LEICESTER are pleased to announce the signing of experienced Great Britain racer Richard Lawson for a second season with the club.
Lawson joined the Watling JCB Lions last winter for their step up to the Sports Insure Premiership and becomes the third member of the 2023 team to book a return to the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park.
He rode in all but three of the Lions’ Premiership matches this year and proved to be a consistent scorer, especially during the team’s successful mid-season run of eight successive victories.
And with his average currently standing at 6.57 (discounted to 6.41) he is expected to slot into a second-string berth next year which is likely to be a major asset to the team.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “I’m very glad to be able to bring Richard back, and I think he’ll benefit from being away from the No.5 spot.
“We get him on a 6.41 average and I know it’s a tougher league next year, but for me he’s a seven-point rider and the position he’ll be in is one that will benefit the club.
“To have a rider of his level and class in that position is going to be very good for us.
“I think it was important that we brought him and Max (Fricke) back, along with Drew (Kemp) at reserve, and I make no secret that we’re trying to build towards getting a very strong team at home, and Richard plays a big part in that.”
Lawson is building up to another busy year as he also remains with Poole at Championship level, and will be celebrating a Testimonial at Wimborne Road.
And he admits there’s already a real desire to take the Lions further in the Premiership than in 2023 when they narrowly missed out on the play-offs after a predominantly strong campaign.
He said: “I enjoyed my first season at Leicester and I definitely feel we have some unfinished business there.
“We started off decent but then midway through we really got going with that winning streak. Everything was going really well and we were impressing a lot of people.
“Then we kind of let it slip. There were circumstances we all know about, but I felt like we came up short, and I was really determined to stick with the team and put that right for next year.”
Confirmation of Lawson’s signing means the Lions have just two more riders to name in order to complete their 2024 line-up, and these are expected over the coming days.
