LEICESTER newcomer Drew Kemp admits it’s been a whirlwind couple of weeks as he prepares for his official debut for the club on Thursday.
Kemp, who takes over the Rising Star berth after a successful guest appearance in the win over Ipswich, was out of UK racing at the beginning of the season but made good use of the time in Poland.
He then agreed to join Championship club Scunthorpe when they made changes recently, and now has a Sports Insure Premiership team place with the Watling JCB Lions.
Kemp said: “It’s quite a turnaround from being without a club at the start of the year, and now I’ve come back this month wanting to ride as much as possible, and I’ve bagged myself two teams already!
“It was unexpected, and to be honest I even said to Stewart (Dickson), Leicester was the last place I expected myself to go to. There’s no real reason for that, it’s just not a place I thought I’d end up.
“Now I’m pleased that I am there, and I’m looking forward to finishing the season strong in England and carrying on my form abroad.”
Kemp scored 7+1 against Ipswich last Thursday, looking fast and confident on track in a display which clearly encouraged Dickson to make his move – and he admits he loved racing on the revised circuit.
He said: “I’d heard they’d done a lot to it in the winter and obviously I’d seen the meeting on TV and it looked really smooth.
“But it was still pretty surprising. I’ll admit it wasn’t one of my favourite tracks because of how rough it was, but on Thursday it was probably some of the most fun I’ve had riding a speedway bike because of how smooth and quick it is now – it’s made it really enjoyable to ride.
“That’s what you want, you want to go somewhere that you’re looking forward to riding every week, and with the work they’ve done to the track it really does make me look forward to going there.”
Kemp is optimistic that the Lions can sustain a play-off challenge, as they currently sit third in the table after last week’s vital win over the Witches.
And it’s another big one at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park this Thursday (June 15) when the Lions host reigning champions and league leaders Belle Vue.
Kemp said: “I wanted to go somewhere where the team was likely to make the play-offs, and that win we had on Thursday really gave us some important points towards getting there.
“Leicester are a team who are quite lucky in that whoever is at reserve, and I’m not even talking about myself, we’re always going to be strong there, and that strength in depth is what a team needs.
“I definitely feel like Leicester have got that, and as I’ve managed to win a Championship Grand Final it would be nice to go on and win a Premiership league title now.”
Photo credit: JEFF DAVIES
