REPORT: Poole Pirates v Plymouth Gladiators

Poole accomplished their mission of finishing top of the 2026 SGB Cab Direct Championship ahead of the play-offs with three heats to spare.

Most supporters in the packed grandstand would have been on the edge of their seats as they watched William Cairns defying every prod and poke that Plymouth's guest Troy Batchelor made throughout the heat and then Richard Lawson mounted a very strong challenge off the final turn in an attempt to influence the magnitude of Poole's opening heat advantage, but Batchelor was resolute in splitting the Poole pair. More action followed in heat two as Kyle Newman and Anze Grmek went wheel to wheel down the backstraight. Newman was able to edge ahead and then ensured he closes out his opponents' options. All this before Slater Lightcap set out on the prowl and stole second place withing touching distance of the flag. Ben Barker showed real speed as he left off turn 2 and blitzed by both Pirates but Lewis Kerr was hungry for a win and fought back with a super move to go by and give Poole another heat gain. Danny King and Zach Cook were level for the first three turns of heat four, before Cook stamped his authority on the proceedings and won comfortably, whilst Newman remained unchallenged by Grmek as Plymouth's reserve switch yielded no gain. Amazingly, in heat five, Rushed was virtually forced to produce the cut back mid first turn, and he did it exquisitely before roaring off in the distance. Kerr was fending off Batchelor and after a couple of attacks from the Aussie, Kerr secured second. (22-8)

In recent weeks, Poole fans had been denied the post race blast of Rocketman, but Lawson made sure it was spinning on the DJ's decks as he was absolutely wheel perfect in heat six and had Cairns backing him up, despite King doing his best to keep him honest. The shuffling of reserves once again cosmetic. The Pirates had gone six heats without recording a last place, but the duck went to Slater Lightcap  in heat 7, although he deserved points of effort, Klima countering he is every move. There was no damage done though, as Cook was in control of proceedings, but every move Lightcap made was well countered by Klima. Newman rode a tight kerb at turn one in heat eight and secured the best line out of the turn to assume the lead. Cairns came through from the back,  passing both Gladiators down the back straight only to be pegged back around the south bend. He kept plugging away and eventually picked off Grmek on the final turn for a 4-2. Plymouth eventually scored something from their changes, as tactical substitute  Batchelor was backed up all the way by King for their first heat advantage - a full 5-1 over Rushen and a tailed off Kerr. Lawson won heat ten at a canter, Cairns recovering from dipping quite low as he attacked the first turn to secure third place (39-21).

Cook, already with two wins under his belt, produced another fine win beating Batchelor in the process in heat eleven. Behind them Lightcap seemed to be toying with Thompson but was able to secure the 4-2 which meant Poole could not be beaten. A solid ride from Kerr to take heat twelve comfortably and with Newman into third place to convert it into another heat advantage, mathematically meant that it was mission accomplished, three leagues points were in the bag. That fact did not stop Cook riding like a demon to protect his maximum as he kept lining Batchelor up, saving the moment to the final lap to slip by for win number four.  

Lightcap was lightyears clear as he stormed out the gate in heat fourteen but the applause was shared with Rushen as he had reeled-in Barker with some fashion. 

Cook again wound the elastic band up, lap by lap, then released it on back straight of lap four to blast by Batchelor for his 15 point maximum.

POOLE 59
Richard Lawson 1,3,3,1=8 (4)
William Cairns 3,2',1,1=7+1 (4)
Lewis Kerr 3,2',0,3,0=8+1 (5)
Cooper Rushen 1,3,1,2'=7+1 (4)
Zach Cook 3,3,3,3,3=15 (5)
Slater Lightcap 2',0,1,3=6+1 (4)
Kyle Newman 3,1,3,1=8 (4)

PLYMOUTH 31
Troy Batchelor 2,1,3,2,2,2=12 (6)
Joe Thompson 0,0,2,0=2 (4)
Daniel Klima 0,1',0,2=3+1 (4)
Ben Barker 2,2,2,1,1'=8+1 (5)
Danny King 2,1,2',0=5+1 (4)
Anze Grmek 1,0,RS,0,TS,0=1 (4)
Ben Whalley 0,RS,0,RS,0=0 (3)

Ht 1:  W.Cairns, T.Batchelor, R.Lawson, J.Thompson 4-2 4-2 [60.72]
Ht 2:  K.Newman, S.Lightcap, A.Grmek, B.Whalley 5-1 9-3 [61.38]
Ht 3:  L.Kerr, B.Barker, C.Rushen, D.Klima 4-2 13-5 [61]
Ht 4:  Z.Cook, D.King, K.Newman, A.Grmek 4-2 17-7 [60.52]
Ht 5:  C.Rushen, L.Kerr, T.Batchelor, J.Thompson 5-1 22-8 [61.18]
Ht 6:  R.Lawson, W.Cairns, D.King, B.Whalley 5-1 27-9 [61.25]
Ht 7:  Z.Cook, B.Barker, D.Klima, S.Lightcap 3-3 30-12 [61.39]
Ht 8:  K.Newman, J.Thompson, W.Cairns, A.Grmek 4-2 34-14 [62.53]
Ht 9:  T.Batchelor, D.King, C.Rushen, L.Kerr, A.Grmek [Tac Subbed] 1-5 35-19 [61.89]
Ht 10:  R.Lawson, B.Barker, W.Cairns, D.Klima 4-2 39-21 [61.82]
Ht 11:  Z.Cook, T.Batchelor, S.Lightcap, J.Thompson 4-2 43-23 [615]
Ht 12:  L.Kerr, D.Klima, K.Newman, A.Grmek 4-2 47-25 [61.97]
Ht 13:  Z.Cook, T.Batchelor, R.Lawson, D.King 4-2 51-27 [61.78]
Ht 14:  S.Lightcap, C.Rushen, B.Barker, B.Whalley 5-1 56-28 [61.86]
Ht 15:  Z.Cook, T.Batchelor, B.Barker, L.Kerr 3-3 59-31 [61.96]
SGB Referee Mr Willie Dishington 

Meeting reaction

Photo credit: Tony Hartmann & Liam Cockwell