Scorpions pairs blow
ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions will go into the Championship Pairs at Oxford tonight (Friday) without No 1 Ryan Douglas.
Douglas crashed in a play-off meeting in Poland last weekend, which had forced him to miss Scunthorpe’s visit to Leicester since it took priority in the fixture list. James Wright will step to partner Simon Lambert at Oxford tonight.
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “Both Ryan and ourselves were up for the pairs. We felt we had a good chance of progressing to the semis and beyond and we were up for it.
“But he came off in Poland last weekend and aggravated his shoulder injury, which was giving him so much trouble early in the season. He rode at Wolverhampton on Monday, when he probably shouldn’t have, and that didn’t do him favours. It surprised me he did that meeting, but then I noticed he hadn’t taken a rider replacement ride.
“We felt if we left it a few days, he would be okay for the pairs, which is why we left his withdrawal as late as possible, because we thought he might make it. But, as with earlier in the season, Ryan is going to have to take a week off to let his shoulder heal.
“We’d already gone with Simon to partner Ryan, because we knew Tero was booked in for an operation and would miss this weekend. With Ryan winning races and Simon chipping in vital points in each race, we felt we had a chance. Of course, it’s much harder now, but I’m sure Simon and James will get stuck in – both are racers.
“It’s a real shame that Ryan will me missing at Oxford, since he’s one of the top riders in the league. I apologise to both our supporters and those from other tracks, but if he could have ridden, he would have.
“I think it’s still going to a terrific event at Oxford. I will be down there and I think it’s going to a fabulous night for British Speedway, to kick start the British Grand Prix weekend.”
Supporters travelling to Oxford tonight MUST ensure that bought their ticket online in advance. There is high demand for this meeting, and it is admission by advance tickets only. Tickets are available from: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/
Line-ups for Championship Pairs:
GROUP A
LEICESTER: Nick Morris, Richie Worrall
EDINBURGH: Kye Thomson, Josh Pickering
GLASGOW: Danyon Hume, Benjamin Basso
SCUNTHORPE: James Wright, Simon Lambert
BIRMINGHAM: Justin Sedgmen, James Pearson
Reserve: Arran Butcher
GROUP B
POOLE: Steve Worrall, Danny King
PLYMOUTH: Ben Morley, Harry McGurk
BERWICK: Chris Harris, Jye Etheridge
OXFORD: Scott Nicholls, Aaron Summers
REDCAR: Charles Wright, Lewis Kerr
Reserve: Sam Hagon
