RAMPANT Poole Pirates slapped Coventry with six of the best as a sextet of consecutive maximums instigated a 60-29 thrashing of Coventry.

Much like last month’s Elite Shield home leg, Pirates endured a tricky start but having levelled matters in heat five, falls for Chris Harris and then Krzysztof Kasprzak handed the hosts a 5-0 from which they seldom looked back.

The remarkable run had club statisticians thumbing the record books for the last time the feat had been achieved with Poole’s nine maximums overall surpassing the eight they registered against Leicester in 2014 by the end of the night.

Hans Andersen finished in the top two in each of his five races and reserve Adam Ellis again clocking up a paid maximum as Poole mercilessly put to the sword a side widely touted as a play-off rival.

The visitors were without winter recruit Kacper Woryna due to a hand injury. The Bees opted to use rider replacement, while the hosts tracked their full one-to-seven.

Pirates got off to a terrible start from the gate in heat one but Chris Holder did at least rein in Jason Garrity to prevent a Coventry maximum.

Ex-Poole star Kasprzak took the chequered flag in 58.69 seconds, the fastest time around Wimborne Road since 2012.

But Poole hit back in the opening reserve heat when Ellis flew out of the traps and Kyle Newman held off an early charge from James Sarjeant to put Poole in front with a first 5-1 of the night.

Coventry took advantage of gates one and three again in heat three but Andersen managed to nudge his way past Danny King on the first two bends.

The Dane then pushed Harris, the scorer of 13 points when he visited Dorset in the Elite Shield last month, all the way but the visitors levelled the scores at 9-9.

Matters got no better for with Krzysztof Buczkowski and Newman appearing to get in each other’s way and while the Pole almost passed Garrity, Bees moved four points ahead.

Not to be outdone, Brady Kurtz made up for a sluggish opener by holding his nerve around the first bend before playing the support role as Ellis enjoyed another cruise to victory and kick off Poole’s match-winning run.

No quarter was given in a blistering start to heat six but Harris fell having been passed by Buczkowski on the inside and the British Grand Prix star was excluded.

Kasprzak then went full throttle in the re-run but appeared to either get too close to the edge of the track or hit a divot and his bike flew up in the air.

Thankfully, he returned unscathed and after a track inspection, Watt and Buczkowski completed a 5-0.

Heat seven was almost as routine but Holder had to whizz up the inside to take second behind Andersen having been trapped between King and Sarjeant.

Buczkowski took heat eight from the gate while Newman flew round the outside and just about kept Garrity’s brave effort at bay to increase to 13 points the advantage.

Kurtz got caught up with Bates on the first turn, suffering a hefty fall but when all four returned to tapes, he produced the ride of the night.

Despite Coventry gating, the Australian prodigy steamed through the middle of his opponents by the end of turn two and refused to beaten in Poole’s fifth straight maximum.

Captain Watt then fought back from his recent dip in form to hold off Kasprzak, who was on a tactical ride, and support winner Andersen to all but end the contest with five heats to spare.

The gold rush ended in heat 11 when Holder, trying to protect the flying Kurtz, succumbed to pressure from Harris in the battle for second but Poole confirmed victory with a 4-2.

Ellis took the second reserve heat from the gate and Newman’s never-say-die attitude just proved enough to pinch second from Bates in a breathtaking dash to the line.

After a nip-and-tuck start, Harris powered to victory in heat 13 ahead of Andersen and Holder as Poole finally decided to share some points with their bruised opponents.

Watt led the way in heat 14 with Buczkowski fighting back to register a ninth maximum of the night for the Pirates ahead of an academic nominated heat.

It was left to Andersen to complete another memorable night against his former employers ahead of Harris and Garrity.

RIDER OF THE NIGHT - Brady Kurtz

A breathtaking comeback just after a hefty fall handed up-and-coming Kurtz the plaudits. 

The youngster may not have registered the most points in an emphatic triumph but the manner in which he raced following the tumble, later flying away from Krzysztof Kasprzak, had an air of Aussie defiance about it. 

Adam Ellis again looked too good for a reserve berth with a paid maximum, while Hans Andersen’s step up to number five was effortless. 

RIDER SCORES AND HEAT DETAILS

PIRATES 60: 1 Chris Holder (2-2*-1-1*) 6+2, 2 Brady Kurtz (0-2*-3-3-0) 8+1, 3 Davey Watt (0-3-2*-3) 8+1, 4 Krzysztof Buczkowski (1-2*-3-2*) 8+2, 5 Hans Andersen (2-3-3-2-3) 13, 6 Adam Ellis (3-3-2*-3) 11+1, 7 Kyle Newman (2*-0-2*-2*) 6+3. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

COVENTRY 29: 1 Krzysztof Kasprzak (3-f/dq-1-0) 4, 2 Jason Garrity (1-2*-1-1-0-1*) 6+2, 3 Danny King (1-1-0-0) 2, 4 Rider replacement, 5 Chris Harris (3-f/dq-2-3-2) 10, 6 James Sarjeant (1-0-0-1-0) 2, 7 Josh Bates (0-3-0-0-1-1) 5. Team manager: Gary Havelock.

Ht 1: Kasprzak, Holder, Garrity, Kurtz, 58.69 (2-4).

Ht 2: Ellis, Newman, Sarjeant, Bates, 59.59 (7-5).

Ht 3: Harris, Andersen, King, Watt, 59.90 (9-9).

Ht 4: Bates, Garrity, Buczkowski, Newman, 60.31 (10-14).

Ht 5: Ellis, Kurtz, Garrity, Sarjeant, 60.12 (15-15).

Ht 6: Watt, Buczkowski, Kasprzak (f/dq), Harris (f/dq) 60.75 (20-15).

Ht 7. Andersen, Holder, King, Sarjeant, 60.72 (25-16).

Ht 8: Buczkowski, Newman, Garrity, Bates, 59.21 (30-17).

Ht 9: Kurtz, Ellis, Sarjeant, Bates, 60.85 (35-18).

Ht 10: Andersen, Watt, Kasprzak (t/r), Garrity, 61.00 (40-19).

Ht 11: Kurtz, Harris, Holder, King, 61.10 (44-21).

Ht 12: Ellis, Newman, Bates, Sarjeant, 61.57 (49-22).

Ht 13: Harris, Andersen, Holder, Kasprzak, 60.88 (52-25).

Ht 14: Watt, Buczkowski, Bates, King, 61.40 (57-26).

Ht 15: Andersen, Harris, Garrity, Kurtz, 60.75 (60-29).