Derby fever comes to Leicester on Sunday with the visit of Coventry to the Jordan Road Surfacing Stadium when the Lions take on the Bees in the second leg of the East Midlands Bowl. It is thirty years since the two clubs last met and the history between the teams made it one of the oldest local derbies in speedway and the vibrancy between both sets of supporters ensured that the meetings attained legendary status.
Alan Jones the Lions Co-promoter said: “This is the one everyone has been waiting for and has been top of Lions fans wish list of teams to see racing here at Leicester since we opened in 2011. The Coventry Bees are one of the cornerstone clubs in British Speedway and the two meetings on Sunday should be a gala day for both sets of fans. We have had to reinforce the Leicester team to ensure that as far as possible it will be an evenly balanced competition and hope that fans of both clubs will give their support to the event.”
Leicester have named an opening pairing of the Bjerre brothers, Lasse who rides for the Lions, and his older brother Kenneth, the Peterborough Panthers number one. Joining Kenneth at the head of the team is Hans Andersen a high performer at Swindon along with one of Poland’s top stars, the World Cup winner and Grand Prix rider Krzysztof Kasprzak. Leicester’s Kevin Doolan captains the side in the absence of the injured Kauko Nieminen and he is paired with Jan Graversen the longest serving member of the Leicester team having been at the club since it opened. The side is completed by Kenneth Hansen who last rode in the UK for Peterborough.
Coventry will be led out by Scott Nicholls, a seven times British Champion and a multi-capped World Cup and Team GB International rider who will be paired with Aaron Summers. Nicholls will be looking to Grzegorz Zengota, Ryan Fisher and Ben Barker for support for the bulk of the points. Zengota, a double Under-21 World Cup gold medal winner for Poland, is in his first year at Coventry. Fisher and Barker are club assets out on loan and are exciting riders to watch. At reserve the Bees have Rohan Tungate who has had a successful second year racing in the UK. The Australian has helped his Premier League club the Ipswich Witches to reach the League Cup Final and in the top tier of racing Rohan rides for Poole one of the Elite League Play-off Finalists. Tungate is joined by James Sarjeant who rides for Coventry’s National League team and was contracted to Leicester earlier this season.
“The club is aspiring to compete at the highest level of British Speedway in the not too distant future and our line-up is designed to give fans a flavour of watching a team of Elite League regular performers. Six of the team currently ride or have ridden at the highest level and so Sunday provides an opportunity for fans to watch a higher level of racing” added Jones.
Teams for both fixtures:
Leicester: 1. Kenneth Bjerre, 2. Lasse Bjerre, 3. Krzysztof Kasprzak, 4. Kenneth Hansen, 5. Hans Andersen, 6. Kevin Doolan and 7. Jan Graversen
Coventry: 1. Scott Nicholls, 2. Aaron Summers, 3. Grzegorz Zengota, 4. Ryan Fisher, 5. Ben Barker, 6. Rohan Tungate and 7. James Sarjeant
The first leg of the East Midlands Bowl takes place at noon at Coventry with the return later that day at Leicester when the first race begins at 6.00 pm.
