LEICESTER’S youngsters moved up to second place in the National League table with an emphatic 59-30 home win over Plymouth on Tuesday.
Three riders were unbeaten for the Roger Webster Lion Cubs with skipper Danyon Hume racing to a six-ride paid maximum whilst No.1 Ellis Perks and 15-year-old Joe Thompson were both paid for the lot from five outings apiece.
The Gladiators were restricted to just one race win all evening, that coming when top man Ben Wilson won a tactical substitute outing in Heat 9 – but the visitors were prevented from taking a 5-1 advantage thanks to Dan Thompson’s smart pass on David Wallinger.
That was one of a number of terrific racing moves by Leicester’s sensational teenage twins, who both quickly made their way past Jamie Bursill to record their trademark 5-1 in Heat 2.
Dan then brilliantly rounded the far more experienced Wilson on turn four in Heat 5 whilst Joe, not to be outdone, went from third to first in Heat 8 by going inside Bursill and then immediately switching to the outside to get the better of Adam Extance.
Unfortunately Dan’s night came to an abrupt end with a heavy Heat 11 crash as he ran out of room trying to slingshot past Extance off turn two and fell spectacularly down the back straight, but the early indications were that the youngster had suffered bruising only.
Brother Joe came in for Dan’s final ride and twice combined with home debutant Ryan Terry-Daley for 5-1s in Heats 12 and 14, with a change of bikes proving beneficial for the latter - whilst the big two of Perks and Hume also dominated the later stages as the Cubs finished with four successive maximums.
Perks went close to the National League track record whilst Hume put aside his frustration of being dropped by Championship club Birmingham to provide the best possible answer on-track.
The Gladiators endured a tough night, which got worse in Heat 10 when Luke Chessell fell on turn four in an incident which also saw Richard Andrews and Ryan MacDonald hit the deck. Chessell was withdrawn with a suspected broken wrist.
Hume said: “Everyone is firing and that just makes my job as captain a lot easier.
“Obviously we all use different engines and different set-ups but we all went out there and got the job done.
“It was great to see Dan back up on his feet from his crash – I’ve been there too many times myself, but hopefully he can bounce back from that.”
The Lion Cubs are back in action with a big match at Kent next Monday (July 29) before hosting the Isle of Wight at the Paul Chapman & Sons Arena on Tuesday July 30.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
LEICESTER 59: Danyon Hume 16+2, Ellis Perks 14+1, Joe Thompson 12+3, Dan Thompson 11, Ryan Terry-Daley 5+1, Ryan MacDonald 1, Luke Ruddick r/r
PLYMOUTH 30: Ben Wilson 11, Adam Extance 5+3, Jamie Bursill 5+1, Richard Andrews 4+1, David Wallinger 3, Luke Chessell 2, Adam Sheppard 0
National League points: Leicester 3 Plymouth 0
