Jake looks forward to big night at Somerset
JAKE ALLEN, the Australian star of the Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions, is looking forward to the Championship Pairs at Somerset on Friday evening (7pm), and believes he and partner Josh Auty are in with a chance of winning the meeting.
The meeting takes place on its traditional date, one day before the British Grand Prix at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Saturday, and a large crowd is expected.
It starts a real feast of speedway over the weekend, which concludes at Scunthorpe’s Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday evening (5pm), with a double header featuring both Scorpions v Glasgow Tigers and a round of the British Youth Championship.
Scorpions reached the final at Somerset in both 2012 and 2013, with Auty partnering Thomas Jorgensen and David Howe respectively in those meetings.
Last year, the meeting was washed away at Somerset, and restaged at Sheffield later in the season. Scorpions reached the semi-finals, but were eliminated in controversial fashion after an incident between Sheffield’s Lasse Bjerre and Auty.
Somerset is Allen’s home track in the Premiership – the top-flight of British Speedway.
He said: “I’ve watched the pairs before because I’ve lived down that way, but this is my first-time riding in the meeting.
“I’m not sure if being a Somerset rider is going to be a massive advantage, because we haven’t had a whole load of home meetings this year – a lot of those are yet to come.
“Josh and myself are both in good form, and we ride well together, so it’s all to play for on the night and we’ll see what happens.”
* JASON GARRITY will make his return from injury over the weekend. He is set to practice at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium on Friday, will don the No 18 reserve race-jacket at Cardiff on Saturday, and then compete for Scorpions at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday.
* HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions have been drawn against Workington in the semi-finals of the Championship Shield. Draw: Scunthorpe v Workington, Peterborough v Lakeside.
