Fast Freddie flies to testimonial title!
World number 2, Fredrik Lindgren showed why he is one of the world’s best as he topped the podium in Charles Wright’s testimonial at Redcar. The Swedish star improved as the meeting progressed but it was not plain sailing for the 38 year old as he had to pass a resurgent Erik Riss in the final to take the win with Poole’s Ben Cook keeping Dan Bewley behind him to round off the podium to take 3rd.
Before the main action started, there was an STS Dash For Cash with the 16 riders attempting to clock the fastest 1 lap time. After all 16 riders had completed their ‘hot lap’, the prize was shared between Redcar’s Danny King and Fredrik Lindgren who both clocked the same time.
Heat 1 of the skippers big day (in front of a large ECCO Arena crowd) saw Brady Kurtz take the win with Redcar’s Jason Edwards keeping both Norick Blodorn and Lewi Kerr behind him to take a very creditable 2nd place. The 2nd race saw the first big shock of the afternoon as home favourite Danny King used his home track knowledge to hold off Lindgren for his first heat win of the season, at his first attempt!
Lindgren’s fellow GP star Dan Bewley opened his account with a heat 3 win with the British star passing both Jye Etheridge and Ben Cook to take the chequered flag in his first appearance at the ECCO Arena since 2018. Heat 4 saw ex Bear Erik Riss take a superb tapes to flag win whilst 2024 Bear, Jonas Knudsen rode superbly to claim 2nd by passing Jake Allen after Chris Harris had to pull up with mechanical issues.
Ben Cook took his first chequered flag of the afternoon by passing Edwards to win heat 5 whilst King passed Jake Allen for 3rd to take his tally to 4 points from his opening 2 rides. Heat 6 saw Riss take another fabulous win with Kurtz surprisingly at the rear after his opening race success.
In the first battle of the GP stars, Bewley defeated Lindgren for the win whilst Knudsen battled superbly to take 3rd ahead of a dogged Norick Blodorn, much to the delight of the Redcar crowd. Heat 8 saw the race of the afternoon as Harris passed Kerr, only for the former Redcar man to cut back up the inside of ‘Bomber’ to take the win with the Glasgow skipper just holding off his new teammate, Steve Worrall for 2nd place.
However, Harris got back on track in heat 9 as he defeated his ex-Leicester teammate Richard Lawson for the 3 points, with Dan Bewley finishing in a surprising 3rd which ended his undefeated start to the meeting. After Jaimon Lidsey won heat 10 ahead of King, Riss could not hold onto his undefeated start as the ever improving Ben Cook won with Steve Worrall passing the German for 2nd to double his tally to 4 points in his 2nd meeting of the season.
The eventual winner, Lindgren, was starting to stamp his authority on proceedings as he took back to back wins in heats 12 & 13 respectively. Heat 14 saw a Belle Vue battle for the win as Bewley rounded Kurtz on the opening lap to move into double figures on Teesside whilst 2nd for Kurtz ensured he still had an interest heading into his final ride.
The 15th race of a superb afternoon saw Harris take another win ahead of Blodorn to take the Glasgow stars tally to 8 points ahead of his final ride. Heat 16 saw the tapes broken for the first time this season with Richard Lawson the guilty man. Lawson was replaced by the Middlesbrough Tigers skipper, Danny Phillips. However, Cook took his 3rd win of the meeting to show he was a genuine contender for the title with the large Belle Vue contingent licking their lips at their new signing’s speed on track.
Heat 17 saw Worrall take his maiden win of the meeting ahead of another battling Jason Edwards performance with the ‘Billericay Blaster’ ending his day with a creditable 6 points from his 5 rides. Lindgren confirmed his spot in the final with a heat 18 success but a Chris Harris puncture (whilst battling for 2nd) put his hopes of a place in the semi-final in the balance, especially with Brady Kurtz directly benefiting from ‘Bomber’s’ misfortune to take 2nd and improve his own semi-final aspirations.
The penultimate qualification race saw the improving Norick Blodorn pass his Belle Vue teammate, Jaimon Lidsey on lap 3 for the win. The final qualifying race saw Riss take another scalp as ‘The Business’ comfortably defeated Dan Bewley for the win to secure his spot in the last chance semi-final.
With dark clouds overhead and the rain beginning to fall, track conditions were becoming tricky. However, it did not bother Riss who once again demonstrated he is now back to his best as he won the semi-final comfortably whilst Cook passed Kurtz for 2nd to ensure Belle Vue would have 2 representatives in the final.
In torrential rain, the final saw Riss have the home support with the German looking set for the win until Lindgren used all his experience to pass Riss on lap 3 to take the title in front of a bumper crowd at the ECCO Arena with supporters from far and wide turning out to celebrate Charles Wright.
North-East speedway fans are advised to follow Redcar’s social media platforms at 7pm tonight with the Newcastle Diamonds select side being announced for the eagerly awaited opening Bears fixture on March 29th
1. Jason Edwards = 6
2. Brady Kurtz = 8
3. Norick Blodorn = 6
4. Lewis Kerr = 8
5. Danny King = 7
6. Richard Lawson = 4
7. Fredrik Lindgren = 16 WINNER
8. Steve Worrall = 7
9. Ben Cook = 12 THIRD
10. Jye Etheridge = 5
11. Dan Bewley = 12
12. Jaimon Lidsey = 7
13. Jake Allen = 3
14. Erik Riss = 13 SECOND
15. Jonas Knudsen = 4
16. Chris Harris = 8
17. Jake Mulford – DNR
18. Danny Phillips = 0