Monarchs' top two, Peter Carr and James Grieves, are competing in the Premier League Riders' Championship at Sheffield on Sunday.

This involves the top rider from each club plus three wild cards. The full field is:

Scott Lamb	Berwick	8.58
James Grieves	Edinburgh	9.41
Anders Henriksson	Newport	9.78
Michael Coles	Exeter	9.21
Neville Tatum	Isle of Wight	8.82
Petri Kokko	Reading	9.17
Sean Wilson	Sheffield	10.49
Glenn Cunningham	Swindon	8.98
Leigh Lanham	Arena Essex	9.13
Paul Bentley	Glasgow	9.93
Jesper Olsen	Newcastle	9.91
Carl Stonehewer	Workington	10.30
Peter Carr	Edinburgh	9.61
Paul Pickering	Stoke	8.88
Craig Watson	Newport	9.46
Les Collins	Glasgow	9.48

The favourite is home rider Sean Wilson. Other fancied contenders include Carl Stonehewer, who rode at Sheffield last year, holder Glenn Cunningham, and Peter Carr. Other Owlerton track specialists in the field are Paul Pickering, Craig Watson, and Michael Coles.

While Wilson has the highest average of the sixteen contenders and enjoys considerable home advantage, he is certainly beatable. The format is similar to that used in the Scottish Open with the twenty heats acting as qualifiers for the semi-final and final. With only one Sheffield rider in the field, the lack of home advantage will not prevent anyone from reaching the final. It is then necessary to win a one-off race in the final. Last year, Peter Carr topped the qualifying heats with 14 points out of 15, only being beaten by Paul Bentley. However, Glenn Cunningham won the final from Stonehewer and Carr. In 1997, Carr only scraped into the semi-finals yet progressed and won the final easily.

Peter Carr has faced Wilson five times this season at Owlerton and has won two and lost three. Paul Pickering and Carl Stonehewer have also beaten Wilson twice at Owlerton. Neville Tatum has also won against Wilson at Sheffield.

James Grieves is something of an outsider as he is not an Owlerton specialist. He will be anxious to do well, particularly after the grief he suffered from the Sheffield management over his absence from the Cup Semi-Final at Owlerton. They suggested that he was not really injured but was missing to allow Monarchs to bring in Paul Pickering. If James can score something near to the points that Pickering collects, this may prove a point!

Monarchs have flopped in two major shared events, the Premier League Pairs at Newport and the Premier League Fours at Peterborough. The Premier League Riders' Championship gives Monarchs a chance to pick up a Trophy before they complete their two cup finals. With Edinburgh contracted Linlithgow captain, Jon Swales, picking up the Conference League Riders Championship at Mildenhall, this gives the opportunity for an individual 'double'.

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