TOP PIRATE DUO PIPPED BY PICKERING

Richard Lawson and Ben Cook both narrowly missed out on being crowned the 2024 Championship League Riders champion at Redcar on Sunday, despite the pair of them qualifying directly for the final.

Lawson with thirteen points from his five qualifying rides saw him top the scorechart whilst his Poole team-mate Ben Cook amassed eleven points but claimed the second direct routing place by virtue of countback with his three wins from his final three heat rides bettering the brace of wins that Edinburgh's Josh Pickering had managed.

Pickering then progressed from the semi-final along with surprise package Antti Vuolas to set up a terrific final. Lawson and Cook lined up on the inside gates and Pickering was off gate four and he made the outside work, although as the finalists hit the backstraight for the first time it was the two Pirates who had established themselves as front two with Cook leading Lawson. But Pickering found a perfect line and turn of speed to pick them both off to claim the title.

The meeting had been marred by a heat twenty incident in which Sam Masters  shed a chain on the third lap which brought him crashing down and his Oxford team-mate Ashton Boughen having to lay down quickly. Although Masters was disqualified he would have qualified for the semi-final but had to withdraw from the meeting with an arm injury, whilst Boughen was also feeling the effects of his fall and couldn't take his part in the re-run of the heat.

One of the best races of the meeting however was the heat clash between Lawson and Cook with neither wishing to give an inch in heat nine and were breathtakingly close to each other as they attacked each turn. Tom Brennan worked hard for his seven points but was unable to muster a race win on the day.

Heat Scorers:
13:R.Lawson
11:J.Pickering,B.Cook
10:D.King
9:A.Vuolas,S.Masters
8:C.Harris,J.Edwards,D.Kemp
7:T.Brennan
6:A.Boughen,D.Thompson
5:C.Wright
4:L.Flint
3:S.Lambert
1:F.Hodder,D.Phillips
0:M.Palm-Toft

Ht I R.Lawson,C.Harris,J.Edwards,M.Palm-Toft (rtd) (53.7)
Ht II D.King,T.Brennan,A.Boughen,F.Hodder (54.1)
Ht III J.Pickering,D.Kemp,D.Thompson,L.Flint (54.1)
Ht IV S.Masters,B.Cook,S.Lambert,A.Vuolas (55.6)
Ht V A.Boughen,R.Lawson,A.Vuolas,L.Flint (55)
Ht VI S.Masters,C.Wright,J.Pickering,M.Palm-Toft (55)
Ht VII C.Harris,D.Kemp,T.Brennan,S.Lambert (55)
Ht VIII D.King,J.Edwards,D.Thompson,B.Cook (55)
Ht IX B.Cook,R.Lawson,C.Wright,D.Kemp (rtd) (55.9)
Ht X D.Thompson,A.Boughen,D.Phillips,S.Lambert (rtd),M.Palm-Toft (non starter) (56.6)
Ht XI S.Masters,D.King,C.Harris,L.Flint (56.2)
Ht XII J.Pickering,A.Vuolas,J.Edwards,T.Brennan (55)
Ht XIII R.Lawson,T.Brennan,D.Thompson,S.Masters (56.4)
Ht XIV A.Vuolas,D.King,D.Kemp,F.Hodder (fell),M.Palm-Toft (non starter) (56.3)
Ht XV B.Cook,J.Pickering,C.Harris,A.Boughen (55.8)
Ht XVI L.Flint,J.Edwards,S.Lambert,C.Wright (57)
Ht XVII R.Lawson,J.Pickering,S.Lambert,D.King (56.8)
Ht XVIII B.Cook,T.Brennan,L.Flint,D.Phillips,M.Palm-Toft (non starter) (55.9)
Ht XIX A.Vuolas,C.Wright,C.Harris,D.Thompson (rtd) (56.5)
Ht XX D.Kemp,J.Edwards,F.Hodder,S.Masters (fell dq),A.Boughen (non starter) (55.1)
Semi Final: J.Pickering,A.Vuolas,D.Kemp,D.King (56.4)
Grand Final:  J.Pickering,B.Cook,R.Lawson,A.Vuolas (56)
Photo credit Colin Poole