LEICESTER will be competing in an additional competition next season – having accepted a place in the 2025 National Development Trophy.
The club were already confirmed starters for the National Development League, where they will be defending the title, and now they will be part of the five-team Trophy series.
With more clubs wishing to be involved at NDL level, the NDT has been introduced as a parallel competition with the same rules and regulations and it was to feature entries from Birmingham, Kent Eagles, King’s Lynn, Plymouth and Workington.
However, with Workington now not taking their place, Leicester have stepped in to maintain a five-team competition, meaning four extra meetings at Beaumont Park next season.
The NDT team has already been assembled and once again it features several of the UK’s top rising talents, fitting the ethos of the NDL/NDT and the club’s own policy for rider development.
15-year-old Will Cairns (pictured), son of club owner Paul, will race at No.1 following his spectacular introduction to league racing in 2024 at Belle Vue, whilst Sonny Springer will be on double duty with Leicester as he races for both the NDL and the NDT teams.
Also included are the Pijper brothers, Ace and Stene, who will be racing for Middlesbrough in the NDL, along with another Northern based rider in Mason Watson.
At reserve will be two newcomers to league racing as Leicester will track Max Broadhurst, son of fellow racer Wayne, and British Youth graduate Caydin Martin who turns 15 in late January.
Leicester promoter Stewart Dickson said: “When it became clear that a place had become available in the NDT we were happy to come in and help, and I think it gives the competition a better look with five teams.
“I suppose in an ideal world if we’d known about it a few weeks earlier, we would have looked to include more riders who we had signed for the original Lion Cubs side in the NDL.
“However, the bottom line is that this is all about track time for these young kids, and certainly since I’ve been at Leicester I feel the club has been very good at doing this, and we will continue to keep doing it.
“I put the NDT team together in about 24 hours and I actually feel it’s quite a decent looking side, and it comes in just under the 38-point limit.
“Anybody that knows me since I joined Leicester knows that I don’t put these teams together with the intention of making up the numbers, I do it to be competitive. I can assure the supporters that the Leicester team that represents us in the NDT will be very competitive.
“It’s another four home meetings and the fixture list will require a bit of juggling about, but we are used to running plenty of events during the season here when you also include practice sessions, AMSA days and so on, so it shouldn’t be any great problem.”
The full fixture list for NDL and NDT is being compiled and will be available in the New Year, with Leicester retaining Sundays as their primary race day at this level.
We can also confirm the offer to season ticket holders for £6 entry to NDL matches will be extended to also cover fixtures in the NDT.
LEICESTER (NDT) 2025: Will Cairns 10.22, Ace Pijper 6.44, Sonny Springer 5.60, Stene Pijper 4.82, Mason Watson 4.82, Max Broadhurst 3.00, Caydin Martin 3.00. Total: 37.90.
