Scorpions move closer to play-offs after afternoon of fantastic racing
SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 53 WORKINGTON COMETS 37 (PREMIER LEAGUE)
A MOMENT OF BRILLIANCE from David Howe in the final race put the cherry on top of the cake, as the FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions took a step closer to the Premier League play-offs with a 53-37 win over the Workington Comets at the Eddie Wright Raceway yesterday afternoon (Sunday).
On a hot and sunny afternoon, the Scunthorpe track staff gave the riders a fantastic race circuit that produced some of the best speedway action seen in the UK this season.
Workington, still with play-offs aspirations of their own, moved into an early 14-10 lead, but a rejuvenated Ashley Birks and Josh Auty levelled the scores with a 5-1 in Heat 5.
Nicolai Klindt and Joe Jacobs seemed to pass each other on every bend of Heat 6, with Klindt eventually taking third. With Thomas Jorgensen winning the race, the Scorpions moved into a 19-17 lead.
The Workington duo of Ricky Wells and Mason Campton held a 5-1 for three laps in Heat 7, only for Ryan Douglas to charge between them in a quite brilliant move that would normally win race of the day.
With passing continuing in every race, the Scorpions then started to edge in front courtesy of a run of four 4-2s from Heats 8 to 11. In successive races, the fans had to wait before filling in their programmes, with Klindt snatching third from Campton on the line in Heat 10, then Douglas just failing to repass Richard Lawson at the end of Heat 11, as the two battled for second place behind Howe. Both Howe and Kyle Howarth had brushed themselves down after falling in the first attempt to stage this race.
Comets’ last throw of the dice was Wells as a tactical ride in Heat 12. The American was first away, but within half a lap had been passed by both Howe and Birks, as they collected a 5-1 that almost put the matter beyond doubt.
Douglas won a hair-raising battle with Lawson in Heat 13, as the Scorpions made sure of all three league points with a 4-2.
However, the best was yet to come. The Comets looked set to take a consolation 5-1 in Heat 15, but reckoned without Howe, who was last early on, and by lap three, still third behind Lawson & Wells.
With a terrific burst of speed, Howe charged around Wells on third bend of lap 3, and then switched to the inside, to bustle inside Lawson on the opening bends of lap 4. Lawson wasn’t finished and came back inside Howe on the third turn. But Howe refused to be beaten, kept the gas on around the outside, and despite lifting after finding some unexpected drive, he just won the race to the line.
It’s a delight to see Howe, whose 2012 and 2013 seasons were wrecked by injury, riding again with such confidence and aggression.
Another huge plus for Scorpions was the performance of Birks (11+1), recently hampered by machinery problems, but unbeaten by an opponent until Heat 15 in this meeting. For Tuesday at Peterborough and the rest of September, Birks drops to reserve, while Howe moves the other way.
Tom Perry had a tough debut for Scunthorpe, pulling up from his opening ride with an engine failure, but looked far more on the pace in his final outing in Heat 14.
Scorpions’ top scorer David Howe said: “I think we’ve got to give (Scunthorpe promoter) Rob Godfrey and the track team a lot of credit. The track wasn’t brilliant on Wednesday for whatever reason; it was very slick.
“Rob promised us a grippy track, and despite the sun coming out for today’s meeting, we had a grippy track on which we could really race on and have confidence in.
“I was riding wide all meeting, and I found that line was still working in Heat 15. No-one else was out there, so it gave me a clear run. I wasn’t actually trying to win the race to begin with, I was trying to get into second. But after I went around Ricky Wells, I had so much speed that I got past Richard Lawson as well. I got a bit out of shape on the last bend, because I was out wide and the dirt had a few ruts out there, but I made it work. I was very happy with that.
“Everything is working for me at the moment. I’m making good starts. The engine I’m using at the moment is one I bought brand new a couple of years ago, but couldn’t really get on with it. Sean Wilson and myself had made a slight change to the bike and it’s now one of the fastest things I’ve ever sat on.
“I went down to reserve, not because of my form at the time, but due to the rolling averages – it was because of meetings from last year, and also the start of this year, when I was building things back together.
“I went to reserve with confidence, and it’s just galvanized that confidence. I don’t have any fears moving back up into the main body of the team.
“I’ve been around a few years in speedway, and I’ve been a few teams where you just turn up and ride. But this is a fun team. We’ve all had out little spats and fall-outs, but it’s forgotten straight away. We genuinely have a good time before the meeting, and we mix away from the track.
“A happy team is a successful team as well. I’m not saying happy as in messing around, we just gel well. You’re then more likely to look out for your partner on track and so on.
“We all seem to be coming together at around the right time. Nicolai (Klindt) has now had a dodgy couple of meetings. But he is carrying an injury and I’m not sure how much that’s affecting him. Once he gets back to the form he had earlier in the season, we’re going to be hard to stop.”
Scorpions’ captain Ashley Birks said: “It was good to go out and score some points. My bike was right today.
“It’s been hard for me doing just one league this year, with not so much money coming in, but still trying to put money into my equipment.
“The bike felt good today and it meant I scored some points. I always enjoy riding bikes, but I can’t ride something that’s not going properly. Last night at Workington, I didn’t have such a good meeting, but I finished the meeting thinking it was revving well and I took that into today.
“I will be at reserve in September. The races are still going to be tough; I never under-estimate any rider. However, I do feel I’ll be one of the best reserves in the league. That’s the way our team was built – so that we have a good reserve.
“Ryan, Thomas and David have all has spells at reserve, despite being really good riders. I’m going to be the final one, and I’ll be looking to carry on what they’ve been doing down there.”
FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 53
1. Nicolai Klindt 1 1 1 1 (4)
2. Thomas Jorgensen R 3 1 3 (7)
3. Ashley Birks 3 3 3 2* 0 (11+1)
4. Josh Auty 1 2* 1 3 (7+1)
5. Ryan Douglas F 3 1 3 (7)
6. Tom Perry R 0 0 (0)
7. David Howe 3 2 3 3 3 3 (17)
WORKINGTON COMETS 37
1. Richard Lawson (Guest) 3 1 2 2 2 (10)
2. Rene Bach R/R
3. Ricky Wells 2 2 2 2 1# 1* (10+1)
4. Mason Campton 2* 0 1* 0 2 (5+2)
5. Kyle Howarth 3 2 2 0 0 (7)
6. Joe Jacobs 2 R 0 0 0 (2)
7. Simon Lambert 1* 1 0 1* (3+2)
#=tactical ride
1: Lawson, Campton, Klindt, Jorgensen (ret), 56.01 (1-5) (1-5).
2: (Re-run) Howe, Jacobs, Lambert, Perry (ret), 55.94 (3-3) (4-8).
3: Birks, Wells, Auty, Campton, 55.88 (4-2) (8-10).
4: Howarth, Howe, Lambert, Douglas (fell), 56.62 (2-4) (10-14).
5: Birks, Auty, Lawson, Jacobs (ret), 56.56 (5-1) (15-15).
6: Jorgensen, Howarth, Klindt, Jacobs, 56.93 (4-2) (19-17).
7: Douglas, Wells, Campton, Perry, 57.37 (3-3) (22-20).
8: Howe, Wells, Jorgensen, Lambert, 56.36 (4-2) (26-22).
9: Birks, Howarth, Auty, Jacobs, 58.88 (4-2) (30-24).
10: Jorgensen, Wells, Klindt, Campton, 57.37 (4-2) (34-26).
11: (Re-run) Howe, Lawson, Douglas, Howarth, 57.67 (4-2) (38-28).
12: Howe, Birks, WELLS (TR), Jacobs, 57.68 (5-1) (43-29).
13: Douglas, Lawson, Klindt, Howarth, 57.43 (4-2) (47-31).
14: Auty, Campton, Lambert, Perry, 57.88 (3-3) (50-34).
15: Howe, Lawson, Wells, Birks, 58.57 (3-3) (53-37).
