Tomasz is back for Hammers

LAKESIDE Hammers have announced that Polish rider Tomasz Jedrzejak will be returning to the Hammers side to deputise for the injured Joonas Kylmakorpi for the month of May.

Jedrzejak was an extremely popular and effective member of the side in the final months of the 2008 season and, after protracted negotiations due to the riders' racing commitments back in his home Country and on the continent, he will now be free to undertake the Hammers fixtures next month.

He will make his debut next Thursday, 7th May, at Coventry with his home debut 24 hours later in the re-arranged local derby against Eastbourne at the Arena-Essex Raceway.

The Hammers have made this change after Kylmakorpi had a successful visit to his specialist on Monday, with his broken elbow healing well, but still counting him out of action until later in May.

The Hammers Team Manager Jon Cook commented on this news by saying: "We are delighted that Tomasz has been able to answer our cry for help and he is coming over at the earliest date possible, although, of course, I wish it was in time for Friday's big match with Wolves. He was a firm favourite of the fans last season and will fit into the team very well. My thanks also go to his Polish club, Wroclaw, and Chris Morton of Belle Vue for their help in this matter.”

He continued: “We have looked at all options open to us since JK's crash and this was the only one that saw a like for like swap in scoring, or even better of course. As far as Joonas is concerned he rightly wants to wait until he is one hundred percent fit and although that may be within the minimum of 28 days that Tomasz will be in our line up he was totally understanding of the fact that we could not operate with only six riders for much longer, even if it means him missing some of our fixtures, when he is fit."

The Hammers will be resorting to the 'Rider Replacement' facility one more time on Friday for the clash with new title favourites Wolverhampton and will use the experienced Phil Morris as the choice of double up rider.

The Club have also been boosted by Kauko Nieminen's decision to forego practise for the following day's Speedway World Cup round in Latvia, where he captains his country, Finland, in order to be able to race for the Hammers on Friday.

Lakeside Hammers team v Wolves: 1. Adam Shields, 2. Jonas Davidsson, 3. Lee Richardson, 4. Rider Replacement, 5. Kauko Nieminen, 6. Phil Morris, 7. Stuart Robson.