Lakeside Hammers

Club information
Track address| Arena Essex Raceway
A1306 Arterial Road
Purfleet
Country| England
Founded| 1984
Closed| 2018[1]
Club facts
Colours| Blue red and white
Track size| 252 metres (276 yd)
Track record time| 56.8 seconds
Track record date| 30 May 2008
Track record holder| Andreas Jonsson
Major team honours
| British League Division Two| 1991

|

BL Div Two Four-Team Championship| 1991
BL Div 2 KO Cup| 1991
Elite League KO Cup| 2009

The Lakeside Hammers were a speedway team who most recently raced in the SGB Championship in 2018. They were founded (as the Arena-Essex Hammers) by promoter Wally Mawdsley and stock car promoter Chick Woodroffe. The team were nicknamed the Hammers after the West Ham Hammers, a speedway team that closed twelve years earlier.[2] The team's home track, the Arena Essex Raceway, closed shortly before the end of the 2018 season and the team did not compete in a league in 2019.[3]

## History[edit]

From foundation in 1984 until January 2007, the club was known as the Arena-Essex Hammers but new promoter Stuart Douglas renamed them the 'Lakeside' Hammers at the Arena-Essex Raceway.[4] The Arena Essex Raceway was built in 1978 to stage banger racing.[5] The original Arena-Essex Hammers promotion touted them as the successors to or the reincarnation of the old West Ham Speedway which had closed in the early 1970s - the team took the Hammers nickname, the race colours of white crossed hammers on red and blue halves, and the racenight programmes also carried photos of past West Ham riders from the 1930s through to the early 1970s. There was even a direct link to West Ham speedway within the original Arena-Essex team itself - Alan Sage had ridden for West Ham at the start of his career in 1970–71.

The speedway track was unusual because it did not have a safety fence as the stock car circuit acted as a run-off area. It was not until 1991 that a safety fence was installed, but the lack of fence encouraged the riders to ride wider lines than they would otherwise have done.

The Hammers competed in the National League (the second league tier) from 1984 until 1990.[6] In 1991 Arena Essex won the British League Division Two Championship and were promoted to the British League. They remained in the top flight until the end of the 1995 season, when a promotion change meant the Hammers had to drop to the Conference League for 1996. From 1997 to 2003, Arena Essex competed in the Premier League, before moving up into the Elite League, the top league of British speedway.[7]

The team manager is Jon Cook (previously of the Eastbourne Eagles). The Promoter Stuart Douglas, known affectionately to Hammers fans as 'Stan', took control of the club in 2006.[8]

Hefenbrock and Kennett race for the Hammers in 2007

In 2008, the club had one of its most successful years. The Hammers finished joint top of the Elite League table, but due to race points, were in second place. The Hammers lost three of their top four riders with serious injuries towards the end of the season, but still reached the Craven Shield and Elite League play-off finals.[9]

In 2009, the club won their first piece of silverware since 1991. They defeated the Coventry Bees 108–77 on aggregate in the KO Cup Final.

In 2018 the team opted to move up in to the SGB Championship[10] after competing in the National League for 2017. In September 2018, speedway racing ceased at the track, and the Hammers moved to the Rye House Hoddesdon raceway to complete their fixtures.[11][12]

## Season summary[edit]

Extended content

| Year and league  | Position  | Notes

|
|

1984 National League season | 14th | as Arena Essex Hammers
1985 National League season | 6th |
1986 National League season | 4th |
1987 National League season | 12th |
1988 National League season | 9th |
1989 National League season | 12th |
1990 National League season | 14th |
1991 British League Division Two season | 1st | Champions & Knockout Cup winners
1992 British League season | 11th |
1993 British League season | 4th |
1994 British League season | 8th |
1995 Premier League speedway season | 10th |
1996 Speedway Conference League | 6th |
1997 Premier League speedway season | 7th |
1998 Premier League speedway season | 11th |
1999 Premier League speedway season | 9th |
2000 Premier League speedway season | 13th |
2001 Premier League speedway season | 10h |
2002 Premier League speedway season | 11th |
2003 Premier League speedway season | 7th |
2004 Elite League speedway season | 8th |
2005 Elite League speedway season | 10th |
2006 Elite League speedway season | 11th |
2007 Elite League speedway season | 5th | changed name to Lakeside Hammers
2008 Elite League speedway season | 2nd | PO final
2009 Elite League speedway season | 3rd | Knockout Cup winners
2010 Elite League speedway season | 5th |
2011 Elite League speedway season | 4th |
2012 Elite League speedway season | 4th |
2013 Elite League speedway season | 6th |
2014 Elite League speedway season | 6th |
2015 Elite League speedway season | 8th |
2016 Elite League | 4th |
2017 National League speedway season | 4th |
SGB Championship 2018 | 4th | PO final

## Riders previous seasons[edit]

Extended content

2018 team

*   * Nick Morris
*   * Richard Lawson
*   * Adam Ellis
*   * Kyle Newman
*   * Ben Morley
*   * Zach Wajtknecht
*   * Alfie Bowtell

2017 team

*   * Zach Wajtknecht
*   * Paul Hurry
*   * Ben Morley
*   * Alfie Bowtell
*   * Connor Locke
*   * Nick Laurence
*   * Jamie Couzins

Also rode:

*   * David Mason
*   * George Hunter

2016 team

*   * Andreas Jonsson
*   * Lewis Bridger
*   * Kim Nilsson
*   * Richard Lawson
*   * Edward Kennett
*   * Piotr Swiderski
*   * Lewis Kerr
*   * Robert Mear
*   * Dennis Jonsson

2015 team

*   * Andreas Jonsson
*   * Mikkel Bech Jensen
*   * Richard Lawson (DU)
*   * Kim Nilsson
*   * Edward Kennett (DU)
*   * Steve Boxall (DU)
*   * Adam Ellis (DU)
*   * Ashley Birks (DU)

2014 team

*   * Peter Karlsson
*   * Davey Watt
*   * Lewis Bridger
*   * Mikkel Bech Jensen
*   * Richard Lawson (DU)
*   * Adam Ellis \- Fast Track
*   * Ben Morley \- Fast Track

2013 team

*   * Peter Karlsson
*   * Davey Watt
*   * Sebastian Ulamek
*   * Piotr Swiderski
*   * Lewis Bridger
*   * Richard Lawson (DU)
*   * Kevin Doolan(DU)

Also rode:

*   * Kim Nilsson
*   * Robert Mear

2012 team

The team finished in 4th place out of 10, qualifying for the play-offs, making it the 4th time in 5 years.

*   * Peter Karlsson 8.61
*   * Davey Watt 8.06
*   * Jonas Davidsson 5.93
*   * Kauko Nieminen(DU) 4.90
*   * Stuart Robson(DU) 5.09
*   * Robert Mear 4.44
*   * Kim Nilsson 5.45
*   * Richie Worrall (DU) 3.00
*   * Justin Sedgmen (DU) 3.69

Also rode:

*   * Lee Richardson 8.20

2011 team

The team finished 4th from 10, making the playoffs; however, they were eliminated by Eastbourne in the semi-finals.

*   * Lee Richardson 8.06
*   * Jonas Davidsson 6.88
*   * Piotr Swiderski 6.23
*   * Peter Ljung 5.60
*   * Kauko Nieminen(DU) 5.07
*   * Stuart Robson(DU) 5.22
*   * Robert Mear 4.83
*   * Kim Nilsson 4.15
*   * Jerran Hart(No 8)

Also rode:

*   * Adam Shields
*   * Tomasz Jedrzejak
*   * Chris Neath(DU)
*   * Kevin Doolan(DU)
*   * Kyle Legualt(DU)
*   * Luboš Tomíček, Jr.(No 8)

2010 team

The 2010 team finished in 5th place from 9 teams, narrowly missing out on the playoffs.

*   * Lee Richardson 8.67
*   * Jonas Davidsson 6.51
*   * Adam Shields 7.39
*   * Kauko Nieminen 5.35
*   * Stuart Robson 4.03
*   * Peter Ljung 5.17
*   * Paul Hurry 3.91
*   * Chris Neath (No 8) 3.49

Also rode:

*   * Krzysztof Kasprzak 8.33
*   * Daniel Davidsson 4.91
*   * Jerran Hart (No 8) –

2009 team

Lakeside finished 3rd out of 9, qualifying for the playoffs, but lost to Wolverhampton in the playoff semi-finals. The team became K.O Cup Champions by defeating Coventry.

*   * Lee Richardson 8.56
*   * Jonas Davidsson 7.97
*   * Joonas Kylmäkorpi 6.02
*   * Kauko Nieminen 5.63
*   * Stuart Robson 4.17
*   * Phil Morris(DU) 3.56
*   * Chris Mills(DU) 2.29
*   * Robert Mear (No 8) 3.23
*   * Adam Shields 7.79

Also rode:

*   * Piotr Swiderski 7.82

(DU) Riders doubling-up between Premier and Elite League

2008 team

The team finished joint top on points with Poole, but lost the playoff final to an aggregate score of 108 – 75 to the Pirates. They also reached the Final of the Craven Shield, losing to Coventry.

*   * Andreas Jonsson 9.66
*   * Adam Shields 8.10
*   * Tomasz Jedrzejak 6.40
*   * Jonas Davidsson 6.75
*   * Leigh Lanham 5.10
*   * Ricky Kling 4.90
*   * Krzysztof Jablonski –
*   * Kauko Nieminen (No.8) 6.56

Also Rode:

*   * Joonas Kylmäkorpi 5.96
*   * Chris Mills (as No.8) –
*   * Luboš Tomíček, Jr. 4.48
*   * Tomasz Piszcz 2.00

2007 team

The revamped Lakeside Hammers finished 5th from 10 teams (after the closure of Oxford).

*   * Andreas Jonsson 8.00
*   * Joonas Kylmäkorpi 6.12
*   * Krzysztof Kasprzak 8.68
*   * Adam Shields 7.40
*   * Leigh Lanham 5.05
*   * Luboš Tomíček, Jr. 3.37
*   * Ricky Kling 3.49
*   * Andreas Messing 3.11
*   * Chris Mills (No.8) 2.86

Also Rode

*   * Christian Hefenbrock 4.05
*   * Paul Hurry 4.00
*   * Henning Bager 4.07
*   * Chris Neath –

2006 team

Arena Essex finished 11th out of 11, placing them bottom of the Elite League for a second consecutive season.

*   * Henning Bager 5.20
*   * Paul Hurry 5.35
*   * Joonas Kylmäkorpi 7.56
*   * Leigh Lanham 5.92
*   * Mikael Max 6.33
*   * Andreas Messing 2.88
*   * Steve Johnston 5.59

Also Rode

*   * Andreas Jonsson 7.56
*   * Mariusz Puszakowski 3.26
*   * Łukasz Romanek 1.40
*   * Shaun Tacey (No.8) 3.25
*   * Brent Werner (No.8) 3.75

2005 team

The 2005 side finished bottom of the Elite League.

*   * Mark Loram 7.75
*   * Adam Skornicki 5.96
*   * Gary Havelock 5.60
*   * Leigh Lanham 5.39
*   * Paul Hurry 4.76
*   * Sergei Darkin 5.12
*   * Roman Povazhny 5.08
*   * Phil Morris (No.8) 4.02

Also Rode

*   * Tony Rickardsson 9.83
*   * Josh Larsen 4.00
*   * Piotr Świst 3.67

2004 team

Although the team finished 8th from 10 in their first season in the Elite League, they were 14 points above 9th place.

*   * Mark Loram 9.66
*   * Roman Povazhny 5.71
*   * Dean Barker 5.67
*   * Grzegorz Walasek 5.02
*   * Paul Hurry 5.13
*   * Leigh Lanham 5.21
*   * Josh Larsen 5.10
*   * Ray Morton (No.8) –

Also Rode

*   * Ronni Pedersen 3.70
*   * Kelvin Tatum 5.75

2003 team

The team finished 7th out of 18 teams. It would be their last at Premier League level.

*   * Joonas Kylmakorpi 9.06
*   * Leigh Lanham 9.38
*   * Kelvin Tatum 7.85
*   * Henning Bager 5.68
*   * Jason King 3.96
*   * Danny King 2.82
*   * Lee Herne 4.76

Also Rode

*   * David Ruud 7.41
*   * Andy Galvin 3.15

1998 team

The team finished 11th out of 13 teams.

*   * Troy Pratt
*   * Matt Read
*   * Jan Pedersen 8.71
*   * Colin White
*   * Leigh Lanham
*   * Paul Lyde-Uings
*   * Nathan Morton

## References[edit]

1. ^ "DOUGLAS TO STEP ASIDE - British Speedway Official Website". speedwaygb.co.uk. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
2. ^ Bamford, R & Jarvis J.(2001). Homes of British Speedway. ISBN 0-7524-2210-3
3. ^ "Arena-Essex Lakeside Speedway". Defunct Speedway. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
4. ^ "Changing Fortunes". BBC. 30 October 2007. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
5. ^ "The Hammers". Lakeside Hammers.com. Archived from the original on 20 February 2007. Retrieved 27 October 2007.
6. ^ "British League Tables - British League Era (1965-1990)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
7. ^ "BRITISH LEAGUE TABLES - MODERN ERA (1991-PRESENT)". Official British Speedway website. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
8. ^ "New owner for Arena Essex". BBC. 4 December 2006. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
9. ^ "Year by Year". Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
10. ^ Ranson, Jacob. "Lakeside Hammers join the Championship".
11. ^ "RACEWAY FAREWELL - British Speedway Official Website". www.speedwaygb.co.uk.
12. ^ "EMOTIONAL NIGHT AT ARENA - British Speedway Official Website". www.speedwaygb.co.uk.

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