Edinburgh Monarchs
Victor Palovaara 20 (7)
Oxford Cheetahs
Sam Masters 18 (6)
Championship
50
40
Friday 6th June 2025
Armadale Stadium
Watch
Edinburgh Monarchs
Team Manager: Alex Harkess
50
1. Michael Palm Toft 0 3 0 2 5 0
2. Paco Castagna - Rider Replacement 0 0
3. Jonatan Grahn 0 1* 0 2* 3 2
4. Kye Thomson 2 2 2* 2 2* 2 12 2
5. Justin Sedgmen 2* 2* 1 2 1* 1* 9 4
6. Victor Palovaara 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 20 0
7. Mark Parker 0 0 1* 1 1
Oxford Cheetahs
Team Manager: Peter Schroeck
40
1. Sam Masters 3 3 3 3 3 3 18 0
2. Cameron Heeps - Rider Replacement 0 0
3. Lasse Fredriksen 1 3 1 2 1 0 F 8 0
4. Ben Morley 1 0 0 1 0
5. Jordan Jenkins 0 0 3 FD 3 0
6. Jody Scott 1* 1 1 0 3 1
7. Jacob Hook 2 1 0 2* 1* 1 7 2
Heat 1
Time: 57.10
1. Michael Palm Toft  
0
2. Paco Castagna  
6. Victor Palovaara
2
1. Sam Masters  
3
2. Cameron Heeps  
3. Lasse Fredriksen
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
2
2
Away
4
4
Rerun after MPT moved at the start and gets a warning. All 4 riders back. Sam makes the gate from the outside and wins well. MPT holds third but Lasse comes through at the end of the 1st lap when MPT goes too wide.
Heat 2
Time: 56.72
6. Victor Palovaara  
3
7. Mark Parker  
0
6. Jody Scott  
1
7. Jacob Hook  
2
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
5
Away
3
7
Victor gates well and wins well with the Hook and Scott in the minor scoring places.
Heat 3
Time: 57.02
3. Jonatan Grahn  
0
4. Kye Thomson  
2
3. Lasse Fredriksen  
3
4. Ben Morley  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
2
7
Away
4
11
Lasse gates ahead of Kye and rides a tight inside line to secure the win. Jonatan held at the back by Morley.
Heat 4
Time: 56.29
5. Justin Sedgmen  
2
7. Mark Parker  
6. Victor Palovaara
3
5. Jordan Jenkins  
0
7. Jacob Hook  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
12
Away
1
12
Monarchs gated well with Victor riding his high line and Justin covering the inside in classic team riding fashion.
Heat 5
Time: 57.67
3. Jonatan Grahn  
1
4. Kye Thomson  
2
1. Sam Masters  
3
2. Cameron Heeps  
7. Jacob Hook
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
15
Away
3
15
Sam gates well and keeps ahead with both Monarchs at the back until Kye comes through to 2nd with a burst down the back straight and Jonatan comes round Jacob at the end of lap 1.
Heat 6
Time: 57.61
1. Michael Palm Toft  
3
2. Paco Castagna  
4. Kye Thomson
2
5. Jordan Jenkins  
0
6. Jody Scott  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
20
Away
1
16
Good gate from MPT from the inside with Kye joining him at the front by the 2nd bend for an easy 5-1.
Heat 7
Time: 56.76
5. Justin Sedgmen  
2
6. Victor Palovaara  
3
3. Lasse Fredriksen  
1
4. Ben Morley  
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
25
Away
1
17
Repeat of Heat 4 but winning by an even bigger margin.
Heat 8
Time: 59.03
2. Paco Castagna  
5. Justin Sedgmen
1
7. Mark Parker  
0
2. Cameron Heeps  
1. Sam Masters
3
7. Jacob Hook  
2
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
1
26
Away
5
22
Oxford gate ahead and stay that way to the finish with Jacob doing well to keep Justin behind in third.
Heat 9
Time: 58.25
3. Jonatan Grahn  
0
4. Kye Thomson  
2
5. Jordan Jenkins  
3
6. Jody Scott  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
2
28
Away
4
26
Jenkins makes the gate and rides an intelligent inside line to keep Kye behind. Jonatan stuck at the back.
Heat 10
Time: 57.51
1. Michael Palm Toft  
0
2. Paco Castagna  
6. Victor Palovaara
3
3. Lasse Fredriksen  
2
4. Ben Morley  
7. Jacob Hook
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
31
Away
3
29
Victor and MPT gate well but MPT is squeezed out in the first bend.
Heat 11
Time: 57.92
5. Justin Sedgmen  
2
6. Victor Palovaara  
7. Mark Parker
1
1. Sam Masters  
3
2. Cameron Heeps  R/R
5. Jordan Jenkins
FD
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
34
Away
3
32
Rerun again after Jenkins fell and was excluded. In rerun Justin given a warning for moving although it looked a prefect start. Sam gates 2nd but uses all his track craft and knowledge to overtake Justin who did not make it easy by any means. Good race.
Heat 12
Time: 57.82
3. Jonatan Grahn  
2
7. Mark Parker  
6. Victor Palovaara
3
3. Lasse Fredriksen  
1
6. Jody Scott  
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
39
Away
1
33
Scott comes down on 1st bend but all 4 riders invited back for the rerun. Perfect start from the Monarchs who displayed good team riding for a Swedish 5-1.
Heat 13
Time: 58.92
1. Michael Palm Toft  
2
5. Justin Sedgmen  
1
1. Sam Masters  
3
5. Jordan Jenkins  T/S
3. Lasse Fredriksen
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
42
Away
3
36
Silky smooth from Sam with MPT doing well to keep his honest.
Heat 14
Time: 57.94
4. Kye Thomson  
2
6. Victor Palovaara  
3
4. Ben Morley  
0
7. Jacob Hook  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
47
Away
1
37
Monarchs gated well and after a hard first bend to keep Jacob in third they cruised to a 5-1 in great style.
Heat 15
Time: Awarded
5. Justin Sedgmen  
1
4. Kye Thomson  
2
1. Sam Masters  
3
3. Lasse Fredriksen  
F
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
50
Away
3
40
Lasse fell on lap 3 while 4th with Sam comfortable in first place and both Monarchs keeping him honest.

The Stellar Monarchs successfully defeated Oxford after a match which was tight for much of the night, and once again Victor Palovaara had much to do with the win, scoring 20 points in his last match at reserve. Incoming signing Michael Palm Toft made a pretty satisfactory start with 5 points having had no bike action since last summer.

The Dane displayed his usual neat and tidy style and was the only home rider other than Palovaara to take the chequered flag. He said afterwards "It was a bit of a funny day, ups and downs, finding my groove. I said from the start I just needed a couple of meetings and we'll get back into it.

"I was there or thereabouts. You always know what you are going to get from Sam when he comes back here, and they had loads of other riders who have ridden this track before, so it was a good win".

Even Palovaara wasn't the best man on the night this time though, because former Monarch Sam Masters rode brilliantly to win all of his six races. In the only heat in which he was required to come from the back (heat 11) he decisively swept past Justin Sedgmen with a perfect cutback. This race, the best of the night, was twice stopped and restarted.

There was some frustration in the voice of team manager Alex Harkess as he announced his last heat pairing, even though for once the match victory had already been secured. Once again he felt that his inconsistent charges (Palovaara excluded) are too commonly mixing up good rides and poor ones in their evening collection.

Cheetahs fielded an unusual side due to the demands of various Grand Prix qualifiers over the weekend, plus injury to Cameron Heeps. They tracked three former Monarchs (and Heeps also of course is an ex-Monarch), with Jacob Hook and Lasse Fredriksen picking up decent scores in backup to Masters.

The visitors took two early 4-2 advantages and Harkess had to call on Palovaara to team up with Sedgmen and level the scores in heat 4. 5-1 advantages in heats 6 and 7 gave them a lead but heat 8 was a disappointment as Sedgmen floundered in third place behind Masters and Hook.

Jordan Jenkins won heat 9 and Monarchs' lead was a mere two up to heat 11 in which Jenkins came down heavily on the opening bend. Grahn and Palovaara headed Fredriksen in the twelfth heat to make it a six point lead and even though Masters easily won heats 13 and 15, he had no backup leaving Monarchs ten-point winners in the end.

That will give them a shot at the aggregate bonus in 12 days time when Monarchs head to Oxford to face a rather different looking Cheetahs side.