SEVEN CHAMPIONSHIP SLOTS UP FOR GRABS

NEWS Wednesday 17th April 2013, 7:30am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Armadale stages one of the biggest meetings in the 17 seasons of Speedway at the ‘Dale when it is the venue for the semi-final of the British Championships on Friday (start time 7:30pm).

Home men Craig Cook and Derek Sneddon take on a strong field with Elite and Premier opposition headed by triple British Champion Chris Harris plus UK World Cup men Danny King and Eddie Kennett. The best of the northern Brits from the Premier League are here too – Stuart Robson, Richie Worrall, James Grieves, Ricky Ashworth and Richard Lawson will all expect to reach the final (Wolverhampton, May 13th) but only 7 of the 16 will go through! Monarchs’ chairman Alex Harkess commented “You can be sure that every rider will want to do well and hope to make it through to the British Final at Wolverhampton.”

COMPETITORS IN THE BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL AT ARMADALE ON FRIDAY 19th April (start time 7.30, doors open 6.30) are:

Carl Wilkinson (Redcar), James Grieves (Glasgow), Richie Worrall (Newcastle), Kyle Howarth (Workington), Chris Mills (Workington), Derek Sneddon (Edinburgh), Edward Kennett (Swindon), Charles Wright (Buxton), Danny King (Birmingham), Ricky Ashworth (Berwick), Chris Harris (Birmingham), James Wright (Glasgow), Steve Worrall (Newcastle), Craig Cook (Edinburgh), Stuart Robson (Newcastle), Richard Lawson (Workington).

LONG TIME NO SEE: The top trio of Elite League men in the field have all been at Armadale before – but not for a long time!

Former Grand Prix winner Chris Harris last appeared with Trelawny Tigers as long ago as 2003!

Danny King was a Mildenhall Fen Tiger back in 2006 when he last visited.

Eddie Kennett, many people’s tip to win and a small track specialist, was last at Armadale in the colours of Rye House in 2005.

It will be a pleasure to see them again!

THE FORMAT: The British semi is a 20-heat meeting with each rider taking 5 rides. The top seven go through to the Final at Wolverhampton on 13th May.

There would be a run-off if riders tie for 7th, or for the reserve position. Otherwise ties will be decided on the countback system – number of wins, seconds then ‘who beat who’.

EXTRA BUS IF REQUIRED:Our good friend and sponsor Derek Wilkinson of Duddingston Private Hire has suggested that he will put on extra transport from Edinburgh if we feel that there will be extra fans travelling on Friday.

We have been contacted by some supporters but they are already regulars – if there are fans who want to come by bus and don’t usually travel that way, please email info@edinburghmonarchs.co or phone 07977 151612.

If we don’t hear from many, then we won’t run the extra bus – you have been warned!

TOUGH TO PICK THE QUALIFIERS – OR THE WINNER!: It would be interesting to see who people think will win Friday’s meeting, or who will qualify, because the competition is quite tough.

There are a handful of riders whose qualification would be a surprise but there are certainly a good deal more than seven who would normally be fancied to go through.

The Elite trio would be horrified should they fail, but so would Cook, Robson, Richie Worrall, Ashworth, Grieves or Lawson, and riders like James Wright and Kyle Howarth certainly should not be discounted.

Edinburgh’s Derek Sneddon will be looking for scalps and believes he can take a few good ones!

SEASON TICKETS VALID: Edinburgh supporters are reminded that their season tickets are valid for Friday’s meeting, in case there should be any doubt.

Admission on the night is slightly higher than in normal weeks (£18 / £15 / £8 for Adults/Student & Senior/12-18 respectively) but there is a £3 saving for advance bookings online.

LAST MEETING: The Scotwaste Monarchs took a 27 point lead to Leicester after beating the Lions 58-31 at Armadale last Friday. Craig Cook was unbeaten for the second week running.

NEXT MEETING: The Scotwaste Monarchs’ League Cup campaign gets under way on Saturday and their first home match in the competition will be against Berwick Bandits on Friday 26th April.

BERWICK ON SATURDAY: The Scotwaste Monarchs race at Berwick on Saturday night (7pm) in their first League Cup tie of the season.

There are just three teams in the northern section this year; so far Berwick have 4 points and Glasgow 2.