Motorsport: Monarchs qualify after thrilling heat

Oct 15 2009 by Eric MacKinnon, West Lothian Courier

Monarchs go through after winning second golden heat

AFTER a night of high drama, nerve jangling excitement and controversy, the Scotwaste Monarchs qualified for the Premier Trophy final when they beat Newcastle in the second golden heat.

The Monarchs beat their visitors over 15 heats by nine points which meant they were neck and neck, or wheel by wheel, on aggregate having lost the first leg by the same margin.

At the end of the race there were confused looks all around until it was pointed out that the rulebook clearly states that golden heats apply in the playoffs in the event of a tie, and although the programme made no allowance for them, that is what we got.

There are (initially) three golden heats with the first team to gain a heat advantage being the winners.

The riders for the first one were the same men who contested heat 15, and after a lap or so Rene Bach was in front with Ryan Fisher falling off.

Fears the race was over proved unfounded as Matthew Wethers had other ideas.

With the exceptionally impressive Bach using the outside line, Wethers chose a neat white line method – and squeezed through for a superb win to keep the tie alive.

Then out came Kevin Wolbert and Andrew Tully against Larsen and King for the second golden heat. Larsen made the start but with a superb first-lap effort in the horrible conditions, our pair squeezed through for a tie-winning 5-1.

They both got the bumps but there were at least five heroes in the home camp on the night.

Ryan Fisher was for much of the night the dominant man, and Michal Rajkowski is now a much better wet-track rider than he seemed to be in early season.

There wasn't much happening at reserve for the Monarchs, with Byron taking only a couple of gifts and Aaron surprisingly ineffective after a good show in the first leg.

Although clearly thrilled at progressing through to the playoff finals the Monarchs were unhappy with some the refereeing calls.

The home camp claimed the ref got it completely wrong when he excluded Wolbert after a brilliantly executed overtake on Bach in heat seven. The Dane ran into the Monarch but it was him who was excluded.

But the Monarchs are through to the playoff finals, starting next Friday.

Top scorers: Monarchs – Ryan Fisher 12. Diamonds – Rene Bach 13.