The joy of seeing Claus Vissing top the Peterborough scorechart with 16 intelligently-earned points (a haul that included no fewer than five heat victories) was tempered by a desperately poor display from his reserve pal Henrik Moller.
While Vissing was proving he will have no trouble cutting the mustard in the Elite League, Moller's showing will already have caused much brow-scratching among the Panthers management.
If you were at the meeting, let us know what you thought of the new-look Panthers.
Were you impressed with Vissing? What about Henrik Moller? Comment below or email mark.plummer@peterboroughtoday.co.ukMoller's winter arrival was the subject of much criticism and those that doubted his ability were quite right on this evidence as he failed to impress against Premier League opposition.
Moller managed just 3+1 from Showground outings and all those points were gifted. In fact he was eclipsed by the two young Danes in the visiting team – Jan Graversen and Casper Wortmann – as well as failing to beat Panthers' own number eight James Cockle and his Mildenhall reserve pal Mark Baseby (a rider who has done all his racing in the Conference League).
Panthers team manager Trevor Swales said: "Claus was very, very impressive indeed. He managed a lot of points and he got them by riding exceedingly well.
"He looked in total control and that is a big thing for a young rider. Of course it is early days, but Claus is a smashing lad who I certainly believe can have a big future in the sport.
"Henrik on the other hand was disappointing but he did have machine problems. He couldn't get either of his bikes going well but he will certainly have to up his game.
"I am not a believer in making excuses for people but let's be patient and give the lad a chance."
The real sour point for Panthers was the withdrawal of battered and bruised Morten Risager after a nasty heat nine smash down the back straight.
Risager bore the brunt of a big crash caused by Mildenhall skipper (and brief Panther) Robbie Kessler who lifted violently leaving the second bend and slammed into the fence.
Risager was sent cartwheeling down the track after being clouted and both men immediately pulled out of the remainder of the contest.
The rain eased just in time for the meeting to go ahead with Swales admitting there were big concerns earlier in the day.
The combination of grotty weather and the ridiculously steep full price admission explains a relatively low crowd.
Those that did turn out saw some decent speedway in races run at almost pedestrian times in tricky conditions – even Panthers captain Hans Andersen was completing his outings around seven seconds slower than his 59.1 second track record.
SCORESPanthersHans Andersen 8+1 (3, 2*, 3)
Sam Simota 8+1 (1, 3, 1, 2*, 1)
Kenneth Bjerre 9 (3, 3, 3)
Morten Risager 4+2 (2*, 2*, withdrew)
Danny King 11+1 (2*, ef, 3, 3, 3)
Henrik Moller 3+1 (0, 1, 2*, 0, 0, 0, ret, 0)
Claus Vissing 16 (3, 3, 3, 3, 1, 3)
MildenhallKaj Laukkanen 7+1 (0, 1, 2, 2, 2*)
Jamie Smith (guest) 6+1 (2, 0, 2, 2* t/r)
Jan Graversen 8+1 (1, 3, 0, 1*, 3)
Casper Wortmann 5+1 (0, 2*, 1, 2)
Robbie Kessler 1 (1, ret, fx, withdrew)
Mark Baseby 3+1 (1*, 0, fx, 2, 0)
James Cockle 4+1 (2, 1, 0, 1*)
HEATS1 - ANDERSEN (66.2), Smith, Simota, Laukkanen. 4-2, 4-2.
2 - VISSING (65.7), Cockle, Baseby, Moller. 3-3, 7-5.
3 - BJERRE (65.9), Risager, Graversen, Wortmann. 5-1, 12-6.
4 - VISSING (65.7), King, Kessler, Baseby. 5-1, 17-7.
5 - BJERRE (64.9), Risager, Laukannen, Smith. 5-1, 22-8.
6 - SIMOTA (66.3), Andersen, Cockle, Kessler. 5-1, 27-9.
7 - GRAVERSEN (65.2), Wortmann, Moller, King (ret). 1-5, 28-14.
8 - VISSING (66.0), Smith, Simota, Cockle. 4-2, 32-16.
9 - BJERRE (67.5), Moller (Risager withdrawn), Kessler (fx), Baseby (ex). 5-0, 37-16
10 - ANDERSEN (67.4), Simota, Wortmann, Graversen. 5-1, 42-17.
11 - KING (69.0), Laukkanen, Smith (t/r), Moller. 3-4, 45-21.
12 - VISSING (69.3), Baseby, Graversen, Moller. 3-3, 48-24.
13 - KING (67.8), Laukkanen, Vissing, Baseby. 4-2, 52-26.
14 - VISSING (65.5), Wortmann, Cockle, Moller (ret). 3-3, 55-29.
15 - GRAVERSEN (67.4), Laukkanen, Simota, Moller. 1-5, 56-34.
Key: * = paid points, fx = fell and excluded, ret = retired
If you were at the meeting, let us know what you thought of the new-look Panthers.
Were you impressed with Vissing? What about Henrik Moller? Comment below or email
mark.plummer@peterboroughtoday.co.ukThe full article contains 833 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
