A look ahead to Good Friday

In just six weeks time, Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates will take their first steps in defending the BSN Series title as they host the Oxford Cheetahs in the first of the Group fixtures.

Poole's meeting on Friday 29th March (7.30pm) will be a re-match of the fixture fifty one weeks previous when the Pirates recorded a convincing 57-33 victory, an occasion when the three retained Poole riders for 2024 - Richard Lawson, Zach Cook and Ben Cook accumulated thirty one of those fifty seven points between them.

In response, Sam Masters top scored for the visitors with a six-ride fifteen point haul, a tally that the Aussie went on to match when he returned for the Knockout Cup semi-final leg in June, when Poole ran out 52-38 victors, before adding a bonus point to the fifteen race points when the Cheetahs visited in August for their SGB Cab Direct Championship fixture, which Poole also won 51-39.

Across those three meetings the two Cooks and Lawson accumulated more than fifty percent of Poole's race points - 2024 number one Richard Lawson responsible for 31 (plus two bonus), newly installed skipper Ben Cook claiming 28 (and five bonus) and Zach 24 (plus four) - which leaves Poole promoter Dan Ford optimistic about getting the Pirates' season off to a good start.

"There is no doubt that Sam scores freely enough here at Wimborne Road, his performances last season are a testimonty to that, but if you look at those meetings at Wimborne Road we had the upper hand over Oxford on all three occasions, and as the figures show our returning trio were responsible for more than half the team's points. With our other four riders - Tom (Brennan), Tobias (Thomsen), Sam (Hagon) and Max (Perry) - all on debut on and keen to get their season's off to a good start, I believe we can go into this opening fixture with plenty of confidence and make it truly 'Good' Friday for us."