Battling Bears make KO Cup Final!
REDCAR battled to a nerve shredding super heat win over Oxford after the sides could not be separated with the scores level at 90-90 after 30 heats of thrilling speedway. The super heat saw Masters win, but with King 2nd, and Wright just claiming 3rd ahead of Kye Thomsen, Redcar had qualified for the MAXiCab KO Cup Final.
Bears boss Gavin Parr was delighted with his side’s effort and determination to secure progress, with the former Redcar Cub also paying tribute to the Cheetahs.
Parr said, “ We dug deep, everyone of the boys worked so hard and deserved the aggregate win. Hats off to Oxford as they gave us two fantastic meetings and fought right to the end.”
Sam Masters top scored for the Cheetahs with paid 13 whilst Danny King impressed for the Bears with a 14 point haul.
Initially, the meeting was delayed due to remedial work that needed to be completed on the racing surface, but after Mitch McDiarmid and Jason Edwards had tested the track, the second leg got underway shortly thereafter.
Oxford began with a heat advantage as Masters won after an early battle with Charles Wright, and with Kye Thomsen 3rd, the Cheetahs had a positive start. The reserves race saw Jonas Knudsen begin with a win, and with Cameron Heeps pouncing on a slight mistake from Jody Scott to take 3rd, Redcar’s aggregate lead was just two points.
Heat three saw the Cheetahs level the tie on aggregate with another 4-2 as Luke Killeen won, and with McDiarmid 3rd, Oxford had the momentum on home shale. Redcar registered their first heat winner and their first heat advantage in heat four as Danny King strode to a comfortable win, and with Ace Pijper 3rd ahead of Francis Gusts, Redcar moved back ahead on aggregate.
Wright claimed his first race win in heat five and with Jake Mulford 3rd (despite initially holding 2nd before being passed by McDiarmid), the Bears had a four point aggregate buffer.
However, Masters took his second win on the bounce in a Cheetahs 4-2 as the Australian took a comfortable win, and with Thomsen 3rd (despite coming close to pipping King on the line), the home fans were dreaming of a place in the final.
The run of 4-2’s was finally ended in heat seven as Jason Edwards sailed to a serene win, but with Pijper unable to reel in Knudsen, Redcar could not extend their two point aggregate lead. However, the two point lead was wiped out in heat eight as Thomsen impressed again to win after passing Mulford, and with Cameron Heeps 3rd, we had parity at Sandy Lane.
The first staging of heat nine saw the race sat on a 3-3 until Killeen got too close to his Cheetahs teammate Mcdiarmid with the Oxford number three hitting the deck with Killeen excluded from the re-run. The re-run saw King win, and with Scott 3rd (despite pressuring McDiarmid for 2nd), Redcar were back in an aggregate lead.
King returned as rider replacement to win heat 10 in a shared race, and suddenly, shared heats were the order of the day as Wright rode a remarkable race after a poor gate to just pip Gusts on the run to the line, but with Mulford just missing out on 3rd despite a close finish, Redcar could not extend their slim two point advantage.
Heat 12 saw Scott ride impressively to take the chequered flag, but with Edwards 4th, the nerves were being shred on both sides of the pits. Heat 13 saw Wright win, and with King 3rd, Redcar doubled their aggregate advantage to four points, with only two races remaining.
Heat 14 saw huge drama as the Cheetahs gated on a maximum until Scott passed Knudsen towards the end of lap one, but with Scott building up his speed, he looked set to pass McDiarmid towards the end of lap three. However, Scott crashed and hit the deck, handing Oxford a 5-1 and once again we had a level meeting.
The final scheduled race saw Masters win despite Redcar having choice of gates and choosing gates one and three, but with Thomsen 4th, we had a super heat in Oxfordshire.
The hosts won the toss for the gate positions with the Cheetahs taking gates one and three, with gate four looking difficult for King with the previous seven races yielding a solitary point from the outside gate.
The final, breathtaking race saw Masters win, but all eyes were on the battle for 3rd as Thomsen tried to pass up the inside of Wright with the Bears skipper electing to use the outside line.
However, heading into the final lap, Wright hugged the kerb and looked set to qualify, but with Thomsen sneaking past Wright, Oxford looked set to break Bears hearts, but Wright had just enough speed on the outside to pip the Oxford guest and send Redcar into another KO Cup Final.
Oxford Cheetahs = 48 (90) + 4 (lost super heat)
1. Sam Masters = 12+1
2. Kye Thomson (G) = 7
3. Luke Killeen = 5
4. Mitch McDiarmid = 8
5. Francis Gusts = 4
6. Jonas Knudsen = 7+3
7. Cameron Heeps = 5+1
Redcar Bears = 42 (90) + 5 (won super heat)
1. Charles Wright = 12+1
2. Jake Mulford = 3
3. Jason Edwards = 6
4. Erik Riss R/R
5. Danny King = 14
6. Jody Scott = 4
7. Ace Pijper = 3