Motor sports: Monarchs whack Wasps despite Wolbert woes

Already without Kalle Katajisto who is on international duty and reserve Kyle Howarth who was injured, Monarchs were rocked in the very first race when they lost their No.1 Kevin Wolbert who picked up drive coming out of the second corner and ploughed into the safety fence, injuring his calf muscle.

The German ace withdrew from the meeting on medical advice plunging Monarchs into a personnel crisis which prompted Craig Cook to quip afterwards: "I thought at one stage our promoter John Campbell would have to get his gear on!". It's was just as well that Monarchs' surviving top three, Matthew Wethers, Andrew Tully, and Cook himself, responded to the call to arms and swatted the Wasps practically by themselves. Tully was magnificent, recording the fastest time of the season in heat three, on his way to an impeccable 15-point maximum.

He took no prisoners and his brilliant inside pass to overhaul Wasps new signing Jason Doyle in the ninth heat left no one in any doubt as to his determination.

Tully said: "Everything went really well for me, the track was good and I was making good starts, it all just worked for me and it was great to score a maximum."

Cook also deserves huge plaudits, winning two absolutely vital races in heats 11 and 13 which gave Monarchs some valuable breathing space when things could easily have gone awry. "I was pretty happy with my 13-point score," he said. "Obviously I would have liked a maximum as well but it was just good that we pulled together to win the meeting after losing Kevin."

The Wasps were without captain Leigh Lanham who was competing in the British semi-final at Scunthorpe. They spurned the chance of employing a guest and opted to use the rider replacement facility instead, and considering they gained 13 points from this, it wasn't a bad gamble for them to take.

Doyle, who joined the Wasps after filling in for Steve Boxall at Rye House, surprisingly failed to win a race and his six-point return was not representative of his past efforts at the Lothian Arena.Newport's other new recruit and fellow Aussie Justin Sedgmen and Canadian ace Kyle Legault had to fight something of a rearguard action on their own.

Legault scared the life out of Monarchs when he took a tactical ride in heat six and combined with partner Mark Jones to pull off a sensational 8-1 advantage, and this acted as a temporary springboard for the visitors who got within touching distance of the home men after heat ten, trailing narrowly 33-30.

Monarchs enlisted former tail-end rider Bryon Bekker to replace Howarth and the South African ace weighed in with five priceless points which included a win in heat two. He said: "I enjoyed myself being back and I had better equipment than the last time I was here two seasons ago." Tellingly Lee Dicken, who hasn't been on target so far, did his confidence no harm whatsoever with a six-point haul despite taking an awkward tumble in heat 11. He said with some relief: "It's taken a while but finally I've scored a few points and I feel a whole better for doing so, though I could have done without hitting the fence."

For Monarchs skipper Wethers, who scored 12 points, it was a job done under difficult circumstances. "We hung in, and it was tough at times, but we got the win we fully deserved."

Monarchs: Tully 15, Cook 13, Wethers 12, Dicken 6, Bekker 5, Wolbert 0.

Newport: Legault 14, Sedgmen 11, Doyle 6, Aspegren 5, Jones 3, Kurtiz 3.