A hat-trick of Diamond wins over Panthers
NEWCASTLE Diamonds made it three wins out of three over Peterborough this season last night, writes BARRY WALLACE.
The Panthers completed a miserable northern tour by going down 58-34 at Byker following losses at Edinburgh and Berwick in the previous two nights.
Robert Lambert, fresh from being crowned European under-19 champion the previous day in the Czech Republic, was in superb form.
He recorded a paid maximum from four outings as well as clocking the fastest time of the match in his first race when defeating Chris Harris.
All seven Diamonds had at least one win or paid-win in their scorechart as the injury-ravaged Panthers, who had only three of their regular side able to race and brought in three guests, were no match for the rampant home team.
Harris, veteran of 103 Grands Prix over his long career, was beaten by Steve Worrall and Robert Lambert twice as he tried to find the right mechanical set-up for the tight Byker track.
However, Harris saved his best for the final race of the SGB Championship contest, the winner of which received the Julian Barnett Memorial Trophy being staged for the 50th time.
Worrall, who had won the trophy for the last two years, made an excellent start as usual.
However, Harris quickly ate up the distance and, with an exquisite piece of cornering around the fourth bend on the second lap, sped past the Newcastle star to go on and win and gain some consolation for his hard night’s work.
Skipper Ludvig Lindgren also won much applause and cheering from the fans when, with the penultimate race in his pocket, he deliberately slowed down to let his partner Ben Hopwood take the chequered flag with the Diamonds having long since clinched a comfortable victory. NEWCASTLE (58): Steve Worrall 14, Robert Lambert 11, Stuart Robson 9, Ludvig Lindgren 8, Ashley Morris 7, Ben Hopwood 6, Alfie Bowtell 3. PETERBOROUGH (34): Chris Harris 13, Simon Lambert 8, Paul Starke 6, Jonas B. Andersen 5, Shelby Rutherford 1, Luke Ruddick 1.