Wilko approaching British Final with open mind

THE BRITISH FINAL is one of the biggest events in the domestic speedway calendar, and the FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, are proudly represented by Carl Wilkinson at Wolverhampton on Monday evening (7.30pm).

A second Scorpion, Josh Auty, qualified for the final at Monmore Green, but has been ruled out with a broken hand.

Wilkinson only scored a point in the opening two rides in his British Semi-Final at King’s Lynn, but then scored eight points from his final three rides, culminating in a brilliant Heat 20 victory over Craig Cook, Stefan Nielsen and seven-time British Champion Scott Nicholls, to snatch a place in the final.

‘Wilko’ is probably regarded as one of the outsiders for the final, but he says: “I’m going to Wolverhampton with a completely open mind. Anything is possible.

“As people have said to me, who would have put money on me to win that last ride at King’s Lynn to get through? I certainly wouldn’t have done. But it shows anything can happen in these sort of meetings, if you can get out in front.

“If I can put together a couple of starts and put together eight clean laps, and then it’s anyone’s game. A bit of lady luck, with someone beating someone else, and you never know where you can come in the meeting.

“I hope I can put on a good showing for myself and score a few points and enjoy the night.”

34-year-old Wilkinson, a local Lincolnshire lad, has returned to his parent club Scunthorpe in 2015, after three years at other teams. His previous spell at Scunthorpe covered 2008 to 2011.

Wilko is enjoying a fine season, and has averaged 7.46 from his opening 16 meetings for the Scorpions in 2015.

He says: “I’ve been having a good season personally. I’ve not been pulling up any trees, but I’ve been doing a good, consistent job.

“I haven’t had that consistency for the last couple of years. But I’ve approached it differently this year, working during the winter with the bikes and fitness, and it seems to be paying off well. If I can keep it up for the rest of the season, I’ll be a happy man.”

It’s been more of a struggle for some of his Scunthorpe team-mates, but successive wins in the last two weeks at the Eddie Wright Raceway over Newcastle (53-37) and Workington (54-38) suggest that the team might have turned a corner in form, despite still missing two riders, Auty and Ryan Douglas, through injury.

Wilkinson adds: “We have to remember that a lot of teams keep most of their riders each season.

“With Scunthorpe, it’s a much-changed side this season from the last two to three years.

“For the likes of myself, I’ve done numerous laps around there, and that’s why I’ve been one of our more consistent riders.

“But for a lot of the lads, they’ve been adjusting to what is a new home track for them and learning their home trackcraft. They’ve now picked that up and we’re starting to reap the benefits, and hopefully we can enjoy a far better second half of the season.”

LINE-UP: Carl Wilkinson (Scunthorpe), Andre Compton (Sheffield), Ben Barker (Berwick), Steve Worrall (Belle Vue/Newcastle), Craig Cook (Belle Vue/Edinburgh), Kyle Howarth (Swindon/Workington), Adam Roynon (Redcar), Scott Nicholls (Belle Vue), Tai Woffinden (Unattached), Chris Harris (Coventry), Jason Garrity (Coventry/Sheffield), Lewis Blackbird (Wolverhampton/Peterborough), Richard Lawson (Lakeside/Glasgow), Danny King (Coventry/Ipswich), Edward Kennett (Lakeside/Rye House), Leigh Lanham (Somerset).