Peter Carr

Peter was brought out of retirement to fill the troublesome third heat-leader rôle early in the 1997 season. A former Sheffield and Belle Vue rider, it is probably fair to say that Peter never quite achieved the success his talent warranted. Peter was signed after a tip-off from Belle Vue promoter John Perrin that he was keen to start riding.

Peter made his debut against his former club Sheffield in a Premier League Cup qualifier at Armadale. He fell in his first two rides when leading but won his last three races. He soon established himself and scored important away maximums in the wins at Oxford and Glasgow.

He was comfortable winning from the gate or from the back. At times, the Armadale supporters actually hoped that Peter would miss the gate so that they could see his passing technique.

He eventually overhauled first Robert Eriksson and then Kenny McKinna to top the Edinburgh averages for 1997. He won the Premier League Riders Championship to crown his comeback season.

Peter had a troubled season in 1998. Things started bad when he jumped over a gate at work and fell damaging his ankle ligaments missing the start of the season. He had blown his engine in the last match in 1997 and the replacement, while fast, just didn't start well. He then suffered a series of niggling injuries and just couldn't make starts consistently with the new engine.

Since Peter intended to retire at the end of the 1998 season, understandably he was reluctant to invest in new equipment. There was speculation mounting that he was to be replaced by James Grieves who had been dropped by Elite League Wolverhampton. Peter eventually bought a brand new engine and never looked back. The new equipment restored his gating abilty and he scored as well as ever.

He starred for Monarchs in the Fours Finals. He then made a brave attempt to defend his Premier League Riders' Championship at Sheffield. He topped the qualifiers in the heats and missed out to Glenn Cunningham and Carl Stonehewer in the final.

The good news for Monarchs fans was that having spent so much on equipment, he decided to stay on for one or two years to recoup his investment. Monarchs signed him on a full transfer from Belle Vue to forstall a bid from Glasgow.

Averages for 1998