Scottish Open 2012

PREVIEW Friday 23rd March 2012, 12:00pm

by Gordon Fraser

  Edinburgh Monarchs

Predicting the top six in the David Harrison Ford Scottish Open Championship at Armadale this Friday is as daunting as picking the winning Lottery numbers. In surely one of the most evenly competitive fields ever assembled, every rider is capable of winning any given heat.

It's also a multinational field with five Australians, four from England, two Danes, a German, one from the Netherlands and THREE Scots. And for once there's only two regular Elite League riders, but that's balanced by no less than FIVE Premier League number one riders.

First up are Workington's new top pairing of Richard Lawson, now entering his fourth season with the Comets, and the frighteningly fast Rene Bach. Richard's progress has been held back by injuries but he is now showing his true potential and Workington's gain of Rene is definitely Newcastle's loss.

At No.3 is the one and only James 'Ah belong tae Glasgow' Grieves who is always fiercely competitive around the Dale – and most other places too. Next is Norwich-born Olly Allen who is making the switch from King's Lynn to Peterborough this year and has already won the individual meeting at Berwick.

Kindly substituting for Aaron Summers is Sheffield born and bred Richard Hall who returns to the Tigers after a topsy turvy 2011. At 6 is Ty 'The Showman' Proctor who has settled really well into the Wolverhampton side and always provides maximum entertainment for the fans.

No's 7 and 8 are a formidable pair of Australian number one riders who always perform well on their Edinburgh visits , Kevin Doolan this year who leads the ambitious Ipswich Witches and Mark Lemon who returns to spearhead the Newcastle Diamonds after a personal 'Annus Horribilis' last season.

Next come a trio familiar to Monarchs fans. Theo Pijper returns to the blue and gold on what still looks like a very attractive average, Kevin Wolbert will be bidding his farewell to Edinburgh as he heads off for pastures new at King's Lynn and Derek Sneddon is another making a welcome return to his local track.

Ulrich Ostergaard is another who must be a very serious contender for the title. A fierce competitor who has bags of experience with a wide range of clubs both here and abroad, he drops down to the Premier League this season to lead a very strong Redcar Bears side.

Another Monarchs trio fill places 13 to 15. Andrew Tully's new status as Edinburgh's No.1 will be put severely to the test, Craig Cook is determined to win the hearts of the Monarchs fans after a disappointing end to 2011 and the unflappable Matty Wethers has a big season ahead.

Last but not least is Glasgow's exciting Australian Josh Grajczonek from Queensland who is still very much on the way up. So that's it. Sixteen top quality riders with hardly a fag paper to choose between any of them. The action starts at the earlier time of 7.15, so be sure to get there early!