Championship Pairs and CLRC report: Cheetahs miss out on silverware

SD TIMMO CAR SALES Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies were out of luck in both the Championship Pairs and Championship League Riders’ Championship (CLRC) over the weekend. Sam Masters and Jordan Jenkins finished sixth in the pairs at Workington on Saturday, while Masters missed out on the semi-final at Scunthorpe on Sunday due to countback, after four riders tied on eight points.

However, there was celebration for a couple of riders in the Oxford camp. Spires’ duo Erik Riss and Charles Wright combined to win the pairs for their Cab Direct Championship club, the Redcar Bears.

Riss tangled with Poole’s Lewis Kerr on the opening lap of the final and both riders crashed down. After Kerr’s exclusion, Riss won the re-run, as Bears collected a 6-3 to take their third victory in the competition in four years. Riss took a knock to his shoulder and missed the CLRC.

Jenkins and Masters started with a maximum 7-2 over Scunthorpe, with Masters team-riding and making sure both Steve Worrall and Simon Lambert stayed behind him. In their second outing, Masters won the race, but Glasgow finished second and third, after Chris Harris passed Jenkins for third place, which meant Tigers won the heat by 5-4.

Masters were involved in a battle-royal with Riss in Heat 11, but just lost out, while Jenkins finished last and Redcar took a 6-3.

Masters and Jenkins needed a 6-3 from their final race against Poole to grab a place in the semi-finals, but instead the Pirates took a 7-2 and Cheetahs’ participation in the event came to an end.

In the CLRC on Sunday, Masters won his third outing in Heat 10 to move onto six points after three rides. After a third place in Heat 15, he needed a first or second place from Heat 20 to qualify for the semi-final, but he just missed out in a photo finish to Dan Thompson for second place.

Glasgow’s Chris Harris eventually won the event, after passing Kyle Howarth and Steve Worrall on the opening lap of the final.

The next action at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium sees the first team outing of the season for the SD Timmo Car Sales Oxford Cheetahs powered by County Plumbing Supplies, who host the Scunthorpe Scorpions in the MAXiCab Knockout Cup this Wednesday (April 9) at 7.30pm.

Tickets are on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

CHAMPIONSHIP PAIRS, Workington

Qualifying scores: Glasgow 25 (Kyle Howarth 13, Chris Harris 12), Poole 24 (Lewis Kerr 12, Zach Cook 12), Plymouth 24 (Nicolai Klindt 14, Ben Barker 10), Redcar 20 (Charles Wright 10, Erik Riss 10), Berwick 17 (Drew Kemp 11, Danyon Hume 6), Oxford 16 (Sam Masters 12, Jordan Jenkins 4), Scunthorpe 12 (Steve Worrall 12, Simon Lambert 0), Edinburgh 12 (Kye Thomson 12, Justin Sedgmen 0), Workington 12 (Antti Vuolas 10, Tate Zischke 2).

SEMI-FINAL 1: Redcar 7 Glasgow 2.

SEMI-FINAL 2: Poole 6 Plymouth 3.

FINAL: Redcar 6 Poole 3.

CHAMPIONSHIP LEAGUE RIDERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP, Scunthorpe

Qualifying scores: Steve Worrall 14, Charles Wright 11, Kyle Howarth 10, Chris Harris 9, Richard Lawson 9, Ben Barker 8, Danny King 8, Sam Masters 8, Antti Vuolas 8, Justin Sedgmen 7, Drew Kemp 6, Jake Allen 6, Tate Zischke 5, Simon Lambert 5, Dan Thompson 5, Luke Harrison (res) 1, Kye Thomson 0.

SEMI-FINAL: Howarth, Harris, Lawson, Barker.

FINAL: Harris, Howarth, Worrall, Wright.

PHOTO: Charles Wright and Erik Riss – who both also ride for the BetGoodwin Oxford Spires – after winning the Championship Pairs for Redcar Bears on Saturday afternoon (pic: Dave Payne)