Brilliant Bears bag BSN Series title!
REDCAR boss Gavin Parr hailed the performance of man of the match Jody Scott after the six man Bears overcame the odds to secure a memorable 89-91 aggregate win over Poole to secure the BSN Series title.
An ecstatic Parr was delighted with the team’s performance, with Scott rightly taking the headlines. Parr said, “ Jody was absolutely immense today, he was brilliant and he had a blinder of a meeting.”
Parr admitted his side were the underdogs, but his Bears side “kept plugging away”. Parr explained, “ To come to Poole with only a two point lead, nobody expected us to get the win but we just kept plugging away, and on the night I think we were the better side and rider replacement got paid 11 so that choice paid dividends.”
Poole’s Tobias Thomsen started impressively to hold off Charles Wright for a heat one win, but with Richard Lawson suffering mechanical problems and running an extremely rare last place, Redcar’s two point aggregate lead was maintained.
The reserves race saw Poole take a stranglehold on proceedings as they hit a 5-1 as Paul Starke won, and with William Cairns 2nd (despite Jody Scott’s best efforts), the treble chasers had a two point aggregate advantage.
Poole’s advantage grew further in heat three as Zach Cook continued his blistering form with a win, and with Lewis Kerr 3rd, the Pirates were four ahead on aggregate.
After Danny King took a commanding win in a shared heat four, the Bears hit back emphatically in heat five as Wright won, and with rider replacement Jason Edwards 2nd, the Bears were back level on aggregate.
After Lawson returned to winning ways in a shared heat six, Redcar looked set to take the lead in heat seven as Jake Mulford and Jason Edwards led from the gate. However, Anders Rowe pushed Edwards out of the way exiting the 2nd bend, which allowed Paul Starke through for 3rd despite Edwards’ best efforts which saw another shared race at Wimborne Road.
Heat eight saw a rare appearance for King as rider replacement, but he was 4th after lap one with Scott leading. However, it was heartbreak for Scott as he hit the fence and crashed, scuppering any hopes of a Bears heat advantage. Nevertheless, King passed Thomsen (after passing Cairns just before Scott came down) to win, ensuring the tie remained level.
Poole hit the front in heat nine as Cook won, and with Kerr 3rd, Poole had a precious two point aggregate advantage.
Heat 10 saw a pivotal turning point of the meeting as Lawson and Thomsen looked set to take the Pirates lead to six as they were on a relatively comfortable 5-1 heading into the final bend of lap four. However, exiting bend four, Thomsen lifted and crashed awkwardly, gifting Redcar a shared race.
After a delay whilst Thomsen was treated, Wright and Scott went either side of Rowe on the backstraight of lap one for a huge maximum to silence the home support and hand the “Agilia” Bears a two point advantage with four heats remaining.
Heat 12 saw a superb race as Edwards gated but the drama was all behind him. Scott and Kerr exchanged numerous passes with Scott hitting the fence, only for the youngster to come back into 2nd, but Kerr held the faster wider line to take 2nd, limiting Redcar to a 4-2. Nevertheless, the Bears 4th heat advantage gave Redcar a four point aggregate lead.
More drama followed in the next race as Wright gated, but Lawson tried to go underneath the Redcar skipper on the white line, colliding with Wright and sending him down, with King (on the outside line) unable to avoid Wright, both Bears were down.
After Lawson was excluded, both Bears returned to their feet and struck a massive 5-1 to send Redcar into a 80-88 aggregate lead with two heats remaining.
If the last two races didn’t have enough drama, more nerve shredding moments followed in heat 14. Cook led for the Pirates, but at the end of lap one, both Mulford and Scott were in 2nd and 3rd with Redcar three laps away from the trophy.
However, Mulford went into the dirt and crashed heavily after losing both chains, meaning we had a re-run with man of the match Scott the lone Bear in the re-run. The re-run saw Cook win, but with Scott holding off Starke, the Redcar management, riders and fans could celebrate the club’s first major team trophy since 2019.
The final heat saw Poole hit a 5-1 to level the meeting on the night, but nothing could take the smile off the Redcar faces as they secured a triumph that will live long in the memory.
Poole Pirates = 45 (89)
1. Richard Lawson = 9
2. Tobias Thomsen = 5
3. Lewis Kerr = 4
4. Zach Cook © = 12+1
5. Anders Rowe = 6
6. Paul Starke = 5+1
7. Will Cairns = 5+3
Redcar Bears = 45 (91)
1. Charles Wright = 10+1
2. R/R for Erik Riss = 8+3
3. Jason Edwards = 9+1
4. Jake Mulford = 5+2
5. Danny King = 14
6. Jody Scott = 7+2
7. Ace Pijper = 0
8. Stene Pijper – DNR