Bears are pairs champions!
The Redcar “Agilia” Bears took the first team silverware of the 2022 season as they defeated 9 other sides to be crowned the SGB Championship Pairs Champions! The victorious Bears defeated Poole 7-2 in the final to send the large travelling support into delirium.
Redcar started off the meeting in perfect fashion but were made to work hard for the 7-2 maximum heat advantage with the former Bear, Adam Roynon gating for Plymouth until he was passed by Kerr firstly and then by Wright on the outside on the final lap to give Redcar the ideal start.
Redcar’s first real test arrived in heat 10, (Redcar’s 2nd outing) as they took on the hosts, Oxford. Despite having home track advantage, the Cheetahs struggled throughout the meeting and the Bears secured their second 7-2 as they gated for a fairly comfortable win.
At this stage of the meeting, Redcar had gained maximum points but their only bump in the road was about to arrive in their third outing. Charles Wright won the race but Lewis Kerr looked to be struggling for speed as he was passed by Berwick’s Chris Harris and Jye Etheridge. This left Redcar needing a minimum 5-4 advantage in their final race to secure semi-final qualification.
Despite being up against many people’s favourites, Poole, the Bears both made jet propelled starts to take a 7-2 win which put Redcar through to the semi-finals as group winners.
Redcar were joined in the final 4 by Poole, group A winners Leicester, and the group A runners-up Glasgow. By virtue of topping group B, Redcar faced off against Glasgow in the semi-finals.
The first semi-final saw Poole take a 6-3 win with Richie Worrall unable to pass Danny King despite the best efforts of his partner, Nick Morris to slow the race down.
The Glasgow Tigers lined up with Benjamin Basso and Danyon Hume with Basso on a maximum 16 points whilst Hume had scored 5 points before the semi-final. Basso gated and elected to extend his lead despite Hume being at the back. Hume was on Kerr’s tail for 2 laps but ultimately locked up and fell away with the Bears securing their place in the final with a 5-4 heat advantage.
The final line-up was a repeat of heat 20 with Redcar going off gates 1&3. Calamity occurred on the startline for Poole as Steve Worrall packed up which meant all Kerr and Wright had to do was finish the race. Despite this being the case. Wright was unaware for the majority of the race as he brushed the fence but King could not make an impact on the Bears duo as Redcar took home another 7-2 to claim the title.
Redcar co-promoter Jamie Swales was extremely proud of his side’s success, “ To win any national silverware is a proud moment but what a way to do it, they both were on it all night and they were the best performers on the night. Poole and Leicester rode really well but I would’ve backed our guys over any of them.”
Swales also praised the duo’s team riding throughout, “ Out of all of the teams our boys had the best team riding and that was what it’s all about.”
Swales also confessed his nerves ahead of heat 20, “There’s always nerves and the Poole pair are a quality pairing but I think Lewi (Kerr) was frustrated about his race against Berwick so he was really focused for heat 20. I must confess, me and Gavin (Parr) hadn’t realised that if we got a 7-2 we went through as group winners so that was a nice bonus as we avoided Leicester in the semi-finals.”
Qualifying heat scores
Group A
Leicester Lions = 26
- Nick Morris = 11
- Richie Worrall = 15
Edinburgh Monarchs = 15
- Kye Thomsen = 7
- Paco Castagna = 8
Glasgow Tigers = 21
- Danyon Hume = 5
- Benjamin Basso = 16
Scunthorpe Scorpions = 16
- James Wright = 8
- Simon Lambert = 8
Birmingham Brummies = 12
- Justin Sedgmen = 12
- James Pearson = 0
Group B
Poole Pirates = 22
- Steve Worrall = 10
- Danny King = 12
Plymouth Gladiators = 08
- Ben Morley = 0
- Adam Roynon = 8
Berwick Bandits = 22
- Chris Harris = 11
- Jye Etheridge = 11
Oxford Cheetahs = 13
- Scott Nicholls = 8
- Aaron Summers = 5
Redcar Bears = 25
- Charles Wright = 14
- Lewis Kerr = 11
Semi-Final 1: S.Worrall, Morris, King, R.Worrall 3-6
Semi-Final 2: Basso, Wright, Kerr, Hume 4-5
Grand Final: Wright, Kerr, King, S.Worrall 2-7