REACTION: PIRATES HOLD FIRM ADVANTAGE IN QUEST TO RETAIN BSN TITLE

Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates have put themselves in a very strong position to retain the BSN Series title after securing a sixteen point first leg victory (53-37) at Scunthorpe.

Inspired by stand-in captain Zach Cook, who assumed the duties in the absence of his brother Ben, the Pirates just seemed to have all the answers against a Scorpions side that could only muster two race winners between them.

Zach stormed to an impressive five ride maximum, finding some super racing lines in the process and admitted afterwards "I just went out there and done what I could do and gave it everything and yeah, it was a really good night personally and obviously all the team did an awesome job as well and leaves us with a good lead for Wednesday. I had plenty of speed in the bikes and that always helps and you can put it in places where you wouldn't normally and makes life a lot easier."

Besides Cook's full house, number one Richard Lawson also went unbeaten in his five outings then reflected on the outcome " I didn't expect that kind of lead. I knew we would be definitely in the mix, you know, and looking for a win but everyone impressed today and we have a strong lead now to set us up nicely for the final." Asked what it was like working with a new captain, he smiled and claimed "It was a pleasure. He took on the job well. He won the coin toss and got a fifteen point maximum. What else can you ask for?"

Alongside those two perfect scores, Tom Brennan dropped just a single point and guest Charles Wright was unbeaten in his final three after supporting Cook's heat three race win count as a heat advantage with a third place behind Jake Allen. All the Pirates contributed and although Vinnie Foord's single point score might look a bit forlorn he produced an awesome ride in heat four as he battled tirelessly with Scunthorpe's star performer Luke Harrison and only to be denied reward on the line by Kyle Howarth. Then again in heat eight, Foord and Sam Hagon were on their way to a 5-1 only for a couple of clever moves by Harrison and Connor Mountain on the third lap to reverse the result.

SCUNTHORPE 37 ,Luke Harrison 12 (3,2,3,2,1,1) ,Connor Mountain 8+1 (2,3,2',1,0) ,Jake Allen 6 (2,0,2,2) ,Nathan Ablitt 4+3 (2',0,1',1') ,Kyle Howarth 4+1 (1',1,2,0) ,Simon Lambert 3+2 (0,1,1',1') ,Ashton Boughen 0 (F,0,0,RS)
POOLE 53 ,Zach Cook 15 (3,3,3,3,3) ,Richard Lawson 14+1 (3,3,3,3,2') ,Tom Brennan 10+1 (3,2,3,2') ,Charles Wright 8+2 (1,2',2',3) ,Sam Hagon 3+1 (1,2',0,0) ,Tobias Thomsen 2+1 (1,1',0,0) ,Vinnie Foord 1 (0,0,1,FD)