FORMER Edinburgh Monarchs star Rory Schlein made a triumphant return to Armadale last night to capture the Keyline Scottish Open speedway Championship crown for a second time.
The 23-year-old rider, rumoured to have lost his place with Coventry Bees and now set to join Ipswich Witches, managed to put this personal upheaval to one side, to claim the Jack Young Memorial Trophy for the first time since his victory in 2004.
Schlein was untouchable, winning all five of his qualifying races in majestic style.
He and Belle Vue's Joe Screen, who picked up 12 points in the heats, automatically made it through to the Grand Final.
They were joined by Swindon's Travis McGowan and Monarchs reserve Andrew Tully, who saw off fellow home riders Aaron Summers and Ryan Fisher in the semi-final.
And although Screen made an adventurous burst round the outside of the first lap in the final to try and unsettle Schlein, the young Australian breathed fresh air all the way to the chequered flag. Fellow Aussie McGowan finished runner-up relegating Englishman Screen to third place with Tully fourth.
Asked if he really believed he was capable of coming back to Armadale to win a second individual title after four years, Schlein replied: "Well, I didn't come simply to make up the numbers. I came to win."
Quicksilver gating was a key component of Schlein's victory.
"When you are in front going into that first turn it makes things so much easier, but I also have got the speed to come from the back," he explained. "I've got an engine working really well from Peter Johns and I use it everywhere in the Elite League. I don't get off it unless I'm at Coventry. Perhaps I should have ridden it at Coventry to be honest!"
Schlein added: "When I rode for Monarchs gating wasn't one of my better traits, although I have been working on this over the years.
"I came back to Armadale to forget about what's going on at Coventry and to have some fun. I still remember my first lap at Armadale as if it was yesterday."
Schlein said he was fully aware that Screen and McGowan posed a twin threat in the Final. "I was trying to think of which way to take the first corner, whether to go wide or stay low on the inside. And I thought I stayed low when I won in 2004 so I'll stay low this time too.
"I kept things tight because I knew Travis and Joe would try the inside and Andrew had a bit of a blast round the outside as well. At the end of the day it was pretty faultless."
Minutes after his triumph, Schlein's dad Lyndon phoned mum Lynette to tell her the news. "I was told she was so excited," said Schlein. "I haven't spoken to her yet.I was a bit more emotional when I won it in 2004.
"On this occasion I just came back to Armadale to enjoy it – and I did." The question is, with an unhappy spell at Coventry, would he like to ride for Monarchs again? "I don't think I'd ever drop back down to the Premier League, but if Monarchs win promotion give me a ring," was Schlein's diplomatic riposte. McGowan praised Schlein saying: "He was just too good. He knows the best way round Armadale and rides the place so well.
"Full credit to him. He jumped out of the start in the Final and got that important gap on me. I started to reel him in but I was never going to catch him.
"The track was a bit tricky because of the drizzle so it was important to make the gate and Rory did that for sure.
"I was perfectly happy with my own efforts. I haven't ridden Armadale that often and I was learning the circuit as I went along.
Screen commented: "I tried my best to beat Rory but he was just too good. I'm happy to have got on the rostrum."
It would be fair to say that the meeting was far from a class one overall. This was caused in part to the late withdrawal of Schlein's Coventry teammate Billy Janniro and Wolverhampton's David Howe, winner in 2005. And the event suffered a further blow when Redcar's James Grieves took a nasty tumble in heat four and withdrew from the meeting suffering from concussion. His fall was caused when his engine blew up underneath him.
Of the home representatives, Fisher was perhaps perceived as the one to give the front runners a run for their money, but machine problems in heat 17 which were replicated in the semi-final robbed the Californian of any chance of glory.
Summers rode brilliantly for his nine points and fully merited his semi-final spot but Tully and McGowan proved too hard to beat.
The one flashpoint of the meeting occurred in heat eight when Berwick's Michal Makovsky, who incredibly received an invite ahead of Rye House's Tai Woffinden, fenced Tully on the fourth bend.
Tully, who wrecked his bike, remonstrated with Makosky, but admitted afterwards: "I apologised to Michal for having a go at him. It was just a racing incident."
Result: 1 R Schlein, 2 TMcGowan, 3 J Screen 4 A Tully.
The full article contains 899 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
