SPEEDWAY: Back-to-back wins put Robins on top (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

In-form Robins thump King's Lynn and Coventry

9:28am Friday 31st August 2012 in Sport

Sky Sports Elite League.

Swindon Robins 51 Coventry Bees 39.

SWINDON moved to the top of the Elite League table with a 51-39 win over Coventry in a bruising battle at the Abbey Stadium on Thursday.

An incident-packed meeting saw several riders suffer falls, but the Robins’ all-round strength enabled them to take maximum points over a Bees side whose scoring was dominated by Chris Harris and Scott Nicholls.

Peter Kildemand blasted back to top form for the Robins, missing out in just one of his five rides, while Rory Schlein proved to be a good stand-in for the sidelined Hans Andersen although his night ended with a fall in Heat 13.

The Robins had to wait until Heat 3 and a 5-1 from Kildemand and Jason Doyle before they took the lead, and they were held close for some time, their lead being cut to just one point in Heat 5.

But the next three races saw the home side take advantages, the highlight being a fine pass by Troy Batchelor on Edward Kennett to win Heat 7 after Kenni Larsen had crashed out for the visitors.

A 5-1 from Dawid Lampart and Simon Stead in Heat 8 put Swindon in control, and although Doyle fell in the next race the lead went above ten points with a 4-2 in Heat 10 as Schlein got the better of Kennett.

The Bees then lost Adam Roynon in a heavy crash in Heat 11 and the re-run saw Batchelor superbly get the better of Harris when the opposing captain was taking a tactical ride.

Maximum points looked safe until both Swindon riders, Schlein and Batchelor, fell in Heat 13 to gift the Bees a 5-0, cutting the gap to eight – but Doyle made things more straightforward by taking a re-started Heat 14 after Lampart had fallen.

It left the Robins needing to share Heat 15 to take all three points from the meeting, but they did more than that as Kildemand and Doyle held a 4-2 on the first lap, which became a 5-1 when Harris subsequently fell.

The result leaves Swindon two points clear of Poole at the top of the table, with both sides having two home and two away fixtures to come before the play-offs – and Robins visit Wimborne Road on September 10.

SWINDON: Peter Kildemand 11+1, Jason Doyle 10+1, Dawid Lampart 9+1, Rory Schlein 8, Troy Batchelor 8, Simon Stead 3+1, Nick Morris 2.

COVENTRY: Chris Harris 13, Scott Nicholls 10+1, Edward Kennett 7, Michal Szczepaniak 5, Adam Roynon 2, Kenni Larsen 1+1, Leigh Lanham 1+1.

Sky Sports Elite League.

King’s Lynn 41 Swindon Robins 52.

SWINDON sent out a massive statement of intent to the rest of the Elite League with a comprehensive 52-41 away win at King’s Lynn the previous night (Wednesday).

Former Lynn man Troy Batchelor stormed to a 15-point maximum on his old home track and there were solid performances down the order as six of the seven Robins won at least one race.

The result does major damage to the home side’s own play-off aspirations, and a measure of Swindon’s dominance was the fact they had 12 of the 15 race wins.

And the margin would have been even more emphatic but for Lynn recording a somewhat fortunate 8-1 in Heat 12 as Maciej Janowski won for double points after Robins’ Peter Kildemand had suffered mechanical trouble.

Robins secured a series of early 4-2s to go six points up, only to see that lead slashed by a 5-1 from Daniel Nermark and Jason Doyle in Heat 7 – but Dawid Lampart and Simon Stead immediately hit back for the visitors in the next race.

Two further 4-2s put the gap up to ten with Nermark crashing out of the meeting in Heat 11, causing both Hans Andersen and Stead to put their bikes down to avoid crashing.

The 8-1 in Heat 12 increased the pressure but the Robins quickly regained control and took advantages in each of the last three races, Batchelor quickly clearing Niels-Kristian Iversen in Heat 13 and Lampart teaming up with Jason Doyle in the penultimate race.

Batchelor completed his maximum in the last to give Swindon four away points.

Boss Alun Rossiter said: “Troy will take the plaudits and rightly so, because he was outstanding, but this was a fantastic all-round performance and it showed exactly what we’re all about.

“’Frank’ Lampart was great, especially as he struggled a bit here last time, and I’m really pleased for Steady, too. We asked him some questions recently and he’s responded, and if he keeps on going like this we’ll be more than happy.

“I also learnt something tonight, and that’s that I have to be more ruthless. I hold my hands up because I should have put Lampart in Heat 12 (for Lasse Bjerre) when they got the 8-1. We thought we’d sorted Kildemand’s bike, but it was a problem with the plug that caused him to stop.

“I was trying to keep everyone happy but at this time of year everyone has to raise their game including myself.

I was ruthless myself in 2010 when I won the league (with Coventry) and it could have cost us a point tonight. I’ll learn from that, but overall it’s a great night for us.”

KING’S LYNN: Maciej Janowski 11+1, Kevin Wolbert 9+2, Niels Kristian Iversen 9, Daniel Nermark 5, Mads Korneliussen 4, Ulrich Ostergaard 2+1, Mateusz Szczepaniak 1+1.

SWINDON: Troy Batchelor 15, Dawid Lampart 9+1, Hans Andersen 8, Simon Stead 6+1, Jason Doyle 6+1, Peter Kildemand 6, Lasse Bjerre 2.