The Elliott sponsored Leicester Lions eased to a 50 points to 43 win in their Premier League fixture against the Somerset Rebels at Beaumont Park on Saturday and the result consolidated their position of second place in the table behind Newcastle.
The visitors, who have been tipped as favourites to win the title this year, hardly lived up to that prediction as the Lions opened with devastating effect which began with Magnus Karlsson and Simon Lambert outscoring the Rebels opening pairing. Simon Nielsen and Jari Mäkinen who a week earlier had been the match winners for Leicester against Plymouth were again the key men for Leicester in the following race.
The two twenty-one year old Scandinavian’s scored maximum points after some astute first bend riding by Nielsen who covered the inside line on the first turn to allow his team partner to take a wide line around him. Heat 3 went Leicester’s way when Jan Graversen passed James Wright to join the Lions captain Kauko Nieminen at the front to give the Lions a ten point lead after three races.
With Somerset seemingly on the ropes they were saved by an interruption to the meeting when a low setting sun caused visibility problems for the riders on bends three and four. After a delay of almost one hour, racing resumed and the enforced break seemed to work for Somerset who came more into the meeting mainly through the efforts of their captain Jason Doyle who won each of his races.
The Leicester team remained focused and the Nieminen / Graversen pairing secured their second top score of the night when the latter sped past Alex Davies along the home straight in the fifth heat and the result extended their lead to fourteen points.
There was a brief respite for Somerset who won heats 6 and 10 which reduced Leicester’s lead to seven points and the home side were in danger of seeing their advantage slip away in the next race only for Mäkinen to come out on top against the strong pairing of Claus Vissing and Alex Davies. The former Under-21 Champion of Finland tore around the outside of his team partner Lasse Bjerre and Vissing to gather three points to end his night as second top scorer for the team.
The finishing order in heat 12 gave the Lions breathing space and again one of their young reserves was at the centre of the action. This time it was Nielsen who worked his way up on the outside to draw alongside Nieminen and the pair finished ahead of the two Somerset riders resulting in Leicester’s lead being extended to eleven points. With three races remaining it was still mathematically possible for the Rebels to win the meeting but the Lions defended their advantage. They needed a second place in the final race to secure all three match points which Nieminen succeeded after overtaking James Wright.
Leicester 50: Magnus Karlsson 5 points, Simon Lambert 4+2, Kauko Nieminen 13, Jan Graversen 7+3, Lasse Bjerre 6+1, Simon Nielsen 6+2 and Jari Mäkinen 9+1
Somerset 43: Claus Vissing 5 points, Alex Davies 5+1, Sam Masters 3+2, James Wright 10, Jason Doyle 18, Cameron Heeps 1 and Paul Starke 1
