Jody Scott second in British Under-19 Championship at Workington
JODY SCOTT, the skipper of the Real Mini Company Oxford Chargers powered by AW Mobbs, was close to winning the British Under-19 Championship at Workington yesterday afternoon (Saturday), before finishing second in a three-man run-off for the title.
In one of the most thrilling meetings in British Speedway this season, the 18-year-old finished on 12 points, level with Luke Harrison and Cooper Rushen, leading to a three-rider run-off for first place. He missed the trap off the inside gate, but then headed wide and battled past Rushen into second place. Scott continued to push hard around the outside line, but nearly came a cropper on the final bend. He remained onboard his bike and had enough momentum to cross the line in second place, behind Harrison but ahead of Rushen.
Chargers’ team-mate Ashton Vale was in the mix, but only scored two points, not helped by an engine failure in his opening outing.
Scott was opened with a victory in Heat 3, while he was overtaken by Ben Trigger in the early stages of Heat 6.
He produced a great switch of lines to bomb under Vinnie Foord to win Heat 12 and was joint leader after three rides apiece, alongside William Cairns. Those two riders met in Heat 15. Scott lifted from the start and was last away, but battled into second place. Vale was third in the race until the final bend, when he was passed by Cairns.
Both Scott and Foord had 10 points going into their final programmed outings. Scott battled past Jordy Loftus into second place in Heat 17 and closed right in on Harrison on the final lap. He just missed out in overhauling Harrison on the outside at the end of race, as both finished on 12 points.
Foord could have clinched the meeting in what proved an exciting Heat 19. He was last at one point, but took over the lead as Trigger suffered an engine failure. But the unlucky Foord fell on the third lap, after losing a chain. Meanwhile, Rushen beat Cairns in Heat 20 to book his place in the run-off.
Jody Scott said: “It’s gutting not to win, but I finished third last year at Oxford and second is a step up. Next year is my last season in the British Under-19 Championship and hopefully I can take the gold medal.
“It was a tough meeting with a hard line-up and everyone was dropping points and pushing as hard as they could. In Heat 17, I was close to getting past Luke (Harrison) and that would have been enough. But that’s speedway. It was a good day of racing and we all put on a show for the crowd.
“I tried everything in the run-off. I headed wide onto a line that they weren’t using to see if that would work. I nearly came off on the final bend, which looking back was a bit frightening. Congratulations to Luke on taking the gold medal and also to Cooper who also rode great and joined us on the rostrum.
“A big thank you to my dad (Shaun) and my mechanic Richard Element. It’s been a good year for me and it was great to win the league with the Chargers. I’m going to keep focused until the end of the season and see what it brings.”
SCORES: Luke Harrison 12, Jody Scott 12, Cooper Rushen 12, William Cairns 11, Vinnie Foord 10, Jordy Loftus 10, Ace Pijper 10, Max Perry 8, Freddy Hodder 7, Ben Trigger 7, Ryan Ingram 7, Stene Pijper 4, Harry Fletcher 4, Ashton Vale 2, Jamie Etherington 2, Charlie Southwick 1.
RUN-OFF FOR FIRST PLACE: Harrison, Scott, Rushen.
PHOTO by Dave Payne