Edinburgh Monarchs
Paco Castagna 12+1 (5)
Plymouth Gladiators
Nicolai Klindt 17 (6)
Championship
51

Agg: 95

39

Agg: 85

Friday 18th July 2025
Armadale Stadium
Watch
Edinburgh Monarchs
Team Manager: Alex Harkess
51
1. Victor Palovaara 2* 1 3 0 6 1
2. Paco Castagna 3 3 3 2* 1 12 1
3. Justin Sedgmen 3 2* 2 3 10 1
4. Kye Thomson 2* 3 1* 3 0 9 2
5. Michael Palm Toft 2 2 1 1 6 0
6. Jonatan Grahn 3 0 0 2* 5 1
7. Jordy Loftus 1 1* 0 1 3 1
Plymouth Gladiators
Team Manager: Garry May
39
1. Scott Nicholls 0 1 2* 2* 2* 7 3
2. Lasse Fredriksen 1 0 2 3 0
3. Jacob Hook 1 1 0 2 4 0
4. Joe Thompson 0 3 1 1 5 0
5. Nicolai Klindt 3 2 3 3 3 3 17 0
6. Alfie Bowtell 2 0 1* XD 0 3 1
7. Arran Butcher 0 R FD 0 0
Heat 1
Time: 55.38
1. Victor Palovaara  
2
2. Paco Castagna  
3
1. Scott Nicholls  
0
2. Lasse Fredriksen  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
5
Away
1
1
Super gate from both Monarchs with Nicholls relegated to the back and good team riding to secure maximum points. Great start!
Heat 2
Time: 56.47
6. Jonatan Grahn  
3
7. Jordy Loftus  
1
6. Alfie Bowtell  
2
7. Arran Butcher  
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
4
9
Away
2
3
Monarchs gated well and headed down the back straight in first and second but Bowtell rode hard into the third bend to come through on the inside of Jordy. Good effort from Jordy.
Heat 3
Time: 56.12
3. Justin Sedgmen  
3
4. Kye Thomson  
2
3. Jacob Hook  
1
4. Joe Thompson  
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
14
Away
1
4
Another super gate from the Monarchs and comfortable team riding for another maximum.
Heat 4
Time: 56.40
5. Michael Palm Toft  
2
7. Jordy Loftus  
1
5. Nicolai Klindt  
3
7. Arran Butcher  
6. Alfie Bowtell
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
17
Away
3
7
Klindt gates and is away. All eyes on Jordy who gates ahead of Bowtell and holds him off for 4 laps for a very well deserved third place.
Heat 5
Time: 55.29
3. Justin Sedgmen  
2
4. Kye Thomson  
3
1. Scott Nicholls  
1
2. Lasse Fredriksen  
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
22
Away
1
8
Stunning gate and first bend from the Monarchs with Kye coming round Justin for an easy 5-1.
Heat 6
Time: 56.44
1. Victor Palovaara  
1
2. Paco Castagna  
3
5. Nicolai Klindt  
2
6. Alfie Bowtell  
7. Arran Butcher
R
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
4
26
Away
2
10
Great ride from Paco to take Klindt on the inside of first lap and then make him go wide starting the 2nd lap. Great win!
Heat 7
Time: 58.29
5. Michael Palm Toft  
2
6. Jonatan Grahn  
0
3. Jacob Hook  
1
4. Joe Thompson  
3
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
2
28
Away
4
14
Messy first bend and Jonatan gets the worst of it and is relegated to the back. Thompson maintains a good lead with Jacob keeping MPT honest.
Heat 8
Time: 57.24
2. Paco Castagna  
3
7. Jordy Loftus  
0
2. Lasse Fredriksen  
2
7. Arran Butcher  
6. Alfie Bowtell
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
31
Away
3
17
Impressive win by Paco with Jordy making a mistake on the 2nd lap to put him out of contention.
Heat 9
Time: 56.10
3. Justin Sedgmen  
2
4. Kye Thomson  
1
5. Nicolai Klindt  
3
6. Alfie Bowtell  
7. Arran Butcher
FD
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
3
34
Away
3
20
Heat 10
Time: 57.41
1. Victor Palovaara  
3
2. Paco Castagna  
2
3. Jacob Hook  
0
4. Joe Thompson  
1
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
39
Away
1
21
Hard first bend from the Monarchs pair for an easy 5-1. Paid max for Paco from 4 rides.
Heat 11
Time: 56.24
5. Michael Palm Toft  
1
6. Jonatan Grahn  
0
1. Scott Nicholls  
2
2. Lasse Fredriksen  T/S
5. Nicolai Klindt
3
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
1
40
Away
5
26
Jonatan comes down on the outside of 1st bend. Rerun with all 4 riders. No body at fault. Easy 1-5 from the Plymouth pair after Jonatan made a mistake at the end of the first lap when challenging Nicholls and MPT came into third. Klindt was in a different post code!
Heat 12
Time: 58.30
3. Justin Sedgmen  
3
7. Jordy Loftus  
1
3. Jacob Hook  
2
6. Alfie Bowtell  
XD
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
4
44
Away
2
28
Easy win for Justin from the gate. Jordy not far away in third.
Heat 13
Time: 57.02
1. Victor Palovaara  
0
5. Michael Palm Toft  
1
1. Scott Nicholls  
2
5. Nicolai Klindt  
3
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
1
45
Away
5
33
Plymouth pair from the gate for a comfortable 1-5.
Heat 14
Time: 58.51
4. Kye Thomson  
3
6. Jonatan Grahn  
2
4. Joe Thompson  
1
7. Arran Butcher  
6. Alfie Bowtell
0
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
5
50
Away
1
34
Monarchs gated only for Jonatan to lose 2nd place going into the third bend but regained in on the way out of the bend with a superb and brave outside pass on Thompson. Comfortable 5-1 in the end.
Heat 15
Time: 57.11
2. Paco Castagna  
1
4. Kye Thomson  
0
1. Scott Nicholls  
2
5. Nicolai Klindt  
3
 
Heat
Score
Match
Score
Home
1
51
Away
5
39
Good scrap between Paco and Nicholls for second with the Plymouth man just prevailing. Klindt way ahead in first place.

The Stellar Monarchs made a powerful start to tonight's Championship match against Plymouth and had a lead of 18 points by heat 10. Although the Gladiators came back at them, and the spearhead of Klindt and Nicholls took three 5-1's from the last five heats, Monarchs kept the rest of the visiting team quiet and won 51-39 on the night, and 95-85 for the aggregate bonus.

Much attention will have been focussed on Scott Nicholls, returning to the fray after injury at age 47, and it did take him a couple of heats to get back in the groove. However he finished his final three rides second behind his Danish partner, even though home captain Paco Castagna gave Nicholls a tremendous tussle in heat 15.

In-form captain Castagna was also the only rider to defeat Klindt, catching the fast-gating Plymouth man on his trademark inside line off turn four and going on to take three points in heat 6. It was a continuation of Paco's form at Poole in midweek, where he top-scored, and it's exactly what Monarchs need from him in the weeks to come.

The Monarchs' captain said "Who would have thought that I wouldn't be happy with 13 points? I've been pushing hard for the last couple of weeks to get something going here – found a great setup and I was making starts and felt very comfortable. I was glad to play my part for the team which I hadn't been doing. A great confidence booster and a fantastic win."

In that classic heat 15 Castagna actually passed Nicholls twice, but made a slight error and lifted down the back straight allowing Scott to retake second spot.

The Armadale squad started with 5-1s in heats 1, 3 and 5 plus 4-2s in heats 2 and 6 to put them 16 points to the good as early as heat 6. The Palovaara-Castagna and Sedgmen-Thomson pairings were working really well, justifying the decision to swap Paco and Kye around in the team.

Michael Palm Toft isn't going quite as well as he can yet, and he admitted as much but he says "It will come!" Jonatan Grahn won heat 2 and finished with an excellent paid win in heat 14 in which he brilliantly passed Joe Thompson on the outside of the fourth corner.

And Jordy Loftus continues with his progress, impressive for such an inexperienced rider. Alfie Bowtell in heat 4 was his best scalp to date but Jordy was out in the second half for extra practice nevertheless.

For the Gladiators Nicolai Klindt was very fast and near perfect, and Scott Nicholls was a joy to watch once he got going. Shrewd team manager Garry May will have expected to get a few more points from former Monarchs Lasse Fredriksen and Jacob Hook, neither quite at their best, and also from Alfie Bowtell at reserve where he should be effective. Joe Thompson was their only race winner other than Klindt.

Monarchs will need to work out some way of avoiding the late reverses in heats 13 and 15 (plus 11 tonight also!) but they will not meet as powerful a pair as Klindt and Nicholls every week.

The whole evening was much enhanced by the enthusiastic support for the Gladiators by their travelling support, notably the Bar Bandits in their yellow shirts. Win or lose they were there to enjoy themselves and their presence was appreciated by the home fans. Speedway needs more Bar Bandits!

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