Final Update of the Season - Sunday 25th January 2004.
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NO LUCK FOR KIRSTEN.
Jan Kirsten had absolutely no luck while representing Pirates in todays Superleague Riders Championship at Coventry. Two race wins and a second, in three completed races, for the World Champion saw him finish 7th but his other two races could easily have seen him take Lee Jarman to a run off for the title.
An engine failure when challenging Jarman for the lead in heat 6 was bad enough but heat 20 showed how out of luck the Main Dane was. He was leading by a distance entering the 4th lap and looked set to finish on 11 points and a run off for third when a chain snapped and sent him tumbling out of the race. Had he completed both he would have had 13 points.
A disappointed Kirsten said, 'Well done to Jarmo, he was the best rider on the day and showed why so many clubs will be after him in the close season.'
'I was just unlucky today. The engine failure robbed me of 2 points and the heat 20 fall was unavoidable. It's been one of those days.'
Meanwhile, Mark Parmar, Pirates' big close season signing, took advantage of Kirsten's fall to grab a run off slot. However, Jesper Kroger gated and made all to take the final podium slot.
Earlier Karl Sweeney had given the Pirates' fans something to cheer when he put in a superb showing in the YDLRC. An opening win followed by 4 second places saw him line up in a 3 way run off for 2nd/3rd/4th in the championship. An excellent gate saw Sweeney take the runners up spot, behind Paul Clarke of Wisbech, while Aisha's Stacey Grant took the final podium place ahead of John King (Huntingdon).
Kevin Tantrum said, 'This is the reason Karl is included in the starting 7 next season. He has shown tremendous progress and deserves the recognition. We hope he goes on to bigger and better things with the Pirates in the coming seasons.'