Charles can get it Wright tonight
SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 50 REDCAR BEARS 40 LEICESTER LIONS 51
REDCAR BEARS 39
TEAM manager Gavin Parr is quietly confident Charles Wright and Lewis Kerr can give the Redcar a boost at tonight’s British Final after a disappointing weekend in which the Agilia Bears were eliminated from the Jubilee Trophy.
The Bears, comfortable winners of both home group matches, were defeated twice in 24 hours, 50-40 at Scunthorpe and 51-39 at Leicester, and cannot now progress in the competition.
Wright and Kerr travel to Belle Vue with realistic hopes of a podium place or even a repeat of 2019 when, at the same venue, captain Wright became the only Bears’ second-ever national champion after Gary Havelock, who won the title twice during the early nineties.
“I was very frustrated at Scunthorpe,” said Parr.
“I hate making excuses but the referee rushed the meeting through so quickly.
“He was putting the riders on two minutes before the previous heat’s were off the track and we barely had time to think.
“When you are using rider replacement that adds even more pressure.
“I wanted to use Charles as a tactical substitute in heat nine but he was busy dropping (changing) his oil, which then meant he had to have three rides on the bounce towards the end.”
The meeting in Lincolnshire was held up after a horrific crash which saw Scorpions’ in-form Australian Zaine Kennedy thrown over the perimeter fence and subsequently airlifted by ambulance to hospital.
Parr added: “The awful crash didn’t help - it ended with a break of about three-quarters of an hour, which has t to affect the riders mentally.
“We went into the last race still with a chance of getting a point but Ryan Douglas (Scorpions’ number one) is just about untouchable around his home circuit.
“We recovered after a slow start at Leicester and hopefully that might make them think twice about choosing us in the Championship play-offs as we went eight points down after four heats and only lost another from throughout the rest of the meeting!
“Jason Edwards rode brilliantly after his first ride, Jordan Jenkins got it going towards the end and I’m so happy about the way Kasper Andersen has gone this weekend.”
Leicester have gone through the entire league campaign unbeaten on their own track .
The Bears rarely threatened to trouble that proud record, falling 28-14 behind after just seven races.
Youngsters Edwards and Jenkins achieved a notable Bears 5-1 in the next race and might have closed even further had Kerr not fallen, while on another maximum alongside Wright, in heat nine.
Parr said: “I felt more satisfied after Leicester than the previous night because I really thought we could have gone to Scunthorpe and got a win or even a draw and it just got away from us.
“There’s no reason why Charles can’t be up there among the contenders in the British Final - he rides Belle Vue regularly in the Premiership.
“While if Lewis gets the bit between his teeth, as he did towards the end of the night at Leicester - we could see both of them at least make the semifinals.”
SCUNTHORPE 50 (Ryan Douglas 14+1, Tero Aarnio 12+1, Zaine Kennedy 9+1, James Wright 7+1, Simon Lambert 7, Adam Roynon 1, Rider Replacewment for Jake Allen)
AGILIA BEARS 40 (Charles Wright 13, Lewis Kerr 10, Kasper Andersen 8+2, Jordan Jenkins 5+1, Jason Edwards, Kyle Bickley 2, Rider Replacement for Erik Rees)
LEICESTER LIONS 51 (Nick Morris 11+1, Richie Worrall 11+1, Kyle Howarth 9, Connor Mountain 6, Joe Thompson 6, Dan Thompson 4+1)
AGILIA BEARS 39 (Wright 12+1, Kerr 8+1, Edwrads 5+2, Jenkins 5+2, Andersen 4, Bickley 0, R/R for Riss)