Workington Comets number one Connor Bailey collected his first win at Championship level last night.
The young Australian helped Redcar Bears to a 52-38 win at Birmingham in the BSN Series Northern group.
Although picking-up no points from his first two rides Bailey got to grips with the track by splitting two home riders in heat eight for Redcar’s two points.
Then in his final outing he raced ahead from the gate and was followed home by guest Richard Lawson to earn a 5-1 for the Bears.
Ex-Workington Comets rider Lawson proved a successful guest in the West Midlands, scoring 13+1 as he stood in for the unwell Erik Riss. Charles Wright, another ex-Comet scored nine.
Craig Cook, a former Workington number one, top-scored for Edinburgh last night in their 54-36 KO Cup defeat at Oxford despite being involved in a horror crash.
In heat four Oxford’s Lewis Kerr collided with Cook on the last bend with both riders falling heavily and Kerr being flung into the air.
Although both remarkably walked away, the home star was withdrawn with concussion.
Cook continued after the crash with Kerr and totalled 12 for the visitors, who now face an uphill task in Friday’s second leg.
Cook said: “The old saying is you need to pull the finger out, and we might need to pull two or three out on Friday.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do, but the boys are capable of doing it and we need to get the heads down and focus on Friday.”
