BRITISH SPEEDWAY AUGUST 21
Date: Saturday August 21, 2021
(SPEEDWAY 1)
REDCAR overturned an eight-point deficit to beat Poole 48-42 at the Media Prima Arena – but the Pirates still went top of the Championship.
The visitors looked set for an away win when they led 34-26 with five races remaining, only for the Bears to produce a strong comeback.
Charles Wright racked up 15 from six rides for the hosts with Jake Allen adding 12+3. Steve Worrall (13) dropped his only points in Heat 15 for the Pirates with Danny King on 10.
The league point gained by the visitors takes them to the head of five teams all on 31 points at the top of the table – but promoter Danny Ford was far from happy with the outcome.
Ford said: “I am hugely disappointed with the final result. To be leading by eight points and then come away having lost by six is hard to accept.
“We thought we had the meeting under control at the halfway stage and again we just seemed to take our foot off the gas, and that is becoming something of an Achilles Heel for us at the minute especially on the road. We need to learn to press home that advantage and not allow points to slip away from us.
“In fairness, we knew it was going to be tough up here. After all, Redcar are play-off contenders and showed tonight why they are just that.”
(SPEEDWAY 2)
EDINBURGH salvaged a 44-44 draw at home to Kent with a last-heat 5-1 at Armadale on Friday.
The Monarchs looked to be heading for a shock home defeat only for Sam Masters and Josh Pickering to get the better of the previously unbeaten Scott Nicholls in the decider.
Nicholls had passed Masters earlier in the meeting but fell when trying to overhaul Pickering on this occasion.
Masters scored 14+1 for the hosts whilst Nicholls with 12 was well supported by Cameron Heeps with 10+1 against his old club for the Kings.
Monarchs boss Alex Harkess said: “We’ve managed to get a draw, but I have to say it felt like a defeat.
“We were very disappointing. We weren’t getting out of the starts and were up against it all night. Congratulations to Kent on a very good performance.”
(SPEEDWAY 3)
JORDAN Palin completed his first senior maximum as Scunthorpe defeated Birmingham 52-38 at the Eddie Wright Raceway.
The Scorpions youngster scored 11+1 from four rides with Tero Aarnio notching 12 from five with the Scorpions doing enough to shake off the Brummies, who had started with a 5-1.
Chris Harris scored 12 for the visitors, whilst Scunthorpe join a group of five clubs on 31 points at the top of the table.
Palin said: “I’m happy to score my first maximum for Scunthorpe. I’m not sure what to say, I’m a bit lost for words, to be honest. I just made a start in Heat 2 and took it from there.
“I’ve been close to a maximum around here a few times, so to finally have one under my belt is very pleasing. I hope there’s many more to come.
“The team dug in and took the victory. It’s a team match, we win as a team and we lose a team and it was good to get the three points. It was a much-needed win and we pulled it off.”
Brummies boss Laurence Rogers said: “It was a tough result. We were in with a chance at one point, but it just didn’t happen for us.
“It was a great performance from Valentin (Grobauer) and there’s a lot to come from him after not having a great start to the year with injures, but he showed what he can do with three great wins.”
(SPEEDWAY 4)
BELLE Vue moved up to second place in the National Development League with a 51-39 home win over Armadale.
Recent signing Jack Smith led the way for the Colts, beaten only by Devils guest Kyle Bickley who scored 12, and received good support from former Belle Vue rider Danny Phillips on 10+1 – but the home side were the more solid-scoring down the order.
Colts star Harry McGurk (8+1) said: “It was a good win for the boys and we’re in a great position at this point in the season to perhaps even challenge for the title.
“Some clubs below us have matches in hand, but we’ve still got a few meetings to get more points and hopefully we can bring that trophy back to Manchester.
“Armadale were challenging us all night. We didn’t expect anything less though, especially with so many ex-Belle Vue riders in their team.
“Danny and Kyle really put up a fight, but we managed to get the better of them and we’re just delighted to have repaid Armadale for the narrow defeat we had at their place.”
Meanwhile there were wins for Cooper Rushen and Seth Norman in their respective categories of the British Youth 125cc Championship.
(FIXTURES)
SATURDAY AUGUST 21:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Berwick v Kent OFF, Leicester v Glasgow OFF
NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT LEAGUE: Berwick v Kent OFF
SUNDAY AUGUST 22:
BRITISH UNDER-19 FINAL: Mildenhall 3pm
CHAMPIONSHIP: Newcastle v Kent 4pm
MONDAY AUGUST 23:
PREMIERSHIP: Belle Vue v King’s Lynn 7.30, Peterborough v Wolverhampton 7.30
TUESDAY AUGUST 24:
CHAMPIONSHIP: Kent v Newcastle 6.30, Plymouth v Birmingham 7pm
NO PRESSURE ON ZMARZLIK AFTER LATVIAN GP WIN