Peterborough Panthers' hopes of a shock Premiership win were punctured by trye issues

Scott Nicholls out in front for Panthers in the meeting against Sheffield. Photo: David Lowndes.

This was due to a succession of tyre issues throughout the contest, affecting riders from both teams.In total, there were nine tyre failures with one losing the inner tube, which then hit the following rider.Rider safety is paramount and the club do not wish to see riders put at risk, and therefore a decision had to be taken on safety grounds to call a halt to racing.There was a sufficient number of tyres at the venue in order to run the meeting; however, with the failures taking place with alarming frequency, it was not safe to run the final five races of the meeting, and there was full agreement over this point.We never like to abandon meetings, especially when the reason is for something other than weather or track conditions, but on this occasion it was the only decision which could be taken.Peterborough Speedway would like to thank supporters for their patience whilst the discussions were ongoing prior to the abandonment.The meeting is declared as a result with ten races having been completed, with Sheffield 32-28 winners, and as a club we will do all we can to help supporters who attended the meeting.Ironically the most spectacular and serious failure affected Benjamin Basso, who was on a 5-1 with Chris Harris in Heat 10 which would have levelled the scores, only for him to hit trouble on the last lap.We are naturally relieved that there were no injuries or crashes as a result of the failures, and a thorough investigation will take place to establish the cause of the problems.We apologise to all supporters present that we were unable to complete the meeting, and will issue a further update as soon as possible.PETERBOROUGH 28: Benjamin Basso 10+1, Scott Nicholls 6+1, Chris Harris 6, Hans Andersen 3+1, Richard Lawson 2, Jack Smith 1, Ulrich Ostergaard r/r.SHEFFIELD 32: Tobiasz Musielak 8, Nicolai Klindt 7, Jack Holder 5+1, Connor Mountain 5+1, Lewis Kerr 5, Kyle Howarth 1+1, Justin Sedgmen 1+1.Abandoned after Heat 10 – Result stands.