REDCAR rounded off their home Cab Direct Championship league campaign with an impressive 51-39 victory over the Glasgow Tigers. Redcar’s 12 point success also saw them secure the aggregate point 93-87.
Returning as a guest, Nicolai Klidt hit a paid maximum (11+1) whilst Jody Scott excelled with 13 including a superb heat 15 win whilst Tigers guest Anders Rowe struck 10 for the beaten visitors.
Redcar boss Gavin Parr was happy with his side’s performance. Parr said, “ It was great to finish the league season (at home) with a win, hats off to Glasgow for getting on with things and not complaining when the track was tricky (due to the rain) early on. I’d like to mention Nicolai (Klindt) and Jody (Scott) who were our standout performers in a good home performance.”
The “Agilia” Bears started well as Klindt won comfortably from the gate, and with Jake Mulford 3rd (despite being 2nd in the early stages), the hosts began with a 4-2 heat advantage.
However, the Tigers were not behind for long as they struck a 5-1 in the reserves race as their guest Reid Battye continued his recent impressive form to win, and with Freddy Hodder 2nd, Glasgow bit back with vengeance.
Heat three saw Redcar hit back as Scott won comfortably and with stand-in skipper Jake Allen 2nd when Glasgow guest Drew Kemp crashed, the race was awarded as a 5-1 and the Bears had re-asserted their two point advantage.
Redcar’s momentum looked set to be abruptly halted in heat four as the all-action Battye led comfortably, and with Rowe 2nd entering the last lap, Glasgow looked set to lead again. However, disaster struck for the Australian entering bend 3 as he came down, gifting Redcar a 3-3 when they looked set to fall behind.
Redcar doubled their lead in the next race as Allen won despite Harris fighting his way past Scott and challenging the Redcar man, but with Scott settling in 3rd, the Bears had started in spritely fashion.
After a pair of shared races won by Klindt and Kevin Juhl-Pedersen respectively, Redcar’s lead was stretched to six points in heat eight as Mulford rode a classy opening two bends to win, and with a battling Simon Lambert passing Kemp, Redcar were in command.
Glasgow boss Cameron Brown opted to bring in Harris in as a tactical substitute alongside Rowe but this did not deter Scott as he made an electric gate to win with remarkable ease, nullifying the tactical move even though the Tigers packed the minor placings.
Heat 10 saw Klindt make it a remarkable four wins from four with another comfortable tapes to flag win, but with Mulford 4th, the Bears lead remained at six points and the aggregate scores were level.
Heat 11 saw Sam Hagon hit the deck on the opening bends and the Tigers man was excluded from the re-run. The re-run saw Harris manoeuvre his way past Edwards for the win in the sixth shared race of the evening.
Scott continued his stellar evening with a fantastic heat 12 win, and with Ace Pijper splitting the visitors pairing in 3rd, the “Agilia” Bears were eight ahead and two ahead on aggregate.
Heat 13 saw a superb opening two bends from Edwards who chased the dirt to win, and with Klindt working alongside his teammate to keep Rowe at the back, Redcar had secured the win and the hosts were on the verge of the aggregate point.
Heat 14 saw Allen pass Juhl-Pedersen for the lead, but with Battye tasting the ECCO Arena shale, he was excluded and a re-run was ordered. The re-run saw Juhl-Pedersen win a shared race which secured Redcar all three points on offer.
The final race of the evening saw Scott ride way beyond his years and leave Rowe and ex-GB star Harris in his wake to win a shared heat by the proverbial mile, with the youngster leaving his bike on the start line after the race to run to the supporters on bend one, with fans desperate for a high five from one of Britain’s brightest stars.
Redcar Bears = 51 (93)
1. Nicolai Klindt = 11+1 Paid Max
2. Jake Milford = 4
3. Jody Scott = 13
4. Jake Allen = 7+1
5. Jason Edwards = 9
6. Simon Lambert = 5+3
7. Ace Pijper = 2+1
Glasgow Tigers = 39 (87)
1. Chris Harris = 9+2
2. Sam Hagon = 0
3. Drew Kemp (G) = 4
4. Kevin Juhl Pedersen = 8+1
5. Anders Rowe (G) = 10
6. Freddy Hodder = 3+2
7. Reid Battye (G) = 5