Tigers celebrated their 70th birthday by thrashing fellow title challengers Peterborough. It really was one way traffic with the Panthers having no response to a rampant home side.
With Richie Worrall back from injury, both sides were at full strength for what everyone anticipated would be Tigers biggest test of the season, in what was billed as the match of the week by the Speedway Star.
The first running of the opening heat only lasted a lap, after Ulrich Ostergaard ran out of room on the second bend and fell on the back straight, the referee maybe a bit hasty stopping the race with Ostergaard back on his bike as the others entered the second lap! Worse was to follow for the visitors when Tigers took a 5-1(having been on a 4-2 originally), with Michael Palm Toft pushing for the point after falling.
The Panthers had their third faller in heat 2 with Simon Lambert tumbling on the third bend whilst second, the heat awarded as a 5-1.
Worrall easily won heat 3 with Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen just holding off Ben Barker for second.
Aaron Summers took heat 4 after a superb outside pass of Nicklas Porsing on the fourth bend at the same time Tom Perry got inside Danny Ayres, Ayres being unable to respond.
Worrall and Barker easily took maximum points from Ostergaard in heat 5 and Tigers further extended their lead to 16 with a 4-2 in heat 6, with Lambert going from second to last as both Porsing and Fernando Garcia passed him.
Another home 4-2 in heat 7 took Tigers 30-12 up. Peterborough decided to use Palm Toft as the TR in heat 8 but it was Nike Lunna and Ayres who gated. Palm Toft passed Ayres on the inside of the fourth bend, although went periously close to crossing the white line.
Heat 9 saw Porsing make the start but Worrall flew around the outside of him on the second bend to win. Behind him Barker hunted down the Dane for two laps before swooping around the outside on the fourth bend for the 5-1.
Heat 10 was another great race with Richard Lawson winning by a mile while Nike Lunna and Busk Jakobsen had a duel for second, with Lunna’s inside drives eventually taking him into second. With the score 44-18, amazingly Tigers had won the match with 5 heats to spare!!
Ostergaard took the Panthers first heat win in heat 11 after twice shutting the door on Summers but the heat was shared. Heat 12 saw Worrall take his fourth win with Perry passing Ayres to share the points.
Ostergaard denied another maximum hope in heat 13 with a tapes to flag win, with Richard Lawson dropping his only point after a poor start. Porsing pulling out of the race with an injury despite not falling.
Barker took his first heat win in the penultimate race with Perry holding off Garcia’s challenge for second.
Tigers finished the way they started with another easy 5-1 in heat 15 with both Lawson and Barker sandwiching Ostergaard on the first bend to keep the Dane at bay.
Ben Barker had said last week that once Glasgow got Richie Worrall back some team would get a hiding. I dont think even he thought it would be against title chasing Peterborough though!
Despite the scoreline, it was an entertaining afternoon with some great racing.
Tigers were superb from 1-7 with either quick gating or pulling off brilliant passes when it was needed. Richie Worrall taking man of the match on his return with a faultless maximum. Everyone else was paid for at least one win, with Lawson and Barker both just missing out on full houses.
For the visitors, Ostergaard recovered after a poor start to win a couple of races, while quick starting Busk Jakobsen and Porsing both had their moments and Tom Perry did his job at reserve.
It’s still early in the season but Glasgow sent a message to the rest of the league that they mean business!
Glasgow Tigers 62 Peterborough Panthers 30 Premier League 1/5/2016 Glasgow Tigers Richard Lawson 3 3 3 2 3 14 Nike Lunna 2* 1 3 2* 8 + 2 Richie Worrall 3 3 3 3 12 Ben Barker 1 2* 2* 3 2* 10 + 3 Aaron Summers 3 3 2 1* 9 + 1 Fernando Garcia 3 1 1* 1 6 + 1 Danny Ayres 2* 0 1 0 3 + 1 Peterborough Panthers Ulrich Ostergaard Fx 1 3 3 1 8 Michael Palm Toft 1 R 4^ R 5 Nikolaj B Jakobsen 2 2 1 2 0 7 Emil Grondal R R 0 0 Nicklas Porsing 2 2 1 R 5 Simon Lambert Fx 0 0 0 0 Tom Perry 1 1* 0 1* 2 5 + 2 Heat 1 -(re-run) Richard Lawson ; Nike Lunna ; Michael Palm Toft(frmt) ; Ulrich Ostergaard(Fx) ; 58.1 (5-1)(5-1) Heat 2 -(awarded) Fernando Garcia ; Danny Ayres ; Tom Perry ; Simon Lambert(Fx) ; no time (5-1)(10-2) Heat 3 - Richie Worrall ; Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen ; Ben Barker ; Emil Grondal(R) ; 58.1 (4-2)(14-4) Heat 4 - Aaron Summers ; Nicklas Porsing ; Tom Perry ; Danny Ayres ; 57.6 (3-3)(17-7) Heat 5 - Richie Worrall ; Ben Barker ; Ulrich Ostergaard ; Michael Palm Toft(R) ; 57.4 (5-1)(22-8) Heat 6 - Richard Lawson ; Nicklas Porsing ; Nike Lunna ; Simon Lambert ; 57.6 (4-2)(26-10) Heat 7 - Aaron Summers ; Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen ; Fernando Garcia ; Emil Grondal(R) ; 57.9 (4-2)(30-12) Heat 8 - Nike Lunna ; Michael Palm Toft (TR) ; Danny Ayres ; Tom Perry ; 58.3 (4-4)(34-16) Heat 9 - Richie Worrall ; Ben Barker ; Nicklas Porsing ; Simon Lambert ; 57.1 (5-1)(39-17) Heat 10 - Richard Lawson ; Nike Lunna ; Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen ; Emil Grondal ; 57.7 (5-1)(44-18) Heat 11 - Ulrich Ostergaard ; Aaron Summers ; Fernando Garcia ; Michael Palm Toft(R) ; 58.3 (3-3)(47-21) Heat 12 - Richie Worrall ; Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen ; Tom Perry ; Danny Ayres ; 58.3 (3-3)(50-24) Heat 13 - Ulrich Ostergaard ; Richard Lawson ; Aaron Summers ; Nicklas Porsing(R) ; 58.8 (3-3)(53-27) Heat 14 - Ben Barker ; Tom Perry ; Fernando Garcia ; Simon Lambert ; 58.8 (4-2)(57-29) Heat 15 - Richard Lawson ; Ben Barker ; Ulrich Ostergaard ; Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen ; 58.6 (5-1)(62-30)