MEETING PREVIEW: GLADIATORS PACKED WITH 2023 PIRATES

Plymouth bosses have reached out to BSN title winner Anders Rowe when they get their 2024 season underway at Poole on Wednesday night, prompting Poole promoter Dan Ford to admit that the visit of the Gladiators has just been given "an extra dose of spice".

Urging his side to approach Wednesday's meeting against his South Coast rivals with the same positive attitude as they adopted for the visit of the Cheetahs on Good Friday, Ford claimed "Our meetings against Plymouth always have the something extra about them, and when we look at the fixture coming up then our old adversary Garry May has just added a bit more spice to it, by booking Anders as a guest. Although there are no hard feelings between us and the riders we had to release from last season, I am sure that Kyle, Joe and even though he is only guesting, Anders, will be out to prove a point. Our lads performed extremely well as a unit , in what was their first outing as a team and there were so many positives to take from that meeting. Clearly, we are not going to hit sixty every meeting but it is a priority to continue to make Wimborne Road a real fortress, and once again get another one over our Devonshire cousins"

Rowe who had a promising season with the Pirates last season, steps into the breach as a guest rider for Nico Covatti who was targeted to lead the Devonshire side this campaign before those plans were thrown into disarray due to a pre-season injury sustained by the Italian.

Covatti, a former Pirate, was due to resume his British racing career after sitting out the 2021 to 2023 campaigns, but a crash in the final round of the Argentinian Championships has delayed those ambitions, whilst he recovers from arm and leg fractures.

Plymouth have been granted a 28-day facility to cover his absence and they have plumped for Rowe to fill the number one berth for what will be the Pirates final home fixture in the Southern Group of the BSN Series.

The inclusion of the 21-year-old means that five of the seven riders that lifted the BSN title last season come together on Wednesday night at Wimborne Road as the Plymouth Gladiators bring a familiar looking side to Dorset, for what will be the Gladiators first action of the season, after they were forced to cancel their opening two meetings at the Coliseum due to the need for further time for the track to settle and dry out after ongoing track work during the winter.

Rowe joins Kyle Newman in the Plymouth septet, both of whom featured for Poole in last year's final of the competition, alongside current Pirates Richard Lawson, Ben and Zach Cook.
With the Gladiators having also signed Joe Thompson, who last year joined Poole as a replacement for the injured Adam Roynon, familiar faces will be in abundance as the Pirates seek to consolidate on their hugely positive start to the season, following their sixty-plus score registered against Oxford.

Besides the trio of former Pirates, Plymouth will also field the ever-battling Ben Barker, together with Alfie Bowtell, Dan Thompson (brother of Joe) and Jacob Hook completing their side, whilst the Pirates are unchanged from the win against Oxford.

Teams
Poole: 1 Richard Lawson 2. Tobias Thomsen 3. Tom Brennan 4. Zach Cook 5. Ben Cook (capt) 6. Sam Hagon 7. Max Perry Team manager Neil Middleditch
Plymouth: 1 Anders Rowe (Guest) 2 Alfie Bowtell 3 Dan Thompson 4 Kyle Newman 5 Ben Barker (capt) 6 Joe Thompson 7 Jacob Hook Team manager: Garry May