In the wake of the enforced off-track changes that the Elliott sponsored Lions were faced with in the lead up to this fixture the team did not have the best of starts under new team manager Glyn Taylor after losing at Rye House by 58 points to 34 in a League Cup fixture last night.
Leicester were without Lasse Bjerre who was competing in a World Under-21 Individual Championship qualifier in Denmark and his contribution was sorely missed as the team could only muster four points from his rides which was well down on what could be expected from Bjerre had he been present.
The home side set off at a high tempo and were leading by ten points after five races which led to Glyn Taylor nominating Kauko Nieminen for a double points’ tactical ride in the sixth heat. The expected outcome did not materialise because the Lions captain’s front wheel lifted and by the time he had regained control the two home riders were too far ahead, which left the Lions trailing Rye House by 25 points to 11 at that stage in the meeting.
The result of the seventh heat marked the first occasion that a Leicester rider was first past the chequered flag when Jan Graversen beat Jordan Frampton and the home team’s response was to win the next race by maximum points. Leicester counteracted with an identical finish when Simon Nielsen rode a high line around the second bend to pass all three riders and with Nieminen tucked in behind his team partner, Leicester completed their first heat advantage of the evening.
Another win came in heat 11 when Magnus Karlsson scored double points and with Simon Lambert securing third place Leicester picked up a 5-3 heat score. In the embers of the meeting, Nieminen stopped Charlie Gjedde’s sequence of winning rides in a closely contested heat 13 but these isolated high points were not enough to seriously challenge the dominance of the home team.
Scorers
Rye House 58: Charlie Gjedde 14 points, Jason Bunyan 5+2, Anders Mellgren 6, Ritchie Hawkins 7+1, Jordan Frampton 11+2, Jason Garrity 7+1 and Luke Bowen 8+2
Leicester 34: Magnus Karlsson 6 points, Simon Lambert 6, Jan Graversen 8+1, Kauko Nieminen 8+2, Jari Mäkinen 0 and Simon Nielsen 6+1
