Scorpions move up, after beating Bears

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 54 REDCAR BEARS 39 (PREMIER LEAGUE)

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions moved off the bottom of the Premier League table after overcoming Redcar Bears by 54-39 at the Eddie Wright Raceway yesterday evening (Sunday).

The third conformable home win on the trot moves Scorpions above both Rye House and Redcar in the table.

It was another solid team performance by Scunthorpe, who only registered four last places all night. Scorpions soon control of the meeting, moving into an early 19-11 lead.

Mid-season signing Lewis Kerr was again in terrific form. He thundered to wins in his opening four outings, picking up a number of points from behind, and only missed out on a maximum when he finished fourth in Heat 15.

But all seven Scorpions contributed in another good team effort, whereas Redcar relied heavily on Hugh Skidmore and David Bellego, on a night of yet more terrific racing at the Eddie Wright Raceway.

Recent signing Fritz Wallner is rapidly becoming a crowd favourite with his fence-scraping exploits, and he and Carl Wilkinson went either side of Jonas B Andersen in Heat 14, in the race that extinguished the hopes of Redcar gaining a league point from the meeting.

Young Jack Smith was again a lively guest at No 7 for the Scorpions, and he pinched third place from Tobias Busch in Heat 8 after a last-gasp charge around the outside. Such was Smith’s speed that he fell after the finishing line, but he was given the verdict in a photo-finish.

Any chance that Redcar had of getting back in the meeting almost disappeared in Heat 10. Bears had an 8-1 early on courtesy of tactical ride Skidmore and Jonas B Andersen, but both Josh Auty and Michael Palm Toft fought their way past Andersen in the closing stages.

Meanwhile, Ryan Douglas had another free-scoring evening, and finished the night by passing Skidmore to win Heat 15.

Scorpions’ top scorer Lewis Kerr said: “I’m really happy with that. I got a maximum from my heats, but ran a last in Heat 15.

“I’m really enjoying it at Scunthorpe. The team is gelling well and it’s a shame that the season is coming to an end.

“Since I came into the Scunthorpe team, it’s helped to transform my season. I’m really happy – it’s a great club with great fans.

“Just after I came to Scunthorpe, I switched over all my machinery. It might sound like a crazy thing to do halfway through the season, but I’m now really glad that I did it.

“I bought the bikes and the all the gear off Andreas Lyager, after he had to go back to Denmark. I’ve got them dialled in now and they’re going really well.

“I think my lowest score around Scunthorpe since then has been around nine, and I’ve scored more than that in the rest of the meetings around here.

“It’s been a pretty good week! I scored 11 points at Scunthorpe on Monday, 11 for Lakeside at King’s Lynn, 10 at Lakeside and then 12 for Scunthorpe in this meeting. So that’s four double figure scores, plus best man at my brother’s wedding, in a week!”

HENDERSON INSURANCE SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 54
1. Josh Auty 2 FX 2 2 (6)
2. Michael Palm Toft 0 3 3 1* (7+1)
3. Lewis Kerr 3 3 3 3 0 (12)
4. Fritz Wallner 1 1 2* 3 (7+1)
5. Ryan Douglas 3 2 2 1* 3 (11+1)
6. Carl Wilkinson 3 1* 1* 2* (7+3)
7. Jack Smith (Guest) 1 2* 1 0 (4+1)

REDCAR BEARS 39
1. David Bellego 1 2 3 3 1* (10+1)
2. Tobias Busch 3 0 0 0 (3)
3. Hugh Skidmore 2 3 6# 2 2 (15)
4. Jonas B Andersen 0 0 0 1 (1)
5. Lasse Bjerre R 2 1 0 (3)
6. Jye Etheridge FX 1* 0 1* (2+2)
7. Lee Payne 2 1 2 0 (5)

# = tactical ride

1: Busch, Auty, Bellego, Palm Toft, 56.75 (2-4) (2-4).
2: (Re-run) Wilkinson, Payne, Smith, Etheridge(fell, excluded), 57.31 (4-2) (6-6).
3: Kerr, Skidmore, Wallner, Andersen, 57.2. (4-2) (10-8).
4: Douglas, Smith, Payne, Bjerre (ret), 58.81 (5-1) (15-9).
5: Kerr, Bellego, Wallner, Busch, 57.5. (4-2) (19-11).
6: (Re-run twice) Palm Toft, Bjerre, Etheridge, Auty(fell, excluded), 59.0 (3-3) (22-14).
7: Skidmore, Douglas, Wilkinson, Andersen, 58.87 (3-3) (25-17).
8: Palm Toft, Payne, Smith, Busch, 59.13 (4-2) (29-19).
9: Kerr, Wallner, Bjerre, Etheridge, 58.13 (5-1) (34-20).
10: SKIDMORE (TR), Auty, Palm Toft, Andersen, 59.06 (3-6) (37-26).
11: Bellego, Douglas, Wilkinson, Busch, 57.87 (3-3) (40-29).
12: Kerr, Skidmore, Etheridge, Smith, 58.38 (3-3) (43-32).
13: Bellego, Auty, Douglas, Bjerre, 57.5 (3-3) (46-35).
14: Wallner, Wilkinson, Andersen, Payne, 58.98 (5-1) (51-36).
15: Douglas, Skidmore, Bellego, Kerr, 58.03. (3-3) (54-39).