Stoke 42 Redcar 54 

STOKE Easy Rider Potters went down to their second home defeat of the season as the Redcar Bears took all four points on offer as they took a 54-42 victory in the Premier Trophy at Loomer road last night.

 The Potters provided only six heat winners during the fifteen heats with Jason Bunyan and Taylor Poole gaining five heat victories between them as they scored twenty nine of Stoke’s forty two points, in a meeting where the Potters had too many riders  out of sorts with James Holder and Gary Irving failing to score a point between them. 

Stoke team manager Malcolm Vasey said “It was a poor performance from us tonight I expected a lot more after putting up a good display at Scunthorpe on Friday where we gained an away point, now everything we did on Friday has been undone by what can only be described as an inept performance. We were chasing the meeting tonight right from heat one after Jason suffered an engine problem, some riders are finding drive and some aren’t yet Jason and Taylor are able to find drive and pass riders. This is our fourth meeting and our fourth defeat and everyone here at the club is concerned and when you are losing at home by a dozen or more points and you’ve got maximum points from tactical rides you have to look at the riders that are not performing and we will be doing so. The riders are back here for a practice on Tuesday and Hynek Stichauer is having a spin out at Birmingham on Wednesday as well. I despair at how we have performed tonight compared to last night and I can only apologise to the supporters for our performance tonight as it was just not acceptable. ” 

Redcar took the lead in heat one after Jason Bunyan suffered an engine failure while comfortably in second place allowing Redcar’s number one Gary Havelock to take victory with lone Potter Michal Rajkowski taking second and Tomas Suchanek of the Bears third giving the Bears a 4-2 lead.

 The Bears extended their lead to four points with a 4-2 in heat two after Jan Graversen managed to overhaul youngster Taylor Poole after a couple of laps with former Cradley/Stoke rider Stuart Swales finishing third.

 Things got worse for the Potters in heat three as Redcar opened up an eight point lead with Maks Gregoric and Ben Wilson taking maximum points over Klaus Jakobsen and Gary Irving who was deputising for the still ill Hynek Stichauer to five Redcar a 13-5 lead after just three heats leaving the Potters on the back foot. 

Jan Graversen was disqualified from heat four after he fell on the first turn referee Darren Hartley deeming him to be the primary cause of the stoppage, the Potters pairing of Ricky Wells and Poole on for a maximum heat victory at the time the race was stopped.

In the rerun Wells and Poole made no mistake as they headed home former Potter Emiliano Sanchez who pressurised Poole for the four laps before falling on the final lap to give Stoke maximum points to reduce the deficit to four points as the Potters trail 14-10 after four heats.

 Gary Havelock and Tomas Suchanek restored Redcar’s lead back up to eight points as they took a comfortable maximum heat win over Jakobsen in heat five to give the Bears a 19-11 lead.

 Potters skipper Bunyan sorted out his engine problem in heat one to take a comfortable victory from Bears rider Sanchez with Rajkowski third giving the Potters a 4-2 race win reducing the Bears lead to six points.

 Ben Wilson and Maks Gregoric extended the Bears lead to ten points in heat seven as both Stoke riders came to grief with James Holder falling on the third lap and Wells falling on the final lap Wells getting up to run home for a point as Redcar take maximum points to lead 26-16 at the halfway stage of the meeting.

 Easy Rider Potters boss Malcolm Vasey moves swiftly to introduce reserve Taylor Poole as a tactical ride in heat eight and the teenage sensation duly obliged as he took victory on the line from partner Michal Rajkowski to score a maximum 8-1 heat advantage for the Potters over Suchanek and  Graversen to bring Stoke to within three points of the Bears as the Potters trail 24-27.

 Redcar responded with a maximum 5-1 heat advantage in heat nine from Sanchez and Swales over Poole who has come in to replace Gary Irving with Jakobsen trailing at the back to open up a seven point lead for the Bears after nine races.

 Bunyan missed the gate in heat ten and was left trailing in third place before he picked off both Gregoric and Wilson to take victory but with Rajkowski falling while last the Bears maintained their seven point lead. 

Suchanek and Havelock extended the Bears lead to eleven points as they take first and second to score maximum points over Ricky Wells and James Holder to give Redcar a 29-40 lead with four heats remaining and time running out for the Potters. 

Redcar seal victory with three heats to spare as Wilson and Swales take maximum points in heat twelve over Taylor Poole who is all over Swales but just can’t find a way past Swales to open up a fifteen point lead for the Bears.

 Potters boss Vasey nominated skipper Jason Bunyan as a tactical ride in heat thirteen and the Stoke number one promptly takes victory coming from third to first taking both Sanchez and Bears skipper Gary Havelock coming off turn four at the end of the first lap to gain the Potters a 6-3 heat advantage.

 Aussie youngster Poole replaces Holder in heat fourteen and gains his second victory on the night defeating Gregoric and Graversen for a comfortable victory.

 In heat fifteen the Bears were heading for a maximum 5-1 heat win until the final turn when Ben Wilson seemed to get into trouble Wilson eventually falling right in front of Bunyan causing Bunyan to plough into the stricken Bear. Referee Darren Hartley having no alternative but to disqualify Wilson as the primary cause of the stoppage awarding the race to Havelock with Bunyan second and Rajkowski third for a drawn heat giving the Bears victory by 54-42.

 Skipper Jason Bunyan said “We were just not good enough tonight we need to start winning races and get a winning mentality and we need to start doing that sooner rather than later, yes I accept it will take a few meetings to get dialled into the track with five newcomers to the side but we’ve now had a couple of meetings here and the excuses have got to stop. We have a good bunch of lads here, but tonight we just were not good enough and have to sort ourselves out. We’re all back here for a practice this week and we will be looking to sort things out and get things right.” 

 Stoke 42: Taylor Poole 15+1, Jason Bunyan 14, Michal Rajkowski 6+2, Ricky Wells 5, Klaus Jakobsen 2, Gary Irving 0, James Holder 0

 Redcar 54: Gary Havelock 13+1, Ben Wilson 10+1, Maks Gregoric 8+2, Tomas Suchanek 7+1, Emiliano Sanchez 7+1, Stuart Swales 5+2, Jan Graversen 4+1