KYLE Newman sent out a timely reminder that Pirates’ talent is not just at the top end as he blitzed to a full maximum in the 59-31 hammering of beleaguered Leicester.

With Aussie Grand Prix star Darcy Ward available despite impending disciplinary action from the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), Newman stole the limelight from his skipper with four brilliant rides, eclipsing even the untouchable Josh Grajczonek.

Guest-heavy Leicester had been dealt plenty of bad luck in the lead-up to the fixture and that ill fortune continued into the meeting, with Jason Doyle arriving after heat four and Krzysztof Buczkowski ending the night in hospital with a shoulder injury.

However, none of these factors were of concern to Pirates, who ripped apart their opponents mercilessly and reduced to three points the gap between themselves and leaders King’s Lynn in the Elite League standings.

Reserve Max Clegg was thrown into heat one in place of Doyle and immediately the scale of the visitors’ task became clear.  Grajczonek and Ward flew out from the gate and cruised home untroubled in a race that was to set the tone for the rest of the evening.

The first reserves’ contest was more competitive with former Pirate Ben Hopwood belying the form he showed while at Wimborne Road earlier this season as he finished second behind Newman.

Polish star Maciej Janowski was on easy street next and while Shamek Pawlicki came under pressure from Buczkowski and Lewis Bridger, the latter nearly wiped out his team-mate for the night on the final bend and the 5-1 was preserved.

The formidable recent form of Vaclav Milik continued when he took the chequered flag in a shared heat four, before Doyle finally arrived with his team 17-7 down.

The combined scalp of Janowski and Ward has been a rare sight at Wimborne Road in 2014 but Bridger lowered their colours just that after the interval, although a heat advantage still evaded the Lions.

Doyle spearheaded the continued mini-revival with a thumping victory in his first outing, followed in by Buczkowski, to reduce the home advantage to just six points.

However, normal service was resumed when Newman and Grajczonek squeezed past Mark Lemon out of bend two and bagged a third home maximum.

Tactical rider Bridger was continually blocked off by Pawlicki in a ding-dong battle in heat eight, the Brit unable to use his greater speed to full effect, with Milik’s win ensuring a Poole 5-1.

Newman again found matters far too easy against his fellow reserves as he continued his flawless card in heat nine, putting the hosts 16 points to the good with six heats left.

A frightening bend-three crash involving tactical man Buczkowski and Grajczonek saw the Pole excluded and taken to hospital, and although Bridger was a willing racer in the re-run, he could not get close enough to Grajczonek and Ward.

Janowski was untouchable in heat 11 despite the best efforts of Doyle, before Grajczonek continued his excellent meeting with a third heat win in four outings.

There was another simple maximum for Ward and Janowski  in heat 13 and Newman had the backing of virtually everyone in the stadium in the penultimate contest, delivering in consummate fashion with a fourth race victory.

A fall for Ward in the home straight of the final heat saw matters temporarily take a sombre turn, but the captain was soon up on his feet and the home supporters were able to celebrate an emphatic victory.

Pirates 59: 1 Darcy Ward (2*-1*-2*-3-f) 8+3, 2 Josh Grajczonek (3-2*-3-3) 11+1, 3 Shamek Pawlicki (2*-1-2*-1) 6+2, 4 Vaclav Milik (3-0-3-2*) 8+1, 5 Maciej Janowski (3-2-3-2*-2) 12+1, 6 Benji Compton (1-0-1-0) 2, 7 Kyle Newman (3-3-3-3) 12. Team manager: Neil Middleditch.

Lions 31: 1 Jason Doyle (3-2-1-3) 9, 2 Gino Manzares, guest (1-2-0-2) 5, 3 Lewis Bridger, guest (0-3-1^-1-1) 6, 4 Mark Lemon, guest (0-1-0-1) 2, 5 Krzysztof Buczkowski (1-2*-fx^) 3+1, 6 Ben Hopwood, guest (2-1*-2-1*-0) 6+2, 7 Max Clegg (0-0-0-0-0) 0. Team manager: Norrie Allan.

Ht 1 (re-run):  Grajczonek, Ward, Manzares, Clegg, 60.72 (5-1) 

Ht 2: Newman, Hopwood, Compton, Clegg, 61.10 (9-3)

Ht 3: Janowski, Pawlicki, Buczkowski, Bridger, 61.19 (14-4)

Ht 4: Milik, Manzares, Hopwood, Compton, 60.41 (17-7)

Ht 5: Bridger, Janowski, Ward, Lemon, 59.44 (20-10)

Ht 6: Doyle, Buczkowski, Pawlicki, Milik, 60.50 (21-15)

Ht 7: Newman, Grajczonek, Lemon, Clegg, 61.38 (26-16)

Ht 8: Milik, Pawlicki, Bridger (tac), Manzares, 61.19 (31-17)

Ht 9 (re-run): Newman, Hopwood, Compton, Clegg, 61.50 (35-19) 

Ht 10 (re-run): Grajczonek, Ward, Bridger, Buczkowski, 61.50 (tac, fell/dsq) (40-20)

Ht 11: Janowski, Doyle, Pawlicki, Lemon, 60.63 (44-22)

Ht 12: Grajczonek, Manzares, Hopwood, Compton, 61.41 (47-25)

Ht 13: Ward, Janowski, Doyle, Hopwood, 61.03 (52-26)

Ht 14: Newman, Milik, Lemon, Clegg, 61.06 (57-27)

Ht 15: Doyle, Janowski, Bridger, Ward (fell/dsq), awarded (59-31)

ECHO STAR RIDER – KYLE NEWMAN

Not likely to be the strongest set of reserves that Newman will race against this season, but to notch up a full maximum from a bottom-two position was no mean feat.

The Poole-raised charger was rarely given anything to worry about by the Lions but certainly deserved his 12 points thanks to some rapid gates.

Newman has found the form he showed early in 2014 and seems to have cracking speed in every meeting.

Special mention goes to Josh Grajczonek, not beaten by an opposition rider on his way to 11 paid 12.