Throwback Thursday: Josh grabs dramatic victory
EACH Thursday we will look back at a memorable meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway featuring club legend Josh Auty.
Please come along to the Josh Auty testimonial at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday, March 22nd at 3pm.
JOSH GRABS DRAMATIC VICTORY
SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 47 RYE HOUSE ROCKETS 46 (PREMIER LEAGUE)
HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions staged their own version of The Great Escape to defeat Rye House Rockets by 47-46 in highly dramatic style at the Eddie Wright Raceway last night (Friday), after a sensational Heat 15 ride by Josh Auty.
The Rockets, despite a battered and bruised Simon Lambert pulling out of the meeting after two rides, looked all set to take victory as they moved 38-28 ahead with just four races remaining.
However, this Scunthorpe side never know when they are beaten.
Inspired by a win as a tactical ride by the outstanding Lewis Blackbird in Heat 12, over the previously unbeaten Anders Mellgren, they staged a late, late comeback.
David Howe & Josh Auty put indifferent nights behind them to register a 5-1 in Heat 13 and suddenly there were only three points in it.
Ashley Birks & Lewis Blackbird looked like they could take a further 5-1 in Heat 14, but Tyson Nelson picked up incredible speed around the outside and pipped Blackbird for second place, which meant the Rockets went into Heat 15 with a one-point lead.
The last-heat decider will go down in Scunthorpe folklore. Nelson & Mellgren got out in front, but Birks and then Auty managed to battle past Mellgren. Birks surrendered second place to Auty, but Nelson seemed to have far too much of a lead to be caught. Auty went wide on the second bend of the last lap, then moved to the inside of the third bend, picking up an amazing amount of speed and he went flying inside Nelson. Both riders charged towards the finishing line – Auty on the inside and Nelson on the outside. Auty took the verdict on the line by maybe half a wheel, to send the Scunthorpe fans into raptures.
The Scorpions only led once – coming off the final bend of the final race!
Without the supreme efforts of Blackbird, brought into the Scorpions’ side in early May, it would never have got that far. He scored a career-best Premier League score of 15 paid 17.
Rye House played their full part in the meeting, and will naturally be disappointed to lose after coming so close to victory.
Michael Palm Toft had a low key final meeting for the Scorpions, before making way for new signing Nicolai Klindt. But Michael given a good reception by the Scorpions’ fans on the post-meeting parade, who appreciate the huge contribution he made to the 2012 Premier League championship winning team.
Post-match quotes:
Lewis Blackbird –
“I’m over the moon with the way I rode tonight. I’m over the moon for all the boys really, in that we went and rescued the win. We don’t make it easy on ourselves and it went right the way through to the last race, where Josh (Auty) pulled out something special.
“I had some problems with my clutches in the two meetings for Scunthorpe last weekend, so I went out and spent quite a bit of money on some new ones this week. It’s paid off tonight – because my starts were perfect. It was great to fly out of the gate in my tactical ride to win that (beating the previously unbeaten Anders Mellgren).”
Josh Auty –
“These last heat deciders are getting a bit tense – I said to the boys we need to stop having to do this every week!
“The main objective is to win the meeting and we’ve done that. We’ve just got to keep pushing on, and keep scoring points. We still have a firm belief that we can make the play-offs. With hard work, we can get there.
“I’m a fighter and I never know when I’m beaten, and I think that showed in Heat 15, when I came from last to snatch the win on the line. But if I want to improve as a rider, I do realise I need to improve my gating.
“I wasn’t having a good night to begin. My carburettor flooded out during Heat 1, and then I crashed in my second. But I dug deep and did what I needed at the end.
“Our standout performer tonight was Lewis Blackbird without a doubt. He produced a really good ride with the black & white helmet on to beat Anders Mellgren. Anders is a tough customer – he finished second in the PLRC last year. But Lewis pulled the cat out of the bag and beat him. Lewis is working hard, getting his just rewards, and it’s always good to see a British rider progressing through the ranks. “
Ashley Birks (Scorpions’ skipper) –
“I guess we really should have won by more points and taken the third point out of it as well.
“But we were all out there trying our hardest. We all wanted it, we didn’t give up, and we ended up getting the win.
“In that final race, I let Josh go on the final lap, because he’s the guy to do the big moves likes that. It didn’t quite go to the original plan we had, but we got the 4-2 that we needed to win the match. It was very close, but that’s what fans pay to see, and I hope it was exciting for everyone.
“I’ve had a great week with some big scores at Elite League level. I’m happy; I just want to keep this ball rolling and keep the momentum going.”
Dave Peet (Scorpions’ team manager) –
“We were looking at the final few races, and it became clear we had to maximise Lewis Blackbird’s number of rides in the closing stages of the meeting, because Lewis was having a great night.
“We used the reserves accordingly, and it ended up turning the tide in our favour. Lewis had gone into Heat 11 and didn’t make a bad start off gate 3, but got beat up a little bit. When we put him out as a tactical ride in Heat 12 off the same gate, he knew where to start from, flew out of the gate and beat Anders Mellgren.
“Those six points got us back into the meeting. David (Howe) and Josh (Auty) then got their act together in Heat 13, which brought even closer. Ash (Birks) & Lewis almost got us a 5-1 in Heat 14, but the 4-2 meant the momentum stayed in our favour going into Heat 15.
“Josh’s ride in Heat 15 is what people pay to come and see. We knew Tyson Nelson was going off gate 4 and he’d be scraping the fence all the way around. The boys had a plan. They both got past Anders Mellgren, and then Ash made sure he took third, while Josh charged on to win the race.
“I can’t fault Michael Palm Toft for effort, but he has had a tough time of it. With Nicolai Klindt coming in for Michael, we really need to push on and pick some points up away from home. We have eight away meetings during the rest of July and August – how we perform in those meetings is going to decide our season.”
Full scorers:
Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions 47 – Josh Auty 8+2 (5), Thomas Jørgensen 6 (4), Michael Palm Toft 1 (3), Ashley Birks 10 (5), David Howe 6 (4), Ryan Douglas 1 (3), Lewis Blackbird 15+2 (6) (including 6-point tactical ride).
Rye House Rockets 46 – Josh Grajczonek 7+2 (4), Jason Bunyan 5 (4), Anders Mellgren 11 (5), Tyson Nelson 9+2 (5), Pontus Aspgren 5 (4), Kasper Lykke 7+3 (6), Simon Lambert 2+1 (2).
1: Grajczonek, Jorgensen, Auty, Bunyan, 55.97 (3-3) (3-3).
2: (Re-run) Blackbird, Lykke, Lambert, Douglas (fell, excluded), no time – awarded (3-3) (6-6).
3: Mellgren, Nelson, Toft, Birks (ret), 58.81 (1-5) (7-11).
4: (Re-run) Howe, Blackbird, Lambert, Aspgren (fell, excluded), 58.97 (5-1) (12-12).
5: Birks, Bunyan, Grajczonek, Toft (ret), 58.13 (3-3) (15-15).
6: (Re-run) Aspgren, Lykke, Jorgensen, Auty (fell, excluded), 57.85 (1-5) (16-20).
7: Mellgren, Nelson, Douglas, Howe (ret), 58.34 (1-5) (17-25).
8: Jorgensen, Blackbird, Lykke, Bunyan, 58.08 (5-1) (22-26).
9: Birks, Aspgren, Lykke, Toft, 58.10 (3-3) (25-29).
10: Mellgren, Auty, Nelson, Jorgensen, 57.82 (2-4) (27-33).
11: Bunyan, Grajczonek, Blackbird, Howe, 58.18 (1-5) (28-38).
12: BLACKBIRD (TR), Mellgren, Lykke, Douglas, 58.00 (6-3) (34-41).
13: Howe, Auty, Grajczonek, Aspgren, 57.94 (5-1) (39-42).
14: Birks, Nelson, Blackbird, Lykke, 58.41 (4-2) (43-44).
15: Auty, Nelson, Birks, Mellgren, 58.47 (4-2) (47-46).
