Gladiators glory leaves Bears heartbroken!
REDCAR missed out on a place in the MAXiCab KO Cup Final after going down 91-89 on aggregate in a tense last heat decider at Plymouth.
The Bears, who led by 4 points heading into the meeting, were 2 points ahead going into the heat 15 decider. However, Danny King passed Jason Edwards to join Scott Nicholls for a Gladiators 5-1. Scott Nicholls top scored with 14 for Plymouth whilst Jake Mulford continued his impressive run with 11 for the gallant Bears.
Heat one saw Ace Pijper take a superb win to shock the big home crowd, but with Nicolai Klindt 4th, Redcar could not extend their slim aggregate advantage.
The reserves race saw Tom Spencer hit the deck on the opening bends with the referee inviting all 4 back for the re-run. The second staging was a level race after the opening bends until Jody Scott passed Spencer, who again fell, and this time the former Bear was excluded.
The third and final staging of heat 2 saw Mulford lead with ease, and with Anze Grmek 2nd, a 4-2 was on the cards. However, Grmek went too wide on the final bend and came down, with Scott taking 2nd. Importantly, Grmek did pick his bike up and walk across the line to ensure the Gladiators did not leave heat 2 pointless.
After a shared heat 3 won by Ben Barker who passed Jason Edwards to win, Plymouth levelled matters on the night as Nicholls won, and with Grmek passing Scott on lap 3, Plymouth had their tails up. Heat 5 saw Barker make it 2 wins on the spin, and with Daniel Klima 2nd, the tie was all square on aggregate.
Redcar could not halt the free-flowing Gladiators run of heat advantages as King won heat 6, and with Joe Thompson 3rd, the hosts were ahead 64-62 on aggregate.
The early stages of heat 7 was looking even more ominous for Redcar as Nicholls gated, and with Spencer 2nd, the Gladiators were in pole position for 4 heat advantages in a row. However, both Edwards and Lambert made light work of Spencer to ensure the gap remained at 2 points.
Heat 8 saw the ever improving Scott win, and with Pijper 3rd, the Bears fought back to level the tie. The ninth race of a drama filled evening first saw Klima hit the deck on the opening bends, with all 4 invited back for the re-run.
The re-run saw a nasty crash Barker (who was just being passed by Mulford) lift violently on the backstraight of lap 1. Thankfully, the Plymouth man was okay but he was excluded from the re-run. Re-run number 3 saw Mulford win with ease, and with Allen equally as comfortable in 2nd, Redcar’s travelling support were dreaming of another cup final.
However, Plymouth are a different proposition in 2026, and they bounced straight back after two more re-runs. After Lambert was excluded, and Edwards was asked to sit still at the start (whilst leading), the Gladiators pair of King and Thompson gated for a 5-1 to level proceedings.
Heat 11 saw a remarkable race as Pijper and Klindt team rode superbly, and looked set for a maximum until Nicholls found incredible drive on the final bend to force his way into 2nd. After the transponders were checked, it was confirmed that Pijper had won his second race of the night, but Nicholls claimed 2nd, with Klindt being forced to settle for 3rd.
After Grmek won a shared heat 12, Plymouth struck a telling blow in heat 13 as the veteran duo of Nicholls and King gated for a comfortable 5-1 to send the hosts two ahead with only two races remaining.
Nevertheless, Redcar once again bit back in heat 14, after yet more re-runs. The opening bends saw Barker hit the deck, with the referee deeming all 4 should return for a re-run. The re-run saw Barker again crash, this time alongside Scott. However, Barker could not bounce back to his feet and Grmek took his place in the re-run.
The final staging saw Edwards win, and with Scott 2nd, Redcar had a two point lead heading into heat 15. The final race saw Plymouth plump for Nicholls and King off gates 1 and 3, with Edwards and Mulford off 2 and 4. Nicholls gated, and with King passing Edwards on lap two, the home support went wild as the Gladiators qualified for the MAXiCab KO Cup Final.
Plymouth Gladiators = 48 (91)
- Danny King = 11+3
- Joe Thompson = 7+2
- Daniel Klima = 3+1
- Ben Barker = 6
- Scott Nicholls = 14
- Anze Grmek = 7+1
- Tom Spencer = 0
Redcar Bears= 42 (89)
- Nicolai Klindt = 3
- Ace Pijper = 7
- Simon Lambert = 3+3
- Jason Edwards = 8
- Jake Allen = 2+1
- Jake Mulford = 11
- Jody Scott = 8+2