Leicester face two back-to-back fixtures in mid-week with first of all a trip to King’s Lynn on Wednesday.
The Stars are in an almost uncatchable position in the Elite League table with a twenty point lead over the second placed club, the Lakeside Hammers, who are the visitors to the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium on Saturday. Only two clubs, the defending champions Poole and Swindon, have managed to come away from the Norfolk Arena with their reputations intact so far this season. Leicester’s last visit to King’s Lynn in April ended with a 53-43 points defeat but the Rapid Solicitors Lions have a much changed line-up since that match with the arrival of Krzysztof Buczkowski, Nicolai Klindt and Josh Bates.
“We did not get off to the best of starts at their place and were 22-8 down after five races. After that we scored more points than they did but those first five races where to prove costly and our downfall. I felt that had Jason Doyle not been off a 15 metre handicap in Heat 11 following a tapes infringement we could have ended the meeting much closer than we did. Whilst King’s Lynn are currently the best team in the league we go there with three riders who know the track well. Mads Korneliussen and Simon Stead are former King’s Lynn riders and so too is Klindt who had a short spell at the club last year and maybe, just maybe, we can give the Stars a closer match this time” commented the Lions Team Manager, Norrie Allan.
Leicester make one change to the team after last night’s win against Eastbourne as Josh Bates took a knock to his hand during the meeting and is replaced by the former Lions rider Simon Lambert.
Teams
King’s Lynn: 1. Niels-Kristian Iversen, 2. Nicklas Porsing, 3. Rory Schlein, 4. Robert Lambert, 5. Kenneth Bjerre, 6. Lewis Kerr and 7. Lewis Rose
Leicester: 1. Jason Doyle, 2. Simon Stead, 3. Mads Korneliussen, 4.Nicolai Klindt, 5. Krzysztof Buczkowski, 6. Max Clegg and 7. Simon Lambert
Twenty-four hours later the Lions travel to Wiltshire to race against the Swindon Robins without Simon Stead and Josh Bates who are needed by Sheffield, their Premier League club, who have a home fixture against Newcastle. Leicester have named Sam Masters as Stead’s replacement and he will partner Jason Doyle at number one. “Jason Doyle and Sam both rode together for Somerset a while back so they are fully in tune with how and where each other like to ride the track so it was sensible that they are our opening pairing at Swindon. We will also include James Sarjeant as a guest to cover for Josh” explained Allan.
Leicester’s last visit to Swindon ended with an eight points defeat and it came at a time when the club was going through a period of injuries. The Lions team that took to the track that night included three guest riders. “We came close to a result against Swindon and were only two points adrift after ten races and even going into the last heat we were in with a chance of a consolation bonus match point. It is a shame that we go there without Simon and Josh who are riding very well but even so I am expecting us to give a better account of ourselves this time around” added Allan.
Teams
Swindon: 1. Peter Kildemand, 2. Dakota North, 3. Nick Morris, 4. Simon Gustafsson, 5. Troy Batchelor, 6. Nathan Greaves and 7. Steven Worrall
Leicester: 1. Jason Doyle, 2. Sam Masters, 3. Mads Korneliussen, 4. Nicolai Klindt, 5. Krzysztof Buczkowski, 6. Max Clegg and 7. James Sarjeant
