REACTION: LUCK-LESS PIRATES LOSE OUT TO BRILLIANCE FROM BEARS

A cocktail of a powerless serviced engine, a lift while leading and a broken jubilee clip garnished with some superb heat saving passes by Jason Edwards and Charles Wright, served to deny the Pirates another league win on the road, although they took the meeting into a last heat decider at Redcar on Friday.

With some excellent speedway to relish, it was just the final result that was not so appetizing for the Pirates and "Rocketman" Richard Lawson summed it up most honestly  "just a couple of things went against us tonight but let's take nothing away from Redcar they worked hard for the win and I am sure if you asked them they would have their own ifs and buts, but for me, I feel bad about the final result as I had a disastrous start to the meeting and felt I cost the team important points. I started off on an engine that has only recently come back from service and it had no power. It was so flat, with absolutely no power at all. So, I went on the bike fitted with an engine that is well overdue for service and it was like a rocketship. It doesn't make sense, but it turns out that cost us dearly. A big shame".

Besides Lawson's early misfortunes - he recovered strongly in the meeting and was unbeaten in his final three rides - there was further agony for Lewi Kerr who was a comfortable second place in heat twelve, a race Poole went into holding a 34-32 advantage, when the jubilee clip holding his carburetor  in place, popped off bringing him to an instant halt and handing Redcar a lead-taking 5-1.

Then in heat fourteen, with all to race for, skipper Zach Cook hit a rut and lifted just at the wrong moment as he went down the back straight, and whilst he threw everything at trying to regain the lead he had, the Bears' guest, Antti Vuolas would not let him back in and the home side posted a 4-2 to give them a four point advantage going into heat the final heat.

That said, earlier in the meeting both Jason Edwards - in heat six - spared the Bears' blushes with a splendid move on the hard-working Tobias Thomsen and Lawson to deny Poole a 5-1, then a heat later  Charles Wright prevented a Poole 4-2 as he superbly passed leader Kerr.

Although Cook was then squeezed out and by Wright and Danny King in that final heat the Pirates were able to add to their league account, by claiming the aggregate bonus point, never allowing the Bears to get close to significantly reducing  Poole's twelve point advantage from the corresponding Wimborne Road fixture.

The closeness of the meeting was epitomised by a sequence of six shared heats between five and ten.

REDCAR 46 ,Charles Wright 12+1 (3,3,3,1',2) ,Danny King 10 (3,3,2,2,0) ,Ace Pijper 8+2 (0,2',3,0,2',1) ,Jason Edwards 7+1 (0,3,1',3) ,Antti Vuolas 6 (1,0,2,3) ,Jody Scott 2 (2,0,0,RS) ,Jacob Hook 1 (1,R,0,RS)

POOLE 44 ,Zach Cook 12+1 (2',2,3,2,2,1) ,Richard Lawson 11+1 (0,1,1',3,3,3) ,Lewis Kerr 7+2 (3,2,1',1',R) ,Tobias Thomsen 7 (2,2,2,1,0) ,Paul Starke 5+1 (3,1',0,1) ,William Cairns 2+1 (1,0,1',0)

Heat Details

Photo credit Taylor Lanning