lucifer sam

Steve, no backlash since you're entitled to your opinion, and if you find the interview "fascinating", then I've done my job properly and not been too 'star struck' when speaking to one of my latter-day heroes. However, I would contest that Todd could be passed with ease. I remember him being anything but easy to pass, because of his trackcraft. For example, when they experimented with the six-lap Heat 15 (in 1999, I think it was), it came down to a last-heat decider and Todd kept Tony Rickardsson at bay for six laps, with Rickardsson up his exhaust pipe, but given no chance to get through. As The Doctor has mentioned, Oxford got the 'safety first' version of Todd, although that version in itself was still a tremendous rider. All the best Rob

RAIN OFF

Congratulations on spotting the deliberate mistake. Your prize for being a smart-ass is a fight with Sidney in the 4th bend bar at Blunsdon, since Orion has chickened out of it All the best Rob

DVD of the epic semi-final at Scunny now on sale: https://sites.google.com/site/speedwayondvd/speedway/premier/scunthorpe-scorpions All the best Rob

Daniel Spiller in 2015. Germany to Eastbourne. All the best Rob EDIT: Renat Gafurov in 2005... Russia to Oxford. He only lasted one week, when Waggy realised it was going to cost him £1000 in airfares every week.

Wasn't he part of the great Edinburgh swindle of 2010, when they kept on replacing 7.00 riders with another one, so that Kalle could stay at reserve, in their dodgy-burger assisted Super team? All the best Rob

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions entertain reigning Premier League champions, the Edinburgh Monarchs, in an intriguing looking clash at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday (6.30pm). Scorpions are looking to return to winning ways, after three successive home defeats, and are boosted by the presence of new signing Lewis Kerr. Kerr will make his debut for the club a day earlier on Saturday, in the away meeting at Workington, which has a 6pm start-time due to the Euro 2016 football championships. Last year Edinburgh became the first team in over two decades to successfully defend a league title at second-tier level, but have found things harder going so far in 2016. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey says: “The signing of Lewis Kerr gives us some cause for optimism. Obviously the last few weeks have been very tough for us, and results have been a long way from what we have desired. “We’ve now got a chance to change around our fortunes. Edinburgh Monarchs have been the kings in the Premier League over the last couple of seasons, but they are beatable this season. “They’ve got the better of us the last couple of years, so it would be satisfying if we could return to winning ways at home against them.” Godfrey is ‘delighted’ with the signing of 26-year-old Englishman Kerr, who replaces Dane Andreas Lyager. “The departure of Andreas came like a bolt out of the blue”, reveals Godfrey. “We didn’t see it coming at all – and neither did he. “He’s been doing an apprenticeship alongside his speedway career, and he suddenly received a letter from his employer, notifying him that he was no longer permitted the time off to come over to the UK. “It’s sad for Andreas, but we have already managed to sign a very good replacement in the shape of Lewis Kerr. He was very unlucky to lose his team place at Ipswich when the Witches signed Ben Barker from Glasgow last week. “Lewis is a quality young British rider, so naturally he was being chased by a number of Premier League clubs the moment that he became available. I’m delighted to say that he chose to sign for us.” Kerr has made two appearances at the Eddie Wright Raceway in 2016. In March, he scored 11 points for Ipswich in a League Cup encounter, defeating every Scorpion bar one (Ryan Douglas) along the way. He then scored a highly creditable seven points in the highly competitive British Semi-Final at the EWR in mid-May. Godfrey adds: “We know Lewis can ride our place, plus we know we’ve got a rider who is going to score points for us straight away. “It’s not like when you sign a European rider on a 7.00 average and have to wait for them to adjust and learn all the tracks. Lewis knows all that and he will score good points for us both at home and away. His welcome addition does add more strength to our side.” There are 24 heats of action in total on Sunday, with a nine-race second half including a six-heat Midland Development League match between Scunthorpe and Long Eaton. Admission prices for Sunday: Adult: £15.00 Student/OAP: £13.00 Child (10 – 17): £5.00 Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17) Match Programme: £1.00 Expected teams for Sunday: Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. Lewis Kerr, 3. Michael Palm Toft, 4. Alex Davies, 5. Ryan Douglas, 6. Carl Wilkinson, 7. Josh Bailey. Edinburgh Monarchs: 1. Sam Masters, 2. Erik Riss, 3. Kevin Wolbert, 4. Mark Riss, 5. Ryan Fisher, 6. Max Clegg, 7. Dan Bewley. Midland Development League teams: Scunthorpe Stags: 1. TBA, 2. Lloyd Ditchburn, 3. Luke Whitehead, 4. Sam Chapman. Long Eaton Invaders: 1. Bradley Andrews, 2. Stephen Whitehouse, 3. Layne Cupitt, 4. Craig Osborne. Edinburgh Monarchs at EWR Ave Ave Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Best Performance Daniel Bewley DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR Max Clegg PL 2 9 4 0 1.78 1.78 3 from 5 rides (2015) Ryan Fisher PL 7 35 75 2 8.57 8.80 17 from 6 rides (2015) Sam Masters PL 7 33 47 3 5.70 6.06 13 from 6 rides (inc 4 pts T/R) (2012) Erik Riss DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR Mark Riss DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR Kevin Wolbert PL 7 33 57 3 6.91 7.27 14 + 1 from 6 rides (2015) Other Notes Daniel Bewley Riding in his first season of British League racing. Rides for Belle Vue in the 2016 National League. Max Clegg Former Scunthorpe Saint. Member of Dudley's National League Championship and KO Cup Winning Teams in 2013. Member of Cradley's NL Championship, KO Cup, National Shield and Fours Winning Teams in 2014. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship and League Cup Winning Teams in 2015. Ryan Fisher Has represented his Country in 13 World Cup meetings. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship, Premier Trophy and Play-off Winning Teams in 2008. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Play-offs Winning Team in 2009. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship Winning Team in 2010. Sam Masters Has ridden in 1 Speedway Grand Prix. 2011 Premier League Riders Champion. 2012 New South Wales State Champion. 2014 Victorian State Champion Member of Poole's Elite Shield Winning Team in 2012. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship, KO Cup League Cup and Pairs Winning Teams in 2014. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship, League Cup and Fours Winning Teams in 2015. Erik Riss Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship, League Cup and Fours Winning Teams in 2015. Mark Riss Recently signed for Edinburgh and in his first year of British League racing. Elder brother of team-mate Erik. Kevin Wolbert Twice German National Champion (2008, 2011) Has rode in 6 World Cup events. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Play-Off Winning Team in 2009. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship Winning Team in 2010. Rode as a member of the Poole Pirates Team that won the Elite League and KO Cup in 2011. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship and League Cup Winning Teams in 2015. Edinburgh Monarchs' PL Record at EWR Meetings Ridden: 11 Won: 5 Drawn: 0 Lost: 6 Biggest Win: 53 - 39 (26 May 2008) Heaviest Defeat: 59 - 34 (30 September 2012) Last Visit: 50 - 40 (W - 4 May 2015) (stats by John Eyre)

New signing here: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=5648 All the best Rob

He'd done 5 home but only 1 away (Plymouth last year), so it would have been a while before he'd have got a proper average. All the best Rob

Andreas Lyager forced to quit: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=5629 All the best Rob

Shads & B4E, sorry I didn't spot you last Friday or I'd have come and said hello. ScunnyDan, the job you did was absolutely fine, so stop worrying. Even Mrs G said you did great. I suspect the Bandits fans were directing their wrath at the referee, who had a shocker. The re-run for Heat 7 was perplexing. Even worse was Heat 6, I couldn't understand what the Dutch lad was supposed to have done wrong. All the best Rob

Wolverhampton, Poole, Belle Vue and Lakeside in the play-offs; Swindon fifth; the rest nowhere. All the best Rob

Why do you need SCB to confirm? You can read the rule, as I well as I can. It makes no mention of the rider needing to be injured on the night, so Swindon could have used IRR last night. All the best Rob

It does include them, but I'm not confident that I've got every track from this period. Rob Hollingworth has also competed in amateur meetings, and those need to be captured as well. All the best Rob

Given Perry's past form, in particular in the 2014 EL, I think they were every chance he would clean up and gain the average that he has. But fair play for him doing so. I guess we'll see what happens now. I still think Perry should go back to No 7. He's the only protected rider in that line-up and therefore he has to be at No 7. All the best Rob

Holub could only ride at No 6. It left Scorpions weak at reserve. Prior to this season, Scunny could have redeclared with Wilko at 6 and Holub at 7. This season, you can't, because there has to be a protected British rider at No 7. In a way, it's a good thing, because it means the likes of Josh Bailey keep their position all season long. And little Josh definitely deserves that position. The Peterborough situation is curious. I can't see how anyone other than Perry is eligible to ride at No 7. All the best Rob

So is it Perry now down to No 7 (only the protected British riders are allowed in this berth), with only 3.00 replacements allowed while he is out injured? All the best Rob

I've so far got Rob Hollingworth on 57. I'm pretty sure I've missed some as well. Need to have a more thorough look. His big bonus is 1977, when as well as being an ever-present with Boston, he almost did every meeting with BL Wolves that as well. And, of course, his 2000 to 2005 comeback mops up another set of tracks. All the best Rob

SCB, once a rider has done four home and away, he can be dropped. An average marked up to the minimum is not deemed an assessed average. All the best Rob

Steve, the modern-day PLRC at Sheffield still works well. Sadly, the ELRC has suffered due to rider withdrawals and not really having a proper home; it's nomadic. Hopefully this year's event at Brandon - possibly the last-ever at the track - will draw in a big crowd. All the best Rob

As I said, we had to let you win something. We wanted the BL, KOC, LC and MC - so we let you win the Easter 3TT. I'm not even sure if there was a trophy for it A few years later, there was the Thames Valley Trophy, which was a mini-league between the three clubs rather than a 3TT. I think that was home and away on the same day. Oxford and Reading always tended to be home and away on the same day. Late May Bank Holiday for the League Cup, and August Bank Holiday for the British League. We won some and lost others of those, since Oxford and Reading were quite well matched, whereas Swindon were easy meat. Those were the days All the best Rob

Sidney, you remember incorrectly. It was Oxford on Good Friday morning, Swindon on the Saturday evening and Reading on the Easter Monday morning. There weren't two meetings in a day for the 3TT. But the meetings did draw big crowds and were memorable. The Cheetahs normally flopped in the 3TT, because we had to let Swindon and Reading win something All the best Rob

If it's such a non-starter, then how come you've posted on it more than anyone else All the best Rob

Who made you judge, jury and executioner? All the best Rob

On the contrary, SCB and I once had a 5-page discussion caused by a badly placed comma and how it possibly changed the interpretation of a certain rule All the best Rob