Brilliant Bears dismantle Bandits!
REDCAR capped off a remarkable 24 hours with a stunning 56-34 away win over the Plymouth Gladiators. The rejuvenated Bears side all provided a heat win as they consistently outgated the Gladiators to record an important Cab Direct Championship win. Nicolai Klindt hit 14+1 for the “Agilia” Bears whilst the Gladiators Scott Nicholls struck 16 for the hosts.
Astonishingly, Redcar recorded 21 heat advantages over the weekend, with 8 Bears riders hitting at least paid double figures across both matches.
Redcar team manager Gavin Parr was pleased for all connected with the club after a successful weekend. Parr commented, “It’s been a very positive 24 hours for us and it certainly gives us a boost of confidence for the rest of the season. I’m really pleased for everyone involved with the Bears. To only run one last place in 15 heats shows what we can do when we all click.”
Redcar started the meeting in superb style as Klindt gated for a comfortable win, but with the Gladiators guest Chris Harris passing Simon Lambert, he looked to be limiting the damage until his bike packed up on lap two, giving Lambert 2nd and Redcar the perfect start.
Heat two saw Jody Scott pick up an important opening win, and with Ace Pijper 3rd, (despite battling with Plymouth guest Ryan Ingram for 2nd), Redcar already had a six point buffer at the Coliseum.
Heat 3 saw Redcar’s 3rd heat advantage as Lambert (in as rider replacement for Jake Allen who was out with a shoulder injury) won convincingly, and with Mulford continuing on from his impressive last visit to Plymouth, the travelling Bears contingent were in dreamland.
Nicholls opened his account for the evening with a win after passing Edwards in a brilliant battle for the win which stemmed the Redcar flow of heat advantages, but with Ben Whalley 4th, the Bears early 10 point lead remained intact.
The 5th race of a brilliant Bears evening started with a faller as Klindt came down on the opening bend, with all four men invited back for the re-run. The re-run looked set to be a shared race as Klindt led comfortably, but with Daniel Klima’s bike suffering problems, Lambert happily took 3rd, giving Redcar another heat advantage and a 21-9 lead.
Heat 6 saw Pijper taste the Plymouth shale on bend 3 of the opening lap after battling with Harris and after a short delay, Harris was deemed to be the primary cause of the stoppage, and was excluded, much to the disgust of the Brit. The re-run saw Edwards ride brilliantly to scout every move from tactical substitute Nicholls to win, and with Pijper 3rd, the hosts had a mountain to climb.
After Nicholls and Joe Thompson both won shared races in heats 7 and 8 respectively, Redcar recorded their sixth heat advantage of the match in heat 9 as Pijper won, and with Edwards equally as comfortable in 2nd, Redcar were on the verge of a statement away win.
However, the Gladiators fans had their first heat advantage to cheer in heat 10 as Harris won, and with Thompson 2nd, Plymouth had a slither of hope. However, any hope that the Gladiators had was quickly quashed as Redcar hit back in heat 11 as Klindt won, and with Lambert 3rd, victory was all but assured.
Heat 12 saw Mulford continue on his merry way with a win, but with Whalley passing Pijper on the run to the line, Redcar were denied another 5-1, instead having to settle for their 5th 4-2 of the fixture.
After the evergreen Nicholls took the win in a shared heat 13, the Bears brought up their half century in heat 14 as Scott won, and with Mulford holding off Plymouth guest Tate Zischke for 2nd, the Bears had made a statement to the rest of the Cab Direct Championship.
The final race of the night saw Nicholls continue to impress with a tapes to flag win, but with Thompson 4th, the Gladiators could not finish with a heat advantage. All in all, redcar proved too consistent across the evening, and Plymouth simply had no answer.
Plymouth Gladiators = 34
- Chris Harris (G) = 3
- Joe Thompson = 6+1
- Daniel Klima = 1
- Tate Zischke (G) = 4
- Scott Nicholls = 16
- Ryan Ingram (G) = 2
- Ben Whalley = 2
Redcar Bears = 56
- Nicolai Klindt = 14+1
- Simon Lambert = 8+2
- Jake Mulford = 8+3
- Jake Allen (R/R)
- Jason Edwards = 11+2
- Ace Pijper = 6
- Jody Scott = 9+1