lucifer sam

SCORPIONS’ FATE IN THEIR OWN HANDS IN KEY ENCOUNTER FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, can avoid bottom spot in the 2015 Premier League, with a victory by seven points or more over rivals Redcar Bears in the huge crunch encounter at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday evening (7.30pm). In yet another bumper night at the best racetrack in the country, there are 24 heats of action in total for just £15 for adults, with the following on offer: • The VITAL match in the battle to avoid last place in the Premier League between the Scorpions and the Bears. • A six-heat Midland Development League match between Scunthorpe Stags and Milton Keynes Knights. • The return of the classic 1950s / 1960s JAP machines, in three ‘Blast From The Past’ races. • Free admission to all accompanied children under the age of 16. Both Scunthorpe and Redcar currently have 18 match points, and have the remaining fixtures: SCUNTHORPE Sept 4 Redcar (Home) Sept 10 Plymouth (Away) Sept 11 Plymouth (Home) Sept 13 Peterborough (Away) REDCAR Sept 3 Workington (Home) Sept 4 Scunthorpe (Away) If the teams finish level on match points, then race points difference will be the deciding factor. Scunthorpe currently have a race points difference of minus 161, while Redcar’s is significantly worse on minus 271. If Redcar beat Workington on Thursday, they would move onto 21 match points. Scunthorpe could then match that figure by defeating the Bears on Friday. If they also stop the Bears from taking the bonus point for losing by six points or less, then the Bears would remain on 21. And barring a mathematical miracle in the Scunthorpe’s remaining three meetings, the Scorpions would be assured of finishing ahead of Redcar. Scunthorpe team manager Dave Peet says: “We did a great job against Sheffield on Bank Holiday Monday, with every rider chipping in well. It was nice to be tracking a team of our own seven riders again, and new signing Leigh Lanham did just the job we were hoping that he would. “We need to keep our concentration and focus for the Redcar match on Friday. “I’m sure we have both the team spirit and determination to win the meeting, but we certainly won’t be complacent about it.” Promoter Rob Godfrey adds: “Friday has all the hallmarks of being a total cracker. “We certainly don’t want to finish bottom, and I’m sure Redcar don’t want to end up bottom either, so there is bound to be some hard-fought and terrific racing around the best racetrack in the country.” Admission prices for Friday: 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 Friday: FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance: 1. Zdenek Holub, 2. Theo Pijper, 3. Andreas Lyager, 4. Carl Wilkinson, 5. Leigh Lanham, 6. Alex Davies, 7. Nike Lunna. Redcar Bears: 1. Aaron Summers (guest for Lasse Bjerre), 2. Rider replacement for Stuart Robson, 3. Matej Kus, 4. Rafal Konopka (guest for Adam Roynon), 5. Jonas Andersen, 6. Jan Graversen, 7. Dimitri Berge. Midland Development League teams: Scunthorpe Stags: 1. Sam Darroch, 2. Stephen Whitehouse, 3. Luke Whitehead, 4. Sam Chapman. Milton Keynes Knights: 1. Alex Wilson, 2. Jack Thomas, 3. Chris Bambury, 4. Kurtis Scarboro. Blast From The Past Riders: Graham Tattersall (JAP in a Jawa frame), Alec Gooch (Mattingley JAP), Bill Haynes (JAP in a Jawa fame), Steve Cook (JAP in a Jawa frame). Redcar Bears at EWR Ave Ave Best Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Performance Jonas Andersen DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR Dimitri Berge PL 1 5 3 1 2.40 3.20 3 + 1 from 5 rides (2015) Jan Graversen PL 24 109 123 30 4.51 5.61 9 + 4 from 7 rides (2012) Matej Kus PL 6 30 53 1 7.07 7.20 17 from 5 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2012)) GUESTS Rafal Konopka PL 6 25 17 3 2.72 3.20 5 + 1 from 6 rides (2015) Aaron Summers PL 18 84 120 9 5.71 6.14 15 from 6 rides (inc 6 pts T/R (2014)) Other Notes Jonas Andersen Made his Premier League debut for Redcar in June 2015. Dimitri Berge 2012 World Longtrack Champion (250cc) Has ridden in 1 World Cup meeting for his country. Made his Premier League debut for Glasgow in 2014. Recently signed after starting this season with Glasgow. Jan Graversen Former Scunthorpe Scorpion. Member of King's Lynn's Premier League Championship, Premier Trophy and KO Cup Winning Teams in 2009. Matej Kus Has ridden in 4 Speedway Grand Prix and 6 World Cup Events. 2010 Czech Republic Champion. Twice Czech Republic Under-21 Champion (2008 and 2009). 2008 Czech Republic Under-19 Champion. GUESTS Rafal Konopka Made his Premier League debut for Redcar in April 2014. Signed for Peterborough after starting this season at Redcar. Aaron Summers Australian Under-16 Champion in 2004. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Championship and Premier Trophy Winning Teams in 2008. Member of Edinburgh's Premier League Play-Off Winning Teams in 2008 and 2009. Member of Coventry's Elite League Winning Team in 2010. Member of Birmingham's Premier League Four-Team Championship Winning Team in 2010. Redcar Bears' Results at EWR 30 March 2008 PT D Scunthorpe 45 Redcar 45 06 June 2008 PL L Scunthorpe 52 Redcar 41 19 June 2009 PL L Scunthorpe 49 Redcar 44 31 July 2009 KOC L Scunthorpe 50 Redcar 39 02 October 2009 YS L Scunthorpe 56 Redcar 34 05 April 2010 PT L Scunthorpe 50 Redcar 42 02 May 2010 PL L Scunthorpe 57 Redcar 34 09 September 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 52 Redcar 41 07 October 2011 PL Ph 2 L Scunthorpe 65 Redcar 25 27 April 2012 LC L Scunthorpe 54 Redcar 36 14 September 2012 PL L Scunthorpe 55 Redcar 38 14 June 2013 KOC W Scunthorpe 41 Redcar 49 12 July 2013 PL L Scunthorpe 45 Redcar 44 06 April 2014 LC W Scunthorpe 37 Redcar 50 25 July 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 54 Redcar 39 27 August 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 46 Redcar 43 24 April 2015 LC W Scunthorpe 44 Redcar 45 (stats by John Eyre)

Palovaara could be the key to the rest of Tigers' season, because he's so difficult to replace. Is out for a while or due back soon? All the best Rob

DON’T FORGET this Friday’s HUGE clash between the FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, and the Redcar Bears at the Eddie Wright Raceway at 7.30pm!! It is the KEY meeting in Scunthorpe’s battle to avoid finishing the 2015 Premier League in bottom place. A full meeting preview will follow in due course, but make sure you’re at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday…. let’s make some noise!!

Meow!! Fair dos, though, Spinny, you have had the best of Scunny this season, although it's still pretty satisfying to know 9 out of last 10 league matches between the two clubs have been won by the Scorps. All the best Rob

Final result: Scunthorpe Scorpions 49 Sheffield Tigers 41. Scorpions climb off the bottom of the PL table, while it seems Rob Godfrey and the track staff performed a miracle to get the meeting on, after further unexpected rain turned up. All the best Rob

1.15pm update: Rain stopped, track good! The rain has now stopped. The track is in good nick and all ready for this afternoon's bumper 38-race double header of speedway action, as the Scorpions aim to win three successive meetings for the first time in 2015. Let's go racing!!!

11.15am update: All systems go JUST to confirm that this afternoon's double header at the Eddie Wright Raceway is still ON. There is currently drizzle at the circuit, but this is due to pass over by lunchtime according to weather forecasts. It should finish by 2pm at the latest, giving plenty of time to prepare the track. It will be all systems go, unless something changes.

Update from Scunny Speedway twitter: Morning campers it does look like the rain is clearing for dinner time so at this time we are preparing for racing All the best Rob

Mimmo, latest BBC forecast this morning has rain clearing by around 12 noon. All the best Rob

Latest from Scunthorpe Speedway twitter: So hears the plan folks The tracks pack in hard and we are expecting the rain to clear by dinner time so fingers crossed we will be racing All the best Rob

Is Victor Pavlova injured? All the best Rob

BEST VALUE SPEEDWAY MEETING OF THE YEAR SCUNTHORPE’s Eddie Wright Raceway in Normanby Road presents perhaps the best value speedway meeting in the UK this season on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon (3pm), with 38 heats on offer for just £17 for adults. Here is what is on offer: • 15 heats of hotly-contested local derby action, as the FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, entertain the Sheffield Tigers in Premier League action on the best racetrack in the country. • 16 hotshots of the future from 10 different tracks going head-to-head in the 23-heat Midland Development League Riders’ Championship. • The chance to see new signing Leigh Lanham’s debut for the Scunthorpe Scorpions. • The debut of Robin Aspegren for Sheffield, plus the return of Tigers’ legend Andre Compton in a Sheffield racejacket. • Free admission to all accompanied children under the age of 16. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey says: “It promises to be an absolute belting afternoon of Bank Holiday speedway. “Our record against the Sheffield Tigers this season is not impressive: it reads three meetings and three defeats. We had the Indian sign over the Tigers between 2012 & 2014, but so far this season, the boot has been on the other foot. “We expect quite a few Tigers’ fans to make the short journey up the M18 and, of course, they’d love to see another win for their team over the Scorpions, but I think maybe we can upset their applecart. “Both teams have a slightly different look about them after signings on both sides to cover for injuries, and I think it’s going to be an extremely close and hard-fought meeting. “Sheffield have a trump card at reserve in Josh Bates, but we have two trump cards at reserve in Alex Davies and Nike Lunna. I honestly think we can steal the win on Monday, but it’s going to be close and we’re going to need our fans to really get behind skipper Theo Pijper and the boys. “There’s not just local pride on the line. We’d dearly love the three Premier League points for a victory in our quest to avoid finishing bottom of the league. It is extremely close between Berwick, Redcar and ourselves.” New signing Leigh Lanham adds stability and experience to the Scunthorpe line-up, and he previously scored 11+2 for Somerset at the Eddie Wright Raceway in May. Meanwhile, youngsters Zdenek Holub and Andreas Lyager both make their second-ever appearances at the track for the Scorpions - both impressed on their respective debuts with scores of 8+2 and 6. The signing of Lanham has gone down well with his new team-mates. Carl Wilkinson tweeted on Thursday morning: “That's a nice little surprise to wake up to. Welcome aboard fella, Mr. Lightning starts!” Meanwhile, the second meeting on Bank Holiday Monday, the Midland Development League Riders’ Championship (MDLRC), which is sponsored by City Gearboxes, is also bound to attract plenty of attention. It features the 16 best riders from the MDL, which has been held across 10 tracks in the second halves of meetings. Monday’s heat-format is the same as the one currently used for Speedway Grand Prix series, with 20 heats followed by two semi-finals and a final. Godfrey adds: “The Midland Development League is a hotbed of talent and many of these riders will go on to become stars of the sport in the future. “It’s going to be intriguing to watch the top 16 riders from the league go against each other in an individual meeting and see who comes out on top. “Scunthorpe will be represented by Jamie Halder and Sam Darroch, but many of the names will be familiar to those who come along to our regular Amateur meetings at the Eddie Wright Raceway. “We’re proud, as a club, to be on the forefront of the development of British Youth and to be able to stage the MDLRC at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Monday.” Admission prices for Bank Holiday Monday: Adult: £17.00 Student/OAP: £15.00 Child (16 – 17): £5.00 Child (0 – 15) Free (accompanied by paying adult) Family Ticket £39 (2 adults, 2 Children 16-17) Match Programme: £1.00 Expected teams for Bank Holiday Monday: FluidAir Power Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance: 1. Zdenek Holub, 2. Theo Pijper, 3. Andreas Lyager, 4. Carl Wilkinson, 5. Leigh Lanham, 6. Alex Davies, 7. Nike Lunna. Sheffield Tigers: 1. Jason Garrity, 2. Robin Aspegren, 3. David Bellego, 4. Nicolai Klindt, 5. Andre Compton, 6. Paco Castagna, 7. Josh Bates. Line-up for City Gearboxes Midland Development League Riders’ Championship: 1. Lee Geary (Long Eaton), 2. Lee Springthorpe (Long Eaton), 3. Layne Cupitt (King’s Lynn), 4. Callum Walker (Coventry), 5. David Holt (Belle Vue), 6. Mitchell Beckett (Coventry), 7. Sam Darroch (Scunthorpe), 8. Connor Fletcher (Stoke), 9. Rob Watts (Milton Keynes), 10. Ben Basford (Peterborough), 11. Adam Portwood (King’s Lynn), 12. Alex Wilson (Peterborough), 13. Jamie Halder (Scunthorpe), 14. Jack Parkinson-Blackburn (Buxton), 15. Andy Mellish (Belle Vue), 16. Adam Sheppard (Wolverhampton). Reserves: 17. David Morgan (Buxton), 18. Sam Wright (Wolverhampton). Sheffield Tigers at EWR Ave Ave Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Best Performance Robin Aspegren PL 6 23 34 6 5.91 6.96 11 + 1 from 6 rides (2012) Josh Bates PL 9 46 32 3 2.78 3.04 11 + 1 from 5 rides (2015) David Bellego PL 9 38 48 7 5.05 5.79 9 from 4 rides (2013) Michele Paco Castagna DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR Andre Compton PL 14 60 101 11 6.73 7.47 13 from 5 rides (2005) Jason Garrity PL 2 9 12 0 5.33 5.33 9 from 5 rides (inc 4 pts T/R (2014)) Nicolai Klindt PL 16 68 127 12 7.47 8.18 15 + 1 from 6 rides (2013) Other Notes Robin Aspegren Member of Newport's Premier League KO Cup Winning Team in 2011. Josh Bates Former Scunthorpe Scorpion. 2014 British Under-21 Champion. Member of Mildenhall's National League Championship, KO Cup and Trophy Winning Teams in 2012. Member of Mildenhall's National League Trophy Winning Team in 2014. Recently represented Great Britain in the Under-21 World Team Cup. Named as a Fast-Track Reserve with Wolverhampton for the 2015 Elite League season. David Bellego 2010 French Championship Winner. Member of Glasgow's Premier League Championship Winning Team in 2011. Member of Berwick's Premier League Fours Winning Team in 2012. Michele Paco Castagna Three times Italian Under-21 Champion (2011, 2012 and 2014) Represented Italy in 4 Speedway World Cup Events. Andre Compton 2004 Premier League Riders' Champion. Member of Sheffield's Premier League Championship, Young Shield and Fours Winning Teams in 1999. Member of Newcastle's 2001 Premier League Championship Winning Team. Member of Poole's Craven Shield Winning Team in 2002. Member of Workington's Young Shield and Premier League Fours Winning Teams in 2009. Member of Workington's Young Shield Winning Team in 2010. Jason Garrity 2008 British Under-15 Champion. 2011 British Under-19 and National League Riders' Champion. Member of Buxton's National League Championship, Trophy and KO Cup Winning Teams in 2010. Premier Challenge Trophy Winner with Rye House in 2012. Named as a Fast-Track Reserve with Coventry for the 2015 Elite League season. Rode as a track reserve in this year's British Grand Prix at Cardiff. Nicolai Klindt Former Scunthorpe Scorpion who has scored over 300 points for the club. Has ridden in 2 Speedway Grand Prix and 5 Speedway World Cup Events. Danish Under-19 Champion (2006) Twice Danish Under-21 Champion (2006/2008) European Under-19 Champion (2007) Elite League Championship Winner with Wolverhampton in 2009. Sheffield Tigers' Results at EWR 23 October 2005 CH L Scunthorpe 47 Sheffield 43 30 October 2007 CH W Scunthorpe 44 Sheffield 45 21 March 2008 PT W Scunthorpe 41 Sheffield 48 11 April 2008 KOC W Scunthorpe 44 Sheffield 48 15 August 2008 PL W Scunthorpe 43 Sheffield 47 20 March 2009 CH L Scunthorpe 60 Sheffield 32 05 May 2009 PL L Scunthorpe 57 Sheffield 38 19 March 2010 PT L Scunthorpe 43 Sheffield 33 30 August 2010 PL W Scunthorpe 41 Sheffield 51 18 March 2011 CH W Scunthorpe 43 Sheffield 47 10 June 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 46 Sheffield 43 04 June 2012 LC W Scunthorpe 40 Sheffield 50 17 August 2012 PL L Scunthorpe 51 Sheffield 42 05 April 2013 LC L Scunthorpe 50 Sheffield 38 21 June 2013 PL L Scunthorpe 63 Sheffield 31 29 September 2013 RC L Scunthorpe 54 Sheffield 24 30 March 2014 LC W Scunthorpe 42 Sheffield 48 09 July 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 54 Sheffield 39 12 October 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 55 Sheffield 39 06 April 2015 PL W Scunthorpe 40 Sheffield 53 (stats by John Eyre)

Bumper afternoon of speedway: 15 heats of Scunthorpe Scorpions vs Sheffield Tigers in local derby action PLUS 23 heats of the 2015 Midland Development League Riders' Championship, as 16 riders across 10 tracks do battle. Just £17 for 38 races. Accompanied children under the age of 16 go FREE. Leigh Lanham makes his debut for the Scorpions. All the best Rob

New signing for Scorpions: http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=4132 All the best Rob

Ken McKinlay would count. He fell leading his final race in 1956. Had he stayed on the bike, he would have been in a run-off for first place with Ove Fundin. All the best Rob

But 16.5.2 is not relevant. It's about 28-day-facilities. Scunny haven't applied for one of those for Holub. 16.5.2 is not relevant and therefore neither is 16.5.2.2. The rule is obviously there to stop a team signing someone on an assessed average, then the next moment saying they are in dispute with the club, and getting away with using guests for 28 days. It's there to close that loophole. Why stop a guest for a rider competing in a FIM event for his country? All the best Rob

Excellent book… but I’m still not convinced, though, that Tom Farndon is the Greatest Of Them All (sorry Norbold!). Two big “ifs”: if Tom Farndon had not died and had the second world war not taken place and the World Championship continued unabated. Farndon would have been a World Champion at some point, no doubt. But for me, the big multi-World Champion of this period would have been Vic Duggan. TF’s averages were around 10.00. VD averaged 11.54 in 1947. For me, Duggan was the best rider of the sport’s opening three decades. All the best Rob

The thing is, there are far more than 16 worthy names. Graham Warren is another who probably should be in there... the best rider in the world in 1950, and third in the world with 12 points (4 wins and 1 fall). He probably would have won a Speedway GP series in '50. But for the fractured skull following that season, he would almost certainly been World Champion at some point. All the best Rob

No need to hide the previous comments - to do so, would be rather hypocritical. This is speedway. We all have our heroes and our villians. But whether a rider is seriously injured, we all club together for that rider. Right now, the whole speedway world is wishing the best for Darcy Ward. All the best Rob

That sounds about right. All the best Rob

Our illegal guest scored nothing because we didn't have one. All the best Rob

Shads, I do. Great meeting on Friday - great racing, something resting on Heat 15, some unexpected results, both teams went away happy. All the best Rob

Lewy, read the whole of 16.5.2 again and not just the sub-section at the end. The rule and its sub-sections are referring to teams using 28-day-facilites, yes? All the best Rob

SB, you're spot on there. The full rule is: 16.5.2 For an absent Rider with (a) an assessed MA, or ( b ) has been approved in a team’s declared line-up at the start of the season, a 28-day Facility may be granted at MC’s discretion. 16.5.2.1 In the NL this only applies if he was in that Team’s 1-7 at the close of the previous season. 16.5.2.2 If the absent Rider has an assessed MA and is a PL#1 (by MA) only RR facility is allowed. So yes 16.5.2.2 doesn't apply at all in this case as Scunny are not using a 28-day-facility for Holub. It's 18.10.c that does apply and has been applied correctly. But please can we avoid another boring rulebook argument. The focus should be on the racing from Friday's meeting. There have been even better meetings at the EWR this year, but that was still a cracker on Friday. Heat 8 was simply amazing, with the riders seemingly swapping positions on every bend. All the best Rob

Which is in turn contradicted by: 18.10 FACILITIES a1) Absent #1: G or RR a2) Absent D-U or ED Rider G or RR b ) 1 Absent Rider (2 – 5): RR c) More than 1 Absent Rider (1 - 5) 1 x RR facility and G for all others d) Absent #6 or #7: G e) “No Facility”: NL G* Which rule of these two takes precedence? Had Zdenek Holub been the only missing Scunthorpe 1-5 rider missing, then it looks like only R/R could be used, but Ryan Douglas was also missing. Scunny can't use R/R twice, therefore a guest needs to be used for one of the two absent riders. All the best Rob NB Should point out I'm not talking as Scunny's press officer in this case, simply from my own knowledge of the rulebook, and how different rules often contradict another one!!