FORTH 2 MONARCHS 2001

FRIENDS OF EDINBURGH SPEEDWAY


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Team 2002

TEAM 2001

Forth 2 Monarchs
Peter Carr PETER CARR enters his fifth season with Monarchs having enhanced his reputation with consistently brilliant displays during 2000. He recorded the highest home average by a Monarch since World Champion Jack Young in 1951 and finished well over the magical 10-point figure overall. He won the Scottish Open for the third time and finished runner-up in the Premier League Riders' Championship in spite of a heavy fall in the final race. This season will be his second as Monarchs' captain.

Date of birth 22/1/63, Preston
2000 POINTS AVERAGE 10.25
MONARCHS' LEAGUE RECORD

MATCHES: 99
RIDES: 503
POINTS: 1190
BONUS: 43
TOTAL: 1233
C.M.A. 9.81
Robert Eriksson ROBERT ERIKSSON made a triumphant return to Monarchs' team last season, teaming up with Peter Carr in many memorable last-heat deciders and winning heats regularly up and down the country. His fast gating and dominant riding was one of the trademarks of Monarchs' team performances in 2000. In spite of starting a business in Sweden Robert has overturned his previous thoughts of missing a UK season in order to be a continuing and vital part of the Monarchs' success story.

Date of birth 23/2/74, Orebro, Sweden
POINTS AVERAGE 9.46
MONARCHS' LEAGUE RECORD

MATCHES: 48
RIDES: 249
POINTS: 575
BONUS: 22
TOTAL: 597
C.M.A. 9.59
Jan Andersen JAN ANDERSEN returns to the Monarchs team after a six-year absence. He rode a few matches at the end of 1992, then two good seasons in 1994-5 before moving to live and race down south. He captained Peterborough to a league title in 1998 and it didn't seem likely that he would come north of the border again. That changed over the winter as he had acquired a low average from a handful of Elite League matches with Ipswich last season, prompting a return to his parent club.

Date of birth 1/8/69, Sonderborg, Denmark
POINTS AVERAGE 5.71
MONARCHS' LEAGUE RECORD

MATCHES: 63
RIDES: 320
POINTS: 480
BONUS: 63
TOTAL: 543
C.M.A. 6.79
Blair Scott BLAIR SCOTT enjoyed his 2000 season, often turning in heroic home performances at Armadale. He signed up quickly for another season, his sixth with the club even though he is only 20. He still needs to improve his away performances to convince everyone that he can realise the potential he has. Very popular with the crowd, he is now one of only two Scots in the side, and the only remaining one out of the six Scots who rode in the 1999 team.

Date of birth 14/5/80, Edinburgh
POINTS AVERAGE 5.08
MONARCHS' LEAGUE RECORD

MATCHES: 97
RIDES: 415
POINTS: 414
BONUS: 66
TOTAL: 480
C.M.A. 4.63
Ben Shields BEN SHIELDS comes to the UK for the first time, initially with father David overseeing his progress. He has earned rave reports in his short time racing in Australia, and has reached the final of the Australian Under-21 Championship in the past two seasons, finishing 4th (1999) and 3rd (2000). Many Australian critics see him following in the footsteps of Leigh Adams and Jason Crump into the highest echelons of the sport. Father David had two successful UK seasons with Oxford (1978) and Cradley (1981).

Date of birth 10/12/81, Mulbring, Australia
POINTS AVERAGE 7.00
MONARCHS' LEAGUE RECORD

FIRST SEASON WITH MONARCHS IN 2001.
Christian Henry CHRISTIAN HENRY is back for his second season as a Monarch having impressed supporters with his spectacular efforts last season. There was never much doubt that he would be asked to return, especially after showing his best form in some of the late season matches. Having had a season's learning in the UK he will be expected to show improvement, taking over the senior reserve's role and challenging for a top five placing as the season progresses. Finished fifth in the Aussie Under-21 Championship and rode in the senior Australian Final.

Date of birth 20/2/81, Gold Coast, Australia
POINTS AVERAGE 4.14
MONARCHS' LEAGUE RECORD

MATCHES: 25
RIDES: 91
POINTS: 82
BONUS: 18
TOTAL: 100
C.M.A. 4.40
Rene Aas RENE AAS is an experienced Estonian rider who has ridden in other forms of motor cycle racing. He has had an inconsistent speedway career but at times shows brilliant form. Formerly with Sheffield and Stoke, he had his best season in 2000 riding for Hull. Brought into the Monarchs' team to replace Ben Shields, but dropped after 5 matches.

Date of birth 13/8/69, Talinin
2000 POINTS AVERAGE 6.48
MONARCHS' LEAGUE RECORD

FIRST SEASON WITH MONARCHS IN 2001.
Derek Sneddon DEREK SNEDDON is a local boy made good whose story has made the national press - taking to speedway to escape a life of problems over his liking for driving fast cars! He has shown a great aptitude for Speedway and made great strides last year with Conference League team Ashfield. He finished the season by scoring a 21-point maximum against Sheffield. Now he moves into the Premier League full time and has invested a great deal in new equipment to give himself a chance of success.

Date of birth 27/7/82, Falkirk
POINTS AVERAGE 3.00
MONARCHS' LEAGUE RECORD

NO PREVIOUS LEAGUE MATCHES FOR THE CLUB.
Dalle Andersson DALLE ANDERSSON is effectively Monarchs' third shot at getting their no. 4 position right. He came to the UK in 1995 with Oxford, justifying predictions that he had world class potential. He continued to do well with Cradley at Stoke in '96, but didn't return for 1997. His next UK club was Glasgow, where he failed to fill the no. 1 spot, and at Belle Vue in 2000 he also had a disappointing time. He revealed that a back problem was the main reason for his failure in 1998 and 2000.

Date of birth 27/9/74, Stockholm
POINTS AVERAGE 4.40
MONARCHS' LEAGUE RECORD

FIRST SEASON WITH THE CLUB