Birks inspires Scorpions to season’s best
SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 54 WORKINGTON COMETS 38 (PREMIER LEAGUE)
A FANTASTIC 15-pont maximum from Scunthorpe asset Ashley Birks inspired the FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, to a convincing 54-38 victory over the Workington Comets at the Eddie Wright Raceway last night (Friday).
Birks, a regular Scunthorpe rider from 2010 to 2014, proved a perfect choice of guest, with five highly polished race wins.
However, it was far from a one-man performance, on a night when the whole Scunthorpe side came good, overcoming the absence of the injured pair of Josh Auty and Ryan Douglas, to put in their best performance of the season so far.
Scunthorpe have had a problem supplying heat winners this season, but against the Comets, provided 12 heat-winners out of 15.
On a night of some fabulous racing, a number of those heat-winners came from behind. Theo Pijper denied Kyle Howarth, out on a tactical ride, with an inside pass in Heat 6, and Pijper won Heat 13 after a magnificent outside swoop around Kenneth Hansen & Howarth.
Alex Davies used the inside line to excellent effect to pip Matthew Wethers in Heat 7, while Carl Wilkinson charged around Rene Bach to win Heat 10.
The Scorpions took control of the meeting, after storming into a 20-10 lead after 5 races, and had the three league points in the bag with three races to go.
It was a very welcome victory for the Scorpions, after defeats in their opening three Premier League meetings of the season at the Eddie Wright Raceway
Scorpions’ skipper Theo Pijper said: “Everyone was fired up for this meeting, and we rode well as a team. It’s what we needed: for everyone to score points.
“In Heat 13, I saw their two riders on the inside, and I thought there was a gap on the outside. So I went for the big run around the outside, and just hoped that I would stay on the bike. I came over the line first and that’s all that matters.
“We would like to win a third meeting on the trot here next Friday. Glasgow are a strong side, but we’d love to beat them.”
Carl Wilkinson said: “I started the night a bit steady, but once I got my bikes dialled in and was trapping a bit better, I had a good night.
“The team had a good night. It looked like they might come back at us at one point, but once we made changes to our bikes, we started stretching our legs a little. It gave us a confidence boost, because it showed we can be a good, winning side around here.”
Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “It was top draw speedway. We were against what I consider a good Workington team, but we made them look quite average. We thoroughly deserved the win.
“I knew Ashley Birks would be a great choice of guest. He will always give 110 per cent for us. In terms of speedway, this is the track that he was born on, and he’ll never forget how to ride it. Ash was just fantastic tonight.
“It was a good all-around team performance and we were getting the heat winners, something we haven’t been doing. We changed the track a little bit for this meeting, and it was just right for our riders.
“Our riders were all praising it, and saying it was perfect for them. And I could see that it was, because they could use the whole track.
“The racing was top class. Theo Pijper’s ride around the outside in Heat 13 was something special, and Wilko (Carl Wilkinson) also used the outside to great effect to win one of his races from behind. Meanwhile, Alex Davies used the inside line to battle past Matthew Wethers in Heat 7.
“It was a perfect result and perfect racing. It takes off some of the pressure and worries to win a meeting in this sort of style. I’ll be honest, I haven’t been able to sleep after speedway nights here this season. When it’s going badly, I feel it more than most.
“The one concern we do still have is crowd levels. We’ve got a massive meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway next Friday (June 19) against Glasgow, who are flying this season, and will provide us with a massive test. It will be a brilliant night of speedway and I hope the fans turn up in force to get behind us.”
FLUIDAIR POWER SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS SUPPORTED BY HENDERSON INSURANCE 54
1. Josh Auty R/R
2. Theo Pijper 1 3 3 1 3 R (11)
3. Ashley Birks (Guest) 3 3 3 3 3 (15)
4. Carl Wilkinson 1 1 2* 3 3 (10+1)
5. Alex Davies 2 FX 3 2 0 1 (8)
6. Ben Wilson 2* 0 0 2* (4+2)
7. Nike Lunna 3 1* 1 1 (6+1)
WORKINGTON COMETS 38
1. Kenneth Hansen 0 0 1 2 (3)
2. Ricky Wells 2 2 2 3 2* (11+1)
3. Rene Bach 2 1* 2 2 (7+1)
4. Matthew Wethers 0 2 0 1 (3)
5. Kyle Howarth 3 4# 1 1* 3 (12+1)
6. Rafal Konopka (Guest) 1 1* 0 0 (2+1)
7. Nathan Greaves 0 0 0 0 (0)
# = tactical ride
1: Birks, Wells, Pijper, Hansen, 57.06 (4-2) (4-2).
2: Lunna, Wilson, Konopka, Greaves, 57.12 (5-1) (9-3).
3: Birks, Bach, Wilkinson, Wethers, 58.00 (4-2) (13-5).
4: Howarth, Davies, Lunna, Greaves, 58.19 (3-3) (16-8).
5: Birks, Wells, Wilkinson, Hansen, 57.37 (4-2) (20-10).
6: (Re-run) Pijper, HOWARTH (TR), Konopka, Davies (fell, excluded), 59.13 (3-5) (23-15).
7: Davies, Wethers, Bach, Wilson, 58.62 (3-3) (26-18).
8: Pijper, Wells, Lunna, Greaves, 58.25 (4-2) (30-20).
9: Birks, Wilkinson, Howarth, Konopka, 58.81 (5-1) (35-21).
10: Wilkinson, Bach, Pijper, Wethers, 58.19 (4-2) (39-23).
11: Wells, Davies, Hansen, Wilson (fell, remounted), 59.00 (2-4) (41-27).
12: Birks, Bach, Lunna, Konopka, 58.50 (4-2) (45-29).
13: Pijper, Hansen, Howarth, Davies, 59.06 (3-3) (48-32).
14: Wilkinson, Wilson, Wethers, Greaves, 58.43 (5-1) (53-33).
15: Howarth, Wells, Davies, Pijper (ret), 59.06 (1-5) (54-38).
