Big meeting preview: Josh Auty testimonial

JOSH’S BIG DAY KICK-STARTS NEW SEASON

THE new British Speedway season roars into action with the Josh Auty Testimonial, sponsored by Attis Insurance and Hirst Electrical, at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway this Saturday (March 19th, 5pm).

Josh Auty is a legendary figure at Scunthorpe Speedway. He is the club’s all-time top scorer and the only rider to win three league titles with the club – firstly, as a youngster, at third-tier level in 2006 and 2007, and then at second-tier level in 2012.

The latter honour, the 2012 Premier League, is the biggest prize won by the North Lincolnshire club and was secured after Josh combined with Nick Morris for a 3-3 in the final race at the EWR as they edged out Somerset by 92-91 in a thrilling play-off final.

Josh spent two spells with Scunthorpe, from 2005 to 2007 and from 2012 to 2021. His second spell came to an end last June, and he has joined Birmingham Brummies in 2022.

Josh said: “I’m really honoured to have the very first meeting of the entire British season. I think everyone knows that 2021 was a rubbish year for me personally, so it was a nice lift to be granted the first meeting of 2022.

“I want to put on a really good show for the supporters, so that not only my season starts on a high, but the whole of British Speedway this season starts with a bang.

“I’m mega-pleased with the line-up. There are three British champions in the line-up with Danny King, Charles Wright and Chris ‘Bomber’ Harris – it’s a big thing to have them in the line-up.

“To me, Bomber Harris is a legendary rider. He’s won the British Grand Prix at Cardiff and finished sixth in the world, and he’s a class act on the track and off the track.”

There are also six 2022 Scunthorpe Scorpions in the line-up.

Josh added: “I wanted to go down the route of having plenty of riders for the Scunthorpe supporters to get behind and also have a lot of other clubs represented too, so there’s someone for the fans to cheer for, wherever they come from.”

The meeting is excellent value for money, with an adult admission price of £16 for 29 races of speedway in total.

Josh said: “I wanted to put on a meeting that I felt was good value for money. We’re using the 23-heat Grand Prix format, with 20 heats, two semis and a final.

“That’s tough on the riders, because it means they need to compete in seven races to win the meeting. I appreciate the riders agreeing to ride under that format, because in league racing you tend to have a maximum of five rides and you’re done.

“The supporters are going to be winners, because they get 23 races, plus six youth races, so that’s 29 races in total that they’re getting for their £16.”

Admission prices for Saturday:

Adult: £16.00
Student/OAP: £14.00
Child (10 – 17): £5.00
Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult)
Family Ticket £37 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17)

Full line-up (not riding order):
Josh Auty (Birmingham)
Danny King (Poole and Ipswich)
Chris Harris (Berwick and Peterborough)
Charles Wright (Redcar and Belle Vue)
Richard Lawson (Poole and King’s Lynn)
Paul Starke (Newcastle and Ipswich)
Ulrich Ostergaard (Glasgow and Peterborough)
Kyle Newman (Oxford)
James Shanes (Birmingham)
Connor Mountain (Leicester and Sheffield)
Jake Allen (Scunthorpe)
Ryan Douglas (Scunthorpe and Wolverhampton)
Tero Aarnio (Scunthorpe)
Simon Lambert (Scunthorpe)
Jordan Palin (Scunthorpe and Peterborough)
Zaine Kennedy (Scunthorpe)
Reserves: Harry and Sam McGurk (Belle Vue)

Youth races:
250cc class: Luke Harrison, Max James, Sonny Springer, William Cairns.
125cc class: Jack Franklin, Harry Fletcher, Caydin Martin, Casper Kluczniak.