Hot stuff from Scorpions
SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 57 PLYMOUTH GLADIATORS 32 (Cab Direct Championship)
ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions took all three Cab Direct Championship points on offer in convincing fashion with a 57-32 victory over Plymouth Gladiators at the Eddie Wright Raceway last night (Friday).
On the balmiest evening of the year, the on-track action was suitably hot, while the meeting was anything but dull.
Scunthorpe were forced to use rider replacement for Michael Palm Toft, after he suffered an ankle injury at King’s Lynn on Thursday evening. It would seem the Dane is likely to be out of action for several weeks.
Scorpions needed to score 50 points to not only win the meeting, but also take the aggregate bonus point. From early on, it never looked in any doubt.
A bizarre Heat 1 saw Scorpions seemingly set for a 5-1 from Ryan Douglas and Drew Kemp, when opposition number one riders Douglas and Kyle Howarth suffered engine failures within moments of each other, neither could finish, and the race finished as a 3-2.
Plymouth’s Jake Tuner committed speedway’s equivalent of a professional foul, when he fell on the second bend of Heat 2, he saw Connor Mountain and Nathan Ablitt were on a 5-1 for Scunthorpe, and he deliberately stayed down to get the race stopped. As soon the red lights came on, he wheeled his bike off the track. In the re-run, it was a 5-1 for Scorpions most of the way, before Ben Trigger snatched second place from Ablitt on the line.
Simon Lambert produced a wonderful fourth bend in Heat 3 to move from last to first in an instant, as he took the first of three 5-1s with Jake Allen. Ben Barker reacted to his defeat to Lambert in a typically petulant manner and it led to further exchanges between the two riders during the night, as Lambert defeated Barker a further twice in Heat 7 and Heat 12, again passing the controversial Cornishman in both races. Where Barker tends to talk the talk, Lambert showed him how to walk the walk on a speedway track.
In the meantime, Scorpions quickly killed the meeting as a contest, with a hat-trick of 5-1s between Heats 3 and 5, and further maximums in Heats 8 and 9 left the score-line at 37-16. Scorpions had all three points in the bag after Lambert and Mountain took a 5-1 in Heat 12.
Despite the heat, there was only a little dust during the meeting, while some of racing was out of the top drawer. Douglas wasn’t quite his usual imperious self after his first ride engine failure, but he still came through to win Heat 10 in thrilling fashion, first battling with Dan Gilkes and then building up his speed to roar around both Gilkes and Barker in impressive style.
Perhaps the best race of the lot came in Heat 14. Allen and Nathan Ablitt held a 5-1 out of the gate, but it was soon Allen and Gilkes who were dueling for the lead in a captivating contest, which Allen eventually won with an inside move on the third bend of the final lap, while Trigger took third from the battling Ablitt.
Scunthorpe skipper Lambert concluded his night by passing Howarth to win Heat 15 and continued his recent brilliant form by scoring 14+3 – dropping his only to Gilkes in Heat 7. Mountain also thoroughly deserved his Heat 15 nomination and scored 13+2.
Allen (13+1) won four out of five of his races and only dropped a point in Heat 11. In that race, Howarth moved past Allen into first place, and Allen and Mountain then concentrated in keeping tactical substitute Gilkes at the back.
Kemp (9+2) is improving with each home performance, was involved in two 5-1s and was paid for double figures for Scorpions for the first time, while Douglas (7) had an off-night by his own almost superhuman standards, but still only dropped two points, barring his engine failure. Ablitt deserved much more than his one-point tally.
Howarth top-scored for Plymouth on nine points, while one of the mysteries of the night was how Gilkes only scored 6+1 from six rides, despite being involved in some terrific action.
Speaking post-meeting, Jake Allen said: “We’ve had a good win over Plymouth tonight. We want to do that every week – beat teams by as many points as possible around here.
“I had a good meeting. It was nice to get out and get some fresh air in some races.
“Scunthorpe is a good racetrack. When it starts to get slick towards the end, you can ride it anywhere – you just have to try to make sure you keep your speed up. I had a good race with Dan (Gilkes) in my last one and it was nice to win a race like that – I’m sure there will be plenty more of them this year.
“The team has been built pretty strong this year – we know we’ve got some strength throughout the team. We’ve got strong heat-leaders, throughout the main body and we’ll always have at least one strong reserve.
“We all get on well and help each other, and there’s a good team spirit in the pits. I’m excited to see what we can do by the end of the season.”
SCUNTHORPE 57: Simon Lambert 14+3, Connor Mountain 13+2, Jake Allen 13+1, Drew Kemp 9+2, Ryan Douglas 7, Nathan Ablitt 1, Michael Palm Toft r/r.
PLYMOUTH 32: Kyle Howarth 9, Dan Gilkes 6+1, Ben Barker 5, Richie Worrall 5, Ben Trigger 4+1, Ben Morley 3, Jake Turner 0.
Scunthorpe win aggregate point by 98-81
* ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions visit Glasgow next Friday (June 23), while they are back in action at the Eddie Wright Raceway in a fortnight on Friday, June 30 (7,30pm), when the club host the Oxford Cheetahs.
