Rob Godfrey thanks fans for their patience
SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 39 WORKINGTON COMETS 21 (SGB CHAMPIONSHIP)
(Meeting abandoned after 10 races – results to stand)
HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions’ promoter Rob Godfrey has thanked supporters for their patience, after a freak localised hailstorm at 5.20pm held up yesterday’s (Sunday) 39-21 victory over Workington Comets at the Eddie Wright Raceway by over 90 minutes.
The circuit was left flooded with large puddles on the first and third bends, but track staff, management and even a few fans mucked in to get the circuit into a raceable condition.
Racing was perfectly acceptable, with a handful of good races. Lewis Kerr set a very respectful time of 61.38 seconds in Heat 1.
The meeting was eventually called after 10 races, when Workington, as the team in arrears, called for a track inspection, although racing had been improving race-by-race.
Loyal Scorpions’ captain Josh Auty – who was keen for the meeting to go ahead – won both his races, while recent signing Jake Allen took one ride to get the hang of the wet track, and ended up as top scorer on nine points.
A mud-covered Godfrey said: “I’d like to thank the fans for their patience. We’re very fortunate that we have no curfew here, but that doesn’t mean that we want to leave people standing around all night, and I apologise for the delay in getting racing underway. We got on with it as soon as we could.
“We’d been lucky with the rain for most of the day. But then at 5.20pm, we got hit, with heavy rain, hail, you name it, for around 10 minutes. Another 500 metres down the road and it would have missed us, but we took the full brunt of it.
“Once it stopped, I knew all we needed to do was to clear the water off the first and third turns, and put a bit of material back on top. We had track staff and fans chipping in to clear the water and my thanks go to them all.
“I also have to say a very big thank you to referee Phil Griffin. The referee made a decision that although conditions were not ideal they were raceable, and he saw that through.
“And I think once the riders did one ride apiece, they probably realised the track was alright as well.”
HENDERSON INSURANCE SCUNTHORPE SCORPIONS 39
1. Lewis Kerr 3 R 1 (4)
2. Jake Allen 1 3 2 3 (9)
3. Michael Palm Toft 3 2 2* (7+1)
4. Ryan Douglas 2* 1* 3 (6+2)
5. Josh Auty 3 3 (6)
6. Tero Aarnio 3 2* (5+1)
7. Josh Bailey 1 1 0 (2)
WORKINGTON COMETS 21
1. Craig Cook R 3 (3)
2. Mason Campton 2 2 R# 3 (7)
3. Ty Proctor F 1 (1)
4. Matt Williamson 1 2 R 0 (3)
5. R/R for Thomas Jorgensen
6. James Sarjeant 2 1* 1 1 2 (7+1)
7. Paul Bowen 0 0 R (0)
# = tactical ride
1: (Re-run) Kerr, Campton, Allen, Cook (penalised 15m for tape touching) (ret), 61.38 (4-2) (4-2).
2: Aarnio, Sarjeant, Bailey, Bowen, 66.19 (4-2) (8-4).
3: Palm Toft, Douglas, Williamson, Proctor (fell), 63.00 (5-1) (13-5).
4: Auty, Campton, Bailey, Bowen, 62.81 (4-2) (17-7).
5: Cook, Palm Toft, Douglas, CAMPTON (TR) (ret), 62.50 (3-3) (20-10).
6: Allen, Williamson, Sarjeant, Kerr (ret), 63.75 (3-3) (23-13).
7: Auty, Aarnio, Proctor, Williamson (ret), 62.56 (5-1) (28-14).
8: Campton, Allen, Sarjeant, Bailey, 64.00 (2-4) (30-18).
9: Douglas, Palm Toft, Sarjeant, Bowen (ret), 64.81 (5-1) (35-19).
10: Allen, Sarjeant, Kerr, Williamson, 63.59 (4-2) (39-21).
PHOTO: Captain fantastic Josh Auty leads the way in Heat 4.
