Glasgow Tigers Track Review 2007
Speedway Star week ending 23rd Feb
(Posted 21/02/08)

After a somewhat surprising, but never the less welcome third place in 2006, consolidation was the name of the game in 2007 - and, to a large degree, that was achieved with qualification for the end-of-season Young Shield.

In truth, the team were not that far away from a place in the top four after recording an Ashfield era best of four away wins but a couple of home defeats, allied to a large number of aggregate points lost, ensured that top eight was to be the final outcome.

Team Manager Stewart Dickson reflected <with> a degree of satisfaction on the season:

"Overall I have to be reasonably pleased with our efforts but I do think we could have gone a little bit further.

We did an awful lot of good things and were not that far away from another couple of away wins which would have made us serious title challengers, but it was not to be and a late season injury to Shane Parker ensured that our season would finish on a bit of a low ebb."

There were changes to be made to the Tigers team for 2007 and the big surprise came in the return of George Stancl after time away with Newcastle. It appeared as though Stancl's Glasgow career was over after he rejected a deal the previous season, but Dickson knew there was a good chance the Czech rider would return at some point.

"Once we had agreed another deal with Shane for the new season, we turned our attention to the second heat leader role and we made contact with George to see what his intentions were," he said.

"I think we were expecting him to say that he would continue on Tyneside but he made it clear he wanted to return to Ashfield and we were delighted to bring him back.

"On his day, George is a class act and he showed that in the manner in which he started the season with some priceless performances, glimpses of the George we came to love when he first signed for us.

"Once George was in we were able to turn our attention to the rest of the team and we had already agreed a place for Trent Leverington, especially after his excellent showing when guesting for Edinburgh in the Scottish Cup. He proved to be a worthy addition to the side again.

"Lee Dicken was also one we wanted to bring back as he has an attitude that we would love to see in all the riders in the side. What Lee lacks in quality, he makes up for in commitment and effort and that goes a long way to making him a very firm favourite amongst our fans.

"David McAllan was a perfect fit into the side too and there was never any doubt he was coming back.. That left us with two spaces to fill and it was all being held up with us not getting permission to speak to Robert Ksiezak. It came to the point where we had to look to purchase his contract so we could call upon his services for the season.

"That left us one space and we quite liked the look of Lee Smethills who, in the past, had scored some very big points around our track. The one thing this team was sure to provide was a strong bottom end and at no time did we feel we would be weak at the bottom, although you can never take anything for granted."

When the season started, a significant moment occurred in the opening fixtures in the Spring Trophy that would have an impact on the whole season.

Dickson explained: "In the away leg, Robert Ksiezak was leading heat 13 when he came a cropper on the fourth turn and ended up being knocked out, which I am pretty certain played a major part in Robert not having as good a season as many were hoping.

"That is not to say that he did not do well, it perhaps meant we only saw occasions when he showed the level he is capable of, but I am sure 2008 will be a massive season for him.

"The return fixture at Ashfield was going very well for us until the penultimate heat when Lee Smethills blew his best engine to smithereens and that also went on to have a long lasting effect on the lad. He is a a great guy and tried his heart out but he definitely puts a lot of pressure on himself to do well. That was playing on his mind, I think, and he suffered accordingly.

"Eventually we had to drop Lee for his own benefit, because he would have been lost to the sport had we not done something about it."

The serious stuff got underway with the Premier Trophy and it proved to be a very successful competition with all meetings won at home e and a couple of away wins also achieved.

Dickson looked back on the competition with a lot of fondness: "We watched early on as Redcar won a couple of away meetings and that meant we were under pressure to get a couple of away wins to keep pace.

"We achieved a spectacular one at Berwick thanks to a stunning 5-1 in the last race, that was a great finish, and then we also managed a win at Newcastle.

"The decider was always going to be who took the aggregate point in the matches against Redcar and we achieved a huge win at home, although injuries again were to prove significant.

"Gary Havelock and the boy Tresarrieu were taken to hospital after horror crashes and that led to a very easy win for us. Although we did not race at all well in the second leg, we had enough to win that vital bonus point and go on to qualify for the semi finals."

That semi was to be against King's Lynn and the Tigers did well enough to give the Stars plenty to think about over the two legs.

"We lost down there by 16 points but we were able to watch an absolute masterclass from Shane Parker that night. He won five out of five from the tapes as well as a second place when coming off the handicap.

"We also saw David win heat 2 and Trent win heat 4 and we watched George put in so much effort for so little reward. It meant we were in with a chance.

"In the return leg we did lead by 12 at one point and they were under pressure but I have to say that if we were to win, then we needed everyone to perform. To be honest, we had a couple of heats where we allowed them back in, that proved to be crucial and it meant our chance had gone for another year."

The League campaign got underway and there were the usual near misses but a few disappointing ones too, especially in a tour away from home that meant a significant change had to be made.

"We went to Somerset, Rye House and Newport and the way our team was designed it meant that our heat leaders had to perform," said Dickson.

"George sadly continued a run of low scores which meant we had to make a significant change. When Craig Watson became available, we made the decision to bring him in at George's expense.

"We appreciate that George is a popular rider but sometimes we have to do things that are right for the team and this was one of them. Craig was always going to be more consistent away from home but he did take a bit longer than we would have liked to get to grips with Ashfield.

"In saying that, we did manage four away wins in the season, at Berwick, Mildenhall, Stoke and Edinburgh, which is a record since we came to the club. However, our biggest problem was that we were not winning enough bonus points and that was always going to make it very difficult for us to make the top four.

"Those away wins all were very special. At Berwick, it was another Shane Parker masterclass with a wonderful maximum, while at Stoke it was a very controversial night with lots happening both on and off the track and although things got heated at times, it was very good for the sport.

"Craig Watson was superb at Mildenhall in our last heat decider but there is no doubt that our first ever league win at Armadale was huge and one that was do very much enjoyed by a huge Glasgow support.

"We definitely got the Monarchs at the right time with Stancl injured but we still had to go out and do the job and we did just that. Edinburgh did everything right by trying to put all the pressure on us but we were able to overcome their reverse psychology and record a very special win."

Injuries were to prove crucial in the latter stages of the league season and sadly some spectacular incidents were witnessed at Ashfield.

"Some of those crashes were horrible," said Dickson. "Firstly we had James Grieves and Shane Parker coming together and that left Shane out for the rest of the season with a knee injury, before we had one of the most dramatic days in Ashfield history with the double header against Birmingham and Stoke.

"In the first meeting, we lost David to a move by Phil Morris which I would hate to think was deliberate, but having had the chance to see it again on DVD, it really does leave me with a very sour taste in my mouth.

"We still looked like gaining a dramatic victory when we were on a 5-1 in the last heat when Robert came off on the last bend and was thrown over the safety fence. The fact that he was able to walk away was a miracle in itself and I can only thank my lucky stars that we were not looking at anything worse than that.

"However, the 'best' was yet to come when Lee Complin, in the second fixture,also went over the safety fence. When you consider the safety fence at that point is about 12 feet high, it shows just how spectacular that one was. Again we were very grateful that there was nothing more serious for Lee than four broken toes. All in all, it was a very depressing way to end the league season."

The KO Cup did not last too long with defeat at the hands of Somerset. There was certainly a controversial moment in the away leg which went against the Tigers and one which had Dickson raging.

"We were using Shane off the handicap in heat 14 and he was about to pass both Somerset riders when Jordan Frampton locked up and turned 90 degrees. Shane, just behind, clipped his wheel and Frampton came off but for some obscure reason the referee blamed Shane and he was excluded.

"It turned a certain 8-1 to us into a 3-3 and gave a huge momentum swing to the home side. The second leg was a poor one for us and we just managed to win the home leg but we were never going to bring back the points necessary, so there was to be no repeat of our excellent semi-final of the previous season."

The Tigers were also well represented in the Super7even events. The Pairs at Somerset saw the Tigers looking to win the meeting for the third season in a row , something they probably should have done.

"We had that one in the bag and threw it away to be honest," said Dickson. "We made the final without really doing anything more than racing as a pairing and we went up against the Isle of Wight.

"Shane was having a great race against Chris Holder while Craig Watson was ahead of Jason Bunyan but, being honest, Shane should have let Holder go and helped Craig to victory but he got caught up in the emotion of it all and eventually a poor line from Craig allowed Bunyan to get by and that was it. Very Disappointing!"

The Fours at Peterborough saw the Tigers fail to qualify for the final despite being well placed in the semis and the PLRC saw Trent Leverington represent the Tigers with in jury ruling out both Parker and Watson. It was certainly a tough ask for the stand-in skipper but the experience will be very useful.

Away from Glasgow's on-track activities, a very sombre moment for the club was the death of former Tiger Kenny Olsson who was killed in a track crash in his native Sweden.

News filtered through as the Tigers were heading south to Somerset and the home fans had the chance to pay tribute to the very likeable racer when they faced Newport at home the following week. It was an eerie night and no-one at Glasgow will forget Olsson.

Rider of the Year: Shane Parker

A few candidates were in the frame for this award but there can be little doubt that Shane Parker is simply a class act and deservedly takes the title for 2007.

Parker managed to up his average, which was quite a feat, and still showed there has been no better rider to grace Ashfield. He even managed to smash his track record by taking 0.3 of a second off the previous mark which he had held for three full seasons.

Not only that but he showed some wonderful track craft away from home to help in those wins. A couple of maximums also assisted his excellent scoring away from Glasgow, including a stunner at Armadale.

Season High

Little doubt where that came, and that was the win at Armadale.

Many a time the Tigers have headed east and expected to come away with a win and a similar situation arose this time round, but this time the job was completed.

Although Parker starred with a superb maximum, his team-mates certainly played their part, David McAllan heading home in heat 8. But perhaps the real star was Robert Ksiezak who had a 5-1 over Kaj Laukkanen and then raced to the vital win in heat 14 to take the Tigers over the finishing line. Long overdue and long celebrated!

Season Low

The sad loss of ex-Tiger Kenny Olsson was about as low as it gets, but on the track the major low came at Somerset in the Pairs final.

The Tigers were looking for a third successive win, only this time away from home, and it looked in the bag after the final against Isle of Wight got underway.

However, the Tigers team riding, that had proved successful up to that point, was overlooked in the heat of the battle and Shane Parker got caught up in a cracking race with Chris Holder which meant that Craig Watson, making his Glasgow debut, was left to battle on his own against Jason Bunyan. He eventually drifted too wide on the fourth bend of the third lap and that ended the Tigers hopes of a treble.