The Leicester Lions held off a concerted challenge from King’s Lynn to record a 47-42 home win over the Stars in their opening ROWE Motor Oil Premiership fixture.
The Lions recovered from conceding a controversial 0-5 in Heat 2 when both reserves were disqualified, and they regained the lead with a 5-1 of their own in the next race as the visitors suffered their own misfortune.
The hosts maintained a narrow advantage throughout but only made things virtually safe with a 4-2 from impressive debutant Luke Becker (11+2) and Drew Kemp in Heat 14, leaving them just requiring a finisher in the final race.
Richard Lawson added 11 for the Lions whilst Vadim Tarasenko collected 10+1 for the Stars, including a terrific effort to pass Max Fricke and Ryan Douglas in Heat 13.
Leicester manager Stewart Dickson said: “A home match on the first night is always a potential banana skin. We won by five points and I would have taken that before the start, I have to be honest about that.
“We got there. There were one or two difficult moments for us in the meeting, they were coming back into it and I was never quite sure that we were going to win, but we got there in the end.
“There were some good performances and one or two of the other guys had some teething problems, but it’s early days without making any excuses. It’s a win, and that’s what we wanted.”
Stars boss Rob Lyon said: “I was very happy with the performance. We knew going into Heat 15 that gate four was the best, and Tarasenko had ridden a blinder in Heat 13 so at the very least I was expecting a 3-3, and it proved that way.
“To come away five points down and take it back to King’s Lynn, we stand a very good chance of getting the aggregate point, and that will be crucial this year.
“Getting three points out of each set of home and away matches is going to get us to the play-offs, so I’m happy with that. It’s a good first meeting for us, there were a few gremlins from the boys but overall I’m pleased.”
Words by British Speedway – Picture by Richard BOETTCHER
Official Referee Scorecard
leicester_21.03.24_res
