Armadale Stadium was the venue for the first half of the Racers' Northern Tour and it was the in-form Edinburgh Monarchs who just held off a strong challenge from the Berkshire boys to emerge victorious by a 6-point margin.

Ulrich Ostergaard headed Reading's scoring with 13+1 points, while Mark Lemon tallied 12. Backing them up, Tomas Suchanek gave a good display to card 6+2 points.

Chris Mills made a rapid start to the opening race, but he was gradually reeled in by Ryan Fisher, who went past for the win on the opening lap, with the Racers' No. 2 just holding off a late surge from Monarchs' skipper Derek Sneddon to claim second place.

Although Reading's unfamiliar reserve pairing of Ross Brady and Gary Beaton gated ahead in heat two, they were overhauled by Andrew Tully and Aaron Summers, who went on to register an early 5-1 for the Scottish side.

William Lawson initially led heat three, only to stop on the second lap, leaving Ostergaard to battle with the tenacious Tully. The two riders traded blows, until the Isle of Man-born Monarch came down on the final lap to earn an exclusion from referee Peter Clarke. That gave the Racers a 5-0 advantage and brought them right back into the match, with Edinburgh's lead slashed to 9-8.

Tom P. Madsen was an all-the-way winner of heat four from the lively Summers, whilst Brady collected the odd-point after seemingly cutting across Matthew Wethers in a somewhat unconventional entry to the first corner. Remarkably, that turned the match in the Racers' favour, as they took a 12-11 lead.

After his opening race blip, Lemon rode a clever line to repel Lawson and win heat five. Meanwhile, Summers filled third spot as Reading maintained their slender 1-point advantage.

Remarkably, the evening's second 5-0 was recorded in heat six, this time by the Monarchs. The race saw Madsen and Sneddon exchange places, before the Dane clipped the Scotsman's front wheel and sent him tumbling. With Beaton having already stopped, Madsen's exclusion allowed the home duo to ride to an untroubled ‘fiver' in the re-run.

Heat seven saw the Reading duo gate ahead, but Wethers used his superior Armadale knowledge to good effect, carving underneath both on the first corner. Ostergaard, as ever, strained every sinew to re-pass the Aussie, but Wethers always had just enough track-craft to stay in front. Behind, Suchanek locked-up on the third lap, allowing Tully to come through and give the Monarchs a 4-2.

A tight first turn saw Mills hit the deck in heat eight, but with no stoppage called the race continued in earnest, with Brady out front. Both Summers and Fisher forged a route past, only for the American to encounter mechanical problems and allow Brady to re-take second place. Somehow, Fisher held on for the remaining point, despite a strong late effort from Mills.

Edinburgh put distance between themselves and the Racers in heat nine, with Wethers joining Lawson up front after shrewdly cutting inside Madsen entering the back straight on the opening lap.

Reading held the initiative in heat ten, but they didn't bank on a sensational ride from Fisher, who blasted around Ostergaard on the first corner of lap two, before darting inside Suchanek on the third bend for an incredible win.

Lemon took a tactical ride in heat eleven and the Aussie swept into an early lead from Wethers, who was caught on the hop when Mills daringly charged outside on the third lap to join his skipper on an 8-1. Their combined efforts slashed the Monarchs' lead to 36-31 and gave the Racers renewed hope.

Ostergaard ousted Lawson early on to win the next race, but Reading failed to make inroads into the homesters' lead, as Brady finished some way behind the third placed Summers.

Home captain Sneddon produced his best ride of the evening to triumph in heat thirteen and, with Wethers using the outside line to join him, Edinburgh edged to within touching distance of victory.

In a last throw of the dice, Tim Sugar nominated Ostergaard for a tactical substitute outing in the penultimate race. This saw Suchanek produce the goods for a tapes-to-flag success over Fisher, whilst the Racers' kingpin was only able to overcome Tully for third position.

A ferocious first turn saw Lemon hit the deck in heat fifteen, with the meeting official calling an all-four re-start. At the second attempt, a tremendous duel saw Lawson eventually take the chequered flag from Lemon and Ostergaard, after Fisher had tumbled under pressure from Reading's mega-popular Dane on the last lap.

EDINBURGH
Derek Sneddon (C) 1 2* 0 3 - - - 6 (1)
Ryan Fisher 3 3 1 3 2 0 - 12
William Lawson R 2 3 2 3 - - 10
Thomas H. Jonasson R/R
Matthew Wethers 0 3 2* 0 2* - - 7 (2)
Andrew Tully 3 X 1 1 0 - - 5
Aaron Summers 2* 2 1* 3 1* - - 9 (3)
Team manager: Alan Bridgett

READING
Mark Lemon (C) 0 3 6 1 2 - - 12
Chris Mills 2 0 0 2* - - - 4 (1)
Ulrich Ostergaard 3 2 2 3 2 1* - 13 (1)
Tomas Suchanek 2* 0 1* 3 - - - 6 (2)
Tom P. Madsen 3 X 1 0 - - - 4
Gary Beaton 0 X 0 - - - - 0
Ross Brady 1 1 2 0 - - - 4