lucifer sam

I wasn't around, but in 1958, only 10 tracks were left, a few years earlier there had been 35. All the best Rob

To be honest, I thought Ritchie Hawkins had made a howler on the day, because I'd seen PL GSA 1 on Friday. But turned out Ritchie was right - I was wrong. Yes, his GSA for team-building purposes is 6.85. But not when it comes to determining race order (including R/R eligibility), and therefore Covatti wasn't eligible for a ride. All the best Rob

EASTER TREAT AT EDDIE WRIGHT RACEWAY HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions’ promoter Rob Godfrey is looking forward to Easter Sunday’s (3pm) clash with local rivals Sheffield Tigers at the Eddie Wright Raceway. The League Cup action forms the first half of a 31-race double-header, also featuring a four team tournament between the Scunthorpe Stags, Halifax, Hull and Buxton. The Scorpions started their 2016 fixtures last week with a fine 48-41 win at Ipswich, followed by a 45-45 draw against the Witches in a complete humdinger of a meeting at Scunthorpe. Godfrey said: “It should be an absolute belter – the racing for our home meeting against Ipswich was top drawer, and this should be the same. “Sheffield are always good value around the Eddie Wright Raceway, and it’s going to be a real test for our ambitions to reach the League Cup semi-finals. “We took five points from the two meetings against Ipswich, which was a handy start, and we need to keep adding to that. We ride well at both Sheffield and Peterborough, but at the same time, we need to win our home meetings. “We had a few engine problems in the home meeting against Ipswich, which cost us the win. Josh Auty’s bike was smoking badly and he had to switch, and his second bike was nowhere as fast as the first. Meanwhile, both Wilko (Carl Wilkinson) and Zdenek (Holub) had bikes which were far too powerful for the track. We’ll have all that sorted out for the visit of the Tigers.” Wilkinson suffered a small break in his collarbone in an accident at Scunthorpe last weekend, but is planning to race through the pain barrier. * Team news to follow later in week.

Such sad news. Hope that, one way or another, that Plymouth Speedway can be saved. All the best Rob

That's the idea of the 6.30pm start time come April, to avoid the track getting too dry and dusty. It was sensible to run at 3pm on Sunday - it was starting to get rather cold as I left the stadium around 6pm (as usual, one of the last out!!). And the track held up incredibly well. There was a slick patch appearing for the last few races, but it had no affect at all on the racing. Heat 15 was simply epic, while Heat 13 wasn't far behind. In fact, I could name almost every race (Heats 11 & 12 have just sprung to mind as well ). Good to have racing back at the EWR. Scunny's home meetings are simply awesome and well worth the drive from Oxford. Get across, Jenga, when Worky are there - it's worth it. All the best Rob

Covatti not eligible for R/R ride. In terms of team building, Kerr's 2.5% reduction is applicable, but not in terms of team line-up, including guests and rider replacement. Fair play to Ritchie Hawkins - who knew his rulebook. All the best Rob

Outstanding afternoon of speedway. At Ipswich on Thursday, there was 1 pass after the opening half lap. Today there was 31. The luck evened itself out - I think a draw was a fair result. Over the two meetings, Scunny scored 5 points and Ippo 2. Not bad for a team tipped (incorrectly) by many for the bottom. Best wishes to Wilko. All the best Rob

The thoughts of Alex Davies on the win at Ipswich: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=4945 All the best Rob

Kerr 7.03, Risager 6.86 according to last night's programme. All the best Rob

Dave Peet's views on last night's meeting: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=4938 Alex Davies' reaction will be added tonight. All the best Rob

By my reckoning, there was one pass after the first-half lap all night. Lewis Kerr passed Zdenek Holub in Heat 3, as Holub was learning a brand new track. The Z man was good after that, including a cracking ride to keep Covatti at bay in Heat 7. The racing was awful - the track had no dirt and one line. And not sure what's going on with the Ipswich suits - half the team are in yellow and half in green Still, I went home with a huge smile on my face, after a great performance by the Scorpions - it was seven riders against four, and the seven won. Alex Davies could be in for a big year, but every Scorpion contributed last night, including a very neat ride from young Josh Bailey in Heat 2. All the best Rob

Got my ticket yesterday, having registered an interest by email. Yay!! Have therefore cancelled my alternate Easter Monday plans. All the best Rob

Get in Scorps!! Hard to believe some poor deluded souls thought the Witches could score 60 against us All the best Rob

Seems there is a stretch of the A14 closed overnight tonight as well. All the best Rob

I'm leaving work at 4pm today (Oxford), so it'll be slightly tight for time. I will leave M25 at junction 28. Are there any roadworks on that stretch of the A12/A14 at the moment? Thanks. All the best Rob

HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions are looking for a successful start to their 2016 season, with home and away fixtures with the Ipswich Witches this week. The Scorpions travel to Foxhall Heath tonight (Thursday, 7.30pm) for a League Cup match, and then face the Witches in the return encounter at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday (3pm). Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We find ourselves in a tough League Cup group with Ipswich, Peterborough and Sheffield, but we would like to get off to a good start to the season and put in a strong challenge for a semi-final spot in the competition. “I’m full of optimism for the new season – I believe we’ve put together a team that can deliver. “Nicolai (Klindt), Josh (Auty) and Ryan (Douglas) all scored good points in a competitive meeting in the Ben Fund Bonanza at King’s Lynn on Saturday and everything is boding well for the new season. “The visit to Foxhall is the first official fixture of 2016, and there’s a chance that we could catch Ipswich a little cold. We’ll approach the meeting with a positive attitude – there’s no reason why we can’t take a result from the meeting. “In return, I’m expecting an exciting, close-fought encounter at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Sunday, but we will definitely be out to start our home meetings with a victory. “Ipswich’s last visit to Scunthorpe back in last July was, in a word ‘eventful’ and if we get even half as much entertainment on Sunday as we did on that Friday night, we’ll be in for a treat!” Admission prices for Sunday: Adult: £15.00 Student/OAP: £13.00 Child (16 – 17): £5.00 Child (0 – 15) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £35 (2 adults, 2 Children 16-17) Match Programme: £1.00 Expected teams for Sunday: Henderson Insurance Scunthorpe Scorpions: 1. Josh Auty, 2. Nicolai Klindt, 3. Alex Davies, 4. Zdenek Holub, 5. Ryan Douglas, 6. Carl Wilkinson, 7. Josh Bailey. Ipswich Witches: 1. Danny King, 2. James Sarjeant, 3. Lewis Kerr, 4. Morten Risager, 5. Nico Covatti, 6. Paco Castagna, 7. Darryl Ritchings.

Steve, there's no doubt that he was volatile (especially early in his career), and he admits himself that he had a reputation for events off the track. That's why it's interesting to hear his views on that subject. And yes, the sport is in need of a few more characters these days. Agree totally with that sentiment. All the best Rob

Steve, I think he revealed a lot. For example, I didn't realise the personal trauma he'd been through in 2004 - Steve mentioned that despite the fact it's understandably tough for him to talk about it. I know you regard him as a arch-villain, but I found him as eloquent, intelligent and modest; someone more interested in talking about the future of the sport, than talking about himself. One thing he was reluctant to do was to bad-mouth other riders e.g. regarding the incident with Briggo at Reading, what he wanted to point out was that they had bumped into each other in the last year or so and had talked things out. Of particular interest, I felt, was his reasoning behind any trouble on-and-off track. He clearly had his own code, and if anyone went against that, then he wouldn't hesitate to stick up for himself. A standard closing question is "Do you look back fondly on your speedway career?". Steve gave one of the most eloquent responses to this, explaining how it had shaped his subsequent life. All the best Rob

Down and safe in Groningen. Hope to bump into Conkers (met him many times) and Iris (for what would be the first time) at some point of proceedings over the weekend. All the best Rob

British Semi-Final coming to Scunthorpe (along with Glasgow). A date expected to be confirmed later today. All the best Rob

Tyretrax, are you deliberately going around the forum trying to cause arguments? This was a positive thread regarding a medical breakthrough that could possibly change the lives of several wheelchair bound speedway riders. Well, it was until you came on here... Your comments are completely uncalled for. All the best Rob

SCORPIONS HOLD PRICES HENDERSON INSURANCE Scunthorpe Scorpions have held their admission prices for the third successive season. It will remain £15 for an adult to watch a single Premier League meeting at the Eddie Wright Raceway, and £17 to watch the double-headers on Easter Sunday, May Day Bank Holiday, Spring Bank Holiday and Summer Bank Holiday. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey said: “We offer one of the most attractive set of admission prices across the entire Premier League, and that will again be the case in 2016. “We are pegging our admission prices at the same level for the third successive season. “We realise the need to provide a good value-for-money package. That doesn’t just cover the admission, but also the programme and the food. It doesn’t cost an arm and a leg to watch speedway in Scunthorpe and that’s important if you want people to come back for every meeting. “As well as keeping the prices down for supporters, we will again be going all out to make sure the racing at Scunthorpe is second to none. We’re proud that many supporters from all over the country have visited and branded our racetrack the best in Britain. “I believe we offer an unbeatable package, with plenty of entertainment and thrilling action at the Eddie Wright Raceway.” The Scorpions commence their home meetings on Sunday, March 20th (3pm) with the visit of Ipswich Witches in a League Cup encounter. The Witches won a highly controversial encounter last July, and Scorpions will be looking to avenge that result. Three days earlier, on March 17th, the Scorpions travel away to Ipswich in the corresponding fixture, where they will be looking to get their League Cup fixtures off to a flying start. ADMISSION PRICES 2016 (same as 2014 and 2015): 2016 Premier League Admission Prices (single meeting): 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 2016 Bank Holiday double-header meetings (i.e. Premier League match followed by a further meeting): Adult: £17.00 Student/OAP: £15.00 Child (10 – 17): £5.00 Child (0 – 9) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £39 (2 adults, 2 Children 10-17) Match Programme: £1.00

So hope that this proves to be the breakthrough. Of course, Darcy isn't the only rider affected. Fingers crossed for Lol Hare and Garry Stead and Leigh Adams and Pip Lamb and every other wheelchair bound rider as well. All the best Rob

I agree that Berwick have a poor looking side in 2016. Scunny look pretty good, though! All the best Rob

Fundin had a reputation (not sure if it was justified?) for being very selfish on track. Jimmy Gooch moved from Norwich to Oxford in 1964, because (might have my details slightly out here, but I believe the general gist is correct) he thumped Fundin, after Gooch finally lost his patience at taken out by Fundin. Or was it that Fundin thumped Gooch for daring to beat him? In any case, I don't think there was much love lost between Fundin and some of his team-mates. When Tony Rickardsson joined Oxford briefly in 2006, he took team-mates out of the race, although Piszcz or Skornicki didn't actually confront him. He had an unsettling effect on the rest of the team, and as soon as Todd Wiltshire came in (Aaron Lanney, realising the problem, cut Rickardsson's six-week period to four weeks to bring Todd in early), the spirit rocketed and team performances improved. Maybe Oxford just caught Rickardsson at the wrong end of his career, since within a couple of months, he had retired altogether. But a one-tracked, selfish nature is sometimes what took riders took to the pinnacle in the first place. Most of the time supporters don't mind if the star rider is selfish, as long as he is banging in maximums and the team is winning. Some World Champions (Moore, Nielsen, Ermolenko, etc) were renowned team riders. All the best Rob