LEICESTER’S Kyle Howarth made a successful return to action in Thursday’s Peter Craven Memorial at Belle Vue.
Howarth, a big winter signing for the Watling JCB Lions, just missed out on the top eight and the chance to progress in the meeting on countback after scoring seven points from his five qualifying rides.
But the most important factor was that he came through unscathed and was very much on the pace after major shoulder surgery earlier in the summer.
Howarth scored in every ride and was involved in some fierce battles along the way, including with his former Wolverhampton team-mate Sam Masters in Heat 6.
The Australian won that race but Howarth still took the scalps of home stars Brady Kurtz and Steve Worrall, and he entered the final round of races with a chance of reaching the top eight.
However, with second place required from Heat 20 he was relegated to third by a stunning ride by former Lions skipper Jason Doyle, whilst Jye Etheridge kept Howarth away from the two points he required.
That left Howarth on seven points, the same as Richard Lawson who progressed by virtue of having taken a race win earlier in the meeting.
Doyle went on to win the meeting ahead of home duo Dan Bewley and Kurtz – but Howarth can now look forward to hopefully a full 2021 season with a clean bill of health.
