Throwback Thursday: When Josh left Doyley standing!
EACH Thursday we will look back at a memorable meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway featuring club legend Josh Auty.
This week we feature a meeting in which Josh completed a full 15-point maximum against championship rivals Somerset Rebels, taking a hat-trick of victories of Jason Doyle, concluding with a stunning pass on Doyle – who would go on to become World Champion in 2017 – in Heat 15.
The two sides would meet again later in the season in a memorable play-off final: another meeting we will feature in this series!
Please come along to the Josh Auty testimonial at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday, March 22nd at 3pm.
AUTY ON FIRE AS SCORPIONS STING LEAGUE LEADERS
SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 50 SOMERSET REBELS 40 (PREMIER LEAGUE)
Monday, August 27th, 2012
Report: Rob Peasley
JOSH AUTY completed a fantastic weekend, by scoring a fantastic full maximum for the Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions at the Eddie Wright Raceway yesterday afternoon (Bank Holiday Monday), as the Scorpions defeated Premier League leaders, Somerset Rebels, by 50-40.
Auty, fresh from finishing second alongside Thomas Jørgensen in the Premier League Pairs on Friday, and then lining up as non-riding track reserve at Cardiff on Saturday evening, produced a scintillating performance for the Scorpions.
His afternoon started off with a sweep around the outside on the opening lap of Heat 4 to move from fourth to first, and finished with a move from third to first on the third lap of Heat 15, again around the boards. It is his first full maximum of the season, although he did score a paid maximum against Ipswich in July.
Auty’s individual brilliance was backed up by a solid performance by the rest of the Scorpions, as they consolidated their healthy fifth place in the Premier League table. The sixth placed team (Ipswich) are now nine points behind Scunthorpe in the league table, while league leaders Somerset are only five points in front of the Scorpions.
Conditions were a little heavy in the opening few races due to light but steady rain in the run-up to the meeting, but then settled down as the rain petered out.
The Rebels took an early 11-7 lead, but the Scorpions levelled the score at 15-15 after 4-2s in Heats 4 & 5.
Nick Morris was covered in wet shale after a fall on the first turn of Heat 9. But he picked himself up to take a 5-1 alongside Ashley Birks in the re-run as the Scorpions took a 30-24 lead.
The Scorpions clinched the meeting with a 4-2 in Heat 13 from Auty and guest Kevin Wolbert, but the extra league point for winning by 7 points or more still hung in the balance.
Michael Palm Toft grabbed second place on the final lap of Heat 14 by blasting around Tom Perry, and then Auty and Morris secured all three points for the home side with a 4-2 in Heat 15.
Post-match quotes:
Josh Auty –
“Somerset are a tough side; they’ve got Doyley (Jason Doyle), who has been on fire all season. So it was good to beat them. It couldn’t be much better really for me today – the team won, and I scored a maximum.
“I’ve over the moon with getting a full maximum – it’s been coming for a while.
“It’s going well for us at the moment. We look like we’re set to qualify for the play-offs, while Thomas (Jørgensen) and myself finished second in the pairs. We’ve got a young bunch of lads who are hungry to ride bikes and I think it’s now paying off.
“It has been a great weekend for me. It’s difficult to explain the Cardiff experience to anybody. As you go out on the parade (with the air horns blowing and the flags waving), the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
“It makes you think: ‘this is what I want to do’. I realise that if I’m going to get there and ride in the British Grand Prix as a fully-fledged rider, then I’ve got to work very hard.
“But to have a little bit of a taste of it all was awesome. It was nice to be recognised and selected as one of the reserves; I think it was a reward for my whole season. It was a very proud moment, and nice to have my family there. It was an emotional day.”
Ashley Birks (Scorpions’ skipper) –
“It was a good team effort today. All the boys chipped in with points. Josh had a superb meeting with a 15-point maximum, but otherwise the rest of us just plugged away and each contributed a few points each.
“I had a heavy fall at Stoke in the National League Fours yesterday, and it shook me up. I was a bit sore this morning, but I had a few painkillers before the meeting and soldiered on.
“It was a bit of a silly move in my first race when I fell on the last corner. I wasn’t going to do anything from there; I should have settled for the point. It was good to get a couple of wins after that, but I got stuck at the back of my last one. We had a bit of a chat about that one afterwards; I need to make sure I don’t leave myself too much to do after the first lap.
“It’s still looking good for the play-offs. I’m still not sure what position we’re going to finish in yet, but it would nice if we can push our way into the top two, and have some choice in where we go.”
Full scorers:
Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions 50 – Kevin Wolbert 6 (4), Thomas Jørgensen 6+1 (4), Nick Morris 9+1 (5), Ashley Birks 6 (4), Josh Auty 15 (5) (FULL MAXIMUM), Michael Palm Toft 3 (4), Gary Irving 5 (4).
Somerset Rebels 40 – Jason Doyle 9 (5), Alex Davies 5 (3), Jesper B Monberg 7 (4), James Wright 8+2 (5), Claus Vissing 6 (4), Kyle Newman 2 (4), Tom Perry 3+2 (5).
1: Doyle, Jorgensen, Davies, Wolbert, 59.6 (2-4) (2-4).
2: Irving, Newman, Perry, Toft, 61.1 (3-3) (5-7).
3: Wright, Morris, Monberg, Birks (fell), 60.2 (2-4) (7-11).
4: Auty, Vissing, Irving, Perry (ret), 62.4 (4-2) (11-13).
5: Birks, Davies, Morris, Doyle (ret), 62.8 (4-2) (15-15).
6: Vissing, Wolbert, Jorgensen, Newman, 61.8 (3-3) (18-18).
7: Auty, Monberg, Wright, Toft (ret), 62.9 (3-3) (21-21).
8: Jorgensen, Davies, Irving, Perry, 61.6 (4-2) (25-23).
9: (Re-run) Birks, Morris, Vissing, Newman, 60.6 (5-1) (30-24).
10: Wolbert, Monberg, Wright, Jorgensen, 59.9 (3-3) (33-27).
11: Auty, Doyle, Toft, Newman, Davies (excluded, two minutes), 60.1 (4-2) (37-29).
12: Morris, Monberg, Perry, Irving, 59.9 (3-3) (40-32).
13: Auty, Doyle, Wolbert, Vissing 58.4 (4-2) (44-34).
14: Wright, Toft, Perry, Birks, 59.9 (2-4) (46-38).
15: Auty, Doyle, Morris, Wright, 58.8 (4-2) (50-40).
PHOTO: Josh races around Jason Doyle in Heat 15 to complete his maximum (pic by Alex Summerfield).
