Richie crashes out as Rory takes the title

NEWS Monday 28th September 2020, 10:08pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Oh Richie! The 2020 Monarch Richie Worrall should have made the final of tonight's British Championship, but he came down on the last corner in the semi-final after seeming to be comfortable in second place.

What he might have done in the Final, who knows, but in the big race Rory Schlein made the start and led all the way. It was a deserved victory as he was consistently good all night. There were two ex-Monarchs in the final as Steve Worrall finished fourth, with Richard Lawson second and Jason Crump third.

In spite of drizzle which made the track very damp for the early stages, it was an interesting meeting as the track developed different lines. If you were brave enough then the outside line could be made to work, as several riders proved. In truth no-one was quite sure where the best line was!

Richie Worrall battled well throughout, winning three heats including a really tough one in heat 12 when he burst between Chris Harris and Ben Barker down the back straight, then later had to re-pass Barker.

He just missed making it direct to the final, having 11 points and exactly the same heat results as Richard Lawson but losing out to Lawson when they met in heat 7. So he had to go in the semi, and in that Jason Crump led all the way with Richie comfortably second. Coming down the back straight on the final lap he had several yards to spare ahead of brother Steve, but fatally looked round and tried to react as he saw Steve gain some ground.

That sent him into the dirt on the final corner where he lost control and came down heavily. Thankfully he was up quickly but obviously disappointed.

At 45 Jason Crump's performance was pretty exceptional, including a devastating double pass in his second ride which was the first sign that the track was getting interesting.

The Live Streaming coverage was good, with all the action captured and knowledgeable commentary from David Rowe and Chris Louis plus quite a few interviews. The riders' face masks were generally useless drooping down to their chins during the interviews in spite of efforts to pull them up.