Key:  + = from 15m handicap,  * = Tactical ride for double points
SHEFFIELD SPEEDWAY MATCH REPORTS 2009
SHEFFIELD WINDOW CENTRE Tigers v Henderson Insurance Scorpions ChallengeMarch 22

Referee: Dave Dowling

010203040506070809101112131415Tot+Bp
1. Ricky Ashworth © 7.57 3 3 2 3 3 14
2. Joel Parsons 6.06 2' 1 2 0 5+1
3. Ritchie Hawkins 5.44 2 2 3 2 1 10
4. Paul Cooper 5.51 ef r 0 1' 1+1
5. Richard Hall 6.83 3 3 1 1 8
6. Josh Auty 4.55 3 1 3 2 9
7. Chris Mills 4.93 1 2' f 0 3+1
Eric Boocock 5 4 2 5 2 4 4 2 3 2 4 2 4 3 4
Sheffield Tigers 5 9 11 16 18 22 26 28 31 33 37 39 43 46 50 82
Scunthorpe Scorpions 1 3 7 8 12 14 16 20 23 27 29 31 33 36 40 100
Kenny Smith 1 2 4 1 4 2 2 4 3 4 2 4 2 3 2
1. David Howe 10.00 1 3 2 2 8
2. Simon Lambert 5.89 0 1 1 0 2
3. Carl Wilkinson 6.05 3 0 3 1 7
4. Viktor Bergstrom 5.63 1 2 1 3 2 9
5. Magnus Karlsson © 7.75 0 2 2 0 4
6. Jerran Hart 3.00 2 0 3 1' 3 0 9+1
7. Byron Bekker 3.86 0 1 - 0 1
Track record = 59.3
Chris Holder, 6 Sept 2007
0102030405060708091011121314 15
63.264.4 64.764.064.1 64.864.5awd65.465.1 65.265.565.164.5 65.1

The Scorpions won the toss and elected for gate positions 1&3 but it was Ricky Ashworth and Joel Parsons who sped into an early lead. Ricky went wide but Joel kept it tight to keep David Howe behind him. Jerran Hart gated ahead in heat 2 with Chris Mills battling hard on his tail. Josh Auty wound it up around the boards and rounded Chris out of the pits turn at the end of the third lap, and to the delight of the fans he did exactly the same to race leader Jerran on the last lap. Carl Wilkinson and Paul Cooper were side by side in heat 3 until the second bend when Paul's bike slowed dramatically baulking his team mate Ritchie and allowing Viktor Bergstrom through into second place. Ritchie wound it on around the second bend on lap 2 and used the momentum to pass Viktor on the outside of turn three. Chris and Richard Hall took a tapes to flag win in heat 4 with Magnus Karlsson struggling at the back having blown his best engine to pieces warming it up in the pits! Ritchie was the early leader of heat 5 but David rounded him on the pits turn. Paul retired from last place at the end of lap 3. Tigers lead by 18 points to 12.

Magnus gave Ricky a big push on the first turn but Ricky powered around him and into the lead on the third turn. Joel went out wide on the first turn of lap 2 but lost ground and only just held onto third place. Richard led from the tapes in heat 7 but Josh scraped the fence looking for drive and squeezed past Carl at the end of the second lap. Jerran trapped ahead in heat 8 but has Chris Mills climbing all over him. Chris went wide at the start of the last lap but clipped the fence and tumbled off. Magnus looked sharper as he sped into the lead of heat 9. Ritchie grabbed a handful of throttle and rounded him on the pits turn to take the lead. Paul strayed off the white line and allowed Jerran through into third place at the end of the second lap. Paul battled back on the first turn but Jerran had much more power and reclaimed third place on the next turn. Paul Thorp would have been proud of Ricky's start to heat 10 but Dave Dowling was having none of it. Ricky and Joel led from the restart but Carl went around Joel at the start of the second lap. Ricky was riding wide looking for grip and Carl took the lead with the inside line on turn three, and Viktor rubbed salt into the wound by passing Joel at the end of the second lap. Tigers lead now pegged back to six points.

David led from the tapes in heat 11 but Josh passed him on the inside of the pits turn. Chris Mills tried an outside run in heat 12 but Carl shut the door on him while Ritchie picked up second place at the end of the first lap. It's now so slick that there is virtually a queue around the white line. Ricky wins heat 13 from David and Richard but it's processional. Viktor leads heat 14 from Paul until Josh takes his partner at the end of the second lap. Ricky makes no mistake to lead heat 15 from Viktor and Ritchie accepts third place when Jerran tried the outside line on the third turn.

First impressions of the new look team around their home strip are favourable. Ricky put Friday night behind him and led by example and seemed to be relishing his new role as captain. Joel was going well until it got really slick and then he was struggling to put power down. Ritchie picked up points the hard way and should soon settle in. Paul was struggling with his engines, again. Richard started with two great rides but struggled as the track got slicker. Josh will be a great entertainer. I'm just waiting for the time when he makes the gate and there are groans of dismay from the terraces! Chris was another who would have loved more grip and I'm sure he too will soon settle in.

Return to Sheffield Speedway fixtures and results
Return to Sheffield Speedway homepage