Bears defeated as Scunthorpe take the spoils!
Redcar’s hopes of a place in the final of the Jubilee League were dealt a blow as Scunthorpe ran out 50-40 winners at the Eddie Wright Raceway. Ryan Douglas produced a faultless 15 point paid maximum whilst Charles Wright top scored for Redcar with 13. However, the meeting was marred by an awful crash involving Zaine Kennedy in heat 11 with the Australian leaving the track in the air ambulance.
Douglas started his faultless evening with a heat 1 win as the Australian gated and won comfortably with Wright in second and Lambert in third for a Scorpions heat advantage. The second race of the evening saw Jordan Jenkins touch the tapes which forced the Redcar asset to go off 15 metres in the re-run. The re-run saw Kennedy round Kyle Bickley on the opening bend to take the win but former Bear Adam Roynon packed up in second to gift the Bears a shared heat.
Kasper Andersen continued his recent improved form with an impressive heat 3 win but with James Wright going around the outside of Jason Edwards on lap 3, Redcar could not secure a heat advantage. Heat 4 saw Scunthorpe extend their lead to 4 as Kennedy made it back to back wins by defeating Lewis Kerr whilst Roynon (replacing Tero Aarnio who missed the 2 minutes due to an bike problems), passed Jenkins for the home heat advantage.
The visitors secured their first heat advantage in heat 5 as Charles Wright took the win with the Bears having to settle for a 4-2 as Aarnio rounded Edwards to limit the damage for the hosts. Scunthorpe regained their 4 point advantage as Douglas won from the gate whilst Simon Lambert comfortably held third for their third heat advantage. Again, Redcar reduced the deficit to 2 as Charles Wright held off a strong challenge from Aarnio whilst Andersen held third ahead of Roynon for Redcar’s second heat advantage.
Scunthorpe hit a vital blow in heat 8 despite Jason Edwards gating with the Kings Lynn man being usurped by both Scorpions on the backstraight of the opening lap for a big home 5-1. Scunthorpe looked set for another 5-1 with James Wright winning heat 9 but Kerr cut under Kennedy to split the Scorpions duo.
The third shared heat of the night arrived in heat 10 as the imperious Douglas blasted past both Bears to secure his third heat win. The initial staging of heat 11 saw Zaine Kennedy suffer a horror crash as he picked up drive on bend two of the opening lap and flew over the fence with the Australian ending up against the fence near the crowd. The Australian did not lose consciousness but was taken by the air ambulance to hospital. Everyone at Redcar Speedway sends their best to Kennedy for a speedy recovery.
After a lengthy delay, Charles Wright won the re-run with Edwards storming up the inside of Aarnio on the opening lap only for the Finn to re-pass Edwards to ensure Redcar only took a 4-2. Redcar’s interim team boss, Gavin Parr used his tactical substitute in heat 12 but it did not produce the desired outcome as James Wright gated and superbly held off both Charles Wright and Kasper Andersen to preserve Scunthorpe’s 6 point lead.
Any hopes of a Redcar victory were extinguished in heat 13 as the flawless Douglas joined Aarnio at the front for a home 5-1 to send Scunthorpe into a 10 point lead. However, Redcar were still in the hunt for a league point and brought themselves within 6 points with a fantastic heat 14 5-1. Jenkins gated and won fairly comfortably whilst Andersen excellently held off a game Roynon to enthuse the away support.
The final race of the meeting saw Kerr gate but the Brit went too wide on the second bend of lap 2 and Douglas steamed up the inside and a lap later, Aarnio joined his teammate to secure a deserved 50-40 home win for Scunthorpe to ensure Redcar could not gain a consolation point.
Redcar co-promoter Jamie Swales was naturally disappointed with the result, “ We took the meeting to the last heat in search of a point but it was unfortunately a little bit beyond us. We really missed Erik (Riss) with rider replacement getting 6+1 but I believe paid 7 is better than any of the available guests would have scored.”
Swales also believes rider replacement put a lot of extra pressure on the side, “ Running rider replacement put a lot of extra pressure on our side and we are hoping not to run rider replacement again as we now have more time to source a good guest starting with Justin Sedgemen tomorrow at Leicester.”
Scunthorpe Scorpions = 50
1. Ryan Douglas = 14+1 Paid Maximum
2. Simon Lambert = 7
3. James Wright = 7+1
4. Jake Allen R/R = 5
5. Tero Aarino = 12+1
6. Adam Roynon = 1
7. Zaine Kennedy = 9+1 WITHDRAWN
Redcar Bears = 40
1. Charles Wright = 13
2. Jason Edwards = 2
3. Erik Riss R/R = 6+1
4. Kasper Andersen = 8+2
5. Lewis Kerr = 10
6. Kyle Bickley = 2
7. Jordan Jenkins = 5+1