PRESS DAY SNIPPETS

There is a unified feeling amongst the Poole 'Wessex Marine' Pirates that they can go one better in 2026 and secure the league, cup and BSN Treble, although they admitted that their opening fixture of the season will be a real test.

Team manager Neil Middleditch admitted that the Plymouth management have put together their strongest team ever, recalling Scott Nicholls and Joe Thompson, capturing Danny King as well as Tobias Thomsen. All four are riders well known to Poole and so will be a good early gauge for the Poole side that he is more than delighted with.

When asked how he relished nurturing to the two youngest Championship riders in Will Cairns and Cooper Rushen, 'Middlo' quipped that he might have to consider putting a ball pool in the pits for the two lads to play in! But on a more serious note is looking forward to watching their development on track. 

Rushen admitted that he made sure it was written in to his contract that he would be able to wear tassles on his kevlar race suit. "I spoke to my Dad about it and he thought it was a good idea so we took it to Matt and Danny and insisted that my suit could have the tassles. I have worn them since I started racing and it has become part of my image, my brand if you like.

Number one Richard Lawson confessed that he took the BSN Series Final defeat to Redcar hard last season. "It was just one of those meetings for me and it was particularly galling that we lost it at home in from of our own fans. It was in contrast to our league success at Glasgow and that super heat. There will be riders who will never experience that pressure and the sense of satisfaction that we pulled it off. For me, though, it was just a shame that it wasn't achieved here. But we are determined to go again this season. We will just reset and look to bring all three titles back to  Poole.

New recruit Fraser Bowes revealed that he had an incident-packed flight to the UK from his home nation of Australia. 'My first flight was cancelled so I re-booked with Emirates then, on the way over, a drone struck one of the fuel tanks at the airport and it was all a bit scary as we tried to come in to land. But I'm here now and looking forward to be riding for Poole. There's a reason why Aussies like coming to this club as it is a great place to be based, although I haven't had much chance so far to explore the shorelines and the beaches. 

Senior member of the Poole reserves pairing, William Cairns spent some of the winter with former Pirate Greg Hancock in America and stated that Greg was pretty hard on him. "Greg is a great bloke and a terrific mentor. He is hard on me but that is what is needed to become a world champion and I really want to achieve that in my career."

Stand-in replacement Kyle Newman claimed that Dan Ford didn't even need to ask the question about coming in as cover for Dan Gilkes. 'When I saw his number I just said yes straight away, I don't think he even actually asked the question. It's been a bit of rush to try and get everything ready this week but we'll get there. I just need to sort out a mechanic to be honest, but I am looking forward to being back here as a Pirate."

Lewis Kerr is keen to help Poole to more silverware, not least because "as riders it gives us more meetings and a chance to earn more money. But we missed out on the treble last year so I really want to go one better this time around."

Skipper Zach Cook is relishing plenty of heat thirteens and fifteens with Lawson, "I was pretty happy with the way I finished last season so it would be nice to start off here again in the same way. I really just want to keep improving and be there with Rich in the heats thirteen and fifteen and give him the back-up. I'm in Poland full time this year and that is sort of a new thing for me and I would like to cement myself out there too."

There is a unified feeling amongst the Poole Wessex Marine Pirates that they can go one better in 2026 and secure the league, cup, and BSN treble, although they admitted that their opening fixture of the season will be a real test.

Team manager Neil Middleditch acknowledged that the Plymouth management have assembled their strongest team ever, recalling Scott Nicholls and Joe Thompson, and capturing Danny King as well as Tobias Thomsen. All four are riders well known to Poole and will provide a good early gauge for a Poole side he is more than delighted with.

When asked how he relished nurturing the two youngest Championship riders, Will Cairns and Cooper Rushen, Middlo joked that he might have to consider putting a ball pool in the pits for the two lads to play in. On a more serious note, he said he is looking forward to watching their development on track.

Rushen admitted that he made sure it was written into his contract that he would be able to wear tassels on his kevlar race suit. “I spoke to my dad about it and he thought it was a good idea, so we took it to Matt and Danny and insisted that my suit could have the tassels. I’ve worn them since I started racing and it has become part of my image—my brand, if you like.”

Number one Richard Lawson confessed that he took the BSN Series Final defeat to Redcar hard last season. “It was just one of those meetings for me, and it was particularly galling that we lost it at home in front of our own fans. It was in contrast to our league success at Glasgow and that super heat. There will be riders who will never experience that pressure and the sense of satisfaction that we pulled it off. For me, though, it was just a shame that it wasn’t achieved here. But we are determined to go again this season. We’ll reset and look to bring all three titles back to Poole.”

New recruit Fraser Bowes revealed that he had an incident‑packed flight to the UK from his home nation of Australia. “My first flight was cancelled so I re‑booked with Emirates. Then, on the way over, a drone struck one of the fuel tanks at the airport and it was all a bit scary as we tried to come in to land. But I’m here now and looking forward to riding for Poole. There’s a reason why Aussies like coming to this club—it’s a great place to be based—although I haven’t had much chance so far to explore the shorelines and beaches.”

Senior member of the Poole reserves pairing, William Cairns, spent part of the winter with former Pirate Greg Hancock in America and said that Greg was pretty hard on him. “Greg is a great bloke and a terrific mentor. He is hard on me, but that is what is needed to become a world champion, and I really want to achieve that in my career.”

Stand‑in replacement Kyle Newman claimed that Dan Ford didn’t even need to ask the question about coming in as cover for Dan Gilkes. “When I saw his number, I just said yes straight away—I don’t think he even actually asked the question. It’s been a bit of a rush to try and get everything ready this week, but we’ll get there. I just need to sort out a mechanic, to be honest, but I am looking forward to being back here as a Pirate.”

Lewis Kerr is keen to help Poole to more silverware, not least because “as riders it gives us more meetings and a chance to earn more money. But we missed out on the treble last year, so I really want to go one better this time around.”

Skipper Zach Cook is relishing plenty of heat thirteens and fifteens with Lawson. “I was pretty happy with the way I finished last season, so it would be nice to start off here again in the same way. I really just want to keep improving and be there with Rich in heats thirteen and fifteen and give him the back‑up. I’m in Poland full‑time this year and that is a new thing for me, and I’d like to cement myself out there too.”