Cook felt the Brandon track was too grippy

Lakeside Hammers team manager Jon Cook has blamed the track conditions at Coventry for injuries to three riders.

Chris Harris, Olly Allen and Leigh Lanham all crashed during the Hammers' 51-42 win at Brandon on Monday.

Cook felt a combination of hard riding and an over-grippy surface led to the accidents on Monday evening.

"All things considered, with the track as it was tonight it was quite fortunate that we got away with just that," he told BBC Essex.

Despite heavy crashes, none of the riders were seriously injured and both Harris and Lanham have since been released from hospital.

Cook said he believed recent criticism of the Coventry track may have influenced the club's decision to make late changes to the surface.

I've got a lot of respect for everyone at Coventry and I'm sure that if they think a grippy track is the way for them to get going then that's what they've got to do Jon Cook

"I think a lot was made of our last victory here and the fact that the track was too slick in terms of the expectation from the home team," he explained.

"There is so much at stake nowadays and we saw from the accidents that people are really going for it.

"The crash involving Chris Harris reminded me of the one that Jorge Lorenzo had in the [United States] MotoGP, when he flew through the air and I don't think that's what you really call speedway.

Lanham crashed out of the eighth heat against the Bees

"If you looked at the first three races tonight it was like watching a Conference meeting but if that was Coventry's plan then obviously that backfired."

The former Eastbourne Eagles team manager, whose side currently sit third in the Elite League, conceded that tailoring a track to suit the home side was part of the game.

"I've got a lot of respect for everyone at Coventry and I'm sure that if they think a grippy track is the way for them to get going then that's what they've got to do," he said.

"It's something that I did time and time again at Eastbourne, we always had a grippy track because it favoured us and fazed the opposition.

"But when we were here last time they'd probably forgotten that Adam Shields wasn't here and you can't get a track grippy enough for him, so I think that played well for us."