Riss: Let’s aim for a double figure advantage!
Redcar’s Erik Riss has challenged his side to aim for a double figure lead as the Redcar “Agilia” Bears host the Poole Pirates in the Knockout Cup Final at the ECCO Arena in the first leg tomorrow night with tapes up at 19:30.
The likeable German star discussed the lead he hoped the Bears could attain from the first leg, “ We need to aim for a double figure lead and we cannot afford to start the meeting slowly. If you get off to a good start you want to build on that and get a bigger lead but if you start slowly and you are behind after a few races it can be hard to bounce back, although as we have proved before, it’s not impossible!”
Riss successfully returned for the Bears against Edinburgh with 11 points and the Bears man continued his return with a successful meeting on the continent, “ My 2nd meeting went well, I felt a little bit of pain when I made quick movements but that’s to be expected when I have a ligament injury, (Riss is currently racing with a torn ACL) I was concerned that I would be quite sore after the meeting as I felt soreness after the Redcar meeting but I didn’t feel sore at all which was great.”
Riss also discussed the challenge of the opposition, Poole, the current KO Cup champions, “ Poole are a really tough team, they have a strong side throughout. I watched their meeting at Glasgow and they were really strong against Glasgow. We are aware they are a good side but in speedway, you never know!”
Redcar are set to welcome a big crowd as the last two KO Cup winners (Redcar 2019 & Poole 2021) clash for the title of the 2022 KO Cup champions. The Bears fans are encouraged to back their side like never before to give the riders extra impetus to bring more silverware back to the ECCO Arena.
With a change to the averages, Kasper Andersen moves back into the number 2 berth whilst Jason Edwards returns to the Bears side from injury and retakes a position in the reserve berths alongside Kyle Newman. On the other side of the pits, Poole are at full strength with a heat leader trio of Richard Lawson, Steve Worrall and Danny King all sure to provide stiff opposition.
Redcar *Agilia” Bears
1 Erik Riss 8.58
2 Kasper Andersen. 4.50
3 Charles Wright. 7.67 ©
4 Jordan Jenkins. 5.45
5 Lewis Kerr. 8.08
6 Kyle Newman. 4.40
7 Jason Edwards. 4.20
™: Jade Mudgway
Poole Pirates
1. Danny King 8.26 ©
2. Ben Cook 6.09
3. Steve Worrall 8.26
4. Drew Kemp 5.33
5. Richard Lawson 8.17
6. Zach Cook 4.92
7. Nathan Ablitt 2.00
™: Gary Havelock