Big defeat at Redcar

REPORT Friday 11th August 2023, 9:42pm

by Mike Hunter

  Edinburgh Monarchs

On a track where we have generally been competitive in the past the Stellar Monarchs gave one of their most ineffective performances for a long time and were swept aside by a score of 58-32.

Team manager John Campbell was to some extent lost for words and said "It was very disappointing indeed, we should be far better than that. All we can say is that Josh Pickering had a good night and Paco Castagna made a decent return after his time out with injury. That was it."

Captain Pickering won his first two races and also heat 15, and scored in his other races other than heat 10, his tactical substitute ride. In this one Charles Wright off gate three lifted and two-wheeled across the turn causing Pickering to shut off. He made his feelings known to the referee but the official didn't seem to have appreciated what had happened.

Josh did beat his own track record in heat 4, but he didn't even finish the night as holder because Connor Bailey knocked a further 0.1 sec off the new time in heat 9.

Craig Cook normally excels on this circuit but seemed to completely lack pace, and it transpires that his no. 1 bike has not yet been returned to him after last Friday's incident at Armadale.

The only other Monarch to get out in front was Castagna who briefly led a couple of times, but his insistence on riding tight lines made it a fairly simple matter for the home riders to sweep past.

Bastian Borke's gating was so poor he didn't give himself much chance of scoring well, and Max Clegg's night started with an engine failure after a decent start in heat 2 before he managed to grab three thirds.

All of the home riders recorded wins and paid wins and must have been amazed how easily they won this match. Monarchs have suffered a run of misfortunes this season but instead of wilting, they need to snap out of it and stop the campaign petering out. Next up: Oxford at Armadale.

Full Result Details