Bears take pairs title!
Redcar’s Charles Wright and Danny King secured the “Agilia” Bears first silverware of the year as they raced to a memorable Cab Direct Championship pairs title at Oxford on Friday night.
The final, against the hosts, Oxford saw huge drama as the Bears gated on a maximum 7-2 until Scott Nicholls passed Charles Wright with the pair then immediately colliding. After a long deliberation, the referee Graeme Hunter opted to exclude Nicholls, meaning Redcar had regained their pairs title!
Redcar started the meeting slowly against Glasgow as they suffered a 6-3 defeat. Glasgow’s new signing, Anders Rowe took the win, and despite Wright holding off Chris Harris for 2nd, King was at the back meaning the Bears were on the back foot in the early stages of the meeting.
Redcar’s next outing saw Wright take an impressive win as he held off the in-form Josh Pickering, and with King in 3rd ahead of Paco Castagna, the 2022 champions had their first heat advantage. Redcar’s 3rd heat against Workington saw the Comets gate, but King flew around the outside of both Troy Batchelor and Antti Vuolas exiting bend 2 of the opening lap, and with Wright passing Batchelor moments later, Redcar had fresh impetus with their first 7-2 of the night.
Heat 17 saw Redcar require at least 4 points to secure their place in the semi-finals. Nevertheless, with Wright and King both gating, the experienced British duo looked set for a 7-2. However, Sam Masters and Scott Nicholls both worked their way past King to secure the Cheetahs a 5-4 heat advantage, a result which saw both teams qualify for the semi-finals.
Redcar took on the Glasgow Tigers in the semi-finals with the Bears second favourites after the Tigers topped the charts in the qualifying heats with an impressive 26 point haul. However, after both Bears got the better of Rowe in the early stages, Wright and King flew into the distance to secure serene progress for Redcar’s 3rd consecutive appearance in the Championship Pairs Grand Final.
The final saw Redcar boss Gavin Parr win the coin toss with Parr electing to take gates 1 & 3. The final saw huge drama despite both Bears gating and looking set to secure a comfortable 7-2. However, Nicholls used his years of experience to manoeuvre past Wright, only for Nicholls to lock up, leaving Wright with nowhere to go. Thankfully, both riders made it to their feet with the referee excluding Nicholls and awarding the race which gave Redcar the win and the trophy!
Wright, who is now a 3 time pairs winner is happy to add another title to his collection, “ It’s great to win another pairs title, I felt really good and it was a really strong event on paper which made the win feel even better!”
Plymouth = 12 (8th)
Ben Barker = 3
Dan Thompson = 9
Berwick = 13 (7th)
Lewis Kerr = 10
Drew Kemp = 3
Glasgow = 26 + 2 (3rd)
Chris Harris = 12
Anders Rowe = 14
Redcar = 20 + 7 + 7 WINNERS
Charles Wright = 14
Danny King = 6
Edinburgh = 17 (5th)
Josh Pickering = 15
Paco Castagna = 2
Workington = 11 (9th)
Troy Batchelor = 7
Antti Vuolas = 4
Scunthorpe = 17 (6th)
Michael Palm Toft = 9
Kyle Howarth = 8
Poole = 22 + 2 (4th)
Richard Lawson = 13
Ben Cook = 9
Oxford = 24 + 7 + 2 (2nd)
Scott Nicholls = 10
Sam Masters = 14