Rain wins at Eddie Wright Raceway

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 30 SHEFFIELD TIGERS 18 (PREMIER LEAGUE)
(Meeting abandoned after eight races – result does NOT stand)

FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions were, once again, thwarted by the rain at the Eddie Wright Raceway last night (Friday). The Scorpions were leading Sheffield Tigers 30-18 after eight races – just two short of the number of heats needed to declare a result – when heavy rain hit and caused the abandonment of the meeting.

Before the rain, there had been plenty of encouraging signs for the Scorpions. Thomas Jorgensen showed no effects of a recent chest infection, winning three races, including Heat 1 in a time of 55.80 seconds, just 0.30 seconds outside of David’s Howe three-year old track record.

Similarly Josh Auty looked sharp on his return to the Scunthorpe side after a month on the sidelines with appendicitis, and was unbeaten by an opponent in his two outings, with a hard-fought win over Simon Stead in Heat 5 being particularly impressive.

A shower started as Ryan Douglas was on his way to winning Heat 7, and proceedings were brought to a halt until the rain stopped.

The rain subsided for a while, allowing Heat 8 to be staged, with Jorgensen passing Nico Covatti to win the race. But then an even harder shower then hit.

The track staff continued to work hard to get the circuit back into shape. But with further rain as they worked, referee Darren Hartley, after consulting with the team captains, decided to call the meeting off.

NOTE ON RE-ADMISSION TICKETS:
The meeting was halted two races before a result could be declared (the completion of Heat 10). Re-admission tickets therefore come into effect.

The tickets will be valid for the next three home meetings, plus the re-staging of the Scunthorpe v Sheffield Premier League meeting (a re-staging date has yet to be finalised). In this case, deductions to admission prices on reproducing a valid re-admission ticket are as follows: Adult, Student/OAP and Child (10 – 17) – all £2.

FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 30
1. Nicolai Klindt 2* 1 (3+1)
2. Thomas Jorgensen 3 3 3 (9)
3. Ashley Birks 3 0 (3)
4. Josh Auty 2* 3 (5+1)
5. Ryan Douglas 3 3 (6)
6. Matt Williamson 0 0 (0)
7. David Howe 2 1 1 (4)

SHEFFIELD TIGERS 18
1. Simon Stead 1 2 (3)
2. Leigh Lanham R/R
3. Mark Lemon (Guest) 1 1* 1* (3+2)
4. Ben Wilson R R (0)
5. Nico Covatti 0 2 2 (4)
6. Liam Carr (Guest) 1 0 (1)
7. Taylor Poole 3 2 2 0 (7)

1: Jorgensen, Klindt, Stead, Wilson (fell, remounted, ret), 55.80 (5-1) (5-1).
2: Poole, Howe, Carr, Williamson, 56.17 (2-4) (7-5).
3: Birks, Auty, Lemon, Wilson (ret), 58.13 (5-1) (12-6).
4: Douglas, Poole, Howe, Covatti, 56.90 (4-2) (16-8).
5: Auty, Stead, Lemon, Birks, 56.86 (3-3) (19-11).
6: Jorgensen, Covatti, Klindt, Carr, 57.88 (4-2) (23-13).
7: Douglas, Poole, Lemon, Williamson, 59.36 (3-3) (26-16).
8: Jorgensen, Covatti, Howe, Poole, 60.07 (4-2) (30-18).

PHOTO: Josh Auty fends off Simon Stead in Heat 5.