STOKE Easy Rider Potters completed their Premier League campaign as they crashed to a 59-31 defeat against Scunthorpe Scorpions at the Eddie Wright Raceway on Friday night.

 Scunthorpe dominated the meeting as they provided five maximum race wins and five 4-2 heat advantages compared to the Potters one heat advantage and the Scorpions also provided thirteen of the fifteen race winners with Carl Wilkinson and David Howe taking maximums for the home side as the Potters had no answer against a dominant Scunthorpe side. 

Scunthorpe took the lead in heat two as Ritchie Hawkins managed to get the better of Jesper Kristiansen to take victory with Jerran Hart taking third place to give the Scorpions a 4-2 heat advantage and give them an early 7-5 lead.

The Scorpions extended their lead with another 4-2 from David Howe and Simon Lambert as Lee Complin managed to get the better of Lambert to split the Scunthorpe pairing in heat three as Scunthorpe take a four point lead.

The Potters fell further behind as the Scorpions piled on the pressure with a 4-2 from Howe and Lambert over Jason Bunyan who forced his way passed Lambert on the third lap to split the Scunthorpe pairing and a 5-1 maximum heat win from Magnus Karlsson and Lambert over Potters pair Robert Ksiezak and Craig Branney to give the Scorpions a 23-13 lead after six races. 

Stoke team boss John Woolridge gave skipper Lee Complin the black and white helmet cover in heat seven as he came in as a tactical ride for the Potters. Unfortunately for the Potters the move did not come off as Carl Wilkinson and Jerran Hart took maximum points over Complin and Jakobsen to extend their lead to fourteen points with the score 28-14 at the halfway stage of the meeting.

The Potters fell further behind in the next two heats as Wilkinson took his second victory on the bounce this time over Kristiansen with Hawkins keeping Tom P Madsen at bay for third place and then Howe and Lambert take maximum points over Ksiezak and Branney to give the Scorpions a comfortable 37-17 lead after nine heats.

Things got worse for the Potters as the Scorpions continued to extend their lead as they gained a 4-2 advantage from Magnus Karlsson and Ritchie Hawkins over Complin, Karlsson just holding on to take victory from the Potters skipper.

 The Potters gained their first heat advantage in heat twelve as Klaus Jakobsen took the chequered flag ahead of Carl Wilkinson with Kristiansen third but Wilkinson was then disqualified from the race for having no dirt deflector moving Kristiansen into second place with Ritchie Hawkins third for a Stoke 5-1 but the Potters still trailed 45-27 with Scunthorpe already having secured the points.

 Jason Bunyan was introduced as Stoke’s second tactical ride by team boss Woolridge but the Potters number one touched the starting tapes and was put back to the fifteen metre mark and the Scorpions pairing of Wilkinson and Karlsson made no mistake as they sped away from the start for maximum points to extend Scunthorpe’s lead.

Scunthorpe added to the Potters misery as they added a second maximum heat win in fourteen as David Howe and Jerran Hart held off Jesper Kristiansen and Lee Complin in heat fourteen.

Howe completed his maximum as he held off the challenge from Potters skipper Complin to take victory in heat fifteen while Magnus Karlsson took third from Potters reserve Jesper Kristiansen to give Scunthorpe a last race 4-2 and a 59-31 victory on the night.

 Stoke promoter Dave Tattum said “I’m very disappointed with tonight’s performance Jesper, Jason and Lee all fought hard for their points but we were just beaten by a better side on the night. “We have to now put this behind us and look forward to the Young Shield and make sure we get things right.”

 Team manager John Woolridge said “We were just not at the races and were beaten by the better side on the night. “If we want to progress in the Young Shield then we will have to improve on our away performances as it’s no good just winning at home we need to do the job on opponents tracks also.”

 Scunthorpe 59: David Howe 15, Carl Wilkinson 15, Magnus Karlsson 10+2, Jerran Hart 7+2, Simon Lambert 6+2, Ritchie Hawkins 6, Viktor Bergstrom (Rider Replacement)