And yet in the opening heat it looked as if luck was going to conspire against the Tigers again. After making a good gate, the Glasgow pairing of Joe Screen and Theo Pijper quickly opened up an early lead only for Theo to suffer bike problems and retire on the second bend of lap two whilst comfortably clear of the opposition in second place. Joe went on to win the heat easily.

There was an unusual delay at the start of heat two with the visitors Peter Juul having problems with a contact lens.  The referee cancelled the two minutes and allowed more time but Juul still failed to make it to the tapes in time, having to go off 15m. An excellent gate from Michal Rajkowski took him to the front and after a tough opening bend which saw Irving nudge Branford wide, Glasgow’s guest joined the Raj up front. Branford tried hard to hit back and was all over the back of Irving, coming close to getting round the outside on lap 2 bend 4 but Irving was very hard blocking him, taking him right out to the fence.  Branford had to shut off and clipped the fence which more or less ended the Redcar challenge, Glasgow going on to record a comfortable 5-1.

Rajkowski was out again as rider replacement in heat 3 but it was the visitors Gary Havelock who made the gate. However excellent opening bends from James Grieves saw him move the former World Champion wide to come through into the lead.  Havelock failed to navigate the third bend however, sliding off, and although Rajkowski was close behind him he managed to avoid the fallen Bear and came through into second.  Again the Tigers were unchallenged from then on, going on to get another easy 5-1 with Havelock remounting but then retiring at the end of the 3rd lap.

The visitors got their first heat win in four courtesy of Aaron Summers who was to be easily their best rider on the day. The Redcar pair had gated but Lee Complin came up the inside of Juul into second spot on the opening bends.  Complin then pressed Summers, coming very close after an outside drive at the end of lap 2.  A similar move at the end of the third lap was cleverly blocked by Summers who was ready for it and although Complin never gave up, Summers was very aware and held on to win the heat by a bike length.

Medics were called to Matej Kus before heat 5 and he was withdrawn from the meeting with double vision although he had not received any visible knock during his race. When heat 5 got under way, Jason Lyons gated alongside the Tigers pair and on the outside line had the extra grip to take him into the lead out of the opening bends. James Grieves was close however and on lap one bend four came very hard underneath Lyons, moving him out to the fence and taking over at the front.  James quickly pulled clear whilst Lyons was then put under pressure by Rajkowski who very nearly slipped through at the end of lap three. Lyons, however, held firm and Michal had to settle for third.

Joe Screen made another excellent gate in heat six but Branford nudged Pijper wide on the opening bends sending him to the back.  With Joe quickly clear and Aaron Summers comfortably in second, the action was all about third place with Theo chasing down Branford. On lap two, Branford went far too wide on the second bend and Theo slipped through on the inside. Branford tried to hit back, the two of them coming very close at the end of the lap but by the final lap Theo had managed to put a little bit of distance between him and Branford to secure third.

The black and white helmet made its first appearance for the visitors in heat 7 with Gary Havelock going for double points..  Rajkowski made the gate but Havelock went inside Complin out of bend 2 to take over second place. Lee however went wide on bends three and four to sweep impressively round the outside of Havelock to regain second spot.  Complin was flying, if a little erratic in patches, and took over from Rajkowski at the front on the third lap.  The Redcar pairing were well down and appeared to give up all pretence of a chase quite early in the race, giving Glasgow another easy 5-1.

Theo Pijper had bike problems prior to the start of heat 8, switching firstly to Lee Complin's bike then electing to come out on James Grieves bike instead. Tomicek clearly jumped the start, the race being called back with Juul warned to keep still.  However the warning went unheeded and when Tomicek did the same again in the re run he was excluded and was replaced by Branford.  Meantime, in the pits a lot of work had been done on Theo’s bike and he was able to jump back on his own machine for the re run. Branford made the gate when the tapes went up but Theo edged him wide on the opening bends to take over the lead. With Theo quickly pulling clear, the battle was between Branford  Irving and Juul for the minor places with all three in close contention until the third lap when Branford managed to open a bit of a gap on the other two.  Juul tried to go outside Irving lap 3 bend 4 but Irving held and Juul dropped off the pace at the rear. Irving meantime closed on Branford on the final lap and pressed hard but Branford held.

Aaron Summers came out as Redcar’s second tactical ride of the day although it took a while for the pits to communicate it to the referee’s box! Once things were sorted out, the Redcar pairing gated with Summers quickly opening up a good lead.  James Grieves came through into second spot off the opening bends and the race looked as if it was over as a competition.  However Michal Rajkowski had different ideas and never gave up, getting his reward on the final bend when an excellent drive up the inside saw him power past a perhaps slightly sleeping Rob Branford to claim third.

The visitors were clearly deflated by now and a well spread heat 10 was won easily from the gate by Joe Screen, the only thing of note being Theo in second spot ensuring that there was no route through for Gary Havelock on the inside of the opening bends.

Redcar initially tried to send Branford out in place of Tomicek in heat 11 but it was quickly pointed out that Tomicek had to take his third ride.  When the tapes went up, Lyons clipped Complin on the opening bends sending him into the fence and resulting in an all four back call. Tomicek was the rider who made the gate in the re run but he was edged wide by Lee Complin on the opening bends.  Complin took over at the front with Lyons settling into second place.  Tomicek suffered an engine failure on the third bend as Rajkowski passed him and the heat was quickly well spread.

After a level gate, Rob Branford had a major wobble on the opening bends of heat 12 allowing the Glasgow pair to pull clear and head off for another easy 5-1.  Branford kept trying hard but had another dodgy moment on lap two when he hit the inside marker off bend two and did well to recover it.  Perhaps as a consequence, he was to pull up before the end of the race with a puncture.

Joe Screen was on electric form and gated well again in heat 13.  Although Lyons and Summers had also made good gates, Joe edged them wide on the opening bends.  Guest Lee Complin read the move well and made an excellent move up the tight inside line on bend 2 to come through into second.  Summers never gave up for the visitors but it was another comfortable 5-1 for the Tigers with Screen untouchable. Jason Lyons pulled up at the end of the opening lap.

There was a ragged start to heat 14 but the Glasgow pair muscled to the front.  Gary Irving did well to block an inside move from Gray Havelock on the opening bends.  Havelock kept pressing and edged slightly ahead coming out of bend 2 lap 3 before Irving claimed second spot back going down the back straight.  Next lap however Havelock made no mistake coming up the inside of Irving and driving hard across the youngster coming out of bend two.  Irving had to shut off slightly at Havelock took him to the fence and that was enough to give Redcar second place.

There was a little drama at the tapes before heat 15 as Aaron Summers bike caught fire.  Once put out, Summers was offered first Havelock’s bike but elected to come out on Rob Branford's and it looked briefly as if it could suit him as he out gated Joe Screen.  It was short lived however as Joe easily passed inside out of bend 2 and went on to win the race in style.  James Grieves was stuck at the rear and although he came very close to Lyons in third place on a few occasions in the early stages of the race it was to no avail and the meeting ended with a shared heat.

Glasgow fans have been on a low with the injury this weekend to Josh and there were concerns over how a makeshift Glasgow side would fare missing three riders against a Redcar side who have recently hit form and won at Newcastle last week.  When it came down to it however, it was almost like men v boys. With the exception of Aaron Summers who put in an excellent shift and to a lesser extent Rob Branford who never gave up, Redcar looked uninterested. 

Glasgow on the other hand were hungry and had two excellent guests in Lee Complin and Gary Irving, Lee in particular being good value not only on the track but in the pits where he was buzzing around helping wherever possible.  Joe was on exceptional form, Theo rode very well, James put in another good shift and it was very pleasing to see Michal ride his best meeting so far in Tigers colours and looking far more comfortable on track.

Glasgow Tigers Speedway Unofficial Website Glasgow Tigers Speedway Ashfield Stadium Glasgow Tigers Speedway Joe Screen Michal Rajkowski Josh Grajczonek Theo Pijper Christian Henry Nick Morris James Grieves