Wayne's Wave Goodbye

Wayne Carter, the rider who captained the Scunthorpe Scorpions until injury cruelly ended his 18-year speedway riding career, will hold his Farewell meeting at the Scunthorpe Raceway on Sunday April 1st.

Wayne, who rode for Wolverhampton, Mildenhall, Middlesbrough, Belle Vue, Isle of Wight, Peterborough, Bradford, Berwick, Newcastle, Coventry, Edinburgh, Sheffield and Swindon before joining the Scorpions two years ago, is holding an individual meeting with a difference and the line-up is sure to be the strongest to have been seen at the Scunthorpe Raceway.

The meeting format will be along the lines of Wolverhampton's Olympique meeting where 16 riders race over 20 heats but after the first four races the riders will be handicapped dependent on where they finished in their last race. If a rider finished first he will start fifteen metres back in his next race, a second place means starting from the ten metre mark, third place means five metres back whilst finishing last will allow the rider to start from the tapes in his next race. The format is bound to provide plenty of passing as the best riders will constantly have to fight their way through the field on a track that has always provided plenty of racing lines.

Riders who have already agreed to take part include Ronnie Correy, Andre Compton, Peter Carr, Chris Neath, Robbie Kessler, Garry Stead, Derek Sneddon, Josh Auty, Richie Dennis and Andrew Tully.

American Ronnie Correy rode for several seasons with Wayne at Wolverhampton, including 1991 when the pair were part of the league title winning side. He has just left the Elite league club to become the new number one at Edinburgh.

Peter Carr and Derek Sneddon, along with Wayne, were part of the 2003 Premier League title winning team at Edinburgh whilst Andre Compton (Sheffield) is currently one of the top riders in that league. Chris Neath (Rye House), Robbie Kessler (Stoke) and Garry Stead (Stoke) are also Premier League heat-leaders whilst the top Scunthorpe riders will be wanting to show the visitors that they know the fastest route around their home circuit.

Wayne is still hoping to obtain league approval to add a couple of Elite League riders to the field whilst Tai Woffinden has been contacted in Australia in the hope that he too will be able to compete.