The Lakeside Hammers will welcome 27 year old Swedish International Peter Ljung into their team in time for Friday’s home meeting with Peterborough. In fact it is hoped that he will arrive in this Country in time to make his debut for the Hammers in their away match at Ipswich on Thursday. Ljung will replace his fellow countryman Daniel Davidsson who has failed to recover from a mid season drop in form after a stunning start to the year. Ljung has had brief spells in the UK with both Swindon and Eastbourne and joins the club initially on loan from the Wiltshire Club. On this change the Hammers Co Promoter Jon Cook states: "Daniel was a breath of fresh air at the start of the season and it’s sad to have to let him go as his early performances played a huge part in getting us into the Play Off chase but since his crash here against Eastbourne he has lost his confidence to the point where we could not go on any longer hoping his form would return. It’s a blow that the team that had started to gel so well up until our break in fixtures now needs to change but team owner Stuart Douglas and I feel we have given the riders longer than many of our adversaries would have and not withstanding the problems of building to the 40.95 limit it’s likely that we will be changing the team further, perhaps in time for Friday, if contracts and BSPA clearances allow." On Ljung Cook commented: "Peter is a determined character who by his own admission has not given UK Speedway a proper go but he feels now is the time and he will give us added bite particularly away from home although I am sure it won't take long for him to get to grips with the Raceway. Lee (Richardson) and Adam (Shields) are both fans of Peter's style of racing and fans that have seen him in previous year’s Speedway World Cups will know that on his day he can beat the best. He joins us at an age when he still has many years of UK racing ahead of him and we will talk to Swindon about making the move permanent should the rest of the season prove a success." The Hammers will change their team order to accommodate their new Swede with Kauko Nieminen moving to resume his previously successful partnership with Jonas Davidsson at No.3 and Ljung partnering Lee Richardson at No.2.
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Post by Administrator on Aug 5, 2010 17:00:23 GMT
PRESS RELEASE Wednesday 4th August 2010
LJUNG CAN’T WAIT FOR HAMMERS DEBUT New Lakeside Hammers signing Peter Ljung warmed up for his Hammers home debut on Friday by scoring 11 points for his Swedish Elite League team Vastervik on Tuesday evening. This tally included inflicting defeats on Team GB star Scott Nicholls, Polish World Cup winner Adrian Miedzinski and Hammers skipper Adam Shields. He then revealed that he can't wait for his Hammers debut and to make up for lost time in his UK career. Ljung was due to leave Sweden first thing this morning (Wednesday) to bring his racing equipment to the UK and he is going to practice at the Arena-Essex Raceway, the home of the Lakeside Hammers, on Thursday afternoon ahead of making his debut for the Essex based Club that night in an important Sky Sports Elite League match at Ipswich. The 27 year old Swede, who joins the club on an 4.92 average, stated prior to leaving his homeland: "I am really excited about joining the Hammers as Lee Richardson has told me so many good things about the set up there and the fans. It’s good to have a chance to practice too and I hope it won't take me too long to get dialled into my new home circuit. I think now is the time to start a proper career in British Speedway and I hope the Hammers will prove to be my team in the seasons ahead". Following Thursday’s match up at Ipswich the Hammers then face fellow Elite League Play Off hopefuls Peterborough on Friday evening at 8pm at the Arena-Essex Raceway.
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Post by Administrator on Aug 7, 2010 9:00:56 GMT
LAKESIDE HAMMERS SPEEDWAY PRESS RELEASE Saturday 7th August 2010
HAMMERS HORROR WEEK ENDS WITH POSTPONEMENT
The Lakeside Hammers week ended much as it began with more disappointment as their meeting against Peterborough was postponed due to almost unprecedented traffic problems in the area around their Arena Essex-Raceway home caused by a lorry fire and subsequent closure of the Dartford Bridge meaning in addition to the problems on the local roads there were tailbacks stretching over 25 miles past the M11 junction from which most of the Panthers team and almost all of their fans would have been travelling to the crucial Play Off contenders meeting. The Kent based Hammers fans would have been subject to similar difficulties with long delays their side of the Thames. The postponement followed a first home League defeat of the season on Monday for the Hammers to the current leaders, the Poole Pirates, which was overshadowed by a series of highly contentious decisions by meeting referee Daniel Holt. That was followed by a collapse at Ipswich on Thursday whereby the Hammers, although again subject to Mr Holt's officiating, only had themselves to blame for letting a 12 point lead slip into a six point defeat. It was only the good fortune of an extra point on a night and main Play Off rivals Swindon losing at home that offered any crumb of comfort for the Essexclub. Looking back on the week Co Promoter Jon Cook commented: "It’s was a complete stinker of a week really and we need to put it behind us and move on with our meeting against Swindon at the end of next week now our focus. Peter's (Ljung) arrival has buoyed on the team and he showed good pace at Ipswich and but for many regarded as a dubious exclusion in his last ride he would have scored in each of his rides, which is exactly what we need from our second strings. "The only downside for him was the wrist injury he sustained and he is having that checked out over the weekend. We have no intention of letting things slip further and despite our loss of form the riders haven't all retreated into their own pit spaces as frequently happens in that situation. "Instead they are all determined to dig in together and ride the Hammers back into the Play Off picture by right rather than default". Commenting on Fridays postponement Cook explained: "We were already concerned about the forecast for light rain all evening when the call came in from our track man at around 2pm that it was complete gridlock in the area due to the closure of the Dartford Bridge and shortly after that Lee (Richardson) called me to say that he was leaving his Sussex home straight away as he feared he wouldn't make it in time despite his journey, like mine, taking an hour on a good day. "We monitored the situation for an hour and at that time the queue was such that I phoned Peter Oakes at Peterborough and told him he and his team should leave immediately if we stood any chance of getting both teams to the track in time. "During that conversation it became obvious that logistically (with many of our medical and gate staff not having the luxury of being able to leave their work early) we had little option other than to cancel the meeting and, hopefully, in doing so we have saved fans of both teams a lot of stress and wasted time. "In fact I understand that the traffic chaos was still evident around 9pmwell after the scheduled start time so the decision to postpone was the correct one." It is now possible that the rearranged fixture against Peterborough could be a TV fixture on Monday 6th September should the clash be pertinent to deciding Play Off positions.
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