STOKE Easy Rider Potters were thrashed 58-34 by the Birmingham Brummies in the Premier League at Perry Barr last night. 

Easy Rider Potters promoter Dave Tattum said “I can only describe tonight’s performance as woeful because apart from Lee Complin, Lee Smart and to a lesser extent Jason Bunyan we were shocking and not at the races. “I’m bitterly disappointed for the many supporters that made the trip down the M6 as tonight’s performance was very poor and several of the riders need to take a long hard look at themselves. “I don’t know what happened to us out there tonight, whether it was a lack of away meetings or not but I will be looking for a vast improvement in the upcoming fixtures.”

 The Easy Rider Potters fell behind as early as heat one as Manuel Hauzinger took victory from Potters number one Jason Bunyan who managed to overhaul Tomasz Piszcz who went wide at the end of the first lap allowing Bunyan into second place.

 The Potters fell further behind as the Brummies extended their lead with a maximum 5-1 heat advantage in heat two from Richard Sweetman and James Cockle over former Brummies rider Lee Smart and Tom P Madsen who suffered an engine failure at the start to give Birmingham a 9-3.

 Stoke skipper Lee Complin became the first Potter to win a heat in heat three but his partner Klaus Jakobsen trailed in at the back with Ludvig Lindgren and Robert Ksiezak who took the minor placings to keep Birmingham six points up after three races.

 The Brummies extended their lead in heat four as home skipper Jason Lyons and reserve Sweetman stormed to maximum points over Madsen and Phil Morris to open up a ten point lead with the Potters trailing 17-7.

 The Easy Rider Potters struck back in heat six with a 5-1 from former Brummies Morris
and Smart over Birmingham number one Tomasz Piszcz to bring them back to within six points of the Brummies. 

Birmingham extended their lead back up to ten points as Hauzinger and Sweetman gained an impressive 5-1 over Madsen and Jakobsen to lead 29-19 after eight heats.

A further 4-2 heat advantage in heat nine extended the Brummies lead to twelve points as Robert Ksiezak just held off Smart to take victory with Lindgren taking third place.

 Easy Rider Potters boss John Woolridge nominated Lee Complin as a tactical ride in
heat ten but Piszcz managed to get the drive off the second bend to take a comfortable victory over the Potters skipper with Hauzinger taking third place for a drawn four all heat to keep the Potters twelve points behind with Birmingham leading 37-25 after ten races.

 Woolridge appointed his second tactical ride in Bunyan in heat eleven with Smart in as rider replacement while Birmingham introduced Richard Sweetman as a reserve ride. Birmingham extended their lead as Sweetman and Lyons took maximum points over Bunyan and Smart to lead 42-26.

The Brummies extended their lead further in heat twelve as Ksiezak and Cockle teamed up to hold off Jakobsen for a further 5-1 race win for the West Midlands side to secure victory for Birmingham with three heats remaining.

Lyons and Piszcz piled on the misery even further in heat thirteen as they stormed to a comfortable 5-1 heat win over Bunyan and Madsen, the Brummies third in as many heats to lead 52-28.

 The Potters gained a consolation heat fourteen 4-2 race win with Smart taking victory
from Lindgren with Complin gaining third place on the line from Cockle.

 Richard Sweetman completed his first ever maximum in British Speedway as he led
home Complin to take victory in heat fifteen Complin just holding off Birmingham skipper Lyons as the Brummies finished off with a 4-2 to give Birmingham a comfortable 58-34 victory to leap frog the Potters in the league table to go second with Stoke dropping to fourth place after King’s Lynn walloped Rye House 66-27 in the other Premier League fixture of the night to take King’s Lynn third.

 Scorers: Birmingham 58: Richard Sweetman 13+2, Jason Lyons 12+1, Ludvig Lindgren 8, Tomasz Piszcz 7+1, Manuel Hauzinger 7, Robert Ksiezak 6+2, James Cockle 5+1

 Stoke 34: Lee Complin 12, Lee Smart 8+1, Jason Bunyan 6, Tom P Madsen 3+1, Phil Morris 3, Klaus Jakobsen 2+1, Jesper Kristiansen Rider Replacement