Allen key signing for Scorpions

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions have pounced to sign Jake Allen, in place of the departed Carl Wilkinson.

The talented 21-year-old Australian will make his debut for the club when Scorpions host the Workington Comets in a SGB Championship clash at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday (5.30pm), and will take the No 2 race-jacket.

He has enjoyed two highly productive years with Somerset Rebels. He was an integral part of the Rebels side that won the Premier League title in 2016, before moving up to the top-flight with them this season.

Allen will double up between Scunthorpe and Somerset for the rest of the season – along with Lewis Kerr, who also rides for the same two clubs.

He currently has a Green Sheet Average of 5.07 in the SGB Premiership with the Rebels, which multiplied by the conversion rate of 1.2 between the leagues, gives him a figure of 6.08 with Scorpions.

Rob Godfrey explains: “The benefit of signing Jake Allen is two-fold.

“He’s a great young talent and a racer. He’s only made one previous appearance at Scunthorpe, but he’s used to riding on a fast, flat-out racetrack at Somerset, so riding at another flat-out racetrack at the Eddie Wright Raceway will hold no fears for him.

“He’s not new to our league. He rode at this level last year, so knows his way around the tracks in this division. It’s not like bringing in a brand new rider.

“Plus his signing is likely to keep Tero Aarnio down at reserve for the rest of the season. Tero has scored 13 points in his last two appearances at the EWR, once at No 2 and once at No 6, and it’s always a bonus having a rider scoring points like that down at reserve.

“With the addition of Jake, I feel we now have a top five who are capable of banging in good scores in the home meetings.

“We looked at a number of options, some are which were two-for-two, even three-for-three. But, in the end, I decided that Jake Allen was a quality signing that we could make without having to weaken the team elsewhere.”