The Dorval Lighting Scottish Open Championship

Individual Event

Friday 28th August 1998

Lothian Arena, Armadale

Frede Schott was a popular and deserved winner of the Scottish Open after defeating Carl Stonehewer and James Grieves in the final. This was felt by many to be the best individual event held in Scotland for some years.

 The original field comprised:

Two changes were made with David Walsh and Scott Robson (both of Berwick) replacing Nicki Pedersen and Frank Smart. Blair Scott and Barry Campbell were named as reserves.

The crowd was very healthy on a warmish overcast evening. The track had dirt but was rather slick on the approach to the third bend. It produced some excellent racing.

Heat 1: Frede Schott, Brent Werner, Craig Watson, Robert Larsen [57.3]

Schott made a tremendous outside sweep from gate 4 to lead by the back straight. Craig Watson slipped inside Robert Larsen but was soon put under pressure by Brent Werner who passed to take second.

Heat 2: Peter Carr, James Grieves, Peter Scully, Carsten Lauridsen [56.8]

Peter Carr obviously had no problems with his new engine as he gated, beat off a challenge by Grieves and went on to win by a big margin in the fastest time of the night.

Heat 3: Carl Stonehewer, Kenny McKinna, David Walsh, Jesper Olsen [57.5]

McKinna made the gate and stayed ahead of Stonehewer until the third lap when he went rather too wide on the exit from the fourth bend and allowed Carl through. Jesper Olsen fell and remounted.

Heat 4: Kevin Little, Barry Campbell, Blair Scott, Marcus Andersson

Mick Powell went through the tapes and was excluded. Next Scott Robson came a cropper on the second bend fence. All four were invited back but Scott had to withdraw from the meeting at this point with an injury and Blair Scott deputized. Kevin Little gated ahead of Marcus Andersson, but the Swede was passed by both Campbell and Scott.

Heat 5: David Walsh, Craig Watson [58.3]

Barry Campbell replaced Scott Robson in this heat. Peter Carr found his new engine rather too lively and went too fast through the second bend hitting the fence. After some time he got up and walked away. In the re-run, Campbell retired at the start and Craig Watson fell and restarted gifting three points to Walsh.

Heat 6: Kenny McKinna, Peter Scully, Mick Powell [59.2]

McKinna made no mistake to win here from Scully and Powell. Larsen was excluded for entering the centre green.

Heat 7: James Grieves, Carl Stonehewer, Kevin Little, Brent Werner [58.3]

James Grieves surprised many by outgating and holding off Carl Stonehewer. Meanwhile there was another good scrap between Werner and Little for third which the home rider was given the verdict.

Heat 8: Frede Schott, Jesper Olsen, Marcus Andersson, Carsten Lauridsen [58.8]

Schott won his second race without being troubled. Olsen nearly lost it balking Marcus Andersson and allowing Lauridsen through. Anderson recovered to retake third place.

Heat 9: Carl Stonehewer, Peter Scully, Marcus Andersson [57.9]

Craig Watson fell and was excluded with Stonehewer a proverbial mile ahead. The rerun produced the same result.

Heat 10: Kevin Little, Blair Scott, Robert Larsen [58.7]

Jesper Olsen had problems on the starting gate and was excluded under two minutes and replaced by Blair Scott. Peter Carr was well ahead until he stopped gifting the race to Little as Scott and Larsen battled for second.

Heat 11: Brent Werner, David Walsh, Carsten Lauridsen [58.6]

Mick Powell's nightmare continued and he spun on the 3rd bend and was excluded. Brent Werner passed David Walsh to win.

Heat 12: Frede Schott, Blair Scott, James Grieves, Kenny McKinna [59.5]

Blair Scott came in for Robson. Schott was first away pursued by McKinna. The Dane got into trouble on the back straight but recovered. McKinna had to take avoiding action and slipped to last. Blair Scott stayed ahead of Grieves throughout with McKinna trying to get back in touch, McKinna made a charge out of the last bend and appeared to have caught Grieves on the line but the referee gave it to the Berwick rider. A great heat!

Heat 13: Jesper Olsen, James Grieves, Mick Powell, Craig Watson [58.4]

Olsen finally had a race win over Grieves and Powell.

Heat 14: Carl Stonehewer, Robert Larsen, Barry Campbell, Carsten Lauridsen [58.9]

Stonehewer was untroubled once more. Barry Campbell replacing Scott Robson had a bad start and while he passed Lauridsen he could not get near Larsen..

Heat 15: Kenny McKinna, Brent Werner, Peter Carr, Marcus Andersson [58.8]

The wide riding Kenny McKinna was given a hard time by Brent Werner on the inside track and Peter Carr was unable to get on terms after missing the start.

Heat 16: Frede Schott, David Walsh, Kevin Little, Peter Scully [59.3]

Schott passed Walsh to win while Little passed Scully to take a point.

Leading positions: Schott 12, Stonehewer 11, McKinna 8, Grieves 8, Walsh 8, Little 8, Werner 7

Heat 17: Kevin Little, Craig Watson, Kenny McKinna, Carsten Lauridsen [58.8]

McKinna had bike problems and came out on Mick Powell's bike. He did no better than Peter Carr had done last week on the same bike or for that matter no better than Powell himself. Little gated ahead of Watson and McKinna could not get back. This secured a semi-final place for Little but put McKinna in trouble.

Heat 18: James Grieves, David Walsh, Marcus Andersson, Robert Larsen [59.1]

Grieves passed Walsh to take this heat ensuring a semi-final slot for both riders.

Heat 19: Brent Werner, Jesper Olsen, Blair Scott, Peter Scully [58.8]

Werner needed a win to qualify for the semi-finals and to eliminate McKinna. He was chased home by team mate Jesper Olsen and reserve Blair Scott.

Heat 20: Peter Carr, Frede Schott, Mick Powell [59.2]

With Peter Carr out of contention but hoping to go out with a win, the omens were not good. He faced the maximum man Frede Schott and Carl Stonehewer (beaten only once). To make matter worse he fluffed the start once more. Carr took a lap or so to pass Mick Powell and then set off after Schott and Stonehewer. At this point Stonehewer raised his arm and stopped as Carr pursued Schott. He finally edged past near the end of the race to win to the delight of the home fans.

Scores 
Frede Schott (Belle Vue)
3
3
3
3
2
  
14
Carl Stonehewer (Sheffield)
3
2
3
3
R
  
11
Kevin Little (Edinburgh)
3
1
3
1
3
  
11
James Grieves (Berwick) 
2
3
1
2
3
  
11
Brent Werner (Newcastle)
2
0
3
2
3
  
10
David Walsh (Berwick) 
1
3
2
2
2
  
10
Kenny McKinna (Edinburgh)
2
3
0
3
1
  
10
Peter Carr (Edinburgh)
3
X
R
1
3
  
7
Jesper Olsen (Newcastle)
0
2
M
3
2
  
7
Blair Scott (Edinburgh) [Reserve]
1
2
2
1
  
6
Peter Scully (Berwick)
1
2
2
0
0
  
5
Craig Watson (Newport)
1
2
X
0
2
  
5
Barry Campbell (Edinburgh) [Reserve]
2
R
1
  
3
Robert Larsen (Sheffield)
0
X
1
2
0
  
3
Marcus Andersson (Edinburgh)
0
1
1
0
1
  
3
Mick Powell (Glasgow) 
T
1
X
1
1
  
3
Carsten Lauridsen (Unattached)
0
0
1
0
 0  
1
Scott Robson (Berwick)
N
          
0

The top two went through to the final while 3rd through to 6th went into the semi-final with the top two from this going into the final. Kevin Little and Carl Stonehewer had three wins to two by Grieves while Stonehewer had a faster time than Little. This put Stonehewer into the final while Little had first choice of gates in the semi-final.

Semi-Final: James Grieves, Kevin Little, Brent Werner [59.0]

Little opted for gate 3, Grieves for 1, Werner 2 leaving gate 4 for Walsh. Grieves made the start ahead of Little and Werner. Walsh was at the back when he stopped. Werner was no able to get past Little.

Final: Frede Schott, Carl Stonehewer, James Grieves, Kevin Little [58.2]

Schott with first choice of gate went for 4 while Stonehewer went for 2. Grieves again went for 1 leaving Little with gate 3 once more but sandwiched between Schott and Stonehewer. Grieves was first away pursued by Schott and Stonehewer with Little way back. The leading three were right together throughout. Finally to the delight of many home fans, the ex-Monarch Schott passed Grieves. Grieves appeared to set for runner-up until a slight slip allowed Stonehewer to take the runner-up place.

Schott was good value for his win on his first visit to Armadale. He was only troubled by Stonehewer and Peter Carr. Stonehewer continued his recent Armadale form that made him the pre-match favourite. Grieves had an up and down evening beating Stonehewer in heat 7 but losing to reserve Blair Scott in heat 12. Kevin Little was the best placed home rider.

Brent Werner was consistent throughout and has become a very polished Armadale performer over the past year. David Walsh was very fortunate to qualify and picked up numerous gift points included a win in heat 5 down to two falls and a retirement. McKinna was unlucky to miss out after being balked in heat 12 and having to borrow a bike for his critical last ride. McKinna has never won the Scottish Open finishing second on three occasions, so it appear he never will win this event. The holder Peter Carr had two great wins in his first and last ride but suffered a fall/exclusion and a retirement (when leading) in between.

With the early withdrawal of Scott Robson, Blair Scott and Barry Campbell had plenty of the action and neither showed too much respect for the visiting stars, scoring in all rides bar one retirement for Campbell.

John Lowe
 

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