Richie Worrall fired up by ambition of Edinburgh Monarchs

New signing Richie Worrall reckons Edinburgh Monarchs are pulling out all the stops in a bid to build a team capable of reaching the Championship play-offs for the first time since 2017, writes DAVID KINVIG.

Worrall was unveiled as Monarchs’ third rider for next season after completing a highly impressive mid season stint for the club in 2018. He says the time felt right to commit himself to a full league campaign with Monarchs following the team’s lacklustre challenge this year.

Said Worrall: “Everybody knows I love Armadale and it just felt right to come back. Speedway is all about confidence and after my ankle injury this season a move to join Edinburgh full time is the correct decision for me.

“My ankle is fine now, I’m fully recovered, I’m just working hard now to regain my fitness over the winter. Hopefully the weather will allow me to get some practice in and I’ll be where I want to be when the new season begins.”

Worrall will form what looks like a strong top three alongside Aussie duo Sam Masters and Josh Pickering and this gives Monarchs a powerful scoring edge at the top end of the team, something that was sadly lacking before.

Said Worrall: “I think the new team so far is looking reallly good. Obviously it is a strong top three. Me and Sam have been in this league now for quite a while and know what it’s all about, and Josh seems to have improved a lot since he first arrived in the UK.

“I know 2019 was a slightly disappointing year, it is up to me to make sure things go our way in 2020, I’m sure it will be a better season for us.”

Monarchs team boss Alex Harkess said: ”We all know Richie is an out and out racer and he is just what we need. We require someone who will get us an advantage out of heats 13 and 15 and believe Richie is the man to do this. We are very happy to have him on board for next season and he showed how capable he was when he rode for us in 2018, he was immense round Armadale and hardly lost a race.”