Barker comes out on top in battle of Cornish rivals
CORNISHMEN Ben Barker and Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris were the stars of the show as the Plymouth Gladiators took on the Berwick Bandits, where a hard fought 49-41 win for the home side saw them climb to third place in the Championship standings.
Barker looked a different class as he reeled off four straight wins, while Harris enjoyed three wins and two second places on his return to the Coliseum with the patched-up Bandits.
Replacement rider Erik Riss scored 11+1 as the Gladiators once again benefitted from the Guest facility, while captain Hans Andersen also hit double figures with a ten point return from his four rides.
It was yet another good win for the Gladiators as their push for an end f season play-off place remains on track. But speaking of tracks, the real heroes were promoter Mark Phillips and the track team, who managed to get the meeting on despite heavy rain falling in Plymouth for a couple of hours before the event.
Thankfully, the sun came out at about 5pm and dried the track out sufficiently to get the meeting won and when tapes went up, Plymouth wasted no time in getting points on the board with an opening 4-2 in the first heat with Riss taking the flag and Alfie Bowtell in third.
The next three heats were all drawn – Plymouth winning them all through Ben Morley, who was again impressive in reserve, Barker and Andersen, before Barker and Michael Palm Toft recorded another 4-2 in heat five to give the Gladiators a four-point advantage.
Berwick’s first heat win came in heat six when Ricky Wells was too quick for Riss and Bowtell, who took second and third respectively, before Wells won heat eight where the points were again shared.
However, the damage was really done in heats nine and ten, which both went the way of the Gladiators. Heat nine saw Wells gate well, but he
was soon chased down by Barker and Palm Toft coming out of bend two for the Gladiators to go on and claim the maximum.
Heat ten was arguably the race of the night as Bowtell was slow out of the traps, but he shot up the inside of Kye Thompson on bend two to join his team-mate and again record maximum points for the Gladiators.
That gave the home side a 12-point lead before it was reduced to ten as Harris and Wells recorded a 4-2 – the Bandits’ first heat win of the night but it was swiftly cancelled out as the two Ben’s – Barker and Morley – took a 4-2 heat win.
Harris was a clear winner in heat 13, where the points were again shared to ensure the home side of victory before the visitors finished the nightly strongly taking heat 14 with a 4-2 and in heat 15, in which Barker was left most frustrated.
Harris passed him on the back straight and it looked as though the points would be shared once again on a night where passing moves were in short supply. But as he turned for home in the final lap, Barker’s killswitch went causing his bike to shut down and both teammate Riss and Kye Thompson passed him meaning the margin of victory was eight points when it could have been much more.
“I did the hard work, making the start in heat 15, got myself into second place and the cut-out came out on the last bend, a stone hit it and popped it out, so we will have to change a few things and make sure that doesn’t happen again,” Barker said.
However, the win made it five wins from five meetings at the Coliseum for the Gladiators with Barker adding: “We have to make this place a fortress because no one likes coming here.
“It’s a tight, technical track and Berwick are a good side - on paper as well as riding wise and we did what we had to do to make sure they didn’t get any points.”
The Gladiators are not in action now until May 31 when they host Edinburgh Monarchs and Barker will be glad for the rest after revealing he broke his wrist in last week’s win over Oxford Cheetahs.
“I broke it last week when I was here in heat 15, but we kept that quiet,” Barker said. “It was with Troy Batchelor when I crashed but we kept plugging away, put lots of freeze spray on it and I kept gritting my teeth.
“But I want to keep as busy as I can. The more I’m riding, the better I am, so we will just keep plugging away and getting more meetings.”