KING OF ASHFIELD MEETS KING OF THE PIRATES

Cook, known as the King of Ashfield,  has established an impressive record of only eight defeats around the Ashfield circuit in his last 109 rides, but with  "a King" of their own, together two other class heat leaders, Rory Schlein and Steve Worrall, the Pirates will be out to try and those proud figures held by the Tigers number one.
Both skipper Danny King  and Rory Schlein have previous against Cook at Ashfield, as they are two of the seven riders who appear in the list of Cook's conquerors in that period.

 

Promoter Dan Ford feels he saw enough potential within his 2021 side in their opening fixture at the weekend to give fans plenty to look forward to. "I am sure things will feel a bit different on Friday racing without a crowd, but the occasion itself should be sufficient motivation for our lads. Glasgow have been strongly fancied for success this season so if we can go there and get a result then what a statement that would make."

 

The meeting will be the first time that former world champion Gary Havelock will take charge of the side, under the new scheme that Poole have introduced for covering the team manager role. Havelock, who had two spells as a Pirate between 1998-2002 and 2010-2011 will undertake the role when the Pirates are racing in the northern regions.

 

It will also mark track debuts for Ben Cook and Zane Keleher, both of whom opened their Poole scoring account with second places in their first rides against Eastbourne last Saturday, but failed to find another point between them. Cook had the added frustration of a very badly damaged machine after it had bounced over the safety fence and on to the stock car track when he crashed in heat 12.

 

Ford added, "both our young Aussies had tough nights on their club debut but I am confident the points will come from them both once they've settled in. I am not going to put any pressure on them but wouldn't it be good if the Cook everyone is talking about after Friday is our one!"

 

Glasgow have a bank of experience to call on in the shape of Craig Cook, Ulrich Ostergaard, Justin Sedgmen and Ricky Wells but can also look to Broc Nicol and Sam Jensen to return solid scores, a strength in depth side that has made them one of the leading title favourites in 2021.

 

Teams (from)
Glasgow - Craig Cook; Broc Nicol; Ulrich Ostergaard; Justin Sedgmen; Ricky Wells; Sam Jensen; Jack Smith - Team Manager: Cam Brown
Poole - Rory Schlein; Zane Keleher; Steve Worrall; Stefan Nielsen; Danny King; Ben Cook; Danyon Hume - Team Manager: Gary Havelock.