Young Guns go for it

The rescheduled first round of Scunthorpe Speedway’s Winter Series for adult speedway classes took place on Sunday 27th November and the top two classes were dominated by teenagers. In the Open Class the experienced Buxton rider David Wallinger lead qualifying but in the A Final he came to grief in a tight third turn and it was left to King’s Lynn’s 18-year old Ryan Kinsley to race away for victory in the re-run from Coventry’s 17-year old Jamie Halder and another King’s Lynn rider, Taylor Hampshire, who only turned 15 in June.

In the Support Class the finalists were even younger with three 16-year olds claiming the podium places but only after highly impressive 15-year old, Ben Woodhull, had fallen whilst looking set for victory. Earlier he had set the fastest time of the day at 60.9 seconds and won his four races after also falling first time out. Unfortunately he wasn’t the only one in his family to finish the meeting battered and bruised because his twin brother, Luke, who had opted for the Open Class just 19 days after he turned 15, also crashed out of his final. In the end it was Alex Spooner who came back from mid-meeting bike problems to first win the B Final and then the A Final ahead of James Hitchen and Sam Chapman.

In the Upright Class (for bikes with engines in the upright position) the field was somewhat decimated from that that was due to race the week before. A healthy ten riders was reduced to three but what they lacked in numbers they made up for in quality and it was Lee Coleman who raced to six heats wins with Ian Leverington and Shaun Bickley finishing second and third.

The largest class on the day was the Novice Class with 11 entrants and a number of first timers. In the end it was Polish rider Bartek Langner, who first rode a 500cc bike three months ago, that won the class ahead of Tom Spencer (who had to remount before battling back into second on his racing debut), Danny Wright and David Chiles.

Langner won three qualifying races but fell whilst leading two others and, like Spooner, had to win the B Final before racing to victory in the A Final. After the final he declared “I love to race at Scunthorpe as the atmosphere is great and I really like this track. “I started at small Lakeside on a 125cc in May and then got my 500cc in August. I’m planning to come as often as I can especially for the championship series. In the future I will try not to crash so often and be faster”.

Meeting organiser Richard Hollingsworth was impressed with Langner “Bartek is a rider who after just three meetings is already too good for the Novice Class. Two race times under 66 seconds are proof of that. He needs to become a little smoother and he could go a long way in the sport. There are so many riders making great progress and new ones coming through all the time. Tom Spencer was exceptional on his debut whilst in the Support Class we had Ben Woodhull and Alex Spooner producing super quick times and four 15 year olds in the Open Class.
“We have had so many riders make great strides over the previous winters and the Open Class Winter Series has the highest standard amateur meetings in the country. It was great to see the youngsters in action today and it was obvious there were some real stars of the future on display. It was a shame we didn’t have the 55 riders we had booked in last week but at least we were able to give everyone six or seven rides and get finished at a reasonable time.

“I have got to thank our amazing volunteers for helping us run the meeting and also thank the riders who were ready with their engines running before the previous heat finished. That way we could get them on track quicker and keep the meeting moving along. Long may it continue!”
The next round of meetings are on the 11th December for the Flat Track, Pit Bike, Road Bike, Quad Bike and Youth Speedway classes and the 18th December for the Adult Speedway classes (Open, Support, Novice and Upright). Bookings can be made by texting Hollingsworth on 07832-402167.

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 (rescheduled due to weather to 27th November), 18th December, 15th January, 5th February, 26th February & 19th March

Open Class
Qualifying scores: David Wallinger 14, Jamie Halder 12, Ryan Kinsley 10, Krystian Bialecki 10, Luke Woodhull 7, Taylor Hampshire 5, Lewis Whitmore 5, Tim Webster 4 (3 rides), Kean Dicken 1

C Final: Whitmore, Dicken, 62.9
B Final: Hampshire, Bialecki, Whitmore, L. Woodhull (fell), 61.3
A Final: (re-run) Kinsley, Halder, Hampshire, Wallinger (fell, excluded), 62.6

Winter Series points: Ryan Kinsley 20, Jamie Halder 19, Taylor Hampshire 18, David Wallinger 17, Krystian Bialecki 16, Lewis Whitmore 15, Luke Woodhull 14, Kean Dicken 13, Tim Webster 12.

Qualifying race winning times: 4. Wallinger 62.3, 5. Lewis Whitmore no time, race awarded, 6. Bialecki 61.6, 11. Kinsley 61.2, 16. Wallinger 62.1, 20. Wallinger 61.9, 23. Halder 61.9, 26. Webster 62.5, 29. Wallinger 62.1, 34. Kinsley 61.0, 37. Bialecki 61.5, 41. Halder 62.3

Support Class

Qualifying scores: Ben Woodhull 12, James Hitchen 11, Sam Chapman 10, Sheldon Davies 8, Alex Spooner 8 (4 rides), Stuart Freeman 5, Chris Bambury 4, Simon Bence 1 (2 rides).

B Final: Spooner, Davies, Freeman, 64.3
A Final: Spooner, Hitchen, Chapman, B. Woodhull (fell), 70.6

Winter Series points: Alex Spooner 20, James Hitchen 19, Sam Chapman 18, Ben Woodhull 17, Sheldon Davies 16, Stuart Freeman 15, Chris Bambury 14, Simon Bence 13.

Qualifying race winning times: 7. Spooner 63.6, 8. Hitchen no time, race awarded, 13. B. Woodhull 61.8, 14. Spooner 63.1, 19. Chapman 66.6, 22. B. Woodhull 60.9, 28. Hitchen 64.0, 31. B. Woodhull 62.0, 35. B. Woodhull 61.6, 38. Hitchen no time, race awarded

Novice Class

Qualifying scores: Tom Spencer 14, David Chiles 12, Danny Wright 12, Mick Sutton 11, Bartek Langner 9, Callum Foy 6, Dean Douglas 6, James Spencer 6, Russell Davis 5, Mick Keeling 3, Liam Little 3 (3 rides)

C Final: Davis, Douglas, Keeling, J. Spencer (fell), 81.0
B Final: Langner, Foy, Sutton, Davis, 73.1
A Final: Langner, T. Spencer (fell, remounted), Wright, Chiles, 81.4

Winter Series points: Bartek Langner 20, Tom Spencer 19, Danny Wright 18, David Chiles 17, Callum Foy 16, Mick Sutton 15, Russell Davis 14, Dean Douglas 13, Mick Keeling 12, James Spencer 11, Liam Little 10

Qualifying race winning times: 1. Little 74.1, 2. Wright 74.8, 3. Langner 68.0, 9. Langner 65.9, 12. Wright 76.7, 15. Langner 65.8, 18. Sutton no time, race awarded, 21. T. Spencer .6, 24. Sutton 74.6, 27. Chiles no time, race awarded, 30. T. Spencer 74.8, 33. Chiles 75.9, 36. T. Spencer 78.1, 39. T. Spencer 78.0, 42. Foy 74.6

Upright Class

Qualifying scores: Lee Coleman 15, Ian Leverington 10, Shaun Bickley 3

A Final: Langner, Coleman, Leverington, Bickley, 68.4

Winter Series points: Lee Coleman 20, Ian Leverington 19, Shaun Bickley 18

Qualifying race winning times (all Lee Coleman): 10. 68.1, 17. 67.9, 25. 69.1, 32. 70.0, 40. 70.1