BRILLIANT PIJPER EARNS A DRAW

NEWS Friday 1st September 2006, 10:00am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

A superb last heat victory by Theo Pijper earned the Scotwaste Monarchs a draw in a hard-fought Scottish derby at Armadale.

Glasgow had to go into the match without Danny Bird following the BSPA Management Committee's shock ruling, but on the night the luck ran against Monarchs.

Derek Sneddon damaged his favoured machine in a heat 2 tangle, and later suffered an engine failure on his other machine when he seemed to be on a 5-1 with Matthew Wethers.

Then in heat 14, with Monarchs two points up, Henrik Moller failed to leave the start line as his engine blew.

This left the scores level going into the last race. Shane Parker made the gate, Theo Pijper slipped past him down the back straight, Parker came under the Monarchs' captain on the pits corner to go ahead again. Pijper produced a sensational turn on the first corner of lap two and raced to the front again as the riders hit the pits bend for the second time, going on for one of his best-ever wins.

A draw, in front of a big crowd, with plenty of drama, was a satisfactory conclusion to an eventful match and indeed an eventful couple of days.

Full Result Details