Scorpions move up to fifth after big win

SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 56 BERWICK BANDITS 34 (SGB CHAMPIONSHIP)

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions stormed to a resounding 56-34 victory over Berwick Bandits at the Eddie Wright Raceway yesterday afternoon (Sunday).

The key to the victory was a fabulous debut for new signing Stefan Nielsen at reserve. Nielsen won Heat 2, but then suffered an engine failure and an exclusion for two minutes in his next two outings, as he suffered problems with his cut-out.

Meanwhile, Bandits staged a mini-revival and closed the deficit to four points after Heat 8 and six points after Heat 10.

But then came a double moment of brilliance from Nielsen. He powered around the whole field, including Bandits’ No 1 Nick Morris on the opening lap of Heat 11. With Josh Auty also passing Jye Etheridge, Scorpions took a vital 4-2.

Nielsen then produced another classy move in Heat 12, to thrust inside of impressive visitor Kevin Doolan, to join Lewis Kerr for a 5-1 that left Scorpions on the brink of victory.

Scorpions clinched all three points with a further 5-1 in Heat 13. Race-leader Morris was unfortunate to suffer an engine failure, while Auty produced a brilliant last bend overtake on Lewis Bridger to join Michael Palm Toft for a maximum.

Scorpions finished the meeting in style with a 5-1 in Heat 14 – with Nielsen again coming from behind – and a last-heat 4-2 from Palm Toft and Ryan Douglas, after a ding-dong battle between Douglas and the Bandits’ pair of Morris and Doolan.

Palm Toft (13), Douglas (11+1) and Nielsen (10+2) all scored double figures, and Nielsen was unbeaten in the races he completed. Auty (8+1) scored well, despite bike problems of his own, while Lewis Kerr was excluded for touching the tapes in his opening outing but still contributed 7+1 from his remaining three rides.

There was also an encouraging 4+2 return from No 7 Josh Bailey.

Despite problems with a strong drying wind, which caused the track to slicken, there was some excellent racing on display, with visitor Lewis Bridger in the thick of it, with a somewhat forceful display of riding. Bridger was excluded from Heat 9, as he caused Douglas to fall.

The victory moves Scorpions up into the top half of the SGB Championship table, in fifth place.

Scorpions’ skipper Michael Palm Toft said: “We can only be happy with that. There was a strong wind during the meeting, and therefore the track was a bit slicker than we expected. But we could all ride it, so it didn’t affect us.

“Personally, I am enjoying my racing at the moment. It’s happy days for me.

“Stefan Nielsen made a big difference to us. It’s good having someone in there at reserve who can score a lot of points.

“He had a few problems with his bike early on. We helped him sort them out, and then he was flying.

“We’d missed having that strong reserve. Occasionally someone is going to have an off-day, and you need a good reserve who can pick up the points when that happens. You need a balanced side and I think we now have that.

“I said earlier in the season that we need to make our home track – at the Eddie Wright Raceway – our fortress, and our performance in this meeting could be the start of that.”

HENDERSON INSURANCE SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 56
1. Michael Palm Toft 3 2 2 3 3 (13)
2. Carl Wilkinson 1 1* 1 R (3+1)
3. Lewis Kerr TX 1* 3 3 (7+1)
4. Ryan Douglas 3 2 2* 3 1 (11+1)
5. Josh Auty 3 2 1 2* (8+1)
6. Stefan Nielsen 3 R MX 3 2* 2* (10+2)
7. Josh Bailey 2* 1 1* 0 (4+2)

BERWICK BANDITS 34
1. Nick Morris 2 3 2 R 2 (9)
2. Jye Etheridge 0 0 2* 0 (2+1)
3. Kevin Doolan 2 3 3 1 0 (9)
4. Liam Carr 1* 0 1 (2+1)
5. Lewis Bridger 2 3 X 1 (6)
6. Ben Morley (Guest) 0 0 1 (1)
7. Lee Payne 1 0 3 1 0 F (5)

1: Palm Toft, Morris, Wilkinson, Etheridge, 57.50 (4-2) (4-2).
2: Nielsen, Bailey, Payne, Morley, 58.88 (5-1) 9-3
3: (Re-run) Douglas, Doolan, Carr, Nielsen (ret), Kerr (excluded, tape touching), 58.38 (3-3) (12-6).
4: Auty, Bridger, Bailey, Payne, 58.69 (4-2) (16-8).
5: (Re-run) Morris, Douglas, Kerr, Etheridge, 58.25 (3-3) (19-11).
6: Bridger, Palm Toft, Wilkinson, Morley, 58.81 (3-3) (22-14).
7: Doolan, Auty, Bailey, Carr, 59.00 (3-3) (25-17).
8: Payne, Etheridge, Wilkinson, Bailey, 59.81 (1-5) (26-22).
9: (Re-run) Kerr, Douglas, Morley, Bridger (excluded, foul riding), 59.69 (5-1) (31-23).
10: (Re-run) Doolan, Palm Toft, Payne, Wilkinson (ret), 59.82 (2-4) (33-27).
11: Nielsen, Morris, Auty, Etheridge, 59.50 (4-2) (37-29).
12: Kerr, Nielsen, Doolan, Payne, 60.69 (5-1) (42-30).
13: Palm Toft, Auty, Bridger, Morris (ret), 59.69 (5-1) (47-31).
14: Douglas, Nielsen, Carr, Payne (fell), 59.82 (5-1) (52-32).
15: Palm Toft, Morris, Douglas, Doolan, 59.68 (4-2) (56-34).