Tigers got their new era underway by beating their local rivals for the first time since 2013.
Everything was set for a memorable opening match but the only thing that can’t be controlled is the Scottish weather and it did its best to put a dampner on proceedings. The track stood up well to theheavy overnight and morning rain and whilst passing was difficult, it was possible.
Tigers got off to the perfect start with Richard Lawson easily winning heat 1, with Dimitri Berge passing both Monarchs who seemed to suffer engine problems at the same time, Justin Sedgmen just avoiding being lapped for a point.
It looked like 10-2 after two but James Sarjeant stopped on the opening lap, leaving Victor Palovaara to win easily.
Kevin Wolbert looked like returning to Ashfield with an opening victory but Erik Riss’s crash at the back allowed Aaron Summers to take the re-run of heat 3.
Sam Masters took advantage of a second lap mistake by Nick Morris to record a heat advantage in four and Craig Cook followed this up with a tapes to flag heat 5 win. Masters repeated this in heat 6 and with Max Clegg passing Berge for a 4-2 ,Tigers lead was cut to two.
Riss took another bad fall in heat 7 after losing control on the third bend, second time around, an accident that had looked likely from the start! He had looked quick though but the race was awarded 4-2.
After a delay to fix the fence, Sedgmen looked very slow in winning heat 8 with both Tigers right behind him. And Sam Masters took his third race win in heat 9, after Kozza Smith went through the tapes. Sarjeant taking a good point after a battle with Clegg.
Lawson returned to winning ways in heat 10 by just holding off Wolbert while Rob Branford and Berge passed each other on the opening two laps with Branford hanging on for third.
Nick Morris got the better of Cook in the first bend of heat 11, with Palovaara well ahead of Sedgmen before the Monarch retired. At this point the heavens opened and the inevitable abandonment followed with Tigers 36-30 up.
Final Tapes
Despite the rain it was a reasonably entertaining meeting which given the conditions,had some good races. Both sides will be pleased with how they rode, with Tigers looking solid from 1-7, a far cry from the last two seasons.
The red and white half of the large crowd seemed pleased with the result and with plenty of favourable comments about the stadium, it bodes well for the weeks ahead.
Glasgow: R Lawson 8, D Berge 3+2, A Summers 7, K Smith 2+1, N Morris 8, V Palovaara 5, J Sarjeant 3+1
Edinburgh: C Cook 5, J Sedgmen 4, K Wolbert 6, E Riss 0, S Masters 9, M Clegg 3, R Branford 3+2
*Match abandoned (after 11 heats) – Result stands
(Report courtesy of Derek Watson)