REACTION: LEWI LOVES RED-KERR

"I simply love this place" were the ecstatic words of Lewi Kerr after he had steered the Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates into their third final for the season to keep the hope of a Double Treble firmly alive.

Speaking after scoring an impressive 13 points for the Pirates at his favourite track Redcar, Lewis added "The track was good tonight and I like coming back here to ride. Everyone chipped in, you know, and we got the job done. The treble is still on, like last season so that would be a nice one to do, but there is a long way to go yet."

For Kerr personally it was a better conclusion in this semi-final tie than the KO Cup semi-final win at Glasgow as he had been forced to withdraw after just one ride. "Yeah, I pulled  a hip in that one but it feels alright now. I've been able to rest it and now hopefully we can go on and get some silverware."

Poole, treble winners in 2024 and confirmed finalists for the MaxiCab KO Cup and BSN Series,  went into the meeting holding a six point lead and were able to double that advantage within the first four heats, but Redcar demonstrated they were not going to give up the chance of a first ever Grand Final appearance without a fight, and levelled the match on the night to restore that six point aggregate difference. But the Pirates plumped up the feathers again and with Kerr starring in a 4-2 with skipper Zach Cook in heat seven and then the pair going even  better in heat ten, between which Will Cairns and Tobias Thomsen had combined for an eighth heat 5-1, the Pirates were in a position to guarantee themselves qualification in the twelfth heat, but Jason Edwards clipped Kerr's wings to give the home side a 4-2, which kept the meeting mathematically alive.

But guest Adam Ellis, standing in for the unavailable Richard Lawson, put the tie beyond doubt storming around the ECCO Arena circuit in the fastest time of the night (54.9 seconds)  whilst Cook (heat 14) and Kerr (heat 15) completed their nights with emphatic race wins to set up a Grand Final against Glasgow with dates set aside for Wednesday 15th October (at Poole) and Friday 17th October (at Glasgow) for the honour to be crowned SGB Cab Direct Championship winners for 2025. 

Scorers

REDCAR 42 -Jake Allen 10+1 (3,1,3,2,1') ,Jason Edwards 9 (0,3,1,3,2) ,Charles Wright 8 (2,3,1,2) ,Danny King 5+1 (X0,2,2,1') ,Ace Pijper 4 (FD,2,1,1) ,Jack Smith 3+2 (1,0,1',1') ,Jake Mulford 3+2 (1',2',0,0)

POOLE 48 -Lewis Kerr 13 (2,3,3,2,3) ,Adam Ellis 8 (R,2,3,3,X0) ,Zach Cook 7+2 (1',1,2',3) ,William Cairns 7 (3,1,3,0,RS) ,Anders Rowe 6 (3,1,2,0) ,Tobias Thomsen 5+1 (3,0,2',0) ,Paul Starke 2+1 (2',0,0,RS,0)

Photo credit Tony Hartmann