All-round Scorpions set a new record
BIRMINGHAM BRUMMIES 35 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 55 (Cab Direct Championship)
ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions recorded their largest-ever away league victory in the second tier of British Speedway with a 55-35 thrashing of Birmingham Brummies in the Cab Direct Championship at Perry Barr last night (Wednesday). It completed a perfect record for Scorpions of six wins out of six over Brummies in 2023.
The previous record for Scorpions for an away win in league competition in the second tier was an 18-point victory (54-36) at Edinburgh in May. Prior to this season, the most Scorpions had achieved away was a 16-point victory (53-37) at Sheffield in 2018 and Glasgow in 2019. Please note Scorpions recorded several bigger away wins in the third-tier Conference League, most notably during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Scunthorpe have competed in the second tier from 1972 to 1985, and again from 2008 onwards (except the cancelled 2020 season) and this season is their 29th in the second tier in their 52-year history.
Earlier in the season, Edinburgh were missing riders, but apart from the suspended Nick Morris, Birmingham were at full strength. And they can hardly use Morris’ absence of an excuse, since his guest replacement Josh Pickering scored a superb 15+1 for Brummies.
Scunthorpe were relentless all evening. They stormed into a 22-8 lead after five races, and had clinched all three points, including the aggregate bonus point, with three races to go.
Most satisfying was an 11+1 paid maximum for 21-year-old Drew Kemp. Signed at the end of May, Kemp was shown flashes of his ability for Scorpions, but last night he put it all together, and completed his paid maximum was a terrific dash past the Brummies to join Michael Palm Toft for a 5-1 in Heat 14.
Scorpions are looking good for a place in the play-offs and can mathematically clinch their play with a victory over third-placed Glasgow at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday in what is now a massive clash. On the same night that Scorpions were tearing apart Birmingham, Glasgow slid to a 37-53 defeat at Poole.
Speaking post-meeting, Scunthorpe team manager Dave Peet said: “I’m so pleased. We put in an all-around team performance tonight, with the whole side putting a shift in.
“This was the first time we’ve been able to track a full seven-man line-up of our own riders for a couple of months. We got the lads together before the meeting, and told them now we’ve got a full team, it was time we started firing on all cylinders. Every meeting we’ve won this season, one or two of the lads still haven’t been firing, and to be successful, we need the whole team riding well. And every single one of our riders had a good night tonight.
“In particular, I’m pleased for Drew Kemp, who went so well and picked up a paid maximum. He put in a new engine and it worked a treat. He was making starts and when he didn’t, he had plenty of speed. We signed Drew for a reason, because he’s a very good speedway rider and tonight he did what we knew he could do. Speedway is all about confidence and he’s now buzzing.
“Nathan Ablitt also had a good evening. He’d been in the wars in a guest booking at Plymouth the previous night, but picked himself up, battled away for Scorpions and picked up a very handy paid seven for us.
“We showed tonight what we can do, and we don’t want it to be a one-off, because we want to keep this momentum rolling through the rest of the season. We’ve got Glasgow at home on Friday, but I don’t think we have anything to fear if we ride to our abilities.”
BIRMINGHAM 35: Josh Pickering 15+1, Justin Sedgmen 8+2, Troy Batchelor 6, Paul Starke 3, Alfie Bowtell 2+1, Sam Hagon 1, Stefan Nielsen 0.
SCUNTHORPE 55: Ryan Douglas 13+1, Drew Kemp 11+1, Michael Palm Toft 8+1, Connor Mountain 7+2, Simon Lambert 6+1, Jake Allen 6, Nathan Ablitt 4+3.
* ATTIS INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions host third-placed Glasgow Tigers at the Eddie Wright Raceway tomorrow (Friday, 7.30pm).
