Scorpions so close in home opener
SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 44 PETERBOROUGH PANTHERS 46 (SGB CHAMPIONSHIP)
HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions suffered a frustrating first home meeting of the season yesterday (Sunday) evening, losing 44-46 to Peterborough Panthers in the SGB Championship at the Eddie Wright Raceway.
It was a meeting of ‘what ifs’ as Scorpions dropped a number of points either through falls or tight finishes on a tremendous evening of top-class racing.
Much of the damage was done in the reserve positions, where Panthers outscored Scorpions by 15 points to 2. Josh Bailey has recently returned from a collarbone injury, while Fritz Wallner suffered three falls. In contrast, Bradley Wilson-Dean scored a fine 12-point-tally for Panthers.
Scorpions’ top five scored solidly enough, with just one last place between them, although a telling statistic is that Scunthorpe registered just six heat winners to Peterborough’s nine.
Scorpions’ skipper Michael Palm Toft said: “There were a few things that happened and they added up and cost us the meeting.
“The first home meeting is always hard. The track was just a little bit different from last year, but I don’t think we should use that as an excuse.
“I think it’s more a case of the riders needing to take a look at ourselves. It’s up to us to make sure we’re setting up our bikes correctly and then riding accordingly.
“We had a team discussion after the meeting, because we want to get it right next week, when we have Glasgow in our next home meeting.
“It’s a long season this year, and we’ve just started. But we don’t want to lose at home. This should be our fortress, and we need to get on with it and pull our socks up.”
HENDERSON INSURANCE SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 44
1. Ryan Douglas 2 1* 2 1* (6+2)
2. Carl Wilkinson 1* 2 3 1* (7+2)
3. Lewis Kerr 1* 2* 3 2 3 (11+2)
4. Michael Palm Toft 2 3 0 2 (7)
5. Josh Auty 3 1 3 2 2* (11+1)
6. Fritz Wallner F FX F 0 (0)
7. Josh Bailey 2 0 0 0 (2)
PETERBOROUGH PANTHERS 46
1. Jack Holder 3 1 2 3 1 (10)
2. Simon Lambert FX R 1* (1+1)
3. Paul Starke 0 3 3 3 0 (9)
4. Ulrich Ostergaard 3 2* 0 3 (8+1)
5. Kenneth Hansen 2 0 1* 0 (3+1)
6. Bradley Wilson-Dean 3 3 2 2 1 1 (12)
7. Tom Bacon 1 1* 1* (3+2)
1 (Re-run): Holder, Douglas, Wilkinson, Lambert (fell, excluded), 59.00 (3-3) (3-3).
2: Wilson-Dean, Bailey, Bacon, Wallner (fell), 60.50 (2-4) (5-7).
3: Ostergaard, Palm Toft, Kerr, Starke, 60.31 (3-3) (8-10).
4: Auty, Hansen, Bacon, Bailey, 60.38 (3-3) (11-13).
5: Palm Toft, Kerr, Holder, Lambert (ret), 59.62 (5-1) (16-14).
6: Wilson-Dean, Wilkinson, Douglas, Hansen, 60.44 (3-3) (19-17).
7 (Re-run): Starke, Ostergaard, Auty, Wallner (fell, excluded) (1-5) (20-22).
8: Wilkinson, Wilson-Dean, Bacon, Bailey, 60.19 (3-3) (23-25).
9: Kerr, Wilson-Dean, Hansen, Palm Toft, 59.69 (3-3) (26-28).
10: Starke, Douglas, Wilkinson, Ostergaard, 59.68 (3-3) (29-31).
11: Auty, Holder, Lambert, Wallner (fell), 59.38 (3-3) (32-34).
12: Starke, Kerr, Wilson-Dean, Bailey, 59.13 (2-4) (34-38).
13: Holder, Auty, Douglas, Hansen, 59.50 (3-3) (37-41).
14: Ostergaard, Palm Toft, Wilson-Dean, Wallner, 60.00 (2-4) (39-45).
15: Kerr, Auty, Holder, Starke, 59.00 (5-1) (44-46).
