Sundstrom Max Helps Rockets Burn Out Stars
Rye House 53 King’s Lynn 40
(Premier League, Sunday July 18th 2010)
A five ride full house from leading light Linus Sundstrom sparked the Silver Ski Rockets to a 53-40 victory over deadly rivals King’s Lynn in a pulsating local derby on Sunday. The score was tight at 29-25 before three unanswered 5-1s – two involving the Swede – ultimately pushed the Hertfordshire side clear for good.
Matches between the two teams at Hoddesdon have built a reputation as dramatic blood and thunder affairs, and this one proved no different with some exciting racing and hard first bends to savour, and a few start line jitters and key refereeing decisions thrown in for good measure.
Sundstrom set the tone for the day with a spellbinding last-to-first victory in Heat 1, with Kozza Smith’s second lap fall handing Rye a quick 4-2 advantage. The teams were level within two races, however, with Stefan Ekberg having to round Casper Wortmann for second spot to prevent a visiting maximum.
Sundstrom’s second victory – backed up by a last bend surge from Kyle Hughes that took the World U-21 competitor past Tomas Topinka and nearly caught Chris Mills on the line – nudged the Rockets back in front at 19-17, but it wasn’t until a controversial moment in Heat 8 that they finally began to pull clear. Kozza Smith was judged guilty of bringing down Robbie Kessler, a decision that visiting team manager Rob Lyon complained bitterly but unsuccessfully about. Hughes won the re-run, with the Rockets gaining a 4-2 to build a 4 point cushion.
That cushion should have doubled just one race later, as Chris Neath and Stefan Ekberg surged to the front, only for the Swede to unexpectedly plough through the safety fence with a 5-1 in sight. That much-sought first maximum advantage finally materialised four laps later, however, when Sundstrom and Hughes blasted home against Casper Wortmann and tapes infringer Joe Haines.
A second 5-1 quickly followed in Heat 12, as Neath drove past both Wortmann and Mills to join Kessler at the front, with a third – this time from Sundstrom and Frampton against the Tactically nominated Kevin Doolan and Topinka in Heat 13 – setting the seal on a Rockets’ win at 47-31. Both Topinka and Lynn team manager Lyon were unhappy about the way the Czech was blocked out on the second bend, but to no avail.
A Lynn 7-2 based around Tactical Rider Haines’ victory in Heat 14 earned the Stars respectability, only for Sundstrom to sign off his unbeaten day with a last lap gallop past Doolan in the finale.
Despite the earlier tenseness, the Rockets ultimately deserved their healthy winning margin as the telling statistic of eleven race wins will confirm. Jordan Frampton came within a final race of matching Sundstrom’s maximum, while both Hughes and Kessler – in his first home match of 2010 – supplied two race wins, and Neath rode undefeated after a slow start.
Rye House scorers:
Linus Sundstrom 14+1 (5 rides, maximum)
Kyle Hughes 8 (4)
Chris Neath 6+2 (4)
Stefan Ekberg 6 (4)
Jordan Frampton 12+1 (5)
Lee Strudwick 0 (3)
Robbie Kessler 7 (5)
King’s Lynn scorers:
Kevin Doolan 10 (5 rides, inc 1 as a TR)
Kozza Smith 1+1 (4)
Casper Wortmann 5 (4)
Joe Haines 10+1 (5 rides, inc 6 as a TR)
Tomas Topinka 4 (4)
Darren Mallett 3+2 (4)
Chris Mills 7+1 (6)
Match points: Rye House 3 King’s Lynn 0
The Things They Said
We caught up with maximum man Linus Sundstrom immediately after the Silver Ski Rockets’ victory over arch-rivals King’s Lynn. A clearly delighted Sundstrom said “There’s always an added tension when we meet King’s Lynn and it showed in the effort of both teams and the quality of the racing. It was really close for a while before we pulled away. In the end, the vital thing was to get all three match points.
“I was really pleased with my own performance; I went from last to first in my opening ride and I won a really tough Heat 15 as well.
“It was good to see Robbie (Kessler) get his two wins in his first home match. It will take a little bit of time for him to settle down around this track, but he is a very good rider and as soon as he gets his equipment sorted he’s going to be a really useful reserve.
“We’ve got four important away matches coming up in the next two weeks. We need to take this result with us to Workington and beyond. The boys are good on confidence at the moment, and we just have to keep that attitude going.
“I’m really looking forward to the U-21 World Cup Final at Rye big time. I think I’ll have a little bit of home track advantage, but all the riders in the Final will be good ones, of course. Poland is the team to beat, and Great Britain has Tai Woffinden and Lewis Bridger to call on, so it’s going to be a very tough meeting.”
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