Double victory for Scunthorpe teams
DOUBLE VICTORY FOR SCUNTHORPE TEAMS AFTER GREAT EVENING OF SPEEDWAY
SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 50 EDINBURGH MONARCHS 39 (CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP)
SCUNTHORPE STAGS 57 EDINBURGH ACADEMY 33 (WSRA NATIONAL LEAGUE)
BOTH the Ellie Rose Travel Scunthorpe Scorpions and the Scunthorpe Stags overcame the opposition from Edinburgh at the Eddie Wright Raceway last night (Friday). Scorpions defeated Edinburgh Monarchs by 50-39 to move back to second place in the Cab Direct Championship, while Stags scored an emphatic 57-33 victory over Edinburgh Academy in the first WSRA National League meeting held at the venue for a decade.
Scorpions put in a no-nonsense performance against Monarchs. Kyle Howarth and Connor Mountain took a 5-1 over Edinburgh No 1 Josh Pickering in Heat 1, and Scorpions were 17-7 ahead after four races and 33-15 clear after Heat 8.
Monarchs held a 22-point lead for the aggregate bonus point from the meeting at Armadale seven days earlier. After Pickering came into Heat 9 and joined Edinburgh team-mate Justin Sedgmen for a 5-1, Scorpions closed up to just three points behind on aggregate with a 5-0 in Heat 10, after both Lasse Fredriksen and Kye Thomson took separate falls on the second bend in different attempts to hold the race.
But Pickering is a class act and he involved in two 5-1s in Heats 11 and 13 that clinched the aggregate point for Monarchs.
In between, there was a flashpoint in Heat 12. For most of the race, Scunthorpe skipper Simon Lambert and 17-year-old Luke Harrison held a 5-1. Fredriksen thrust inside Harrison on the final lap, and as Harrison tried to move back around, he also lost third to Max James and the race was shared. Despite being the aggressor on track, Fredriksen saw red and there was a confrontation following the race that turned physical.
Lambert top-scored for Scorpions with 14, while Howarth was unbeaten in his opening four outings, before suffering a puncture in Heat 13 and collected 11+3. For Monarchs, Pickering was a class act and didn’t drop any further points after Heat 1 and collected 15+1.
LUKE Harrison collected a brilliant 15-point full maximum for the Scunthorpe Stags in the WSRA National League clash, while Nathan Ablitt also was unbeaten with a 11+1 paid maximum.
Both showed how much riding regularly in the Cab Direct Championship has helped in their development and both were relatively untroubled.
Monarchs Academy also have three riders with Championship experience in Connor Coles, Sam McGurk and Max Perry.
It was against these riders that the remaining riders of the Stags really shone. Sheldon Davies passed Coles in both Heat 1 and Heat 5, while Mickie Simpson rounded McGurk on the final lap of Heat 12. Kean Dicken joined Harrison for a 5-1 over McGurk in Heat 7, while 15-year-old Stene Pijper overtook Perry in Heat 4 and defeated the same opponent again in Heat 6. Davies and Simpson both headed McGurk in the concluding Heat 15.
Both Stags hit bike trouble in Heat 3 and Simpson had to push home his bike for nearly a lap for third place. That allowed Monarchs Academy to level the scores at 9-9, but Stags then took complete control with five successive heat advantages that took the scoreline to 32-16 and they pulled further away in the second half of the meeting.
SIMON LAMBERT was a busy man on the evening. He was the skipper for Scorpions – top-scoring with 14 points – and team manager for Stags.
He said: “Both meetings were entertaining tonight and I hope the supporters went away happy with what they saw over the evening.
“For the Scorpions, we took a good victory, the only shame was that we didn’t take the aggregate bonus point, but the main thing is to win on the night and we achieved that.
“From a personal viewpoint, I had a good meeting. The track was quite slick tonight, which doesn’t always suit me, but we found a good set-up and I made it work. I’ve been struggling the last few meetings – I’ve got a lower lung respiratory infection. I’m still not feeling great, so to top score for Scorpions is pretty good.
“We are dominant at home, but we know we need to pick our feet up a bit in our away performances. We are a solid team and we need to make sure it works away. The spirit is the camp remains high and we know what we need to do.
“The Stags were fantastic tonight and it was a pleasure to manage them. Luke and Nathan were so classy, and both didn’t want Heat 15, because they’d already had another meeting beforehand, and I respect that, because it meant some of the other lads could take another outing.
“For me, the National League meetings are more about the other guys, many of whom are riding that often at all. If Stene could gate, that lad would be scoring maximums. Mickey had a new engine tonight and he looked the business and put himself in the right places. Sheldon had to earn his spot with us and he’s shown he’s the got the ability, while Kean is going off on holiday well pleased with his paid seven score.
“I’m proud of them all. All I want is for them to get out there and mix it and race. Some of the Edinburgh riders have experience of the league above, but that’s good, because you have to race those lads to improve.
“There’s no pressure on our lads, they just have to go out there and enjoy themselves and tonight they took some scalps of Championship riders and can be proud of themselves.”
CAB DIRECT CHAMPIONSHIP
SCUNTHORPE 50: Simon Lambert 14, Kyle Howarth 11+3, Jake Allen 9, Nathan Ablitt 6, Connor Mountain 5+3, Luke Harrison 5, Michael Palm Toft r/r.
EDINBURGH 39: Josh Pickering 15+1, Justin Sedgmen 8+1, Paco Castagna 7, Kye Thomson 4+1, Lasse Fredriksen 2, Connor Coles 2, Max James 1+1.
WSRA NATIONAL LEAGUE
SCUNTHORPE 57: Luke Harrison 15, Nathan Ablitt 11+1, Stene Pijper 9+3, Sheldon Davies 9+1, Mickie Simpson 7+2, Kean Dicken 6+1, Ace Pijper r/r.
EDINBURGH 33: Max Perry 9, Sam McGurk 8, Mason Watson 5+1, Connor Coles 5, Kyran Lyden 4, Dayle Wood 2, Mark Parker 0.
* ELLIE ROSE TRAVEL Scunthorpe Scorpions are next in action at the Eddie Wright Raceway next Friday (July 5) at 7.30pm when they entertain reigning Cab Direct Championship champions Glasgow Tigers.
