Monarchs Academy race their first match against the Middlesbrough Tigers in the National Development League on Friday at Armadale and the teams square-up again on Saturday at Redcar.
Tigers’ star man is Ace Pijper, son of former Monarchs’ skipper, Theo, who is currently doing well for Redcar in the Championship, and they have several young riders of promise emerging from the ranks of their youth racing.
The Academy, sponsored by Ross Commercial Finance, finished second in the league last year and are certainly rated as one of the favourites for the title this season, even though bad luck has robbed them of two of the proposed starting line-up.
Captain Connor Coles on the road to recovery after a serious crash at Buxton and new signing Vinnie Foord broke his knee at Redcar but hopes to be back some time next month.
Scott Wilson, the team’s manager, brings in James Shanes, a spectacular all-round motorcyclist who is quite experienced but has recently been racing in non-league events.
He stands in for Foord while rider replacement will operate for Connor Coles. Jordy Loftus and Dayle Wood spearhead the Academy, Jamie Halder is a new signing with plenty of experience and Ben Whalley and Aussie-born, Anika Loftus (pictured), are newcomers at reserve.
Wilson’s original hope was to form a team which has both top-end strength and solidity and, in spite of the injuries, he believes that will still be possible.
he added: “With some team reshuffling, we still line-up with a strong side for Friday’s fixture and Saturday’s return at Middlesbrough. The first job is to win at home.
“In such a small league, any home defeats could be costly so we must take care of business here. We will then turn our attention to the away match where, as always, our intention will be to go there and win.
Friday’s match will be Live Streamed on www.edinburghmonarchs.co.uk.
ROSS COMMERCIAL FINANCE MONARCHS ACADEMY: Jordy Loftus, James Halder, rider replacement for Connor Coles, James Shanes, Dayle Wood, Ben Whalley, Anika Loftus.
HARTBURN GARAGE TIGERS: Ace Pijper, Alex Spooner, Jade Mudgway, Stene Pijper, Seth Norman, Harry Sadler, Charlie Southwick.
