Kerr magic as Bears win again!
Redcar’s unbeaten start to 2022 continued with a fine 50-40 victory over the Birmingham Brummies with Lewis Kerr proving a class apart with an immaculate full maximum. The Bears heat leaders again scored double figures to continue their impressive starts to the campaign.
Birmingham were no pushovers throughout a competitive evening at the Ecco Arena as they led after heat 2 with a surprising 5-1 as James Pearson and Stefan Nielsen combined to give the Brummies a 7-5 lead. Back to back shared heats followed as Lewis Kerr and Adam Ellis won by comfortable margins to keep Birmingham in a slim lead. Kerr continued his perfect evening with the Kings Lynn man diving underneath Claus Vissing to take the win whilst Kasper Andersen got the better of Josh Auty to take 3rd.
Birmingham yet again hit the front with a 4-2 of their own in heat 6 and retook the lead as the 2021 British Champion Adam Ellis got the better of the 2019 Champion Charles Wright on the 2nd bend to take a comfortable win. Once again the pendulum swung back in Redcar’s direction as Jason Edwards rode another great race to hold off Josh Auty for 2 laps but held on for an important 3rd place.
The ding dong nature of the encounter continued with the 4th successive 4-2, but this time in the Brummies favour as Adam Roynon limited the damage to split Ashley Morris and Nielsen but Birmingham still held a slender 2 point lead. Redcar then hit a vital blow with a 5-1 as Andersen got the better of Ellis by using the outside line to send the Bears into their own slender advantage.
Another massive moment came in heat 13 as Charles Wright made the move of the night with a startling inside dive on Claus Vissing. Vissing was then excluded after trying to repay the favour on lap 3 which gave the Bears an all important maximum heat advantage to send Redcar to the cusp of victory. Jason Edwards yet again played an important role in heat 14 with a vital 2nd place as he dived up the inside of Morris to secure the Bears the all important 3 points.
Last week’s heat 15 was a disappointment for the Bears as Plymouth hit a 5-1 to take a point home. This week history was not to repeat itself as Lewis Kerr completed a fine maximum and the testimonial man was joined by Erik Riss as the Bears capped off their evening with a 10 point home win.
Jason Edwards was pleased with his best night as a Bear to date, “I’m happy because I’m improving every week and I’m taking little strides forward each week.”
Edwards believes he can make further improvements as the season progresses, “I’d like to think that if we had this meeting later in the season I would be able to keep them riders behind me. At this stage these riders are just better than me so it’s all about learning how to ride against these guys.”
Finally, the Redcar reserve had some positive words for the Bears heat leader trio, “They make it look so easy, it can be quite annoying! Charles (Wright) and his mechanics have been very helpful to me, Erik (Riss) is flying and Lewis (Kerr) is helping us to wins at the moment which is really important.”
Redcar = 50
1 Charles Wright = 10+1
2 Adam Roynon = 3
3 Lewis Kerr = 15 MAX
4 Kasper Andersen = 3+1
5 Erik Riss = 13+1
6 Jason Edwards = 5
7 Jordan Jenkins = 1+1
Birmingham = 40
1 Claus Vissing = 6
2 James Shanes R/R
3 Josh Auty = 8
4 Ashley Morris = 6+2
5 Adam Ellis = 12
6 Stefan Nielsen = 6+1
7 James Pearson = 2+1