COVENTRY captain Chris Harris surged to a paid maximum to lead his side to a 49-41 win over Leicester in their Elite League opener at Brandon.
Harris completed his full house with a trademark blast from the back in Heat 15, finally passing Sebastian Ulamek for a win to give a race result which ensured a bold effort from the Lions would end with no league points.
The Buildbase Bees’ top three were all in top form in front of an excellent Good Friday attendance, and they needed to be in order to compensate for Leicester’s strength at reserve where Josh Auty and Paul Starke piled up 19 (paid 21) between them.
That made for a fascinating, nip-and-tuck contest throughout, with a key turning point coming when Coventry’s James Sarjeant pulled off a crucial win in Heat 12 - and Polish youngster Kacper Woryna secured the match victory with a spectacular effort in Heat 14.
The visitors were sharper from the starts through most of the meeting, and after Jason Garrity had fallen in Heat 1 the Lions looked set to take an early lead only for Krzysztof Kasprzak to steam inside Patrick Hougaard midway through the race.
Auty and Starke collected a 5-1 in the first reserves’ race, but that was immediately cancelled out by Danny King and Harris both making it around Ulamek in a competitive Heat 3 to level the scores.
Woryna unluckily suffered a puncture when clear in Heat 4 which allowed the Lions to go back ahead – and their two-point advantage was doubled when Nicolai Klindt shot from the start in the next as Garrity salvaged second place from Auty.
King’s second win saw him head up a Heat 6 4-2 to the Bees, who finally hit the front in Heat 7 as Harris and Kasprzak rapidly made their way to the front despite the Lions duo of Grzegorz Walasek and Szymon Wozniak both making fast starts.
Auty fended off the threat of Woryna to take victory in Heat 8 with Josh Bates importantly holding Klindt at bay for third, but Garrity was then squeezed out of Heat 9 as Starke combined with Wozniak to put the Lions back ahead.
Still the Bees heat-leaders kept on winning as Harris and King turned the match back in Coventry’s favour with a 5-1 in Heat 10 – but Leicester gave themselves a massive chance when Ulamek shot from the start in the next and defied every effort of Kasprzak to pass, with Walasek’s third place levelling matters at 33-33.
The Lions’ reserves had dominated but Sarjeant vitally conjured a start from the outside in Heat 12 and headed Starke and Auty, the battle for third seeing Bates somehow squeeze around an out-of-shape Auty on lap two only to be re-passed next time around and finally come to grief on the last bend.
Bees were delighted, though, to still be level after that race, and they made no mistake in Heat 13 with Harris and Kasprzak again combining to maximum effect over Ulamek and a slowing Hougaard.
Walasek briefly hit the front in a thrilling Heat 14 only for King to make it around the outside at the end of the first lap - but even more action was supplied by Woryna who dropped to the rear in his attempts to pass Walasek, only to go back after Wozniak and produce a remarkable feat of bike control to pass his fellow countryman on the outside for third place, which ensured the Lions couldn’t prevent a Bees victory.
They could still have taken a league point and looked like doing so when Ulamek hit the front in Heat 15 – but Harris was building speed all the time, and finally surged around his rival coming off the second bend on lap three, and although King was beaten for the first time his third place meant the Lions went home empty-handed.
Bees boss Gary Havelock said: “I’m pleased, it’s nice to get points on the board in the first league match, and I said beforehand that Leicester couldn’t be under-estimated because they have a team of trappers.
“Early on before the dirt moved out it was nip-and-tuck, but what really impressed me was the power of our heat-leaders. It’s comforting to go into important races with guys who are more than capable of getting 5-1s.
“I’d say we’re probably running at about 75 per cent now. Hopefully we can build steadily through the season and then hit our 100 per cent in those semis and the Final!â€
BUILDBASE BEES 49: Chris Harris 13+2, Danny King 12+1, Krzysztof Kasprzak 10+1, Josh Bates 4+1, James Sarjeant 4, Kacper Woryna 4, Jason Garrity 2. LEICESTER 41: Josh Auty 10+2, Paul Starke 9, Sebastian Ulamek 7, Patrick Hougaard 5, Nicolai Klindt 4+1, Grzegorz Walazek 4, Szymon Wozniak 2+1. Elite League points: Coventry 3 Leicester 0
BUILDBASE BEES 49 Krzysztof Kasprzak 3 2* 2 3 = 10+1 Jason Garrity X 2 0 0 = 2 Danny King 3 3 2* 3 1 = 12+1 Kacper Woryna R 1 2 1 = 4 Chris Harris 2* 3 3 2* 3 = 13+2 James Sarjeant 1 0 T 3 = 4 Josh Bates 0 2 1* 1 F = 4+1
LEICESTER 41 Patrick Hougaard 2 2 1 R = 5 Nicolai Klindt 1* 3 0 0 = 4+1 Grzegorz Walasek 0 1 1 2 R = 4 Szymon Wozniak T 0 2* 0 = 2+1 Sebastian Ulamek 1 R 3 1 2 = 7 Josh Auty 2* 3 1 3 1* = 10+2 Paul Starke 3 1 3 2 = 9
