LEIGH ADAMS stormed to his second successive paid maximum at the Abbey, as the Robins romped to an unexpected 22-point success over Coventry in the first leg of the Elite Shield.
Sunday 23 March 2008
SWINDON ROBINS 57 COVENTRY BUILDBASE BEES 35
Elite Shield, first leg
Swindon won 57-35 and were on the gas throughout, with scoring right down the line. Aside from Adams’ 13+2 points, both Mads Korneliussen (10+1) and a back-in-the-groove Travis McGowan (10) also hit double-figure tallies.
On an evening of high-quality racing, there were good performances, too, from Seb Alden (8+1) and Troy Batchelor (7+1), whilst James Wright (5+1) and Theo Pijper (4+2) also carded useful points in an excellent all-round showing.
Adams cantered to the flag in an evenly split opening race, before Alden and Pijper tore from the gate to record an emphatic 5-1 from the reserves’ heat.
The two sides then traded 4-2s, the first going to the Bees after a brave outside sweep from Billy Janniro on the car park turn had seen him strike the front in brilliant fashion.
A second ‘fiver’ put the Robins 19-11 in heat five, before Adams superbly shielded Wright for four laps to produce another maximum race advantage for the on-fire homesters.
Coventry briefly came back with an exceptional 5-1 of their own in heat seven, as Janniro again stormed around the field on the opening corner, before Harris made a trademark pass next time around to link with his team-mate out front.
The Robins’ response was immediate, though, as Alden and Wright joined forces for a full quota of points from heat eight. This, after Harris had been nominated for a tactical substitute outing, however, such was the pace of the home duo that Bomber was unable to improve on third position, having passed his colleague in mid-race.
Stead appeared to have heat nine in the bag, only for his machine to suffer a major malfunction on the last bend. This allowed both Batchelor and Korneliussen to capitalize, before the unlucky Englishman cruised across the line in third place.
In between two shared races, McGowan and Pijper collected Swindon’s sixth 5-1 of the night in heat eleven. To the delight of many, the Aussie demonstrated much of his idiosyncratic hard-riding, especially in a no-holds-barred entry to the first bend.
Another maximum followed in heat thirteen, as Adams shepherded his compatriot, McGowan, home in typical style, covering all the angles and making sure there was no way through for the opposition.
Janniro took a tactical ride in the penultimate heat, but, in his eagerness to make a fast getaway, he only succeeded in touching the tapes. That earned the American a 15-metre penalty and, although he was unable to catch Korneliussen, he still did well to finish second. The race was a costly one for Pijper, though, as he ground to a halt on the last lap after regrettably seizing an engine.
Another re-start was required for the nominated heat, but it was Adams all-the-way at the second time of asking, with Janniro and Harris sharing the points ahead of the otherwise very impressive Korneliussen.
