Parr: We have riders in great form!
Redcar team boss Gavin Parr strongly believes his side have what it takes to defeat Poole over two legs with the Bears heat leaders “arguably being in the form of their lives” as Redcar travel down to Wimborne Road to take on the Pirates in the BSN Series semi final first leg with tapes up at 7:30pm.
Parr, in his first major semi final as team manager, strongly believes his side have what it takes despite being forced to use rider replacement at number 1, “ Danny and Charles are arguably in the form of their lives at the moment so that will help but we are really disappointed that we have to use r/r at number 1 for Erik but we do have a guest lined up for the return on Saturday.”
The cycle speedway man also admitted that his fears have come true, at the worst possible time, “ As Erik’s absence has went on and on, I had it in the back of my mind that we would be unable to secure a guest at some point, unfortunately for us it has come at the worst possible time with our biggest meeting of the season so far. Our German star was getting better but in the days after his lumbar puncture his brain fog has returned and we are no closer to knowing when he will return.”
Parr, in his debut year as team boss explained the difficulties around trying to book a guest for Wednesday’s meeting, “ There are 2 other fixtures in the league plus other riders we would be interested in using are already guesting for other teams. Additionally, there is an under 23 event in Germany which some of the Great Britain boys are racing in.”
However, the personable Geordie has also seen positive signs from both of his second strings, something that has encouraged him, “Danyon (Hume) had a great win in heat 8 at Edinburgh and he’s looking much more confident as each week passes. Connor (Bailey) also looked great in his first race at Edinburgh whilst he would have gained huge amounts of confidence from his 4 wins on the bounce at Workington on Saturday.”
Poole are also forced into using rider replacement with Anders Rowe competing in the aforementioned U23 Championship in Germany. Both Cook brothers and the Poole reserves are eligible to take Rowe’s rides. Poole have also booked Sam Hagon as backup at number 8 with the Belle Vue Colts man scoring an impressive 5 whilst representing Swindon in a challenge match at Wimborne Road last week.
Redcar line up without the aforementioned Riss but otherwise remain unchanged. Danny King is set to make an emotional return to Wimborne Road whilst Connor Bailey will be looking to continue his upward trajectory after some impressive recent performances.
For any Bears fans unable to travel down to the seaside, the meeting will be broadcast on BSN. https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk/
Poole Pirates
1. Steve Worrall © 8.05
2. Rider Replacement for Anders Rowe
3. Ben Cook 6.09
4. Zach Cook 4.92
5. Richard Lawson 7.97
6. Kyle Newman 4.29
7. Adam Roynon 3.47
8. Sam Hagon (G)
™: Neil Middleditch
Redcar “Agilia” Bears
1. Rider replacement for Erik Riss
2. Danyon Hume 5.68
3. Charles Wright © 7.40
4. Connor Bailey 4.32
5. Danny King 8.05
6. Jason Edwards 3.80
7. Jake Mulford 2.00
™: Gavin Parr