LEICESTER look to bounce back from a bad night at Belle Vue when they return to ROWE Motor Oil Premiership action with a trip to King’s Lynn on Monday.
The Watling JCB Lions have two away matches upcoming this week as they also visit Sheffield on Thursday, and it’s an opportunity to get back on track after their heavy defeat in Manchester.
Lions’ recent record at both the Adrian Flux Arena and Owlerton is much more encouraging, and Monday’s meeting with the Stars will be the first time the sides have faced each other in 2026.
That therefore means a first reunion with former Leicester skipper Max Fricke who led the Lions to two Grand Finals and a Premiership KO Cup triumph during his three seasons with the East Midlands.
Fricke thankfully emerged relatively unscathed from a heavy crash during Saturday’s Wroclaw GP and completed all four of his remaining rides.
The Stars therefore hope to be at full strength, with both Paco Castagna and Rising Star Jody Scott due to return after recent knocks.
Lions shuffle the riding order of their top five with Drew Kemp moving to the No.2 position to partner Ryan Douglas – who produced one of the moves of the season when racing in Poland on Thursday when he passed Josh Pickering on the last bend of Heat 15 to seal an away win for his Poznan team at Rzeszow. Dan Thompson therefore moves to No.4 where he will partner Nick Morris.
Manager Stewart Dickson said: “The Belle Vue match has gone now, and that was the message I put out in the group chat a day or so later.
“One bad meeting doesn’t define us as a team, and now we have to move on to King’s Lynn, and to Sheffield on Thursday and start afresh.
“I can rant and rave about Belle Vue all I like, but that’s not going to make any difference because it’s gone now. What is important is that we get a reaction on Monday.
“I believe we are in a little group with them, Ipswich and Northampton where two of us will make the play-offs, that’s how I see it at the moment. I know I said that last year and we ended up propelling ourselves towards the top after a run of away wins, but I’m just looking at how things appear this stage.
“Obviously there’s the Max Fricke factor and he’ll want to do well, but let’s be honest, he does well regardless of who he’s racing against so it doesn’t make much difference to us.
Any rider will want to do well against his old team, but it will be good to go there, shake hands and then get on with business.
“We have a duty to our supporters to put on a better, more spirited, performance and we need to show we’ve got a bit of resilience in us, and that will be the message on the track walk.”
Lions fans not making the trip to the Adrian Flux Arena should note that the match is being live-streamed on BSN with passes available from https://www.britishspeedwaynetwork.co.uk/ .
KING’S LYNN: Max Fricke, Paco Castagna, Chris Harris, Ben Cook, Jan Kvech, Cooper Rushen, Jody Scott.
LEICESTER: Ryan Douglas, Drew Kemp, Nick Morris, Dan Thompson, Sam Masters, Kyle Howarth, Joe Thompson.
