The Elliott sponsored Leicester Lions consolidated their position as early leaders of the Premier League with a win against the Scunthorpe Scorpions at Beaumont Park Stadium on Saturday by 49 points to 43. Track conditions favoured the visitors during the early part of the meeting more so than the home side who found themselves ten points behind after the eighth race.
The next heat proved to be the turning point when Leicester bounced back from the brink of a possible defeat to capitalise from Scunthorpe’s misfortune. Team Manager Jason Attwood nominated captain Kauko Nieminen for a tactical ride and the points the Lions rider scored would count for double if he finished ahead of either or both of the Scunthorpe riders. The race took three attempts to complete and a double exclusion for the two Scunthorpe riders when first of all Jerran Hart fell and was excluded for being the prime reason for the stoppage. In the re-run Josh Auty also fell heavily on the pits bend and he was ruled out on the same basis as his team partner which left Nieminen and Jari Mäkinen the task of completing four laps unopposed and a bonus of eight points.
Despite the setback, Scunthorpe held on to a slender lead for another three races until heat 13 when Lasse Bjerre and Magnus Karlsson scored maximum points which enabled Leicester to draw level for the first time. With just two races remaining the result in the penultimate heat was crucial to Leicester’s chances of winning the meeting. Jari Mäkinen and Jan Graversen were up against the Scorpion’s top reserve Ashley Birks and his team partner Michael Palm Toft. It was the Leicester pairing that gained the important positions as Mäkinen led and Graversen was holding third place until Birks swept around the outside of Mäkinen on the apex of the third and fourth bends. The Lions rider regained the lead on the next corner and held his position for the remainder of the race and the finishing order gave Leicester a two point advantage entering the final heat.
Nieminen and Karlsson faced Scunthorpe’s top two riders Tero Aarnio and Thomas Jorgensen but the visitors were no match for the Lions pairing who controlled the race from start to finish which completed a remarkable comeback.
"We were certainly worried after heat 8 and quite rightly so having only secured one heat advantage up until then. The out turn of the next race had a large bearing on what happened afterwards as Josh Auty and Jerran Hart were excluded in separate incidents. Scunthorpe will feel aggrieved that they let it slip when in the driving seat but things happen in sport when the pendulum can swing the opposite way to give a team an unexpected lifeline and you have to take your chances when they do. We have never come back from 10 points down before and won, so that is a first, and against one of the in-form teams so far this season it is a measure of where we currently are as a club. There will be days when we will be on the receiving end of bad luck and it is difficult to legislate against that happening but above that we need to find the key to unlocking the secret of consistency particularly at home where a near perfect record is a must to realise our aspirations of a top six place in the Premier League" commented the Lions Co-promoter Alan Jones.
Leicester 49: Magnus Karlsson 9 points plus 2 bonus, Simon Lambert 2+1, Kauko Nieminen 15, Jari Mäkinen 7+1, Lasse Bjerre 7, Jan Graversen 7 and Simon Nielsen 2+1
Scunthorpe 43: Kevin Doolan 4 points plus 1 bonus, Thomas Jorgensen 9+1, Tero Aarnio 10+1, Michael Palm Toft 3+1, Josh Auty 4+2, Jerran Hart 0 and Ashley Birks 13+1
