Monarchs have acted to strengthen the team in advance of the visit of Glasgow. René Aas has come into the team at the expense of Ben Shields.
While Ben has struggled to come to terms with conditions it is fair to say that it is down to the failings of the team as a whole that made a change necessary. With Robert Eriksson absent for three weeks and Jan Andersen not at his best after a leg injury there has been a lot of pressure on Peter Carr. Christian Henry's away form has shaded after a very bright start so the lack of points from Ben has been felt by the team. Had everyone else in the team been performing to their full capability then Monarchs may have been able to give Ben the time he needs to find his form. Peter Carr publically expressed concerns that the team was not strong enough.
There are about three weeks to go before the end of the Premier National Trophy group qualifiers. Monarchs are still very much in contention but cannot afford to lose at home and probably will need a win at Glasgow to stay in contention. After that Monarchs will face Newcastle in a first round Cup tie and then embark on their Premier League campaign. Newcastle have already beaten Edinburgh home and away so without some good results Monarchs could be starting the main season with a cup defeat.
Monarchs had a limited 'window of opportunity' to make the change. Ben had completed the three home and three away matches needed to get a new average. He retains his assessed seven point average until Thursday. On Friday his new 3.48 average will come into effect. Thus if the change was not made now they could only replace him with a three-point rider. At the moment they have up to seven points to play with.
René Aas comes in on an average of 6.38. He was born in Tallinn, Estonia but is now a permanent UK resident. He has had a mixed time at Armadale in his early visits. He scored 1 point paid 2 from four rides in 1997 for Sheffield. In 1998 he picked up 10 points from six rides and 4 paid 6 from three rides in two trips for Sheffield. He toiled for Stoke in 1998 scoring 1 point from four rides. It was with Hull last season that he really made his mark. He picked up 6 paid 9 from four rides in the Premier National Trophy and 13 paid 14 from seven in the Premier League. That meeting was notable for a memorable duel with Peter Carr. He gated in heat three and held Peter off until the final lap when Peter squeezed past on the back straight as René went into the fence and fell and was rather unlucky to be excluded. In all, René has won six of his 28 heats at Armadale and averages 6.00.
"René is very enthusiastic and tells us he will do well for us," says promoter John Campbell. "He has one bike ready and another one will be prepared in time for Friday". He rode for Sheffield from 1993 to 1998 apart from one year spent with Bradford in 1996. He joined Stoke in 1999 and moved to Hull in 2000. He was a victim of the points limit this year and was squeezed out of the Hull team.
Campbell admitted that he found the task of telling Shields that he was dropped a difficult one. "Ben took it very well though and is keen to stay and fight his way back through the second halves. He is certainly a handy man to have in the background and we will give him every encouragement to carry on with his UK career."
Ben commented: "It has been pretty tough for me, however I fully appreciate the decision the Edinburgh promotion have taken. But I will continue to fight on and hopefully I can reclaim my team place some time in the future".
This team change will mean that Christian Henry will stay at reserve for the moment at least. Since René will retain his 2000 average until July, Christian may be able to exceed that when he gets a 2001 average at the start of June. The new riding order will be announced shortly with René riding either at number two or number four.