REPORT:POOLE PIRATES V EDINBURGH MONARCHS

10/06/26

Poole booked their regular place in the BSN Series final with three heats to spare to give them the chance to try and regain the trophy they missed out on in 2025

The meeting may have been delayed for track remedial work after heavy showers through the course of the day, but once racing got underway the Rocketman wasted no time at all in taking the first of his wins of an ultimate paid maximum. Establishing a personal best 58.24 time, Lawson had the clear beating of his back-from-injury opposite number Dan Thompson, but machine problems for Poole’s returning Fraser Bowes allowed Edinburgh to maintain their slender first leg advantage. They were soon waving it goodbye however as, resplendent in his new club colour Kevlars, Kyle Newman scrapped successfully with Mitchell Cluff to convert Will Cairns' victory into a 5-1 establishing an aggregate advantage for the Pirates who were looking for their fourth successive BSN Final and retaining their ever-present tag in the competition. Cooper Rushen had been given a personal introduction to the fans before racing began, as the club commemorated his achievement of being crowned British U21 Champion at the weekend. That introduction saw him pitched on the seat of a claret Mercedes, but he looked much more at home with his tassels blowing as he made a cheeky tight inside move to link up with his racing partner Lewis Kerr. Poole's authority was further stamped on the meeting when Zach Cook extended the sequence of maximum advantages to three. Late arrival to the meeting, Kye Thomson might have benefited from the delayed start but not only was he warned post-race for movement at the start, he never got past the first turn before crashing out. Dan Thompson ended the run of Poole maximums as he took the flag in heat five when he saw an opportunity to get round Kerr who had been glancing across for his partner Rushen out of the traps. (21-9 and 65-55 on agg).

Fraser Bowes was getting some fresh air into his lungs out front with Richard Lawson tucked in behind in the early stages of heat six. Astute Lawson checked behind him and saw Kye Thomson charging through on a mission leaving Lawson with a choice to make. Could he protect the situation long enough or did he need to take control? The decision was to kick on himself and whilst Thomson passed Bowes, Poole still filed a 4-2 heat advantage. Cairns explored a wide line off the second turn in heat seven but had to arrest his move with some sharp reactions as the fence loomed. It meant that he slipped back behind his skipper, Cook, who was losing out in the battle of the captains as Sedgmen opened his account following his first ride (heat 3) retirement. Jordy Loftus rode well to split Newman and Bowes in heat eight and to frustate Bowes even further, he slid off as he commenced the third circuit. Machine problems for the struggling Mitchell Cluff made Rushen's progress much easier after the U21 champion had just failed to execute a similar move to that of heat three as Poole secured their fifth heat advantage (second 4-2) of the night. He was fast in heat one but Lawson was superb in heat ten as he kept his unbeaten run in-tact having been held up at the first turn. Finding the outside line on which he is so often sublime, he reeled in Sedgmen, who had earlier passed Bowes, with some style and panache. (39-21 agg 83-67).

A clever move by Cairns to make an incredible switchback to slice by the two Monarchs would have been deserving of greater reward but equally astute were Jonatan Grahn and Dan Thompson as they both regained their positions at the time of Cairns' attempt. It was Newman's turn to do the heavy steering as he switched lines well in heat 11 and caught Sedgmen unawares, a move that not only delivered another 5-1 for the Pirates but kept Newman unbeaten by an opponent and mathematically booked Poole's place in the final. Zach Cook semed to stick to a very wide line in heat thirteen but later his team-mate Lawson confessed that it was his fault as he didn't realise it was Zach out there and was determined to limit access. Cook was unable to get out of the dirt and turn quick enough to avoid colliding with the airfence to earn a disqualification. Lawson was untouchable in the three-man re-run, bring up the 50 points in the process. Joe Thompson spun out at the first turn of heat 14 to bring a halt to a race being led by the Pirate teenagers. After a couple of checks of the replay the referee was satisfied that it was entirely the fault of the former Pirate and so for the second successive heat we had a three-man contest.. Nothing changed in the rerun, and it seems that the 'kids race' has simply moved from heat two to heat fourteen! Warned at the initial attempt to get the final heat underway for moving, Kerr showed in the re-start that he didn't need to anticipate as he was able to hit the first turn with clean air ahead of him from a standing start. Lawson was happy to play a supporting role as Poole hit the 60 mark, for as he said afterwards the pay cheque is the same for 14+1 as it is for 15!

POOLE 60
Richard Lawson 3,3,3,3,2'=14+1 (5)
Fraser Bowes R,1,F,1=2 (4)
Lewis Kerr 3,2,3,3,3=14 (5)
Cooper Rushen 2',1',1,3=7+2 (4)
Zach Cook 3,2,3,FD=8 (4)
William Cairns 3,1',0,2'=6+2 (4)
Kyle Newman 2',2',3,2'=9+3 (4)
.
EDINBURGH 30
Dan Thompson 2,3,1',2,1=9+1 (5)
Jonatan Grahn 1',0,1',2=4+2 (4)
Justin Sedgmen R,3,2,1=6 (4)
Joe Thompson 1,0,0,FD=1 (4)
Kye Thomson F,2,2,1',0=5+1 (5)
Mitchell Cluff R,RS,R,RS,1=1 (3)
Jordy Loftus 1,1,0,2,0,RS=4 (5)

Ht 1: R.Lawson, D.Thompson, J.Grahn, F.Bowes [rtd] 3-3 3-3 [58.24]
Ht 2: W.Cairns, K.Newman, J.Loftus, M.Cluff [rtd] 5-1 8-4 [60.43]
Ht 3: L.Kerr, C.Rushen, J.Thompson, J.Sedgmen [rtd] 5-1 13-5 [59.78]
Ht 4: Z.Cook, K.Newman, J.Loftus, K.Thomson [fell] 5-1 18-6 [60.38]
Ht 5: D.Thompson, L.Kerr, C.Rushen, J.Grahn 3-3 21-9 [59.6]
Ht 6: R.Lawson, K.Thomson, F.Bowes, J.Loftus 4-2 25-11 [59.78]
Ht 7: J.Sedgmen, Z.Cook, W.Cairns, J.Thompson 3-3 28-14 [60.14]
Ht 8: K.Newman, J.Loftus, J.Grahn, F.Bowes [fell] 3-3 31-17 [61.57]
Ht 9: L.Kerr, K.Thomson, C.Rushen, M.Cluff [rtd] 4-2 35-19 [59.65]
Ht 10: R.Lawson, J.Sedgmen, F.Bowes, J.Thompson 4-2 39-21 [60.29]
Ht 11: Z.Cook, J.Grahn, D.Thompson, W.Cairns 3-3 42-24 [60.51]
Ht 12: L.Kerr, K.Newman, J.Sedgmen, J.Loftus 5-1 47-25 [60.35]
Ht 13: R.Lawson, D.Thompson, K.Thomson, Z.Cook [fell exc] 3-3 50-28 [60.41]
Ht 14: C.Rushen, W.Cairns, M.Cluff, J.Thompson [fell exc] 5-1 55-29 [60.7]
Ht 15: L.Kerr, R.Lawson, D.Thompson, K.Thomson 5-1 60-30 [60.78]

SGB Referee Mr Chris Gay