Edinburgh second string Stewart McDonald has blamed his spectacular crash at Armadale on the hard compound tyres. The first bend crash occured after he clipped Tommy Palmer's rear wheel and lost control hitting the fence. Stewart sustained a badly bruised and twisted pelvis, and a broken left wrist. This is likely to keep him out of action for six weeks.
McDonald claims that he got too much drive coming into the corner where it should not have happened:
"I remember going up the straight and Palmer seemed to stop dead in front of me. Whether I went in too fast I don't know. I don't think I did because I shut off. I think I got too much drive and I didn't think I could control the bike, which I blame the tyres for."
"The track was a bit slick and the hard compound tyres cause you to spin because they lack the grip of the soft compound ones. I remember thinking I'm going to hit Palmer. Itried to avoid him but I clipped his wheel which sent me into the fence."
McDonald denies allegations that he simply made a rash challenge to pass:
"People can sya that it they want. There're not riding the bikes and doing their best to entertain. If you're a speedway rider and you see a gap you go for it. The bike just went away from me. How many people get drive on the straight before they turn the bike."
"I felt OK after my first ride. My tyre picked up grip, which was unexpected, and everyone saw what happened in my next outing. One minute I was looking at Palmer's wheel, the next I was lying on a stretcher on my way to hospital."
"My leathers are ripped to shreds and my bike is bent. You're talking about a %pound1,000 repair bill at least."
Monarchs chairman Alex Harkess refused to enter the argument on tyre that has dragged on all season. He did say:
"Our three heat leaders use Dunlops, the rest of the side use Barums. Stewart unfortunately has been chopping and changing. And the bottom line is, if you chop and change, you don't settle into anything. I don't think the tyres, on tjis particular occasion, had anything to do with his fall. Stewart had the bike in front of him. It just straightened up and put him into the fence and that was the basic problem."
The injury to Stewart became even more of a headache for Monarchs after Blair Scott had a big score at Berwick last night. Blair's average is likely to move above that of Stewart when the new Green Sheets come into effect on the 1st September. This will mean that Blair moves up into the team and Stewart drops to reserve. No rider replacement facility is available for reserves. Thus unless a replacement can be signed on an average below 5.77 before the end of August, Monarcs will have to use a junior rider at number 7.
This prospect should concentrate the minds of the Monarchs promotion over the next two weeks.