Parkinson-Blackburn, Bickley and McGurk take youth honours

After the weather got the better of the December and January meetings, Sunday was the first amateur meeting at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway to have its primary focus on the youth speedway classes. Numbers had become so high it had become impossible to run all ten classes in one meeting during the winter so on Sunday it was 14-year old Jack Parkinson-Blackburn, 12-year old Kyle Bickley and 10-year old Harry McGurk who won the three main youth classes after 51 races were completed in three hours.

With rain due at 2pm it was imperative that the meeting moved along at a decent pace and thanks to the excellent team of volunteers who ran the meeting along with terrific support from the riders in being ready for their races it was probably only the last few finals that were affected. Times dropped but the skill remained and the meeting was testament to talent that is starting to come through in the UK.

In the Youth 500 class it was yet another battle between Eryk Borczuch and Jack Parkinson-Blackburn. During the heats the rider off the inside gate claimed victory but in the rain-affected final it was Parkinson-Blackburn who swept round the outside of the first two bends before Borczuch slid off on the third bend giving chase. It was a shame because there was sure to be an interesting battle had he stayed on but the pair are certain to face each other many more times over the coming months and years. Taking advantage of Borczuch’s fall was Jamie Halder who claimed the runners-up position whilst Tom Miles took advantage of two fallers in the ‘B’ Final, and Mitchell Beckett’s withdrawal to make his way through to third place.

The Youth 250 just had two riders but Kyle Bickley and Kean Dicken certainly put on a good show with some quality racing. Dicken won one qualifying race but Bickley claimed top honours in the final.

In the Youth 125 class Harry McGurk went through the card with six race wins but behind him there was two new names on the podium with two more mini-track graduates, Jacob Clayton and Jack Shimelt filling the podium positions ahead of Sam Stead who made an impressive return after a few months away.

There was a fourth youth class (Juniors 110cc) has entrants who are a mix of prospective speedway and flat track riders on more conventional bikes. Always popular there was a strong field with the highly impressive George Hopper heading Bailey Fellows and Leon Collier on to the podium.

The final two classes were for adults with former speedway star and top flat track racer Adam Allott clinching first place ahead of Ben Wells and Mike Johnson in the Flat Track class whilst Lee Carter, Simon Ellis and Craig Smith filling the podium in the Adult Pit Bike class.

After the meeting organiser Richard Hollingsworth heralded the meeting a great success. “The split meetings are working really well. During the winter we can’t stand outside for 8 or 9 hours to get a meeting run. Today was more like five hours for us and just three for the racing. We also predicted the weather pretty well and got the meeting done just in time.

“As always we have to thank everyone who helped run the meeting and all the riders for being ready before their races. It is great to see the progression amongst the youngsters and of course the rules changes in the National League are now actually encouraging youngsters into the sport. As long as they continue to do that, and the Premier League joins the Elite League with their own fast track reserve system, then these youngsters are going to see a clear career path through the sport.

Next week the adult speedway classes take to the track with a meeting for the Open, Support, Novice and Upright engine classes. For more details, to volunteer some help or to make a rider booking please text Richard Hollingsworth on 07832-402167. Alternatively you can contact him via Facebook (www.facebook.com/rh1967) or email him (richard@scunthorpespeedway.com).

The next amateur meetings:

Sunday 1st March (Open, Support, Novice and Upright classes)

Sunday 29th March (AM – Junior 110, Adult Pit Bike, Flat Track, Youth 125/150, Youth 250 and Youth 500 classes; PM – Open, Support, Novice and Upright classes)

Youth 500 Class:
Qualifying Scores: Eryk Borczuch 14, Jack Parkinson-Blackburn 13, Jamie Halder 10, Sam Woolley 7, Mitchell Beckett 5, Sam Chapman 3, Tom Miles 2.

B Final: Miles, Woolley (fell, remounted), Chapman (fell), 81.1
A Final: Parkinson-Blackburn, Halder, Miles, Borczuch, 75.5

Winter Series points: Parkinson-Blackburn 20, Halder 19, Miles 18, Borczuch 17, Woolley 16, Chapman 15, Beckett 14.

Winter Series standings (after three completed rounds): Jack Parkinson-Blackburn 59 (20-19-20), Sam Chapman 51 (19-17-15), Sam Woolley 50 (18-16-16), Tom Miles 50 (17-15-18), Eryk Borczuch 37 (20-17), Jamie Halder 37 (18-19), Mitchell Beckett 14.

Qualifying heat winning times: 4. Borczuch 65.0 10. Halder 70.4, 13. Borczuch 63.4, 20. Parkinson-Blackburn 63.0, 25. Parkinson-Blackburn 63.2, 28. Woolley 68.0, 33. Borczuch 63.7, 36. Parkinson-Blackburn 63.9, 40. Borczuch 64.4

Youth 250 Class:
Qualifying Scores: Kean Dicken 12, Kyle Bickley 11.

A Final: Bickley, Dicken, 70.1

Winter Series points: Bickley 20, Dicken 19.

Winter Series standings (after 3 completed rounds): Kyle Bickley 60 (20-20-20), Kean Dicken 54 (19-16-19), Ben Woodhull 36 (18-18), Luke Woodhull 34 (17-17), Jordan Jenkins 19.

Qualifying heat winning times: 5. Bickley 66.3, 12. Bickley 65.6, 18. Dicken 65.7, 26. Dicken 66.3, 34. Bickley 64.5

Youth 150cc Class:
Qualifying scores: Harry McGurk 15, Jack Shimelt 10, Sam Stead 10, Jacob Clayton 10, Jack Wright 9, Carl Basford 8, Mickie Simpson 6, Ryan Morris 6, Taya Thirtle 1.

C Final: Simpson, Morris, Thirtle, 73.9
B Final: Clayton, Basford, Wright, Simpson (fell), no time
A Final: McGurk, Clayton, Shimelt, Stead, 74.6

Winter Series points: McGurk 20, Clayton 19, Shimelt 18, Stead 17, Basford 16, Wright 15, Simpson 14, Morris 13, Thirtle 12

Winter Series standings (after 3 completed rounds): Harry McGurk 55 (16-19-20), Jolyon West 40 (20-20), Jack Shimelt 44 (12-14-18), Mickie Simpson 41 (11-16-14), Jacob Clayton 38 (7-12-19), Leon Flint 36 (19-17), Jordan Palin 31 (13-18), James Hitchen 29 (14-15), Danny Curl 28 (15-13), Carl Basford 25 (9-16), Taya Thirtle 22 (10-12), Ryan Morris 21 (8-13), Jason Edwards 18, Taylor Hampshire 17, Sam Stead 17, Jack Wright 15.

Qualifying heat winning times: 1. Shimelt 76.19, 2. Wright 86.79, 3. McGurk 70.0, 6. Basford 74.6, 11. McGurk 68.1, 14. McGurk no time, 19. Basford 74.3, 24. Clayton 72.2, 27. McGurk 66.7, 32. Shimelt 73.1, 35. Wright 78.7, 39. Stead 76.0, 42. McGurk 67.4

Junior Pit Bike Class:
Scores: George Hopper 48, Bailey Fellows 39, Leon Collier 35, Jacob Fellows 31, Kieran Holt 19, Luke Harrison 19, Thomas Tovey 17, Maddy Fellows 8.

Winter Series points: Hopper 20, B. Fellows 19, Collier 18, J. Fellows 17, Holt 16, Harrison 15, Tovey 14, M. Fellows 13.

Winter Series standings (after 3 completed rounds): George Hopper 60 (20-20-20), Bailey Fellows 55 (19-17-19), Leon Collier 55 (18-19-18), Jacob Fellows 50 (15-18-17), Luke Harrison 46 (16-15-15), Kieran Holt 41 (9-16-16), Thomas Tovey 38 (11-13-14), Stephanie Tovey 28 (14-14), Joe Farrugia-Howarth 24 (12-12), Maddy Fellows 23 (10-13)Kean Dicken 17, Thomas Towle 13.

Qualifying heat winning times (all Hopper): 9. 82.3, 17. 75.8, 23. 75.0, 31. 75.7, 41. 74.8, 46. 71.1.

Adult Pit Bike Class:
Scores: Lee Carter 17, Simon Ellis 13, Craig Smith 6, Colin Willerton 0 (0 rides)

Winter Series points: Carter 20, Ellis 19, Smith 18, Willerton 17.

Winter Series standings (after three completed rounds): Lee Carter 60 (20-20-20), Simon Ellis 37 (18-19), Jeff Howarth 37 (19-18), Craig Smith 33 (15-18), Colin Willerton 33 (16-17), Jamie Halder 19, Yazmin Burrows 18. Mike Smith 14.

Winning heat times (Carter unless stated): 7. 86.9, 15. 82.5, 21. 81.6, 27. 81.7, 37. Ellis 81.1, 45. 83.7

Flat Track Class:
Qualifying scores: Adam Allott 24, Ben Wells 15, Mike Johnson 13, Jon Lawson 6.

Heat winning times (all Allott and six laps): 8. 104.0,16. 103.8, 22. 101.3, 30. 99.7, 38. 101.7, 48. no time

Winter Series points: Allott 20, Wells 19, Johnson 18, Lawson 17.

Winter Series standings: Ben Wells 57 (20-18-19), Mike Johnson 55 (18-19-18), Peter Jordan 35 (15-20), Stuart Avery 30 (14-16), Adam Allott 20, Mike Hill 17, John Boddy 17, Jon Lawson 17, Andrew Murphy 16, Jim Boddy 15.

Top photo: Kyle Bickley and Kean Dicken (Y250 winners)
Bottom and feature photo: Jack Shimelt, Harry McGurk and Jacob Clayton (Y150 winners)