Edinburgh Monarchs
Craig Cook 12 (5)
Redcar Bears
Charles Wright 13+2 (5)
Championship
43
47
Friday 12th May 2023
Armadale Stadium
Watch
Edinburgh Monarchs
Team Manager: Alex Harkess
43
1. Justin Sedgmen 3 2 1* 0 0 6 1
2. Lasse Fredriksen 2* 1* 2 2 7 2
3. Kye Thomson 1 2 2 2 7 0
4. Paco Castagna 0 0 1* 3 4 1
5. Craig Cook 3 2 3 3 1 12 0
6. Kyle Bickley 1* 1* 0 2* 4 3
7. Jacob Hook 2 1 0 0 3 0
Redcar Bears
Team Manager: Gavin Parr
47
1. Lewis Kerr 0 3 2 1* 6 1
2. Danyon Hume 1 1 3 1* 6 1
3. Charles Wright 2* 3 3 3 2* 13 2
4. Connor Bailey 3 FD 0 1 4 0
5. Danny King 2 3 3 2 3 13 0
6. Jason Edwards 3 0 1 1 0 5 0
7. Jake Mulford 0 0 0 0 0
Heat 1
Time: 56.5
1. Justin Sedgmen  
3
2. Lasse Fredriksen  
2
1. Lewis Kerr  
0
2. Danyon Hume  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
5
Away
1
1
Tenacious ride by Lasse after Sedgie gated and was away. Great battle with Hume changing positions nearly every lap.
Heat 2
Time: 57.9
6. Kyle Bickley  
1
7. Jacob Hook  
2
6. Jason Edwards  
3
7. Jake Mulford  
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
8
Away
3
4
Excellent gate by Edwards with Monarchs team riding the minor places after he got away.
Heat 3
Time: 57.3
3. Kye Thomson  
1
4. Paco Castagna  
0
3. Charles Wright  
2
4. Connor Bailey  
3
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
1
9
Away
5
9
Bailey gates well and wins well with Wright coming through to second on 2nd lap. Monarchs disappointing.
Heat 4
Time: 57.7
5. Craig Cook  
3
7. Jacob Hook  
1
5. Danny King  
2
7. Jake Mulford  
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
4
13
Away
2
11
Good tussles front and back with Cook keeping out King and Hook doing the same with Mulford although both were competitive.
Heat 5
Time: 58.1
3. Kye Thomson  
2
4. Paco Castagna  
0
1. Lewis Kerr  
3
2. Danyon Hume  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
2
15
Away
4
15
Paco comes down on 2nd bend of 1st lap and the race is stopped and rerun with all four riders. Kerr gates in the rerun with Monarchs in 2nd and 3rd but Hume battles into 3rd on 2nd lap after Paco left him a gap.
Heat 6
Time: 57.8
1. Justin Sedgmen  
2
2. Lasse Fredriksen  
1
5. Danny King  
3
6. Jason Edwards  
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
18
Away
3
18
Heat 7
Time: 58.3
5. Craig Cook  
2
6. Kyle Bickley  
1
3. Charles Wright  
3
4. Connor Bailey  
FD
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
21
Away
3
21
Bailey fell on third bend of first lap and Kyle did well to lay the bike down to avoid him. Rerun with Bailey excluded. Wright gated and worked a good inside line to keep Craig who was in close attendance in second.
Heat 8
Time: 58.3
2. Lasse Fredriksen  
2
7. Jacob Hook  
0
2. Danyon Hume  
3
7. Jake Mulford  
6. Jason Edwards
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
2
23
Away
4
25
Poor gate from Monarchs with Lasse coming through to 2nd down the back straight on 1st lap.
Heat 9
Time: 58.1
3. Kye Thomson  
2
4. Paco Castagna  
1
5. Danny King  
3
6. Jason Edwards  
7. Jake Mulford
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
26
Away
3
28
King from the gate and is away. Kye secures second while Paco out paces Mulford for third.
Heat 10
Time: 58.9
1. Justin Sedgmen  
1
2. Lasse Fredriksen  
2
3. Charles Wright  
3
4. Connor Bailey  
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
29
Away
3
31
Strong first bend from Wright to overtake Lasse down the back straight. Monarchs unable to catch him and settled for minor placings.
Heat 11
Time: 59.0
5. Craig Cook  
3
6. Kyle Bickley  
0
1. Lewis Kerr  
2
2. Danyon Hume  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
32
Away
3
34
Great gate by Craig who stays ahead for the win. Kyle just out paced by Hume for 3rd.
Heat 12
Time: 59.4
3. Kye Thomson  
2
7. Jacob Hook  
0
3. Charles Wright  
3
6. Jason Edwards  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
2
34
Away
4
38
Wright gates and is away. Great battle for third with Jacob and Hook repassing each other inside and out with Edwards beating him to the line.
Heat 13
Time: 59.0
1. Justin Sedgmen  
0
5. Craig Cook  
3
1. Lewis Kerr  
1
5. Danny King  
2
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
37
Away
3
41
Ambulance needs to attend to a medical emergency in the crowd so there will be a short delay until the ambulance resumes it regular position. Great gate by Craig from the outside but Sedgie could not get by Kerr for third.
Heat 14
Time: 60.2
4. Paco Castagna  
3
6. Kyle Bickley  
2
4. Connor Bailey  
1
7. Jake Mulford  
6. Jason Edwards
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
42
Away
1
42
Paco rockets away from the start and Kyle rides a hard first bend to secure 2nd and holds off both Bears for four laps. Excellent ride.
Heat 15
Time: 59.6
1. Justin Sedgmen  
0
5. Craig Cook  
1
5. Danny King  
3
3. Charles Wright  
2
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
1
43
Away
5
47
Bears into the first bend ahead and kept ahead of Cook to secure the win.

Redcar came out on top at Armadale tonight after a tight contest, with the teams level at 42-42 going in to the final race. The visiting duo of Charles Wright (paid maximum) and Danny King took a 5-1 in the decider.

Disappointed team manager Alex Harkess said "We started so well with that very good first race but we just haven't been good enough. Our starting was so poor though obviously the Redcar heat leaders are very strong. I felt slightly surprised that we did get back into it but in the end, we came up short."

That opening race was the best heat of the night, as guest Justin Sedgmen swept ahead and Lasse Fredriksen got involved in a great battle with Lewis Kerr and Danyon Hume. Fredriksen lost second place to Hume at one point and might also have been passed by Kerr, but he battled back and regained the paid win.

The reserves' heat was shared but the Monarchs came unstuck in heat 3, and it is the middle pairing which is below par just now with neither Kye Thomson nor Paco Castagna finding the form they are capable of. The Italian especially started with two very poor races.

The 1-5 loss to Bailey and Wright (who cleverly cut under Thomson on lap two) levelled things up and it stayed tight for the rest of the night.

Craig Cook was very competitive with the visiting top men and headed King in heat 4, but thereafter the pattern became victory for the white helmet (6 in a row from heat 5 to heat 10) and most of the minor placings to the red and blue helmets.

Heat 8 is often a chance and Lasse Fredriksen was having a good night, but Danyon Hume took that win with Jason Edwards ahead of Jacob Hook after an excellent duel. That put us 2 down.

So the next home race winner after Cook in heat 4 was – Cook in heat 11, and then Cook in heat 13.

We were four down at heat 13, and as we have seen often in the past, Paco Castagna then suddenly found his form to take a win, backed very well by Kyle Bickley who was under pressure for four laps but took a paid win. Suddenly we were level!

Craig Cook was close to making it off gate four but was pipped to the turn by paid maximum man Wright, with King also there on the inside. Cook was with them all the way but had to settle for the point, and the Bears deservedly took the spoils.