GEORGE FOUGHT BACK FROM ADVERSITY

NEWS Tuesday 16th October 2007, 11:36am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

George Stancl was a popular rider at Edinburgh even while he was racing in Glasgow's red and white.

His spell at Armadale earned him even more respect, especially the way he fought back from a triple disaster in August. By the end of the year he was flying again and turned in a memorable display on the last night of the Armadale season.

?I wanted to finish on a high. I still probably haven't finished as well as I would like but that's just the standards I set for myself.

?My bad luck in August started down at King's Lynn when I was knocked into the fence, and the next night I was in a bad crash at Sheffield in the first race. Then it was third time unlucky at Edinburgh on the Friday night.

?The valve dropped in the first race and I had to push for one point, then I had a problem with Jason's engine, and I jumped on Matthew's bike and crashed on that!

?I felt really bad, especially as I had to miss the league matches against Glasgow. But by the end of the season I was happy when I won the Scottish Cup with Edinburgh.

?I had won it with Glasgow, and I won it this year with Edinburgh. When you get sacked by one team, it is good to win it with the other!

?I enjoyed the last night at Armadale, it was nice to beat these guys from the west and gain a 19-point lead.

?I was quite confused when they said Glasgow could use Gary Havelock in the second leg and that meant it would not be easy.

?I had a good race with James Grieves at Armadale and also last Sunday down at Newcastle. I like the Armadale track, and I had an engine that was working really well. If you believe and have confidence in your engine then you can do anything.

?My pairing with Derek Sneddon worked very well. If I am confident and things are working then I don't mind helping. When things aren't going well you just have to look after yourself. But the team spirit is very good at Edinburgh.

?We had Kalle Katajisto in the team at Edinburgh and he wasn't really ready, which made things even harder. But when he won that race at Sheffield we all gave him the bumps and I think that helped his confidence.

?I tried different stuff on the bikes and I would still like to do a bit more, but I had a really good ending to the year. Especially at Edinburgh things were working. The only difficult meeting was against Somerset when it had been raining.

?Our best win was against Rye House when I thought we did really well.

?Now we have to wait and see what will happen at the Conference before plans can be made for next year.

?At that time when everything went wrong the support I had from the two teams in Scotland was tremendous. I had support from Edinburgh and also from Glasgow still.

?Some people thought I wasn't spending enough on my bikes but that was wrong, I was spending loads on them. I will always be a hard rider but fair, and I can still be friends with my opponents in the bar afterwards.

?I don't know anyone who wants to race speedway and finish last!

?I have been disturbed by the number of injuries there have been this season, especially recently, it is quite scary. But we will be carrying on racing and try to stay safe!?