Richie Worrall is back!

NEWS Monday 18th November 2019, 10:00am

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Richie Worrall has signed to ride for the Monarchs in 2020, a move which Richie himself says gives the team a "powerhouse" top three in which he joins Sam Masters and Josh Pickering.

He said "It's a good powerhouse for your top three! Even away, Josh is good, I enjoy a lot of tracks and Sam is just a great all-rounder – he's stepped it up again last year, going really well in Poland. I'm sure the management will do a good job in deciding who else comes in."

Of course Richie spent part of the 2018 season with Monarchs and he has always ridden the track superbly. In that season he won his first 19 Armadale races in blue and gold and in total he was beaten only 5 times in 42 heats during that spell.

His 2019 season with Leicester and Poole was cut short when he broke his ankle at the end of June. He assured us "I'm fully recovered, I've not really done anything on a bike though I did think about having a run-around. I thought about coming back for the Playoffs with Leicester but I was worried it was too early. Stevie came back a bit too early last year and picked up some bad habits, riding with a lack of confidence.

"This way I've got the whole winter to train and get back fit, and get some practise in when the weather is better. That way I can be ready to go again and pick up where I left off."

The Leicester Lions of course went on to complete a superb season as champions. "I went down to Leicester when they won the Championship Shield, though I didn't get over for the Playoffs. Last year was a great one for Leicester but I missed out on a good half of the year. I'm pleased the boys finished off what we all started. It was a special year and congratulations to them."

Richie explained why he chose a move to Leicester last season but now feels it is time to return to Armadale. "I did turn down a return to Armadale last year but it wasn't a 'never' thing. I do like moving tracks, I've moved around in my career. No two tracks are the same, and they all have different people working with them. There's no point being a one-track kind of guy, you need to be able to ride them all. Leicester wasn't one of my strongest tracks, I was OK around there. I needed to learn a bit about riding a bigger track which was one reason why I went to Leicester. It was a little bit closer as well.

"I am really strong round Armadale and I could see my average racking up a bit – would it be hard to get a job the following year? Possibly. But speedway's a very big confidence sport and you need to be confident and have a spring in your step. So coming back from injury I thought what better track to go to than one I'm very confident at. Even when I'm not feeling great I can still go there and ride really well.

"It's a pleasure being there, to be honest I've really enjoyed Scotland, so I just fancied being back!"

He won't need a new race suit as he was sponsored for a smart blue and gold set when he rode for Monarchs last time, and of course he will be a home rider when he defends the Scottish Open title he won last summer. "That is a meeting I'd like to keep winning, I remember Schleiny passing me in the final last year so I was glad to get him back this year."

As yet Richie has no doubling-up position in the Premiership planned. Brother Steve was part of the most successful Monarchs team ever in 2014 so he will be doing his best to produce something similar for the Armadale fans!