COVENTRY'S Hans Andersen and Chris Harris collected victory in the Elite League Pairs after defeating Swindon's Mads Korneliussen and Leigh Adams in the grand final of the competition.
Under ominous skies Coventry edged past Swindon to collect the 2008 Elite League Pairs Championship on a night of a crackerjack action at the Blunsdon raceway. A bumper crowd converged on the Abbey Stadium and were rewarded with an array of superb speedway that refused to be dampened by a succession of heavy showers.
A top class field revelled in a grippy Swindon track that had been perfectly prepared by the hard working track staff. A short break was called mid way through the meeting to remedy the detrimental effects of persistent rain, thankfully though a combination of dry shale and re-grading allowed proceedings to continue smoothly.
The victorious Coventry duo of Hans Andersen and Chris Harris rode spectacularly in their four qualifying races and deservedly progressed through to the semi final stages of the competition. Andersen was in particularly good touch winning three of his four outings whilst Harris recovered well from a fall in his first outing. On several occasions the British rider utilized the pockets of grip located in Blunsdon’s wider outposts to pass his opponents in typically audacious style.
A shrewd semi final race saw the Bees’ cleverly dispatch of Belle Vue before Harris and Andersen continued their rich vein of form by inflicting defeat on Swindon in a nerve racking grand finale.
The Robins’ pairing of Adams and Korneliussen had comfortably topped the qualifying heats with an emphatic twenty six points. The imperious Adams, fresh from victory in the Scandanavian GP, was in sublime form as he romped to four successive victories. The plucky Korneliussen provided his skipper with fantastic support contributing a hard earned ten points from his qualifying rides.
An uneventful semi final saw the Robins’ ease past Ipswich and therefore secure a route in the final of the competition.
In the final it was the lively Korneliussen who conjured a lightening get away from gate three and hit the front. Meanwhile, Leigh Adams was clamped on the inside line by the Coventry pairing and found himself trailing the chasing pack as they entered the back straight for the first time.
Out front Korneliussen was riding the race of his life to repel the challenge of a hard charging Chris Harris who applied concerted pressure on the Swindon rider. The Dane rode with composure and intelligence to fend off Harris who drew alongside Korneliussen on turn one of lap two but didn’t phase the Robins’ rider..
At the rear, Leigh Adams threw everything at Hans Andersen and it looked as if a third lap back straight cut back might just propel Adams past his rival. But it wasn’t to be, despite all Adams’ efforts Coventry’s second and third place finish secured them overall victory on the night.
Superb individual performances came from Belle Vue’s Jason Crump who attacked the Blunsdon raceway with bundles of speed and tenacity. The efforts of Wolverhampton’s Niel Kristian Iversen were also praiseworthy whilst the Ipswich pairing of Schlein and Swiderski rode extremely well.
