Scorpions down battling Bears
Scunthorpe secured a 50-40 BSN northern group stage Series success against Redcar after some superb bank holiday speedway at the Eddie Wright Raceway. Ryan Douglas top scored for the hosts with 14 whilst an under the weather Charles Wright hit a superb 14 for Redcar.
The Scorpions started off in superb style with a 5-1 as Ryan Douglas took a customary heat 1 win but all the action was behind the Australian as Simon Lambert pushed both Bears out and joined his partner at the front to open up an early advantage for Scunthorpe.
Jason Edwards opened the Redcar account for heat winners with a heat 2 success but with Redcar guest Nathan Stoneman at the back, the early gap remained at 4. The unwell skipper Wright, showed no ill effects on track as he took the chequered flag in heat 3 but despite the very best efforts of a battling Danyon Hume, Redcar remained 4 adrift.
Ex Bear Michael Palm-Toft marked his return as a Scorpion with an opening win as he passed Danny King to win heat 4 and with Joe Thompson passing Stoneman, the Scorpions increased their lead to 6. Another former Bear extended Scunthorpe’s lead to 8 as Jake Allen intelligently held off a hard charge from Redcar’s guest, Justin Sedgmen and with Connor Bailey unable to pass Connor Mountain, Scunthorpe went 8 up.
Redcar found themselves in further trouble as the hosts extended their lead to 10 points courtesy of their third 4-2 on the bounce after a superb race. Douglas and King passed for fun in the opening couple of laps until the Scunthorpe number 1 secured 1st but then Lambert flew from 3rd to pass King, only for the experienced Bears heat leader to return the favour on the run to the line to limit the damage for Redcar.
After a shared heat 7 won by the impressive Wright, Redcar secured their first heat advantage in a closely contested heat 8. The “Agilia” Bears gated on a 5-1 with the magnificent Edwards joined by Bailey at the front but the Scunthorpe skipper, Simon Lambert split the Bears pairing. Nevertheless, Redcar had their first heat advantage thanks to a magnificent Edwards win.
However, Scunthorpe immediately re-established their 10 point advantage as the in-form Allen held off a strong challenge from King to take the chequered flag and with Mountain in 3rd, Scunthorpe had a firm grip on proceedings. Gavin Parr chose King for Redcar’s tactical substitute in heat 10 but the former British Champion was unable to get the better of Palm-Toft, but with Redcar filling the minor places, Scunthorpe could not extend their lead.
Wright and Edwards delighted the large travelling contingent as they brought Redcar within 8 after a fantastic 5-1. Wright continued his unbeaten run but Edwards showed maturity beyond his years to ride a brilliant defensive race to hold off Mountain and the Bears were in with a chance.
Heat 13 saw Scunthorpe hit back as the sublime Douglas won and with Palm-Toft using the outside line to pass King on the run to the line and with that, Scunthorpe were close to securing the opening success of the BSN Series northern group. The victory was secured for Scunthorpe with a heat 14 5-1 as Allen took his 3rd win and with Scunthorpe’s guest and with Ty Proctor holding off a determined challenge from Danyon Hume, Redcar were 12 behind.
Heat 15 saw the Scorpions gate on a 5-1 which would have given them a 16 point buffer ahead of the ECCO Arena return (with the new aggregate bonus point being key in a 3 team group). However, Wright had plenty to say as he passed Douglas and then Allen at the beginning of lap 4 to take the win and with Allen blowing a tyre on the final bends, Sedgmen gratefully took third which saw a patched up Bears come away 50-40 losers after some scintillating Good Friday Speedway.
Scunthorpe = 50
1. Ryan Douglas = 14
2. Simon Lambert = 5+1
3. Connor Mountain = 5
4. Jake Allen = 10+1
5. Michael Palm Toft = 9
6. Ty Proctor (G) = 5+2
7. Joe Thompson = 2+1
Redcar = 40
1. Justin Sedgmen (G) = 8
2. Connor Bailey = 1
3. Charles Wright = 14
4. Danyon Hume = 2+1
5. Danny King = 7+1
6. Jason Edwards = 8+1
7. Nathan Stoneman (G) = 0
