Brilliant Bears beat Comets!
Redcar produced a virtuoso team display to defeat the Workington Comets 51-38 in the Cab Direct KO Cup at the ECCO Arena. Despite the 13 point margin, the fans were treated to close and exciting racing throughout. However, it was not all good news as Redcar lost Danny King to a hand injury in heat 1 with Gavin Parr forced to run injury rider replacement for the entirety of the meeting. Charles Wright top scored for Redcar with 16 with Connor Bailey (13) and Jake Mulford (8+1) also impressing whilst Troy Batchelor hit 12 for the Comets.
The first lap of heat 1 saw disaster strike for the Bears with the aforementioned King crashing out whilst battling Tate Zischke for the lead, with the Aussie then falling on the start finish line. Unusually, the referee excluded both riders from the re-run which left a match race between Jonas Knudsen and Craig Cook. The match race saw Cook take the win despite educated Knudsen pressure which gave the Comets a 3-2 lead at the ECCO Arena.
Heat 2 saw the impressive Mulford take a comfortable win, and with Ben Trigger holding Sam McGurk at the back, Redcar had a 1 point lead in the early stages. After a shared heat 3 won impressively by Connor Bailey, the Bears began to build on their lead with a heat four 4-2 as Wright won convincingly whilst Trigger this time got the better of Celina Liebmann for 3rd to send Redcar into a 13-10 lead on Teesside.
After Craig Cook gated to win a shared heat five with relative ease, Redcar hit a superb 5-1 in the next race as Wright once again won with relative ease whilst Jonas Knudsen rode beyond his years to just hold off Troy Batchelor for 2nd. The overworked Wright was out again in heat 7, and again he took a superb win, and with Mulford holding 3rd ahead of Antti Vuolas, the lead stretched to 9 with the Bears supporters sensing the side’s first win of the season.
Heat 8 saw more changes, this time on the Comets side as Tate Zischke withdrew from the meeting with a back complaint and was replaced by Antti Vuolas in heat 8. The Finn reversed his heat 7 result with a heat 8 win despite Knudsen’s best efforts, but with Liebmann at the back, the Comets could not eat into Redcar’s lead.
Despite early pressure from Bailey, Batchelor took a shared heat 9 win but heat advantages were a rarity for the Comets, ensuring Redcar’s double digit lead remained intact. However, heat advantages were not a problem for the Bears as heat 10 brought their 5th heat advantage as the former Comet, Connor Bailey just held off a hard charging Vissing (who passed Knudsen earlier in the race) on the line for the win, and with Knudsen in 3rd, the Bears lead was extended to 11 points on Teesside.
The 11th race of a superb evening’s entertainment saw one of the races of the season so far as Wright and Cook gated but Mulford, remarkably shot through the middle on bend 2 to sit in 2nd, much to the joy of the home support. Mulford remained in 2nd until Cook passed the Redcar reserve on bend 3 of the penultimate lap but Mulford rode like a man possessed to repass Cook entering the final lap to take the paid win, with the Redcar support going wild in support of the Redcar number 6.
Heat 12 saw the in-form Bailey win again, and with Sam McGurk coming in too hot to bend 3 of the opening lap and falling, Ben Trigger took an unopposed 3rd place to extend Redcar’s advantage to an astonishing 17 points.
Heat 13 saw a classic as Batchelor and Wright went handlebar to handlebar in a thrilling race. Batchelor led from the gate until Wright momentarily took the lead heading into lap 2, only for the Australian to retake the lead entering the backstraight. The Workington man’s lead looked like it was to turn into a win entering the final bends until Wright shot up the inside heading to the line with most onlookers believing the skipper took the win but the referee gave Batchelor the nod, and with Cook in 3rd, the Comets reduced the arrears slightly to 46-31.
With the supporters heart rates returning to some level of normality, the Comets Claus Vissing took his first win of the night after a series of second places, but with Mulford and Edwards packing the minor placings, the visitors remained 15 down on Teesside. The final race of a pulsating evening saw yet another superb battle between Batchelor and Wright with both swapping positions throughout the race but Batchelor once again pipped Wright on the run to the line, and with Vissing 3rd ahead of Bailey, the Comets reduced the gap to 13 ahead of the 2nd leg next Saturday in Cumbria.
Bears boss Gavin Parr was overjoyed with his side’s resolve and performance after a testing start to the season, “ After losing Danny (King) early on we battled really well and took a really important win. Jake (Mulford) was superb with the extra time on the bike with the Middlesbrough Tigers helping him and Connor (Bailey) was also fantastic.”
Redcar Bears = 51
1. Danny King = 0 Withdrawn
2. Jonas Knudsen = 7+1
3. Connor Bailey = 13
4. Jason Edwards = 3+3
5. Charles Wright = 16
6. Jake Mulford = 8+1
7. Ben Trigger = 4+1
Workington Comets = 38
1. Craig Cook = 8
2. Tate Zischke = 0 Withdrawn
3. Antti Vuolas = 7
4. Claus Vissing = 9+1
5. Troy Batchelor = 12
6. Sam McGurk = 0
7. Celina Liebmann = 2