12th season of racing commences at EWR

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions are looking to complete a quick League Cup double over the Ipswich Witches, in the opening meeting of the new season at the Eddie Wright Raceway this afternoon (Sunday, 3pm).

The Scorpions scored an excellent 48-41 victory at Ipswich on Thursday evening, and promoter Rob Godfrey says: “We won’t be complacent. It was an excellent win for us at Ipswich, but we start off all square again this afternoon, and we’ve got to do the job again.

“We caught them a bit cold at their place, and we need to avoid them doing the same to us. We’ll approach the meeting in the same positive frame of mind as we did at Ipswich and see what that brings us.

“Ipswich do have some quality performers, such as England international Danny King and Italian Nico Covatti, and I’m sure it will be an afternoon of some top notch action around the best speedway track in the country.

“The key to our success at Ipswich was our all-round strength, which is how we’ve planned it this season. Carl Wilkinson is a trump card for us at reserve at the moment, and that’s the way it should be all year; whoever is riding at No 6 is going to be knocking up the points.”

Skipper Josh Auty could well become Scunthorpe’s all-time highest point scorer this afternoon.

The Yorkshireman currently has scored 2116 from all competitions for the Scorpions – just four short of David Howe’s haul of 2120 points.

Admission prices for this afternoon:

Adult: £15.00
Student/OAP: £13.00
Child (10 – 17): £5.00
Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult)
Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17)
Match Programme: £1.00

Expected teams for this afternoon:

Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. Nicolai Klindt, 3. Alex Davies, 4. Zdenek Holub, 5. Ryan Douglas, 6. Carl Wilkinson, 7. Josh Bailey.

Ipswich Witches: 1. Danny King, 2. James Sarjeant, 3. Lewis Kerr, 4. Morten Risager R/R, 5. Nico Covatti, 6. Paco Castagna, 7. Darryl Ritchings.

Teams for second half Junior Challenge:
Scunthorpe: 1. Luke Whitehead, 2. Sam Chapman, 3. Sheldon Davies, 4. Luke Harrison.
Halifax: 1. Jack Parkinson-Blackburn, 2. Chris Hay, 3. Jordan Palin, 4. Sam McGurk.