Rory chases his historic fifth

NEWS Thursday 6th June 2019, 9:02pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

This Friday's event at Armadale is the Harrison's Scottish Open Championship, an event which can trace its ancestry all the way back to British Speedway's beginnings in 1928.

This year's event has proved to be, for various reasons, a hard one to put together and yet we feel we still have an attractive lineup. It remains to be seen whether any of the other competitors can prevent Rory Schlein from winning the title for the fifth time. His fourth victory last year came after one of the best Grand Final rides you are ever likely to see.

In fact two of last year's finalists, Ricky Wells the home no. 1 and Richie Worrall, are back to try to do even better this year. Others likely to be prominent include thrillmaker Nico Covatti, home man Cameron Heeps, Berwick's Kevin Doolan and Ben Barker who is travelling all the way from Cornwall to compete.

Club chairman Alex Harkess said "We are always pleased to present our long running Scottish Open Championship and I'm happy to see the field we have gathered. It hasn't been easy I can assure you because so many things can crop up, including of course injuries – Pickering, Justin Sedgmen (former winner) and Erik Riss would all have been riders we would have wanted to see contesting the trophy. So is club asset Sam Masters who was in the event last year but blocked this year.

"Various other obstacles have had to be overcome but the night has now arrived. We know that Rory badly wants that fifth title on his record and there are other riders of similar quality who want to stop him doing it. I welcome the sponsors from Harrisons and hope we have a great night."

Friday 7th June: Harrison's Scottish Open Championship 7:30pm

The Field:

Replacement for Sam Masters, Ricky Wells (Edinburgh), Richie Worrall (Leicester), Joel Andersson (Edinburgh), Nico Covatti (Somerset), Cameron Heeps (Edinburgh), Kevin Doolan (Berwick), William Lawson (Edinburgh), Ben Barker (Unattached), Theo Pijper (Unattached), Rory Schlein (Somerset), Jordan Stewart (Redcar).

Saturday 8th June: Leicester Lions v Staggs Bar Monarchs (Championship), 7:30pm