Gladiators hopeful that Covatti will ride at Poole
PLYMOUTH Gladiators boss Garry May says he has a Plan B to fall back on if number one Nico Covatti is still not ready to get back in the saddle for the club at Poole Pirates tonight.
The 35-year-old is yet to represent the club after suffering a nasty fall at the start of the year back in his Argentinian homeland which left him with a broken arm and leg. Covatti’s first attempt at a comeback came in April, but he was clearly struggling and advised to give in another couple of weeks.
Yesterday, he was back on the bike and competed in the SGP qualifier in Absenberg, Germany, with May keeping everything crossed that his second coming was a success and he would be fit to go again at Poole tonight. But if he doesn’t, then Drew Kemp is on standby for both tonight’s meeting and Saturday’s return fixture against the Pirates.
Speaking before that meeting, in which Covatti scored five points in his first four rides, but did not start his fifth and final race, May said: “I am keeping everything crossed that Nico comes through Absenburg and he’ll be with me on Wednesday. That’s my plan.
“He went back to the doctor and the doctor said give it two more weeks so that tied in with the GP qualifier in Absenburg, so Nico said: ‘I’m riding that, I’ve got a flight booked, can someone pick me up from Gatwick on Tuesday and get me to Poole, I’ll do my bikes, I’ll ride for you on Wednesday,’ so that’s the plan.
“Hopefully, it goes alright and Nico will be here and then this time tomorrow, I’ll go round to where he is and see him and hopefully he’s there doing the bikes!
“He can only bring one engine at the moment, so he’s only going to have one bike, but he’ll just jump on anything else, or whatever, and then, when he flies in next time, he’ll bring the other engine with him and will hopefully be sorted.
“He is walking normally, he said his leg is fine, he said it’s just my arm, the broken bit. He sent me pictures and it looked like the clamp he had there holding the bone together come apart when he rode at Longigo, but he’s been practicing and sent me a message saying: ‘I’m all good Gaz, I’m all good, I hope to be with you Tuesday.”
The fact Covatti didn’t take his fifth race and had two retirements in Germany may be of concern to May, though, but speaking of his Plan B, he said: “I’ve got Drew Kemp as a standby guest for Wednesday and Saturday.
But I am hoping Nico is going to make it and I’m going to make a phone call to Drew and say: ‘Sorry about that, we don’t need you, but thank you!’ That’s a phone call I want to make.”
Of course, Poole is a meeting where May loves to do well given it is where he lives now, but he also knows that it is between the Pirates and the Gladiators for that semi-final spot in the BSN Series.
Oxford are the third team in their group and they have completed their fixtures, finishing with four points. So whoever wins the bonus point between Plymouth and Poole will finish top of the group and qualify for the semi-finals.
“We just got to go for everything,” May said. “All the boys are riding well and we’re still without our number one.
“We had a little blip at home against Workington but we just didn’t gate that night. The boys went away over the weekend, at Edinburgh and Berwick, and they rode brilliantly. It was a fantastic, especially to win away and then only losing by five at Berwick… it is what it is, isn’t it? But the boys are going really well.”
Poole Pirates: Richard Lawson, Tobias Thomsen, Tom Brennan, Zach Cook, Ben Cook, Sam Hagon, Max Perry.
Plymouth Gladiators: Nico Covatti/Drew Kemp, Alfie Bowtell, Dan Thompson, Kyle Newman, Ben Barker, Joe Thompson, Jacob Hook.