COVENTRY’S sensational season continued with a 50-40 away win at Wolverhampton to take them eight points clear at the top of the Elite League table.
It was the Buildbase Bees’ sixth win on the road, along with last week’s draw at Belle Vue, and it was achieved with an extraordinary late surge which saw them overturn a six-point deficit with five races to go.
Bees took four 5-1s in those closing five heats with skipper Chris Harris completing a faultless paid maximum, whilst Hans Andersen recovered from a first-race mechanical failure to be unbeaten from his next four outings.
With Joonas Kylmakorpi also in top form and Monmore specialist Jason Garrity also recovering from his own early problems, Bees dominated the race wins, taking the flag on no fewer than ten occasions - and once they cut out the last places, they were on the road to victory.
The start of the meeting gave little sign of what was to follow as Andersen ground to a halt in Heat 1, James Sarjeant broke the tapes in Heat 2 and with Garrity out of shape on the second bend Bees were immediately 2-10 down.
Harris and Kylmakorpi got them back in contention with 5-1 in Heat 3 but after Danny King took the next race, the home side re-established control with maximum points in Heat 5 as Lewis Blackbird fended off the joint challenge of Garrity and Stuart Robson.
Harris and Andersen served notice of their form by getting the better of Ricky Wells in Heat 6 as Tobiasz Musielak took his second fall of the night, but Bees made no further progress over the next four races and in fact dropped two more points down.
Kylmakorpi took a notable win over home stars Freddie Lindgren and Peter Karlsson in Heat 7, but after Garrity touched the tapes in Heat 8 Bees were relieved when Robson scrambled past Josh Bates to prevent a Wolves 5-1.
Then King was rounded by Blackbird and Jacob Thorssell after an initially promising situation in Heat 9 with Garrity out-front for the first time, and although Andersen won Heat 10 Robson was frustrated by the defensive riding of Musielak in the battle for third.
Suddenly, though, the meeting changed completely as Bees stuck a big blow in Heat 11 with Kylmakorpi again gating and Harris riding a superb first lap to get the better of Lindgren and Thorssell, narrowing the gap to just two points.
Bees scented an opportunity and Sarjeant flew from the inside gate in Heat 12, quickly being joined up front by Garrity as Blackbird’s good night took a turn for the worse with a fall on turn four as he tried to respond.
And then Harris and Andersen completed a memorable hat-trick of 5-1s with more perfect team-riding in Heat 13 to get the better of Karlsson and Lindgren.
King broke the tapes in Heat 14 but Bees had the safety net of Garrity in reserve, and their win on the night was secured when he and Kylmakorpi tucked in behind Ricky Wells, who was arguably Wolves’ best rider on the night.
Bees then needed a 4-2 from Heat 15 to secure four league points, and in the event they got another 5-1 after Thorssell broke the tapes, with Harris and Andersen again doing it in style over Karlsson to the delight of the large travelling support.
Manager Gary Havelock said: “As I’ve said in the past, it’s times like this when you come to a specialist track and you’re eight points down, that team spirit really comes into play.
“To come back from that and hit them the way we did to win by ten was nothing short of sensational.
“Hans was back to form, and for the last four or five meetings I think I’ve used up all of my superlatives on Bomber, because he’s not only riding as well as I’ve ever seen, he’s also the best captain in the league.
“When he’s not racing he’s up and down the pits talking to the lads, and he’s also always looking for his partner when he’s on track. He just wants Coventry to win, and that’s infectious and it spreads through the team.
“I know what winning here means for the fans, and it means just as much to me - it’s sensational, and to be fair to the Wolves riders and promotion they’ve all come over and said ‘good meeting.’â€
WOLVERHAMPTON 40: Ricky Wells 9, Jacob Thorssell 8+1, Lewis Blackbird 6+2, Peter Karlsson 6+1, Josh Bates 6+1, Freddie Lindgren 4+1, Tobiasz Musielak 1+1 COVENTRY 50: Chris Harris 12+3, Hans Andersen 11+1, Joonas Kylmakorpi 10+1, Jason Garrity 9+1, Stuart Robson 3, Danny King 3, James Sarjeant 2+1. Elite League points: Wolverhampton 0 Coventry 4
