lucifer sam

Well done to Scorps on another three points. Good team performance, but special mention to Michael Palm Toft on passing Ryan Fisher and Ben Barker to win Heat 15. Rod Godfrey on top form on the mic today. All the best Rob

SCUNTHORPE SPEEDWAY have slashed the admission prices for next Friday’s (September 7th) double-header against Rye House at the Eddie Wright Raceway (7pm) – as the club gear up towards the most important couple of months in their 41-year history. The double-header features the Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions in Premier League action against Rye House Rockets, followed by a National League clash between the Jotun Paints Scunthorpe Saints and the Rye House Raiders. Admission prices for this meeting have been cut to £10 for all adults (including concessions), while all accompanied children up to the age of 16 will be admitted for free. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “The brilliant win at Edinburgh on Friday evening just reinforced our belief that we can achieve what has been the unthinkable until this year – winning the Premier League title – and we’d just love as many people as possible to play their part in our challenge. “To see a big crowd and hear them get behind them is such a boost for the riders. “We hope the offer for the Rye House meeting will tempt along some of the old supporters of Scunthorpe from the 70s and 80s, plus some brand new fans. “There will be 30 heats of action on Friday and people have a chance to experience this for just £10. I’m sure people will realise that this is excellent value for money”, added Godfrey. The Scorpions currently sit second in the Premier League, and are almost certainties to qualify for the end-of-season play-offs. This season is proving to be Scunthorpe’s most successful in the club’s history. Scunthorpe’s previous best finish at second tier level was a fifth place in the then-titled National League in 1983.

Scorps up to second after the win at Edinburgh last night. Let's keep it up by taking all the points off the Devils tomorrow. All the best Rob

Yep, I see what you mean, with David Howe and Nick Morris, Scunny would have won by 30. All the best Rob

Maybe because they ARE the better team. All the best Rob

Fantastic performance by Scunny :party: :party: All the best Rob You're heading for a slap from Midnight Lady All the best Rob

SAINTS AIM TO SINK POTTERS JOTUN PAINTS Scunthorpe Saints’ boss Stuart Parnaby is targeting wins for his side in their final two home National League meetings of the season. The Saints face the Stoke Potters at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday, in the second half of a double header also featuring Scunthorpe Scorpions v Plymouth Devils in Premier League action. The Premier League match gets underway at 5pm. Saints then face Rye House in National League action a week on Friday (September 7th) in their final home meeting of the season. Parnaby said: “We’re after a win against Stoke, and have high hopes of achieving it. “It would be nice to get one over the old Saints’ boss Malcolm Vasey, who is now team manager of Stoke. “Despite the fact they’ve had to make a few changes recently, Stoke still have a very good side. They are led by Ashley Birks, who of course we know very well indeed. “We have Byron Bekker as our guest at No 1 on Sunday – Byron has been flying for Dudley recently.” Parnaby was very satisfied with the 50-40 win over third-placed Isle Of Wight on Monday. He enthused: “I was pleased how all the lads performed in that meeting. “I realise Danny Phillips and Tommy Fenwick didn’t score, but they did show signs of improvement. They both had the speed, but just weren’t getting out of the gates. “Tommy, in particular, can be quite tough on himself. We’re going to leave the team as it is for Sunday, but for the final two league meetings, home and away against Rye House, I think I’m going to switch things around, so that Oliver Greenwood moves up into the team, and Tommy rides at reserve. “Tommy has spent nearly the whole year at No. 2 or No. 4 and that’s tough for a rider in his first season. “In normal circumstances, he would have been at reserve, but with us bringing in four 3.00 men in the same season, it’s meant Tommy has spent most of the season up in the team proper. “Oliver has been at reserve for the last few meetings and has ridden brilliantly. All the lads have done well this year, but if I had to pick a rider of the season it would be Tom Young for the first half of the season and Oliver Greenwood for the second half. It’s hard to believe Oliver has rode in relatively few meeting for us this year, because of his collarbone injury in April. It’s even harder to believe that this is his first full season; last season he made just three appearances for the Saints. “It was great that Oliver went in Heat 15 and got the 5-1 with Tom Young that we needed to clinch the final point. “It was going to be Tom Young and Gary Irving, but Gary had been borrowing a bike from Nick Morris, after developing problems with both of his own, and didn’t want to risk doing anything to Nick’s bike. “I then considered our guest Tom Perry, who had done a good job, but then thought: ‘Let’s give it to one of our own.’ Ollie said: ‘I won’t let you down’, and sure enough he went out there and got the 5-1. “Another rider who has come on so much is young Max Clegg, who we have to remember is still only 15 years old. Max did so well earlier in the year that he pushed his way into the top five. We placed him at No 2, because we thought that was the best place for him, but it wasn’t working out. “For last week’s meeting against the Isle Of Wight, we switched Max to No 4 and it worked a treat. Max and Tom Young rode so well together; it was great to see them looking out for each other and riding as a pair. “Recently Michael Palm Toft went with Max to Redcar, and showed and told him a few things. I’d like to thanks Michael, Thomas Jorgensen and Nick Morris for helping the Saints, in one way or another.” The Saints have an outside chance of reaching the National League play-offs, although a finish of fifth place looks more likely. Parnaby said: “At the outset of this season, I just wanted to avoid finishing bottom. To finish as high as fifth out of eight teams would be fantastic, and would exceed our expectations. It would show how well our lads have performed, sometimes against far more experienced opposition. “We always saw this as the first year of a two-year plan, and next year as a year when we try to challenge for honours. Ideally I want the nucleus of this side back together. I realise we will probably lose Steve Worrall and Gary Irving because their Premier League averages are likely to be too high, but that means we’ve done our job with them. I’m happy when riders move to the next level. “But I would love to have all the rest of the lads back again, and see what we can do in our second season with them.” Sunday’s adult admission price for the double-header is £16. It’s just £2 more than a single Premier League meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway, for 15 extra heats of action. Premier/National League Double Header Admission Prices: Adult: £16.00 Student/OAP: £14.00 Child (10 - 16): £5.00 Child (0 - 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £37 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-16) Match Programme: £1.00 Teams for Sunday (English unless stated): Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. David Howe R/R, 3. Thomas Jørgensen (Denmark), 4. Ashley Birks, 5. Nick Morris (Australia), 6. Michael Palm Toft (Denmark), 7. Gary Irving. Plymouth Devils: 1. Ben Barker, 2. Todd Kurtz (Australia), 3. Cory Gathercole (Australia), 4. James Holder (Australia), 5. Ryan Fisher (United States), 6. Jake Anderson (Australia), 7. Ben Reade. Jotun Paints Scunthorpe Saints: 1. Byron Bekker (guest), 2. Tommy Fenwick (Scotland), 3. Tom Young (Wales), 4. Max Clegg, 5. Gary Irving. 6. Danny Phillips, 7. Oliver Greenwood. Stoke Potters: 1. Ashley Birks, 2. Richard Andrews, 3. Tony Atkin (Wales), 4. Ben Reade, 5. James Cockle, 6. Liam Rumsey, 7. Liam Carr. Stoke Potters at EWR Ave Ave Best Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Performance Richard Andrews NL 3 12 10 3 3.33 4.33 3 + 2 from 4 rides (2010) Tony Atkin NL 4 14 25 2 7.14 7.71 15 + 1 from 5 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2009)) Ashley Birks NL 17 83 162 12 7.81 8.39 18 from 6 rides (2011) Liam Carr NL DEBUT @ EWR James Cockle NL 10 45 69 13 6.13 7.29 15 from 5 rides (inc 4 pts T/R (2005)) Ben Reade NL 1 7 15 0 8.57 8.57 15 from 7 rides (2012) Liam Rumsey NL DEBUT @ EWR Other Notes Richard Andrews Made his National League debut for Newport in 2009. Recent signing to replace the injured Adam Wrathall after beginning this season at Buxton. Tony Atkin National League Pairs Championship Winner (2009 - for Newport with Grant Tregoning). Ashley Birks Member of Scunthorpe's National League Championship Winning Team in 2011. Doubling-up at Premier League level with the Scorpions. Liam Carr Recent signing who has appeared for Berwick in the Premier League this season. James Cockle Member of Scunthorpe's 2007 Conference League Championship Winning Team. Conference League Pairs Championship Winner (2008 - for Boston with Simon Lambert). Recent signing to replace Simon Lambert, after beginning the season with King's Lynn Young Stars. Ben Reade Made his first appearance in the National League, riding as a guest in 2009 for Plymouth. Liam Rumsey Recent signing who has previously appeared in the National League for the Isle of Wight and King's Lynn. Stoke Potters' 2012 Results 31 March 2012 CH H W Stoke 46 Isle of Wight 44 03 April 2012 St Cup A L Stoke 43 Dudley 47 05 May 2012 St Cup H W Stoke 47 Dudley 43 (On agg:- D 90-90) 07 May 2012 KOC A L Stoke 42 Scunthorpe 47 08 May 2012 CH A D Stoke 45 Isle of Wight 45 (On agg:- W 91 - 89) 13 May 2012 KOC H W Stoke 49 Scunthorpe 40 (On agg:- W 91 - 87) 22 May 2012 NL A L Stoke 42 Isle of Wight 48 26 May 2012 NL H W Stoke 56 Buxton 39 27 May 2012 NL A L Stoke 38 Buxton 50 30 June 2012 NL H W Stoke 57 Scunthorpe 37 07 July 2012 NL H W Stoke 58 Isle of Wight 37 14 July 2012 NL H W Stoke 53 King's Lynn 36 21 July 2012 NL H L Stoke 43 Dudley 47 05 August 2012 NL A L Stoke 45 Mildenhall 47 07 August 2012 NL A L Stoke 35 Dudley 58 19 August 2012 NT A W Stoke 46 Buxton 43 27 August 2012 KOC SF A L Stoke 39 Mildenhall 55 Stoke's NL Results at EWR 26 June 2005 CT L Scunthorpe 55 Stoke 39 18 September 2005 CL W Scunthorpe 41 Stoke 49 18 June 2006 CL L Scunthorpe 64 Stoke 28 23 July 2006 KOC L Scunthorpe 59 Stoke 36 10 September 2006 CS L Scunthorpe 48 Stoke 42 20 May 2007 CT L Scunthorpe 69 Stoke 21 08 July 2007 CL L Scunthorpe 67 Stoke 23 07 May 2012 KOC L Scunthorpe 47 Stoke 42 (stats courtesy of John Eyre)

Included them in the thread title but didn't know who was in their team, so I couldn't post much about them. So that's one Monarchs fan not yet in hibernation (Nutz) - where have all the rest gone? All the best Rob

No thread for this one yet - have all the Monarchs fans hibernated for the winter already? Interesting to see if Edinburgh can maintian their 100% home record - not only winning each match, but not dropping a point. Scunny team: 1. Kevin Wolbert (guest for David Howe) 2. Nick Morris R/R (it's the World Under-21 Team Cup this weekend in Poland - Nick will be back for Scunny on Sunday) 3. Thomas Jorgensen 4. Ashley Birks 5. Josh Auty 6. Michael Palm Toft 7. Gary Irving All the best Rob

IMPORTANT WEEKEND AHEAD FOR SCORPIONS HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions face old rivals Plymouth Devils at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday evening (5pm), as they aim to make it nine wins from nine home meetings in the 2012 Premier League. Once again, it’s a double feast of action, as the Scorpions match is followed by a Scunthorpe Saints v Stoke Potters National League match. The home double header on Sunday is not the only action this weekend, as the Scorpions also travel up to Scotland on Friday night for a tricky looking trip to Edinburgh (7pm). That meeting is also a double-header, with an Edinburgh v Redcar clash following in the second half. The Monarchs have a perfect home record in the Premier league so far – not only have their won all six home matches at Armadale, but they have won them all by 7 points or more to claim the extra third league point in each case. However, Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey feels that Fortress Armadale is not completely impenetrable. Godfrey said: “It’s our last away match of the regular season and it’s one we’ve got to be targeting as a potential win. “We’re talking Kevin Wolbert as a guest, who is a former Edinburgh rider; Ashley Birks flies around there; and I would say it’s a Thomas Jorgensen kind of track, because it’s a bit of a ‘turning track’. So we could be all right up there. “Our record at Edinburgh is nowhere as impressive as we’d like it to be, but with the Monarchs losing Craig Cook to injury recently, maybe now’s our chance to improve it a little bit!” The Scorpions will be without Nick Morris at Edinburgh. The 18-year-old is representing Australia in the World Under-21 Team Cup Final in Poland on Saturday, and will be riding in the practice on Friday. Some league points from the Edinburgh trip would certainly help the Scorpions in their quest to finish high up in the Premier League before the commencement of the play-offs at the end of September. Looking at the current Premier League table, fifth-placed Scorpions are sitting pretty to qualify for the play-offs. They currently have 34 points, just five points short of league leaders Somerset, who were defeated 40-50 at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Bank Holiday Monday. The sixth-place team, Ipswich, have 25 points, some 9 points short of the Scorpions’ current total. However, team manager Richard Hollingsworth is keen for the team not to rest of their laurels and push as high up the table as possible, before the commencement of the play-offs. In the play-offs, the top six teams from the Premier League table are separated into two mini-groups of three, with the winners of each mini-league qualifying for the final. The teams finishing first and second in the regular table pick, in turn, their opponents for the play-offs i.e. the top team picks one team from those placed third to sixth, then the second placed team picks one opponent, then the top team picks again from the two teams still to be allocated, and finally the second placed team ends up with whoever is left. Hollingsworth said: “Of course, we’d love to finish first or second. Had we not suffered David Howe’s injury, I’m sure we could have achieved that. We still can, if all the results go our way. “But, at the moment, we just have to take it one meeting at a time, and maximise the number of league points that we score from each meeting. “I see the home match against Plymouth on Sunday as a meeting where we should be looking to score all three league points. Not that it’s going to be easy; the Devils have two of the best riders in the entire league in the shape of Ben Barker and Ryan Fisher. “But we also have a pretty formidable spearhead, led by Josh Auty, who is riding on the crest of a wave after last weekend. “Josh was inspired after being reserve at the British Grand Prix at Cardiff, and his maximum against Somerset was peerless; he was a class apart, and with Jason Doyle in the opposition ranks, that’s no mean feat. When he made the gate or not, it didn’t matter. He calmly worked his way through to the front. It was perhaps the most complete performance we’ve seen from Josh around the Eddie Wright Raceway since he started here as a 15-year-old in late 2005.” Sunday sees a new riding order for the Scorpions. Hollingsworth explains: “With the issue of the September Green Sheet averages, Josh will be moving to the No 1 spot on Sunday, but judging by the performance against the Rebels, he will take that in his stride. “Josh replacing David Howe at No 1 in our averages has prompted a reshuffle in the team. On Sunday, we will use rider replacement for David at No 2, while Thomas Jorgensen moves to No 3 and Nick Morris to No 5. Thomas put in a superb performance at Somerset in the pairs, and we have no qualms about placing him in a heat leader position. Likewise we have no doubts that Nick will cope will riding in the tough No 5 position vacated by Josh. “With Ash (Birks), Michael (Palm Toft) and Gary (Irving) also capable of banging in the points, we are pretty solid at the Eddie Wright Raceway. But we can’t let our guard down at any point, because this is a highly competitive league, and any complacency will be punished”, Hollingsworth stressed. A preview of the following Saints v Stoke National League match will follow tomorrow. Sunday’s adult admission price for the double-header is £16. It’s just £2 more than a single Premier League meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway, for 15 extra heats of action. Premier/National League Double Header Admission Prices: Adult: £16.00 Student/OAP: £14.00 Child (10 - 16): £5.00 Child (0 - 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £37 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-16) Match Programme: £1.00 Teams for Sunday (English unless stated): Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. David Howe R/R, 3. Thomas Jørgensen (Denmark), 4. Ashley Birks, 5. Nick Morris (Australia), 6. Michael Palm Toft (Denmark), 7. Gary Irving. Plymouth Devils: 1. Ben Barker, 2. Todd Kurtz (Australia), 3. Cory Gathercole (Australia), 4. James Holder (Australia), 5. Ryan Fisher (United States), 6. Jake Anderson (Australia), 7. Ben Reade. Jotun Paints Scunthorpe Saints: 1. Byron Bekker (guest), 2. Tommy Fenwick (Scotland), 3. Tom Young (Wales), 4. Max Clegg, 5. Gary Irving. 6. Danny Phillips, 7. Oliver Greenwood. Stoke Potters: 1. Ashley Birks, 2. Richard Andrews, 3. Tony Atkin (Wales), 4. Ben Reade, 5. James Cockle, 6. Liam Rumsey, 7. Liam Carr. Scorpions Info Josh Auty has now scored over 350 Points in the Premier League for the club (351 to date). Josh Auty's maximum v Somerset now takes him level at the top of the list of all-time maximums scored for the club (21). Level with Nicky Allott and Tai Woffinden. Plymouth Devils at EWR Ave Ave Best Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Performance Jake Anderson PL 3 15 19 6 5.07 6.67 11 + 1 from 7 rides (2011) Ben Barker PL 3 14 30 2 8.57 9.14 15 from 5 rides (2008) Ryan Fisher PL 4 19 40 2 8.42 8.84 13 + 1 from 5 rides (2008) Cory Gathercole PL 6 28 37 2 5.29 5.57 12 from 6 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2010)) James Holder PL 7 27 26 4 3.85 4.44 5 + 2 from 5 rides (2009) Todd Kurtz PL 4 15 10 4 2.67 3.73 3 + 1 from 4 rides (2011/2012) Ben Reade DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR Other Notes Jake Anderson Rode for Birmingham, Somerset and Glasgow at Premier League level in 2010. Ben Barker Has ridden in 2 Speedway World Cup Events. Member of Oxford's Conference League Championship Winning Team in 2005. Member of Coventry's Elite League Championship Winning Team in 2010. Member of Stoke's Conference League Four Team Championship Winning Team in 2006. Member of Coventry's Craven Shield Winning Team in 2008. Named as a 'doubling-up' rider with Birmingham for the 2012 Elite League Season. Ryan Fisher Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship Winning Teams in 2008 and 2010. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Play-Off Winning Teams in 2008 and 2009. Member of Edinburgh's Premier Trophy Winning Team in 2008. Cory Gathercole 2007 Western Australia and Victoria State Champion. 2007 New South Wales Under-21 State Champion. Member of Isle of Wight's Premier League Fours Winning Team in 2007. James Holder Made his Premier League debut in 2008 when riding for the Isle of Wight. Todd Kurtz Made his Premier League debut in 2010 when riding for Newport. Named as a 'doubling-up' rider with Poole for the 2012 Elite League Season. Plymouth Devils' 2012 Results 23 March 2012 LC H D Plymouth 45 Rye House 45 14 April 2012 LC H L Plymouth 39 Somerset 51 20 April 2012 LC H W Plymouth 47 Leicester 43 05 May 2012 LC A L Plymouth 37 Rye House 56 11 May 2012 LC A L Plymouth 44 Somerset 52 12 May 2012 PL H L Plymouth 43 Somerset 47 17 May 2012 LC A L Plymouth 46 Ipswich 47 18 May 2012 KOC H W Plymouth 52 Glasgow 38 20 May 2012 LC A L Plymouth 46 Leicester 47 25 May 2012 PL H W Plymouth 47 Scunthorpe 43 27 May 2012 KOC A L Plymouth 36 Glasgow 54 (On Agg:- L - 88-92) 01 June 2012 PL H L Plymouth 42 Redcar 48 08 June 2012 PL H W Plymouth 51 Leicester 39 22 June 2012 PL H W Plymouth 55 Sheffield 38 23 June 2012 PL A L Plymouth 43 Leicester 53 28 June 2012 PL A L Plymouth 36 Redcar 59 29 June 2012 LC H L Plymouth 41 Ipswich 51 08 July 2012 PL A L Plymouth 41 Glasgow 49 20 July 2012 PL H W Plymouth 52 Rye House 41 27 July 2012 PL A L Plymouth 41 Edinburgh 55 28 July 2012 PL H W Plymouth 57 Edinburgh 36 03 August 2012 PL H W Plymouth 47 Ipswich 43 09 August 2012 PL A L Plymouth 40 Ipswich 53 10 August 2012 PL H D Plymouth 45 Workington 45 18 August 2012 PL A L Plymouth 41 Rye House 52 22 August 2012 PL A L Plymouth 39 Berwick 56 23 August 2012 PL A L Plymouth 43 Sheffield 50 Plymouth Devils' PL Results at EWR 19 August 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 56 Plymouth 37 (stats courtesy of John Eyre)

I was glad the NL meeting was run quickly (55 minutes, I think) - the rain was on its way. There were a few spots around Heat 12/13, and then the rain started properly after the completion of the meeting. If there was any hanging about, we wouldn't have got to the end of the meeting. Really enjoyed the NL meeting on Monday. Nice that Oliver and Tom got to strut their stuff in Heat 15, while Max Clegg is such a talent - he is so steady on the bike. All the best Rob

I may well have gone on Sunday had the meeting been elsewhere. Stoke is a turn-off. I want to see proper speedway. All the best Rob

I'm still not sure the point you're trying to make. The Saints are having to use guests, due to the broken leg sustained by Steve Worrall. The fact that the guests actually have to be for Jerran Hart is down to the rules regarding NL squads, which the Saints can't do anything about - we don't write the rules. But, at the end of the day, it is because a rider is injured (Steve Worrall) that the Saints need to use guests. All the best Rob

As I've already said, IMO a period of silence at this point is not appropriate. The right time to do that was the GP immediately after Rico's death and that was done. That was the time to grieve. Saturday should have been the time to celebrate the speedway career of Lee Richardson. They should have had a couple of minute's "noise" for Rico. Show a replay of the final of the 2004 British Grand Prix, plus footage of a couple of World Cup races, and ask the fans to blow their air horns and wave their flags throughout ("Let's raise the roof for Rico!!"). Would have probably produced the biggest noise of the night. It's a real pity it wasn't done. All the best Rob

I agree that a tribute film would have been nice. It could have played in the interval, instead of having some bloke who nobody had ever heard of, coming on and singing. All the best Rob

Holder vs Sayfutdinov reminded me a little of Penhall vs Olsen in 1981. Two riders rearing all over the track, but somehow keeping the gas on, and providing an incredible race in the process. Of course, it's not quite the same, because the whole World Championship wasn't on the line in that race last night, but still stunning speedway that you want to show your friends and say "And that's speedway!!" Probably the best Cardiff in terms of racing. I think 2010 was more dramatic (two sets of handbags for starters), but in terms of pure racing, I would just about give it to last night, simply because there was racing from Heat 1 onwards, instead of the track taking a few races to dial in. In any case, it was a welcome improvement after a very disappointing Cardiff 2011. The crowd did seem a bit subdued last night compared to usual, but that's maybe because there wasn't a single British heat winner to cheer on and wave our flags at. I just like good racing, though, and last night provided that. Third time in four years (2009, 2010 and 2012) we've had decent racing at Cardiff. It used to be the case that the racing was sh*te, but you put up with it simply because it was Cardiff. All the best Rob

I would approximate someone in one in 4 or one in 5 had Rico T-shirts on, i.e. around 7000-8000 people. Not a bad number considering a lot of non-regular fans attend Cardiff. As for the minute's silence, it was observed at the GP following his death. That was the right time for it. All the best Rob

Get in The Who then. Everyone likes them. I think I'll go in around 5.50pm tomorrow - I don't want to be entertained by someone I've never heard of. Might as well have SCB out on the centre green. All the best Rob

Nice to see Danny Phillips top score for the Stags. And yet another max for Ollie Greenwood at MDL level. All the best Rob

Who are Flawless? Never heard of them. All the best Rob

Just consider the guest to be for Steve Worrall, then. Steve Worrall has a broken leg. All the best Rob

Glad to hear it. For many, he was Mr Ipswich Speedway. All the best Rob

DOUBLE DOSE OF ACTION FOR SAINTS THERE is a double dose of action for the Jotun Paints Scunthorpe Saints this weekend. The Saints quartet of Tom Young, Oliver Greenwood, Danny Phillips and Tommy Fenwick compete in the National League Fours at Stoke on Sunday afternoon (4pm). The Saints then entertain third-placed the Isle Of Wight at the Eddie Wright Raceway in the National League on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon. The clash forms the second half of a double header, following a Premier League encounter between the Scunthorpe Scorpions and the Somerset Rebels (start of Premier League match: 3pm). Gary Irving will not ride at Stoke on Sunday. Stuart Parnaby explained: “Gary had a bad crash with Jason Garrity at Mildenhall last Sunday, while he was guesting for Dudley. “He was knocked about a bit – his arm is still a bit swollen. The priority is getting Gary fit to race for both the Scorpions and the Saints on Monday, so therefore I won’t be using him at Stoke in the Fours. “We are not going to Stoke to win it. But it will be good experience for our lads, to ride in one of the big meetings of the National League. “I notice a team who have signed a rider for this meeting. I won’t do that; I don’t think it’s quite right that a rider makes his debut in the Fours, having not competed in any league matches for his club. We’ll take along our normal lads and see what they can do.” The main business of the weekend for the Saints is the visit of the Isle Of Wight on Monday. Parnaby said: “I’d love for the Saints to win our remaining three home meetings. It would ensure that there is no chance of us finishing bottom, despite tracking a very inexperienced team this season. “That’s all I wanted from this season – for us to avoid the wooden spoon. The fantastic away win at Buxton went a long way to us achieving that. And then we can have another shot at winning some honours in 2013.” The Saints currently sit in fifth place out of eight teams in the National League, while the Isle Of Wight are in third. “The Islanders certainly won’t be easy to roll over”, commented Parnaby. “They have some experienced riders in their ranks. On the other hand, we’ve got four riders in their first season. “But our riders are very much on the up. For example, Max Clegg had a great meeting in the individual at Redcar last week. Our riders are becoming more-and-more confident all the time, and I feel we can beat the Islanders on Monday.” Dudley’s Tom Perry will guest at No 1 for the Saints on Monday. Perry will also ride in the preceding Premier League meeting for Somerset. Monday’s adult admission price for the double-header is just £16 for 30 heats of speedway. With two cracking meetings in prospect, it should be a great day for any travelling fans. Premier/National League Double Header Admission Prices: Adult: £16.00 Student/OAP: £14.00 Child (10 - 16): £5.00 Child (0 - 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £37 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-16) Match Programme: £1.00 Teams for Bank Holiday Monday (English unless stated): Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Kevin Wolbert (Germany) (guest), 2. Thomas Jørgensen (Denmark), 3. Nick Morris (Australia), 4. Ashley Birks, 5. Josh Auty, 6. Michael Palm Toft (Denmark), 7. Gary Irving. Somerset Rebels: 1. Jason Doyle (Australia), 2. Alex Davies (Australia), 3. Jesper B Monberg (Denmark), 4. James Wright, 5. Sam Masters (Australia), 6. Kyle Newman, 7. Tom Perry. Jotun Paints Scunthorpe Saints: 1. Tom Perry (guest), 2. Tommy Fenwick (Scotland), 3. Tom Young (Wales), 4. Max Clegg, 5. Gary Irving. 6. Danny Phillips, 7. Oliver Greenwood. Isle Of Wight Islanders: 1. Danny Warwick, 2. Ben Hopwood, 3. Mark Baseby, 4. Aaron Baseby, 5. Kyle Hughes or R/R, 6. Danny Stoneman, 7. Paul Starke. Isle of Wight Islanders at EWR Ave Ave Best Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Performance Aaron Baseby NL 7 31 21 3 2.71 3.10 5 + 2 from 5 rides (2006) Mark Baseby NL 6 27 34 2 5.04 5.33 10 from 5 rides (2007) Ben Hopwood NL 14 61 81 9 5.31 5.90 10 + 2 from 5 rides (2008) Kyle Hughes NL 7 29 39 4 5.38 5.93 13 + 1 from 5 rides (2010) Paul Starke NL 4 14 8 2 2.29 2.86 3 + 1 from 4 rides (2008/2009) Danny Stoneman NL 2 10 10 1 4.00 4.40 10 + 1 from 7 rides (2011) Danny Warwick NL 5 24 33 3 5.50 6.00 13 + 1 from 6 rides (inc 4 pts T/R (2005)) Other Notes Aaron Baseby Member of Bournemouth's National League Championship and National League KO Cup Winning Teams in 2009. Member of Mildenhall's National League KO Cup Winning Team in 2011. Mark Baseby Member of Bournemouth's National League Championship and National League KO Cup Winning Teams in 2009. Member of Mildenhall's National League KO Cup Winning Team in 2011. Ben Hopwood Ex-Scunthorpe Saint (2008) Member of Plymouth's Conference Trophy Winning Team in 2008. Kyle Hughes Member of Mildenhall's Conference League Championship and Conference Trophy Winning Teams in 2004. Member of Oxford's Conference League Championship Winning Team in 2005. Member of Plymouth's Conference League KO Cup and Conference Trophy Winning Teams in 2008. Member of Plymouth's National Trophy Winning Team in 2009. Paul Starke Member of Plymouth's Conference League KO Cup and Conference Trophy Winning Teams in 2008. Member of Plymouth's National Trophy Winning Team in 2009. Danny Stoneman Made his National League debut for Plymouth in 2007. Danny Warwick Member of Bournemouth's National League Championship and National League KO Cup Winning Teams in 2009. Isle of Wight Islanders' 2012 Results 31 March 2012 CH A L Isle of Wight 44 Stoke 46 06 April 2012 KOC A L Isle of Wight 46 Rye House 49 10 April 2012 CH H W Isle of Wight 57 USA Future 33 01 May 2012 KOC H W Isle of Wight 58 Rye House 31 (On agg:- W 104 - 80) 08 May 2012 CH H D Isle of Wight 45 Stoke 45 (On agg:- L 89 - 91) 15 May 2012 NL H L Isle of Wight 41 Mildenhall 49 20 May 2012 NL A W Isle of Wight 50 Buxton 40 22 May 2012 NL H W Isle of Wight 48 Stoke 42 12 June 2012 KOC SF A L Isle of Wight 32 Dudley 60 19 June 2012 NL H W Isle of Wight 51 Rye House 42 07 July 2012 NL A L Isle of Wight 37 Stoke 58 10 July 2012 NL H W Isle of Wight 53 King's Lynn 40 15 July 2012 NL A L Isle of Wight 30 Mildenhall 63 24 July 2012 NL H L Isle of Wight 29 Dudley 61 31 July 2012 NL H W Isle of Wight 49 Buxton 44 07 August 2012 NL H W Isle of Wight 55 Scunthorpe 37 09 August 2012 KOC SF H L Isle of Wight 15 Dudley 21 (Abd: On agg:- L 47 - 81) 21 August 2012 NT H W Isle of Wight 51 Buxton 39 Isle of Wight Islanders' Results at EWR 05 June 2009 NL W Scunthorpe 42 Isle of Wight 53 06 August 2010 NL L Scunthorpe 55 Isle of Wight 39 NB: 2011 fixture at Sheffield (stats courtesy of John Eyre)

The points do count in the standings, but not in terms of qualification. I think it's been like that all along. In 1999, Mark Loram finished as World No 5 (he is included in the official standings that year as fifth), having competed in 5 out of 6 rounds as a wildcard, but still had to qualify for 2000 via the 1999 GP challenge. He only just made it (he was facing elimination in the face in one race, only for another rider to have an engine failure), but got through, and then won the 2000 World Championship!! So theoretically someone could be World Champion yet not qualify for the following year's series. I think maybe a re-think is in order. All the best Rob No you've read it wrong. The riders are only excluded from the classification when it comes to qualifying for the following year. They are not totally excluded from the overall standings. There are two paragraphs. You're reading it all as one. Look at the final standings for 1999. Mark Loram is still fifth. All the best Rob

Not really. If he finished in top eight on the back of just 7 appearances as a replacement rider, it would be almost impossible to ignore him when it came to the permanent four seeded spots for next year. All the best Rob