Big night for King’s Lynn Stars’ Grand Prix hopefuls
Recent King's Lynn Stars signing Craig Cook was in fine form in Glasgow Picture: Ian Burt - Credit: Archant
King's Lynn Stars pair Craig Cook and Robert Lambert are now both just five races from booking their places in the world's elite after a fine night in Glasgow.
New recruit Cook romped to a 15-point maximum to win the Grand Prix Qualifier at Ashfield while Lambert dropped only three points to finish fourth overall.
Both now go into the Grand Prix Challenge in Croatia later this year in a bid to go full-time into the GP series.
Cook admitted: "It's job done really. It was always going to be a tough night but I did what I had to do.
"I'm delighted the way it went. I had to make a few passes. But I managed to get the results I needed.
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"Okay, I'm just five rides away but that's still a big job in Croatia later in the year.
"But for now this is all I needed to do and I'll go again when needed. I've made no secret of the fact I want my place back in the Grand Prix series. That's my goal for this season. So I'm halfway there now."
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Cook passed Hans Andersen in the opening race and was simply unstoppable thereafter.
Lambert was his usual swashbuckling self all night and was unlucky not to finish in the top three.
He won his opening two races in ultra-quick style but then lost out to surprise packet Pontus Aspgren. Then he looked set to pass former team-mate Niels-Kristian Iversen before the Dane ruthlessly shut the door on him coming off the fourth bend.
But Lambert secured his qualifying place by finishing second behind Cook in a crucial heat 20, relegating former world champion Chris Holder to third.
Iversen finished runner-up after beating Swedish shock merchant Aspgren in a run-off.
Lambert said: "Tonight was just about getting through to the Challenge. I'm happy to have come through this round and now we can focus on the next one when it comes around."
Scorers: Craig Cook 15, Niels-Kristian Iversen 13, Pontus Aspgren 13, Robert Lambert 12, Chris Holder 11, Nico Covatti 11, Broc Nicol 9, Tero Aarnio 7, Bartosz Smektala 6, Ondrej Smetana 6, Jacob Thorsell 5, Kyle Bickley (reserve) 3, Glenn Moi 3, Dimitri Berge 2, Hans Andersen 2, Sebastian Niedzwiedz 1, Rohan Tungate 1, Leon Flint (reserve) 0.
