Classy Jorgensen helps Scorpions to victory

Thomas Jorgensen, astride a new engine fresh in from Denmark, went unbeaten in his first six rides last night to help the Fluid Air Power Scunthorpe Scorpions continue their dominance over the Sheffield Tigers in South Yorkshire. The 49-41 victory ensured all four league point were claimed and it was the fifth consecutive victory for the Scorpions at Owlerton.

The result moves the Scorpions up to third place in the Premier League as they chase a place in the top six to qualify for the end of season league title playoffs. The evening started in the perfect manner as Nicolai Klindt and David Howe headed home Tigers’ number one Simon Stead. However, the same Scorpions pairing were on the receiving end of a 5-1 in heat 5 and when Stead claimed victories in heats 6 & 7 the resultant 4-2s gave the Tigers a narrow 22-20 lead. The Scorpions could certainly count themselves a little unlucky in heat 7 after Ashley Birks fell after being passed by Stead but Jorgensen made amends by winning an epic battle with Taylor Poole in the next race and with Howe getting the better of Josh Bates it meant the scores were level again.

Despite having the favoured inside gates in heats 9 and 10 the Tigers failed to take advantage. Firstly Ryan Douglas defeated Andre Compton and Leigh Lanham before Josh Auty and Ashley Birks split the Sheffield pairing of Stead and Poole. It left the meeting finely balanced at 30-30 but with the Scorpions having the inside gates in heats 11, 12 and 14 Jorgensen combined with Klindt for a 5-1, Birks for a 4-2 and Auty for a 5-1 to give the Scorpions an unassailable lead with one race to go. However, they needed to avoid a 5-1 to claim the bonus point and Team Manager Dave Peet pitted his Danish duo of Klindt and Jorgensen against Sheffield’s Stead and Lanham.

With Jorgensen finally proving he was human off the unfavoured gate four and Stead racing away to his fifth consecutive race win it was left to Klindt and Lanham to decide the fate of the bonus point. When Lanham rounded the Scorpions’ number one at the end of the first lap it all looked over the Dane had other ideas and two laps later he dive-bombed down the inside of turn three and made it stick to ensure the final league point made its way back to North Lincolnshire.

Whilst Jorgensen and Klindt were the headline makers it was undoubtedly a team effort. Josh Auty was also aboard a new engine and scored ten points from his four rides, Ryan Douglas was paid for seven points from his last three rides, Ashley Birks would have beaten opposition riders in all his races but for a fall and David Howe had a paid win and a valuable third place in heat 8. Although Matt Williamson didn’t score he was very much on the pace and led Taylor Poole for a lap before falling. There is little doubt he is making progress and he could end up being a trump card as the season progresses.

After the meeting a delighted club promoter, Rob Godfrey, said “It is official, the Scorpions are better around here than the Sheffield team. I feel sorry for the home promotion but we were in a situation needing away points. It was a meeting we were definitely targeting and there are others coming up. We’ve got Josh and Thomas on new engines and they had great meetings. It was fantastic to see and the way the team is coming together I see no reason now why we can’t make the title playoffs now”.

Top Scorer Thomas Jorgensen added “It was the best night so far (this season). This was the first night on an engine from my Danish tuner. I’ve used it in Denmark with a different cam in it but this is the first time in England and with the new cam. It didn’t seem to matter where I put the bike. It seemed to go well on the inside or the outside. I really wanted a 21 point paid maximum but it just didn’t go my way in heat 15 but it has been an awesome night; that is for sure. I’ve been lacking confidence all season and I’ve maybe had just two or three good meetings and the rest hasn’t been good enough. I had high expectations (of the season). My goal was to be the number one and now I’m the number seven but hopefully I can keep improving.

Full scorers:

Sheffield Window Centre Tigers 41 – Simon Stead 16 (6 rides), Taylor Poole 5 (5), Leigh Lanham 7+1 (6), Andre Compton 7+1 (5), Simon Nielsen 3+1 (4), Josh Bates 3+1 (4).

Fluid Air Power Scunthorpe Scorpions 49 – Nicolai Klindt 10 (5 rides), David Howe 4+1 (3), Ashley Birks 3+1 (4), Josh Auty 10 (4), Ryan Douglas 6+1 (4), Matt Williamson 0 (3), Thomas Jorgensen 16+2 (7).

1: Klindt, Howe, Stead, Poole, 62.1 (1-5) (1-5)
2: Jorgensen, Bates, Nielsen, Williamson, 62.5 (3-3) (4-8).
3: Auty, Compton, Birks, Lanham (ret), 62.5 (2-4) (6-12).
4: Jorgensen, Poole, Bates, Douglas, 63.1 (3-3) (9-15).
5: Lanham, Compton, Howe, Klindt, 63.0 (5-1) (14-16)
6: Stead, Douglas, Poole, Williamson (fell, remounted), 61.6 (4-2) (18-18).
7: Stead, Auty, Nielsen, Birks (fell, excluded), no time – race awarded, (4-2) (22-20).
8: Jorgensen, Poole, Howe, Bates, 63.0 (2-4) (24-24).
9: Douglas, Compton, Lanham, Williamson, 62.6 (3-3) (27-27).
10: Stead, Auty, Birks, Poole, 61.2 (3-3) (30-30).
11: Klindt, Jorgensen, Nielsen, Compton, 62.7 (1-5) (31-35).
12: Jorgensen, Lanham, Birks, Bates, 63.5 (2-4) (33-39).
13: Stead, Klindt, Douglas, Lanham, 62.5 (3-3) (36-42).
14: Auty, Jorgensen, Compton, Nielsen, 63.9 (1-5) (37-47).
15: Stead, Klindt, Lanham, Jorgensen, 62.7 (4-2) (41-49).