Pointless End to 3 Day Tour
(Posted 21/08/09)

Glasgow again appeared to run out of steam towards the end of a meeting and will be disappointed to come away from another meeting without a point.

Once again things had started relatively well for the Tigers despite being outgated in the opening heat. Josh came out of bend 2 in second place and gave chase to Ritchie Hawkins with Shane passing Magnus Karlsson on the opening bends to slip into third. josh never gave up trying and with the home fans already celebrating a heat win as the riders came off the final bend Josh found the extra grip he was looking for and powered outside Hawkins to pip him for first place.

An electric gate by Mitchell in heat 2 was followed by a flawless ride in which he was never troubled although Lee was once again struggling at the back.

The home side hit an easy 5-1 in heat 3 after Lawson appeared to have bike problems but things picked up in heat 4 thanks to Mitchell Davey and James Grieves. A decent gate followed by good opening bends saw Mitchell Davey hit the front and again there was little doubt from relatively early on that the win would be his. James passed both Scorpions down the backstraight and although well behind Mitchell he also was relatively untroubled by Simon Lambert, the sole home rider after Wilkinson fell and retired at the back on lap 2.

Two riders appeared to have engine troubles in heat 5, Shane Parker being surprisingly at the rear and Bergstrom for the home side suffering an engine failure on the opening lap whilst in third place. Josh tried hard to pressure the quick gating David Howe out front but Howe was not underestimating the Glasgow youngster and pushed hard all the way to the finish for the win.

A better race from Lee Dicken in heat 6 saw him work Magnus Karlsson hard in the early stages for the lead after Dicken had inadvertently baulked James Grieves on the opening bends. Grieves himself looked to have got third spot but the referee decreed a late challenge from Ritchie Hawkins had been successful and James was relegated to 4th.

Glasgow gated on a 5-1 in heat 7 but it was short lived with Mitchell being relegated to the back after trying to guide Hart wide and leaving the door open for Wilkinson to come through the outside. After a tough bend Hart also got the better of Mitchell and although he kept on trying there was no way back and Tigers had to settle for a share of the spoils.

An excellent heat 8 had the crowd enthralled. A tough opening bend saw Hawkins get the better of Grajczonek with Davey in third. Coming out of bend 2 lap 2, Simon Lambert found grip and powered passed not only Davey but also Grajczonek to put Scunthorpe on a 5-1. The Scorpions then did there best to team ride although they were slightly erratic thanks in the main to Josh Grajczonek buzzing all over the back of them looking for a way through. In another display of never giving up, Josh went very wide coming into the final bends and shot between the two home riders off the final bend to win the race on the line.

Scunthorpe hit Glasgow with a sucker punch however in the next one, Bergstrom wining from the gate with partner how tracking James Grieves in second place for a couple of laps before passing neatly inside him towards the end of the third lap to give the home side a 5-1.

Mitchell Davey showed that the Tigers were still very much in it with a superb ride in heat 10. After an excellent gate he held off everything that Magnus Karlsson could throw at him for the entire race to record a well deserved win. In addition, after a poor start William Lawson was able to pass Hawkins on a race to the line.

It was followed by an excellent 1-5 courtesy of Josh Grajczonek and Shane Parker, Josh making the gate with Shane settling into second place on the opening lap. Wilkinson did press Parker for most of the race but was never really in any danger of getting back through.

Heat 12 was shared from the gate, Bergstrom winning with Lawson and Davey filling the minor placing's and things were looking good for the Tigers going into the final 3 heats.

However for the second time in a row, things did not go according to plan. Parker and Grieves were surprisingly easily beaten from the gate in heat 13. Heat 14 Howe won from the gate and Hart made it a second 5-1 on the trot after his partner made room for him at the start of the third lap to come through past Lawson who appeared to have a slowing bike.

It was all down to heat 15 to try and salvage a point but it was not to be as once again the home side showed Glasgow how to gate and recorded their third 5-1 in a row with relative ease.

The three meetings in quick succession seemed to have an effect on the Tigers team with the top end surprisingly struggling for a change. Josh and Mitchell put their many hours of practice down at Scunthorpe to good use and rode the track very well whilst William was solid although his machinery seemed to be struggling at times.

Glasgow must surely have been hoping to take something from this meeting and the apparent collapse in the last 3 heats rounded off what was a disappointing tour which finished pointless. .

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