Numbers soar for Winter Series

Last Sunday saw the first round of Scunthorpe Speedway’s series of winter meetings take place at the club’s Eddie Wright Raceway. It is the ninth season of winter meetings and will see 12 meetings run between mid-November and mid-March. Two years ago demand became so high that the classes had to be split over two weekends and early participation and bookings suggest the numbers are only set to grow again this winter.

The first meeting saw 49 entrants compete over 53 races in four hours after an impeccably observed silence to commemorate Remembrance Day with the seven class winners at the end of the day being Skye Adams (Flat Track), Jack Bell (Pit Bikes), Kyle Bickley (Youth 500), Harry McGurk (Youth 125/150), Luke Gardner (Junior 110), John Boddy (Road Bikes) and Chris Wright (Quad Bikes).

Afterwards meeting organiser Richard Hollingsworth expressed his delight at how the meeting had gone. “This time last year we had 60 riders over the first two meetings but after next week we are going to have had over 100. Years ago riders used to pack up for the winter but now they realising they can ride all year at Scunthorpe. Some are riding for fun, some are riding to improve and some are just planning on hitting the ground running when the new season starts. We never ever cancel on the day and always make a final decision using the most recent weather forecasts the night before. It means people can travel from around the country, many the time when riders have poor weather locally but if we say we are running they know they will get to race and travel in confidence.

“The word is spreading and numbers are continuing to increase. We are in danger of being victims of our own success again because we can’t afford for meetings to run on too long. That’s the case all year round but especially in the winter months. We have to improve the time between races but that can only be done with more volunteers. Only then can we organise riders in the pits so they are actually sat with their engine running waiting to go on track when the last race is finished.

“These meetings are such a valuable contribution to the sport in the country and we have riders, and even some fans, travel very significant distances to come but we really need flag marshals to ensure the meetings keep going and can expand to cater for extra riders. If anyone can help I urge them to text or call me on 07832-402167. If every rider provided a marshal for one meeting a year we’d never have a problem but whilst I know that isn’t always possible it does seem to come down to the same wonderful people who step up to the plate time and time again. I can’t thank those people enough but I owe it to them to keep asking for new people to step forward and come spread the load.

“Next week we have the adult speedway classes take to the track and with over fifty riders already booked in the meeting has the makings of an absolute cracker. We just need to make sure the meeting runs smoothly so they want to keep returning”

Full list of Winter Series meeting dates:

Flat Track, Pit Bike, Road Bike, Quad Bike and Youth Speedway classes – 13th November, 11th December, 8th January, 29th January, 19th February & 12th March

Adult Speedway Classes – 20th November, 18th December, 15th January, 5th February, 26th February & 19th March

Flat Track
Scores: Skye Adams 48, Steve Newsham 31 (5 rides), Aaron Tuttlebee 28, Joe Burden 28, Lee Stevens 27 (5 rides), Ian Cramp 21 (5 rides), Luke Gardner 18

Winter Series points: Adams 20, Newsham 19, Tuttlebee 18, Burden 17, Stevens 16, Cramp 15, Gardner 14

Race winning times: 10. Adams 114.59, 18. Adams 112.17, 26. Adams 111.45, 34. Adams 104.36, 43. Adams 105.70, 53. Adams 106.04

Pit Bikes
Scores: Jack Bell 64, Lee Carter 60, Stuart Avery 51, Stuart Foster 43, Ben Basford 40, Jeff Robinson 34, Jack Parkinson-Blackburn 32, Jon Dyer 29, Tom Miles 20, Dan Miles 13

Winter Series points: Bell 20, Carter 19, Avery 18, Foster 17, Basford 16, Robinson 15, Parkinson-Blackburn 14, Dyer 13, T. Miles 12, D. Miles 11

Race winning times: 8. Bell 86.70, 16. Bell 83.78, 24. Bell 80.94, 32. Carter 80.86, 40. Carter 79.66, 50. Bell 78.68

Youth 500
Qualifying scores: Kyle Bickley 15, Carl Basford 9, Sheldon Davies 6.

A Final: Bickley, Basford, Davies, 62.11

Winter Series points: Bickley 20, Basford 19, Davies 18

Qualifying heat winning times: 5. Bickley 68.27, 13. Bickley 65.52, 21. Bickley 64.35, 29. Bickley 62.48, 37. Bickley 61.65

Youth 125/150
Qualifying scores: Jordan Palin 15, Harry McGurk 14, Luke Harrison 12, Mickie Simpson 9, Sam McGurk 8, Jack Bell 8, Beau Stonehewer 5, Jacob Clayton 5, Freddie Fox-Baron 5, Mikey Robbins 2, Finley Dimmock 1

C Final: Fox-Baron, Clayton, Robbins, Dimmock
B Final: S. McGurk, Simpson, Fox-Baron, Bell, 68.64
A Final: H. McGurk, Palin, S. McGurk, Harrison (retired), 66.56

Winter Series points: H. McGurk 20, Palin 19, S. McGurk 18, Harrison 17, Simpson 16, Fox- Baron 15, Bell 14, Clayton 13, Robbins 12, Dimmock 11, Stonehewer 10.

Qualifying heat winning times: 1. H. McGurk 69.41, 2. Palin 71.23, 3. Simpson 73.95, 7. Harrison awarded, 11. Palin 70.18, 15. H. McGurk 69.36, 19. Palin 69.63, 23. Palin 67.89, 27. H. McGurk 68.13, 31. S. McGurk 69.79, 35. Clayton 71.46, 38. Harrison 68.76, 41. Palin 67.21, 44. H. McGurk 67.03

Junior 110
Scores: Luke Gardner 36, Max McGurk 25, Jack Franklin 18, Iona Glover 15 (5 rides), Mikey Robbins 12, Louis Walker 12.

Winter Series points: Gardner 20, McGurk 19, Franklin 18, Glover 17, Robbins 16, Walker 15.

Race winning times: 6. Gardner 81.41, 14. Gardner 82.50, 22. Gardner 81.89, 30. Gardner 80.57, 39. Gardner 78.38, 49. Gardner 77.23

Road Bikes
Scores: John Boddy 47, Jeff Tuttlebee 34, Chas Challis 26, Gary Clayton 24, Jeff Halford 22, Darren Brook 20, Denise Lawson 15, Jon Lawson 14.

Winter Series points: Boddy 20, Tuttlebee 19, Challis 18, Clayton 17, Halford 16, Brook 15, D. Lawson 14, J. Lawson 13.

Qualifying heat winning times: 9. Boddy 92.80, 17. Boddy 92.30, 25. Boddy 86.89, 33. Boddy 86.44, 42. Boddy 83.28, 52. Tuttlebee 82.96

Quad Bikes
Qualifying scores: Chris Wright 15, Chris Sellars 8, Ian Russel 7

A Final: Wright, Sellars, Russel, 63.75

Winter Series points: Wright 20, Sellars 19, Russel 18

Qualifying heat winning times: 4. Wright 72.60, 12. Wright 72.61, 20. Wright 68.95, 28. Wright 67.76, 36. Wright 65.64