REPORT:REDCAR v POOLE - SGB Cab Direct Championship

15/05/26

Poole collected their first away win in this season's SGB Cab Direct Championship and secured their first aggregrate bonus all at the same hurdle - their first opportunity. Missing Cooper Rushen and Fraser Bowes the understrength Pirates ran out 51-39 with Will Cairns sensational and Lewis Kerr superb.

The loss of Cooper Rushen on the morning of the meeting, with the youngster still struggling with his grip following his heat fourteen fall at Oxford, and with Fraser Bowes still sidelined, left Poole looking a weakened outfit.

A missed gate from Richard Lawson in the opener allowed Nicolai Klindt to extend his unbeaten run to eleven straight wins at Championship level — seven of those against the Pirates — despite carrying a warning for initially anticipating the start. William Cairns, knowing he was going to be in for a busy night, applied pressure on Jake Mulford but was unable to prevent the Bears from opening with a 5-1.

Cairns learnt a great deal about the track from that outing and was in a class of his own in heat two, which also took two attempts after stand-in reserve Harry Sadler fell at the first turn with his bike trapped by the air barrier. Both Lewis Kerr and Kyle Newman found the quick way out of the least favoured gates, leaving Jason Edwards, shuffled back in the pack, unable to influence the outcome.

A slight error by second-placed Jody Scott was seized upon by Zach Cook, thus preventing the Pirates from conceding another 5-1, and when Lawson and rider replacement Kerr combined for a comfortable maximum heat return over Edwards and Jordan Jenkins, the Pirates edged slenderly ahead at 14-16.

Cairns claimed the scalp of Klindt with a very composed ride, chasing leader Mulford while sticking firmly to his line and denying the Dane any room after he had picked off Cook. Not too many people would have predicted that finishing order.

Kerr maintained his unbeaten evening in heat six, while Newman battled hard in an attempt to convert the victory into a heat advantage, but Jake Allen just managed to second-guess his every move. Sadler was very unlucky not to score his first Championship point as he rode sensibly and led Mulford for the major part of the race, which was once again being dictated by Cairns. Only the most partisan Bears supporters could have begrudged Sadler his moment of glory, but the result nudged the Bears back into the lead.

Cook and Cairns had to settle for a heat nine share of the spoils as Edwards enjoyed his best ride of the evening, although his partner Jenkins was still struggling to trouble the scorers.

Newman rode superbly to hold off Klindt in heat ten and, with Kerr out front, Poole regained the meeting advantage in one fell swoop, moving into a two-point lead of their own and closing in on their minimum target of the aggregate bonus point (29-31... agg 65-85).

Allen banked his second win of the meeting in heat eleven, but Lawson was content to follow home Newman for the heat share that left Poole needing only one more finisher from the remaining four heats to secure the bonus point. So, when Cairns and Kerr fired in a 5-1 in heat twelve, the fat lady was singing the bonus-point song and perhaps even being tempted to learn the words for the overall win.

The gate positions favoured Poole in heat thirteen, with gates two and four having proved the most productive overall, and Lawson and Cook made full use of them before cleverly blocking any challenge from Allen. Trailing by ten points, Redcar’s only hope was that Poole would fail to finish in the two remaining heats. They threw Allen in as a tactical substitute, but even that proved ineffective as Cairns rode superbly — well beyond his years — to take the honours, while Newman was equally worthy of praise for his battling efforts before ultimately having to settle for third place.

Job done, but there remained one final hope that Kerr might complete the meeting with a full maximum. Allen, however, had conflicting ideas, although he still had to work hard to shrug off the persistent challenge of Lawson (39-51... agg 75-105).

REDCAR 39
Nicolai Klindt 3,1,1,0=5 (4)
Jake Mulford 2',3,1,0=6+1 (4)
Jordan Jenkins 0,0,0=0 (3)
Jason Edwards 1,1,3,0=5 (4)
Jake Allen 3,1',3,1,2,3=13+1 (6)
Ace Pijper 2,2,0,0,TS=4 (4)
Jody Scott 1',1,3,1,0=6+1 (5)

Poole 51
Richard Lawson 0,3,1',3,2=9+1 (5)
Rider Replacement
Lewis Kerr 3,2',3,3,2',1'=14+3 (6)
Kyle Newman 2',0,2',2,1=7+2 (5)
Zach Cook 2,0,2,2'=6+1 (4)
William Cairns 1,3,2,2,1',3,3=15+1 (7)
Harry Sadler X0,0,0,RS=0 (3)

Ht 1: N.Klindt, J.Mulford, W.Cairns, R.Lawson 5-1 5-1 [54.2]
Ht 2: W.Cairns, A.Pijper, J.Scott, H.Sadler [exc] 3-3 8-4 [55.1]
Ht 3: L.Kerr, K.Newman, J.Edwards, J.Jenkins 1-5 9-9 [54.6]
Ht 4: J.Allen, Z.Cook, J.Scott, H.Sadler 4-2 13-11 [55]
Ht 5: R.Lawson, L.Kerr, J.Edwards, J.Jenkins 1-5 14-16 [55]
Ht 6: J.Mulford, W.Cairns, N.Klindt, Z.Cook 4-2 18-18 [54.7]
Ht 7: L.Kerr, A.Pijper, J.Allen, K.Newman 3-3 21-21 [55]
Ht 8: J.Scott, W.Cairns, J.Mulford, H.Sadler 4-2 25-23 [55.2]
Ht 9: J.Edwards, Z.Cook, W.Cairns, J.Jenkins 3-3 28-26 [55.1]
Ht 10: L.Kerr, K.Newman, N.Klindt, J.Mulford 1-5 29-31 [53.9]
Ht 11: J.Allen, K.Newman, R.Lawson, A.Pijper 3-3 32-34 [55.2]
Ht 12: W.Cairns, L.Kerr, J.Scott, A.Pijper 1-5 33-39 [.]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, Z.Cook, J.Allen, N.Klindt 1-5 34-44 [56.1]
Ht 14: W.Cairns, J.Allen, K.Newman, J.Edwards, A.Pijper [Tac Subbed] 2-4 36-48 [55.7]
Ht 15: J.Allen, R.Lawson, L.Kerr, J.Scott 3-3 39-51 [56.3]