GREAT SHOW FROM CRAIG COOK

NEWS Monday 13th May 2013, 10:44pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Craig Cook gave Scotwaste Monarchs’ fans a thrilling night watching the British Final as he made it through to the final heat, finishing fourth in a meeting deservedly won by the top British rider of the moment Tai Woffinden.

Craig actually finished third qualifier, narrowly missing an automatic final place, and then rode brilliantly to win the semi final ahead of Scott Nicholls and Eddie Kennett.

Woffinden jetted from the tapes to win the final comfortably, while Cook just missed out round the first corner and followed Nicholls and Harris home.

There was some decent racing with Premier Leaguers like Jason Garrity and Josh Auty also giving a good account of themselves.

The draw had given Craig two relatively easy rides to start with, and he won them easily to lead the meeting at that stage, level with Woffinden and Kennett.

In his third ride he met Woffinden and Harris and didn’t gate well, fatal against riders as quick as these two. This was his only slightly disappointing ride.

Off the outside in heat 13 he chased race leaders Nicholls and Danny King, riding the inside while the Elite Leaguers fought it out on the wide line. It paid off as he sneaked up on King on the run to the line, surprising himself by grabbing 2 points.

Off the inside he made no mistake in his final ride, with Kennett back in third, to reach a 12-point total. Even though Harris won his final race to make the final on 13, Craig had got first choice of gate for the semi.

In this he rode a superb race, even though Kennett and Nicholls put him under pressure. He won it with Nicholls second to make the final race.

It would have been a travesty had anyone other than the dominant Woffinden won the heat. Craig was capable of beating the others, but he was just a yard short from the tapes, and though he kept close he could not improve on fourth place.

This equals the previous best in the meeting by a Monarch (Les Collins in 1989).

Seventh last year, fourth this year… it’s going the right way.