lucifer sam

Oh well, decided not to chance it, Ipswich is a three-hour journey from here and a long way if it's raining. Good luck to the Scorps. We're the outsiders tonight, but I'd love it if the above somewhat smug words of Baldyman ended up rammed down his throat. All the best Rob

Ref had two decisions to make all night (Heats 8 & 12) and got both wrong. Wright should have gone in Heat 8 and Starke should have gone in Heat 12. Great to see so many people there last night. Meeting was OK (racing really only got going after the interval, although Heat 1 was an intriguing battle), but the large crowd created a good atmosphere. All the best Rob

I dunno mate, but it would be weird if Grondal can ride and Nemo was blocked. All the best Rob

I can understand why Lambert should be allowed to ride for Peterborough, he's been in their team all year, but Grondal? Hasn't he just signed? Mind you, it sets a precedent. If Glasgow have a new signing in place by the weekend, he can ride in the fours. All the best Rob

AJ is as dull as ditchwater and been given too many permanent wildcard entries already. He adds nothing to the GP series. All the best Rob

No, it's not, it's just nothing has happened that can be publicised. I believe there is quite a lot happening behind the scenes. Winning the court case WAS a major step, but was by no means the final one. There was always likely to be a frustrating wait following that. I think the last thing that SOS Chairman Ian Swayer advised was to keep writing letters to Oxford City Council, backing the return to speedway and greyhounds to the stadium, because those letters do make a genuine difference. All the best Rob

Not sure it's fair to call the six Poles in 1970 "average". They provided the World No 2 and World No 3 that year. And the Pole who qualified "fifth" by the criteria the Poles used in 1973.... well, he only went and won the whole darned thing. But yes, I agree, the old qualification system used to be rather strange at times. At that one point around 1982-1984, the Americans probably had 5 or 6 of the best 16 riders in the world, and yet only four could make it out of the American Final into one of the quarter-finals (the Overseas Final). And Bomber is currently 11th. Yep, Hampel is injured, I'll give you that one, but he's still ahead of Batch, THJ and KK. Here's to Bomber finishing in the top three of the challenge again this year. All the best Rob

Agreed - much rather see Antonio in the series than AJ, Freddie or THJ, he adds far more value. All the best Rob

Yes, he transferred over in the year in question (1950). So by the end of 1950, one of the ten riders in the list was holding down a position with the mighty Wembley Lions. It's worth pointing out as well, that Jack Young (a second division rider) headed the qualifiers into the World Final in 1950. (Of course, in 1951, he was World Champion while still with Edinburgh). All the best Rob

You've never heard of Alan "Whacker" Hunt, "The White Ghost" Ken Le Breton, the "Black Prince" Arthur Forrest, or one of Scotland's greatest-ever riders, Tommy Miller? All legendary characters, every single one of them. All the best Rob

To get back to more important matters, I think the second division was strongest in 1950. The top ten in the averages that year were: 1 Jack Young Edinburgh 2 Arthur Forrest Halifax 3 Alan Hunt Cradley Heath 4 Ken Le Breton Ashfield 5 Phil Clarke Norwich 6 Derick Close Newcastle 7 Bob Oakley Southampton 8 Tommy Miller Glasgow 9 Pete Lansdale Plymouth 10 Bob Leverenz Norwich Those riders were already genuine superstars at that point – not just stars of the future. All the best Rob

Meeting rained off. All the best Rob

Been trying to find out for you, but no news as yet. No confirmed guest for Ben Wilson as yet either. Should have something more concrete by the morning. All the best Rob

Rohan Tungate banned for 21 days starting tomorrow according to Mike Bacon on twitter. All the best Rob

Graham Reeve must be referring to whether Tungate’s actions were deliberate or not (i.e. did he deliberately crash into Josh, or simply mean to shower him in shale). That he opened up the throttle and flicked out the back wheel are quite obvious from the video. This was what Rohan Tungate wrote on Twitter: “Regarding tonight’s incident with Josh Auty. It was not intentional, I was racing to the line with Alex Davies. We both raced past the line and going into turns 1 & 2. Josh had shut the throttle off and I was unable to avoid him. Most riders will understand that if shut the throttle off straight after the finish line it will be more dangerous, I hope this clears things up and I hope Josh is OK”. That makes no mention of Tungate flicking out the back wheel to shower Auty in shale, plus was he really racing to the line against Alex Davies? Doesn’t look that close to me. If he told the referee the same as he wrote on Twitter, then he was being very economical with the truth. Did Tungate tell Peter Clarke that he flicked out his back wheel or not? Or did he come up with the same story as is on Twitter? I sincerely hope that Rohan Tungate came clean and didn’t tell any porkies to the referee. All the best Rob

Interesting. If Rohan Tungate told the referee the same as he posted on his Twitter account afterwards, then it does contradict the video footage. All the best Rob

Er, this was a speedway meeting, not Jackanory corner. Anyone who has read Tungate's Jackanory story and then watched the video, will have noticed a distinct difference between fiction and reality. Tungate was at best, being very, very economical with the truth; at worst, he was intentionally trying to deceive. Auty is right out wide, all these stuff about Tungate not being able to avoid him is nonsense. Tungate couldn't avoid a rider right out by the fence on the exit of the second bend on the slow-down lap??? No, that's the stuff of fiction. Let's face facts, he headed out there intentionally. Tungate could be done simply because his Twitter statement does not resemble the video evidence. He chose to tell less than 100% of the truth and the question has to be: why? All the best Rob

And that's the exact point. To all those who say there is "no intent" - why did Tungate open the throttle back up? You can even hear that on the video. That was intentional. His action was to open the throttle and flick the back wheel towards Auty. The consequence was that he hit Auty, caused Auty to fall and caused an injury to Auty. Actions have consequences, and that's why Tungate should be punished and receive a ban. All the best Rob

Yes. Matt Williamson was used earlier in the season, when he wasn't in a declared 1-7. All the best Rob

*RAINED OFF* SCORPIONS IN KEY CLASH FLUIDAIR POWER Scunthorpe Scorpions, supported by Henderson Insurance, entertain the Plymouth Devils, the team directly above them in the Premier League table at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday evening (7.30pm). The Scorpions - blighted with injury throughout 2015 - are currently bottom of the Premier League, and need to make sure they win their next three home meetings against Plymouth (Friday), Newcastle (August 7) and Redcar (August 14), who are all teams also in the lower reaches of the league table. Ex-Scorpion Thomas Jorgensen comes in for the injured No 1 Josh Auty. Auty is back on the sidelines in somewhat controversial circumstances, after Ipswich’s Rohan Tungate rode straight into him post-race following Heat 10 at Scunthorpe last week. Auty had just returned from a nine-week break with a broken hand, and it won’t be clear until the swelling goes down, just how soon he will be able to return, if at all this season. Nike Lunna is riding in the Finish Under-21 Championship, so he is replaced at No 7 by another former Scorpion, Benji Compton. Scunthorpe promoter Rob Godfrey says: “One look at the league table reveals why we really want to make sure that we win on Friday night. We need to catch up the teams above us, because we really don’t to finish bottom of the league. “Ideally we want not only the win, but also to stop Plymouth taking any points at all on Friday evening.” The last two meetings at the Eddie Wright Raceway have been full of brilliant racing and incident, with Peterborough beaten 47-43 at the last gasp, while last week’s encounter with Ipswich (which the Witches won eventually 47-43) almost defies description – containing everything including a punch-up and a sit-down protest. Godfrey adds: “I’m sure it’s bound to be another cracking evening of action around the best speedway track in the country. As the last two weeks have shown, you never want to miss a meeting at Scunthorpe Speedway, because you never quite know what’s going to happen next! “With everything that went on last Friday, what almost got pushed to the side, was how good the racing was. There was some absolutely great stuff. “I’m delighted to have Thomas Jorgensen back as a guest, because he was just superb against Peterborough a fortnight ago, combining with two 5-1s with Ryan Douglas, to turn the match around in our favour, just when it looked we were about dead and buried. “Thomas will always give his all when guesting for us, and our other guest, Benji Compton, is another who will never give anything less than 100%. We wish Nike good luck in his quest to win the Finnish Under-21 Championship.” Friday sees the start of a special promotion, which will last to the end of the 2015 season, which sees all accompanied children under the age of 16 admitted for free to home Scorpions’ meetings. “We’re always looking to attract more younger fans”, says Godfrey. “And this offer is part of that. It’s now the school holidays, and if you’re a parent, I can’t think of a better way than keeping your kids entertained on a Friday evening than bringing them along here!” There are 24 heats of action in total on Friday, with a nine-race second half including a six-heat Midland Development League match between Scunthorpe & Milton Keynes. 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. Thomas Jorgensen (guest for Josh Auty), 2. Alex Davies, 3. Theo Pijper, 4. Carl Wilkinson, 5. Ryan Douglas, 6. Ben Wilson, 7. Benji Compton (guest for Nike Lunna). Plymouth Devils: 1. Ryan Fisher, 2. Morten Risager, 3. Jack Holder, 4. Todd Kurtz, 5. Kyle Newman, 6. Sam Simota, 7. Rafal Konopka (guest for Roland Benko). Midland Development League teams: Scunthorpe Stags: 1. Chris Bambury, 2. Sam Chapman, 3. Luke Whitehead, 4. Kurtis Scarboro. Milton Keynes Knights: 1. Tom Bacon, 2. Robert Watts, 3. TBA, 4. Robert Parker. Plymouth Devils at EWR Ave Ave Name Lge M R Pts BP (no BP) (w BP) Best Performance Ryan Fisher PL 5 24 48 2 8.00 8.33 13 + 1 from 5 rides (2008) Jack Holder DEBUT PL MEETING @ EWR Todd Kurtz PL 8 36 45 8 5.00 5.89 12 + 2 from 5 rides (2014) Kyle Newman PL 4 17 14 3 3.29 4.00 7 + 1 from 4 rides (2013) Morten Risager PL 6 23 22 2 3.83 4.17 7 + 1 from 4 rides (2014) Zdenek Simota PL 1 4 3 1 3.00 4 3 + 1 from 4 rides (2014) GUEST RIDER Rafal Konopka PL 6 25 17 3 2.72 3.20 5 + 1 from 6 rides (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. Jack Holder 2011 Australian Under-16 350cc Champion. 2013 New South Wales Under-21 Champion. Todd Kurtz Member of Newport's Premier League KO Cup Winning Team in 2011. Member of Somerset's Premier Shield and Four-Team Championship Winning Teams in 2014. Kyle Newman Winner of Queensland State Under-21 Championships in 2011. Member of Weymouth's Conference League Championship Winning Team in 2008. Member of Bournemouth's National League Championship and KO Cup Winning Teams in 2009. Member of Newcastle's Premier Shield Winning Team in 2011. Member of Poole's Elite League Championship Winning Team in 2011. Member of Somerset's League Cup Winning Team in 2012. Member of Somerset's Premier League Championship and KO Cup Winning Teams in 2013. Member of Poole's Elite League Championship Winning Team in 2014. Member of Poole's Elite Shield Winning Teams in 2014 and 2015. Morten Risager Has ridden in 1 Speedway Grand Prix meeting. Member of Coventry's Elite League Championship Winning Teams in 2005 and 2007. Member of Coventry's Elite Shield Winning Team in 2006. Member of Ipswich's Premier League Four-Team Championship Winning Team in 2011. Zdenek Simota Has ridden in 2 Grand Prix and 5 World Cup meetings. Made his British League debut in the 2005 Premier League with Reading. 2004 Czech Republic Under-21 Champion. Plymouth Devils' PL Results at EWR 19 August 2011 PL L Scunthorpe 56 Plymouth 37 02 September 2012 PL L Scunthorpe 54 Plymouth 39 16 August 2013 PL L Scunthorpe 56 Plymouth 34 27 April 2014 PL L Scunthorpe 52 Plymouth 43 (stats by John Eyre)

http://scunthorpescorpions.co/?p=3885 All the best Rob

Whether it's 14 or 28 day-ban is up to the club. In 2005, Henka Gustafsson had a miss an Oxford meeting because he was due to also ride for his Swedish club that night, who needed to win that meeting to avoid relegation and he'd been riding for them forever and Oxford two minutes. Nigel Wagstaff thought that was a good enough reason, so placed a 14-day ban on Henka (allowing Oxford to use facilties for him) rather than 28 days. And then Henka was free to rejoin Oxford that much sooner for the rest of our ulitamely successful Craven Shield campaign. All the best Rob

Aren't they two seeded spots for the GP Challenge? Give Ward one of those. If he qualifies, then he qualifies, if he doesn't, then he doesn't. All the best Rob

Er, so you're calling Jenga (Workington), Spin King (Sheffield), the Scotsman (Edinburgh, I think) etc, etc, Scunthorpe fans?? And the video evidence is absolutely fine - anyone with eyes can see Tungate speed up and his flick of his back wheel, that causes Auty to come crashing down. In fact, the video evidence is remarkably good, given it was taken from crowd level. Hats off to the cameraman. What Tungate meant to do is open for debate. But there was always a chance that by doing what he did (grabbing the throttle, aiming his bike towards Josh, and flicking out the back wheel), he would wipe out Auty and that's what he did. Actions have consequences. And I believe the only person reported to the SCB was Tungate (others riders were fined, but not reported), so you're barking down the wrong tree with your other comments as well. All the best Rob

Yep, strangely enough, they've nearly all been Ippo fans. I can only summise there is a lack of Specsavers in Suffolk. Any with two functioning eyes can clearly see Tungate speed up and flick his back wheel at Auty. All the best Rob