Leicester’s Team Manager Norrie Allan has a full complement of riders for the club’s visit to Belle Vue on Wednesday in what will be the Lions final away Elite League fixture of the season.
It is the first time that Allan has been able to name all seven of his riders since the team rode at Wolverhampton in early July.
“We have gone through a period with at least one of the team missing due to fixture clashes either in Sweden, Denmark or here in the UK. It is not ideal preparation for my riders who have to get used to a new riding partner whenever we include a guest and of course neither is it ideal for the incoming person to settle into the style of who he is paired with” explained Allan.
Leicester’s last appearance at the new National Speedway Stadium in Manchester ended with them gaining a consolation bonus match point which was earned by keeping the losing margin to within six points.
“It was our first visit to the new stadium so my riders had to work out the best set-ups for their bikes. It took us a race or two and once we made the adjustments we began to get among the points and were unlucky in the end not to actually win the match” added Allan.
After initially falling behind the Paul Chapman and Sons Lions came back into the meeting to lead after the sixth heat and whilst Belle Vue regained control shortly afterwards there was never more than four points between the two sides. The Lions entered the final race still with a chance of winning the match only for their hopes to be dashed, finally losing by 48 points to 42.
Whilst Leicester are tracking a full side, the Aces are without two of their riders Scott Nicholls and Max Fricke who are riding in the Swedish play-offs. In their absence Coventry’s Danny King will guest for Fricke and Belle Vue have opted to cover for Nicholls by operating the rider replacement facility.
Teams
Belle Vue: 1. Matej Zagar, 2. Rider Replacement for Scott Nicholls, 3. Danny King, 4. Steven Worrall, 5. Craig Cook, 6. Richie Worrall and 7. Joe Jacobs
Leicester: 1. Patrick Hougaard, 2. Aaron Summers, 3. Nicolai Klindt, 4. Paul Starke, 5. Szymon Wozniak, 6. Ludvig Lindgren and 7. Josh Auty
