SAM IS THE CHAMPION

REPORT Friday 1st August 2014, 11:41pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Sam Masters was the deserving winner of the 2014 Harrison's Scottish Open Championship, top scoring in the qualifying stages, then leading the first running of the final and winning the rerun.

The delighted Aussie said "I found the right setup last week when I scored a maximum, I made a slight adjustment after my first race tonight but everything went perfect for me after that."

The only downside on an enjoyable night was the crash which ended the final after two breathtaking laps. Max Fricke and Sam Masters passed and repassed, then after Sam had dived back into the lead, Max lifted slightly and tangled with Craig Cook as they crossed the finishing line at the end of lap two.

Both went down and bounced along the track, so it was a great relief to see both rise fairly quickly. The ref made the tough call to exclude Max from the rerun in which Masters went ahead again to win from Cook who had to switch machines. Ulrich Ostergaard fell early on but was awarded third in the meeting.

Max afterwards said that he has a very stiff shoulder and sore wrist, so unfortunately he has to be rated doubtful for the Fours on Sunday. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

There was plenty of interesting racing, and there was much interest in Craig Cook's evening. He won his first race, then dropped points to Sam Masters and Kevin Wolbert. He then touched the tapes in heat 16 and suddenly was faced with a struggle to reach the semi-final, coming from the outside in heat 19 against the powerful lineup of Grajczonek, Ostergaard and Summers.

He didn't gate well but rode a sensational race, riding the boards to come from last to first. Having achieved that, he did much the same again in the semi-final to make it to the final.

However it was Masters who was the master at that stage.

The other semi-finalists were Stuart Robson, Aaron Summers and Justin Sedgmen, all entertaining racers and if Max proves to be OK, we can call the evening a big success with a very worthy winner.