LEICESTER are delighted to announce skipper Max Fricke will be back to lead the team again in the 2025 season.
The Australian star will be going into his third year with the Watling JCB Lions having joined the club for their step into the top-flight in 2023, and he took over as captain in the latter stages of that campaign before heading up the recent charge to the Grand Final.
With a 9.14 average – a figure bettered only by fellow countrymen Jason Doyle and Brady Kurtz – Fricke is one of the outstanding performers in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership.
He recorded no fewer than six maximums in league matches this year, which was the most of any rider, including unbeaten displays in away wins at King’s Lynn and Ipswich, and an 18-point full house plus Super Heat victory at home to King’s Lynn.
And he is also preparing for a return to the Grand Prix series as a full-time rider in 2025, having missed out this year although he did still race the majority of the campaign as first reserve after Doyle had been injured.
Lions manager Stewart Dickson said: “I’m very happy that Max has committed to a third season with Leicester, and I think he’s feeling at home here now.
“He’ll come back and lead the side again, and I don’t think there was any real danger that it wasn’t going to happen because he’s pretty loyal and that works both ways.
“He’s fairly easy to deal with and seems to like the way the club is run, and he also takes an interest in what I’m doing with the rest of the team, and we’re happy to have that input from him.
“Max definitely one of the top boys in the league and whilst I know some folk will look at his scores in the play-off Final, you’ve got to look at the season as a whole, including his 5-1s with Sam Masters in the semi-final to get us there.
“His 9.14 average is without bonus points, it’s almost ten with bonus points which is what I call the old school averages, because there were several times we were getting 5-1s with him in second place.
“I think it’s also good for Leicester commercially that Max is in the GPs again next season, and we have a GP rider leading the team. I’m sure he’ll be around that nine-point mark again for us, and if he is he’ll have done his job.”
Lions plan to make further announcements next week ahead of a Season Ticket launch day at Beaumont Park on Sunday November 24 (10.30am-1.30pm).
