| |  | MARTIN Smolinski roared to his second paid maximum in four Elite League home outings as Birmingham secured their biggest win since rejoining the top flight in 2011.
Smolinski, who also went through the card against Coventry last month, was in unstoppable form throughout and is currently scoring at a rate of almost double his starting average of 5.05!
The Brummies, though, didn't need Smolinski to take extra reserve-rides as they made light work of a disappointing Eagles outfit, with the home team's only last place coming when Chris Harris retired from Heat 1 after missing the start and being filled in early-on.
That was at a stage when conditions looked set to be tricky, as two heavy downpours in the build-up to the meeting left the track staff needing to blade the top-surface in order for racing to go ahead.
They did a fine job and the track dried quickly with conditions improving throughout, so much so that most unusually the fastest time of the night was recorded in Heat 15!
Bjarne Pedersen was clearly out to impress on his Perry Barr return, and his three race wins included two successes over opposite number Harris and also a classy effort against Danny King when going for double points in Heat 5.
But the Dane received an almost total lack of support from his regular team-mates, the Eagles' only other success coming from guest reserve Cameron Heeps with a splendid effort in Heat 6 to go clear of Harris and Jason Doyle and win in a fast time.
The Brummies were rarely threatened in the races where Pedersen was not involved, an early highlight seeing Nico Covatti work his way from fourth to second in Heat 2, whilst Simon Gustafsson twice made good starts in Heats 8 and 9 but was quickly swamped on either side by the home duo.
Smolinski produced the ride the fans were desperate to see by reeling in and squeezing inside Pedersen midway through Heat 11, and he and King quickly took control of Heat 15 with decisive second-bend moves to clear the faster-gating Eastbourne man.
For the Eagles, a night to forget was summed up in Heat 13 when they held a 5-1 for two laps only for Cameron Woodward to slide off whilst contesting second place with Harris, and it will have been a long journey home after such a heavy defeat.
BIRMINGHAM 62
C.Harris R 2 3 2 - - - 7
J.Doyle 2 1* 3 2* - - - 8+2
D.King 3 2 3 3 3 - - 14
J.Auty 2* 1* 1 1 - - - 5+2
B.Barker 3 2* 1 1* - - - 7+2
M.Smolinski 3 3 3 3 2* - - 14+1
N.Covatti 2* 2* 2* 1 - - - 7+3
Team manager: Phil Morris
EASTBOURNE 31
B.Pedersen 3 6^ 2 3 1 - - 15
Rider Replacement "“ Adam Shields
S.Gustafsson 1 1 1 0 0 - - 3
T.Lahti 0 0 1 0 - - - 1
C.Woodward 1 0 2 F - - - 3
D.Gizatullin 1 0 0 0 2 2 R 5
C.Heeps 1 0 3 0 0^ 4
Team manager: Mike Bellerby
Referee: Margaret Vardy
1 Pedersen, Doyle, Gizatullin, Harris (ret), 61.96 (2-4)
2 Smolinski, Covatti, Heeps, Gizatullin, 61.65 (7-5)
3 King, Auty, Gustafsson, Lahti, 61.77 (12-6)
4 Barker, Covatti, Woodward, Heeps, 61.50 (17-7)
5 Pedersen^, King, Auty, Gizatullin, 61.27 (20-13)
6 Heeps, Harris, Doyle, Woodward, 60.50 (23-16)
7 Smolinski, Barker, Gustafsson, Lahti, 60.60 (28-17)
8 Doyle, Covatti, Gustafsson, Heeps, 60.82 (33-18)
9 King, Woodward, Auty, Gizatullin, 60.93 (37-20)
10 Harris, Doyle, Lahti, Gustafsson, 60.87 (42-21)
11 Smolinski, Pedersen, Barker, Heeps^, 61.02 (46-23)
12 King, Gizatullin, Covatti, Gustafsson, 61.27 (50-25)
13 Pedersen, Harris, Barker, Woodward (f), 60.86 (53-28)
14 Smolinski, Gizatullin, Auty, Lahti, 60.84 (57-30)
15 King, Smolinski, Pedersen, Gizatullin (ret), 60.03 (62-31)
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