Scorpions battle hard at Somerset
SOMERSET REBELS 52 SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 38 (PREMIER LEAGUE)
FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, slipped to a 38-52 defeat at Somerset’s Oak Tree Arena last night (Friday), but team manager Dave Peet was encouraged with much of what he saw.
Scunthorpe were just 25-29 in arrears with six heats to go. The Rebels, who had knocked up cricket scores of 63 (against Sheffield) and 58 (against Berwick) in their previous two home meetings, were given much more of a battle by the Scorpions.
It was the final meeting before the Scorpions’ line-up is strengthened by the arrival of Ryan Douglas and Ben Wilson.
Peet said: “We certainly didn’t disgrace ourselves at Somerset, and we were on it and in contention for most of the meeting.
“We actually dropped quite a few points. In three or four races, we made mistakes on the final lap and lost positions; they were schoolboy errors. Without those mistakes, we might have even snatched a point from the meeting.
“But I couldn’t have asked more from the team. If you look at the way that Alex Davies, Theo Pijper, Carl Wilkinson and Nike Lunna scored, it bodes well once we have Dougie (Ryan Douglas) and Ben (Wilson) in the team as well. We are going to have the whole team scoring points, and that’s going to make us difficult to ride against.”
Seven of the opening nine races were shared last night, with the Scorpions often packing the minor placings behind a Somerset race winner. Theo Pijper won Heat 8 and Alex Davies followed suit in Heat 9, before the Rebels posted the only 5-1 of the night for either side in Heat 10.
From there onwards, the Rebels gradually increased their lead, despite Scorpions’ heat wins for guest Ben Barker in Heat 11 and Carl Wilkinson in Heat 14.
Davies was in the thick of the action on his return to his old track, and posted a double-figure score, while Barker was a decent guest for the Scorpions and contributed 8+1, the same score as Scunthorpe stand-in skipper Pijper.
Nike Lunna fared well on his first-ever visit to the track, with Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey spannering for him. Peet quipped: “Nike’s new mechanic was ace, he was really geeing him up and encouraging him all night!”
Brady Kurtz was the top scorer for the Rebels with a dozen points.
The Scorpions entertain the Rebels in the return fixture on Bank Holiday Monday at the Eddie Wright Raceway (3pm), with both Douglas and Wilson coming into the side for what looks like a mouth-watering afternoon of racing.
Scunthorpe had booked Sheffield’s Andre Compton as a guest for Monday, in place of the injured Josh Auty, but Compton crashed out of Sheffield’s home meeting on Thursday. Former Scorpion Ashley Birks was then lined up, but he has also been in the wars, sustaining an injury at Edinburgh last night. Confirmation will follow in due course, whether the Scorpions will book an alternative guest, or go with the rider replacement facility.
SOMERSET REBELS 52
1. Brady Kurtz 0 3 3 3 3 (12)
2. Leigh Lanham 3 1 2 2* (8+1)
3. Richie Worrall 0 0 1* 3 (4+1)
4. Charles Wright 3 3 2 2 (10)
5. Josh Grajczonek 3 3 2 1 1 (10)
6. Paul Starke 3 1* 1* 1 1* (7+3)
7. Benji Compton 1 0 0 (1)
FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS SUPPORTED BY HENDERSON INSURANCE 38
1. Ben Barker (Guest) 1* 2 3 2 0 (8+1)
2. Theo Pijper 2 2 1* 3 0 (8+1)
3. David Howe R/R
4. Carl Wilkinson 1* 2 0 0 3 (6+1)
5. Alex Davies 2 2 3 1 0 2 (10)
6. Matt Williamson (Guest) 0 0 0 (0)
7. Nike Lunna 2 1* 1* 0 2 0 (6+2)
1: Lanham, Pijper, Barker, Kurtz, 57.57 (3-3).
2: Starke, Lunna, Compton, Williamson, 57.75 (4-2) (7-5).
3: Wright, Pijper, Wilkinson, Worrall, 57.81 (3-3) (10-8).
4: Grajczonek, Davies, Lunna, Compton, 57.19 (3-3) (13-11).
5: Wright, Barker, Pijper, Worrall, 58.62 (3-3) (16-14).
6: (Re-run) Kurtz, Davies, Lanham, Williamson, 57.56 (4-2) (20-16).
7: Grajczonek, Wilkinson, Lunna, Compton, 58.00 (3-3) (23-19).
8: Pijper, Lanham, Starke, Lunna, 58.56 (3-3) (26-22).
9: Davies, Wright, Worrall, Williamson, 58.22 (3-3) (29-25).
10: (Re-run) Kurtz, Lanham, Davies, Wilkinson, 57.65 (5-1) (34-26).
11: Barker, Grajczonek, Starke, Pijper, 58.79 (3-3) (37-29).
12: Worrall, Lunna, Starke, Wilkinson, 58.59 (4-2) (41-31).
13: Kurtz, Barker, Grajczonek, Davies, 58.91 (4-2) (45-33).
14: Wilkinson, Wright, Starke, Lunna, 59.78 (3-3) (48-36).
15: Kurtz, Davies, Grajczonek, Barker, 57.81 (4-2) (52-38).
