INTERVIEW: Hat-trick hero Cossar eyes national title after third successive win at King's Lynn - The Rugby Observer

INTERVIEW: Hat-trick hero Cossar eyes national title after third successive win at King's Lynn

Rugby Editorial 20th Jul, 2017   0

SIDECAR SPEEDWAY: UNSTOPPABLE Mark Cossar won his third consecutive round of the British Sidecar Speedway Championships at King’s Lynn on Friday night to put himself in control of the championship with one round remaining.

The Rugby ace, partnered with passenger Carl Blyth, has set himself up perfectly for the final showdown at Manchester’s Belle Vue Stadium on Saturday, October 14.

The venue, which opened last year, is a purpose-built speedway venue and has already hosted some of the world’s greatest speedway events – including last year’s Speedway World Cup Final.

Cossar used his experience of the King’s Lynn raceway to ‎full effect, looking every inch a champion as he sailed through his heats without incident.




Despite this, he was chased hard by Mick Cave and Tris Winterburn while arch rival Rod Winterburn also made the final four.

Rugby’s Gareth Williams just missed out on a slot in the last race – finishing second in the last chance qualifier – in which Tom Cossar produced another encouraging display to finish third.


Speaking to The Observer, Cossar praised the King’s Lynn race surface and said it suited the sidecars perfectly.

He added: “The racing was fast, close, and it suited my style of riding which helped a lot.”

Unlike speedway, Cossar relies on his race partner to balance the bike to enable him to manoeuvre around the corners in a clockwise direction safely.

He added: “Without Carl being in the correct position I can’t steer the bike correctly.

“For example if I raced a wide line and his weight is too far back we’ll gradually head towards the fence. Communication is key.”

It seems the Rugby racer already has plans set on a fourth win in Manchester, though he admitted none of his championship competitors will want to see him win four events on the spin.

He said: “Belle Vue will be a tricky event because no one has raced there yet.

“That obviously means no one has the set-up so the first few races will be interesting to see how people react.

“No one will want to see me win all four rounds apart from myself and the team so we’ll be up against it.

“Between now and then we can use our grasstrack events to prepare – the British Championship is coming up in September so that’s always a goal to aim for.

“There are some fierce rivalries on the track and racing on grass is a lot different despite its obvious similarities.”

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