Amateurs beat the weather again

On Sunday, and for the second weekend running, a Scunthorpe Speedway amateur meeting was completed just before heavy rain came. Forty nine qualifying races plus twelve finals were completed in three hours and ten minutes as riders and officials did all they could to ensure the meeting was completed as quickly as possible. At the end it was former Scunthorpe rider Oliver Greenwood who held off current club asset Arron Mogridge and Scunthorpe Scorpions’ new signing Nike Lunna in the Open Class ‘A’ Final to claim a record seventh Open Class victory.

In the Support Class George Rothery beat Sam Darroch and Jamie Halder to the top of the podium whilst Craig Hancock, Ross Wharton and John Gaskell claimed the honours in the Novice Class and Shaun Bickley, Lee Coleman and Trevor Bebbington were the top three in the Upright Engine class.

After the meeting club promoter Rob Godfrey declared the day a huge success. “Full credit to all the riders and our excellent team of volunteers who got the races through so quickly. It was a fantastic effort. As always there was some great racing and it was nice to see riders like Oliver Greenwood and Arron Mogridge going so well. We gave them both their first chances in the National League and I’m sure the club and track have played a big part in their development. Then there was Nike (Lunna) who showed he is going to be a great racer. The slick track didn’t suit him today but it was a National League track not a Premier League one and I just can’t wait to see him racing out in the dirt of a Premier League meeting.

“The next meeting, on 29th March, is the Winter Series finale and our kind sponsors, Ultimate Splashbac, have provided some fantastic glass trophies to be handed out to the top three in all classes. It’s just one week before the Scorpions season starts and with quite a few clubs waiting until April to start their seasons the Open Class is sure to be of a very high standard”.

The meeting on 29th March will be split into two halves as all ten classes will race on the one day. The first half will start at 11am with the Open, Support, Youth 500 and Youth 250 classes followed by the Flat Track, Novice, Uprights, Youth 125/150, Adult Pit Bike and Junior 100 classes. Places can be reserved in the meeting by texting Richard Hollingsworth on 07832-402167 whilst following the meeting on March 29th the Scunthorpe Summer Championship will take place over meetings on 2nd May, 31st May, 12th July, 23rd August and 4th October.

Open Class:
Qualifying scores:
Oliver Greenwood 14, Arron Mogridge 13, Nike Lunna 10, Danyon Hume 8, Krystian Bialecki 8, Dan Greenwood 8, Danny Phillips 8, Tyler Govier 7, Alex Wilson 6 (4 rides), Robert Parker 4, Paul Bowen 2 (2 rides).

C Final: Parker, Bowen, Govier (fell, excluded), Wilson (fell), awarded
B Final: Hume, Bialecki, Phillips, Parker (retired), 65.5
A Final: Greenwood, Mogridge, Lunna, Hume, 63.9

Winter Series points: O. Greenwood 20, Mogridge 19, Lunna 18, Hume 17, Bialecki 16, Phillips 15, Parker 14, D. Greenwood 13, Bowen 12, Govier 11, Wilson 10.

Winter Series standings (after four rounds): Alex Wilson 58 (15-19-14-10), Krystian Bialecki 55 (16-14-9-16), Luke Harris 46 (19-15-12), Sam Woods 46 (17-13-16), Danyon Hume 43 (11-15-17), Danny Ayres 37 (17-20), Robert Parker 36 (12-10-14), Danny Phillips (18-15), Tom Woolley 30 (20-10), Arron Mogridge 27 (8-19), Nathan Greaves 19, Reece Downes 18, Lee Dicken 18, Nike Lunna 18, Robert Shuttleworth 17, Zach Wajtknecht 16, Martin Pearce 14, Tom Perry 13, Dan Greenwood 13, Paul Bowen 12, Adam Portwood 11, Tyler Govier 11, Michael Neale 9.

Qualifying heat winning times: 1. Govier 64.2, 2. O. Greenwood 61.8, 3. Lunna 61.1, 11. O. Greenwood 61.2, 14. Lunna 61.4, 17. Wilson 64.7, 21. Mogridge 62.5, 24. O. Greenwood 61.9, 27. Hume 63.4, 31. O. Greenwood 63.4, 34. Lunna 63.5, 37. Mogridge 63.3, 41. Hume 64.0, 44. Bialecki 66.9, 47. Mogridge 63.9

Support Class:
Qualifying scores: George Rothery 13, Ben Hewitt 12, Sam Darroch 11, Jamie Halder 11, Matthew Sewell 10, Mark Whitehead 8, Kev Whelan 6, Luke Whitehead 6, Mitchell Beckett 6, Dan Miles 2, Connor Fletcher 2, Chris Bambury 1 (4 rides).

D Final: Miles, Fletcher, 79.4
C Final: Whelan, L. Whitehead, Beckett, Miles, 70.2
B Final: Halder, Sewell, Whelan, M. Whitehead (fell), 67.6
A Final: Rothery, Darroch, Halder (fell, excluded), Hewitt (fell, excluded), 66.0

Winter Series points: Rothery 20, Darroch 19, Halder 18, Hewitt 17, Sewell 16, Whelan 15, M. Whitehead 14, L. Whitehead 13, Beckett 12, Miles 11, Fletcher 10, Bambury 9.

Winter Series standings (after four rounds): Sam Darroch 69 (19-13-18-19), Matthew Sewell 58 (13-12-17-16), Jamie Halder 57 (20-19-18), Luke Whitehead 55 (16-10-16-13), George Rothery 48 (17-11-20), Bradley Seal 40 (17-14-9), Chris Bambury 39 (15-15-9), Mark Whitehead 32 (18-14), Ryan Kinsley 31 (12-19), Lewis Griggs 31 (15-16), Trevor Bebbington 28 (14-14), Connor Fletcher 22 (12-10), Dan Miles 22 (11-11), Danyon Hume 20, Alfie Bowtell 20, Ben Basford 18, Adrian Guest 13, David Morgan 10.

Qualifying heat winning times: 4. Sewell 68.2, 5. Rothery 67.6, 6. Hewitt 69.0, 12. Rothery 66.1, 15. Sewell 67.1, 18. Hewitt awarded, 22. M. Whitehead 67.6, 25. Hewitt awarded, 28. Darroch 66.3, 32. Rothery 66.6, 35. Darroch 66.1, 38. Hewitt 67.8, 42. Whelan 67.8, 45. Darroch 67.5, 48. Halder 65.7

Novice Class:
Qualifying Scores: John Gaskell 13, Thomas Hewitt 11, Craig Hancock 11, Mike Hancock 11, Ross Wharton 10, Lloyd Ditchburn 5, David Chiles 5, Luke McKenna 5, Jeff Robinson 4, Danny Wright 4, Jake Isherwood 2.

D Final: Wright, Isherwood, 79.4
C Final: Wright, Chiles, McKenna, Robinson, 73.2
B Final: Wharton, Wright, M. Hancock, Ditchburn, 69.2
A Final: C. Hancock, Wharton, Gaskell, Hewitt, 69.2

Winter Series points: C. Hancock 20, Wharton 19, Gaskell 18, Hewitt 17, Wright 16, M. Hancock 15, Ditchburn 14, Chiles 13, McKenna 12, Robinson 11, Isherwood 10.

Winter Series standings (after four rounds): Craig Hancock 66 (10-19-17-20), John Gaskell 62 (17-13-14-18), Luke McKenna 60 (15-14-19-12), Mike Hancock 60 (11-18-16-15), Danny Wright 49 (15-18-16), Jeff Robinson 46 (12-10-13-11), David Morgan 36 (16-20), Kyle Roberts 36 (16-20), Damon Hall 36 (13-12-11), Lloyd Brown 27 (18-9), Dave Chiles 22 (9-13), Jake Isherwood 21 (11-10), George Rothery 20, Chris Bambury 19, Ross Wharton 19, Jack Flynn 17, Thomas Hewitt 17, Lee Baldwin 15, Stuart Freeman 14, Lloyd Ditchburn 14, Michael Baldwin 12, Nigel Limb 10, Derek Hunt 9, James Andrews 8, Lee Coates 8, Colin Clarke 7.

Qualifying heat winning times: 7. McKenna 71.5, 8. Hewitt awarded, 9. C. Hancock 68.8, 13. M. Hancock 70.2, 16. M. Hancock 71.4, 19. C. Hancock 67.1, 23. Gaskell awarded, 26. Gaskell 72.3, 29. M. Hancock 70.2, 33. Hewitt 74.6, 36. Wharton 73.7, 39. Gaskell 71.2, 43. C. Hancock 69.5, 46. Hewitt awarded.

Upright Class (for upright engines):

Qualifying Scores: Shaun Bickley 12, Lee Coleman 12, Trevor Bebbington 4, Gary O’Hare 0 (1 ride).

A Final: Bickley, Coleman, Bebbington, 70.8

Winter Series points: Bickley 20, Coleman 19, Bebbington 18, O’Hare 17.

Winter Series standings (after three rounds): Dave Harvey 40 (20-20), Shaun Bickley 39 (19-20), Gary O’Hare 35 (18-17), Glen Belcher 19, Trevor Bebbington 18.

Qualifying heat winning times: 10. Coleman 73.0, 20. Bickley 70.3, 30. Bickley awarded, 40. Bickley 72.6, 49. Coleman 72.9