JOSH Pickering became the first Scunthorpe rider to win the second division riders' championship when he went through the card in Saturday night's showpiece at Sheffield.
The Australian, a red-hot favourite given his dominance of the Cab Direct Championship in 2026, lived up to the billing with a flawless performance. The Scorpions' No. 1 rattled up a 15-point maximum in the qualify heats to cruise through to the final on his home Premiership track and defeated defending champion Chris Harris of Glasgow, Poole's Zach Cook and Oxford's Sam Masters, who had dropped his only point to Pickering in Heat 4, in the deciding race. Pickering said: “I’m very pleased, I’m happy; it’s obviously what I came here to do, but to execute it is another thing. “In the Final, I knew Bomber (Harris) was coming off gate four and I knew it was going to be tight in that first corner. “Bomber had the right run and he made the right decision in the first turn, but also credit to him for leaving me just enough room to sneak through, and that was enough to get the job done. “I’m really pleased for everyone at Scunthorpe, especially those who came to watch me. I even had people from Edinburgh cheering for me and of course for the Sheffield fans who made a lot of noise for me too.”
