Double delight for King’s Lynn Speedway

It’s been a difficult week for the Stars, with a couple of tough away fixtures off the back of an unfortunate home loss to Belle Vue, and for large parts of Monday evening, it almost felt like a case of déjà vu vu.The performances at Belle Vue and Sheffield probably put into perspective how difficult the season was going to be.Although we had built a solid side from top to bottom, there were another six teams in the Premiership who all had riders capable of making a difference on their days, and it was up to us to prove ourselves.Having succumbed to 57-33 defeats at both Belle Vue and Sheffield, it was probably too soon to call the meeting against Leicester Lions on Monday as “must win” but the Stars really needed the victory to put some points on the board and propel our season and confidence.As early as heat one, it was almost like Lady Luck was going to be against us once more as Ben Cook broke down whilst going for the big blast round the outside, and then Ashton Boughen fell foul to more misfortune whilst in a leading position in heat two.The theme went on for some time, and you started to question whether we were purely being blessed with no luck rather than good luck.Boughen again fell whilst on a 5-1 with Nicolai Klindt in heat eight, and to add more misery, Ben Cook took an awkward tumble in heat 10 after a great move to join Klindt, as we prepared for another 5-1. Firstly, we must send our best wishes to Ben for a speedy recovery after his fall. It appeared to be an arm or wrist injury, which resulted in him taking an ambulance to the hospital under gas and air. It was a sad way for the meeting to fall as Ben was beginning to find his groove after a difficult start to life with King’s Lynn, and we hope it’s nothing too serious.For all the bad luck, the Stars continued to battle, and you can never discount the ability and presence of the Bomber.Chris Harris, a signing in the making for at least 10 years, has once again continued to defy his advancing years by producing ride after ride of sheer quality, a treat for the fans of King’s Lynn, who dare I say it, haven’t witnessed a rider from the back since the days of Henka Gustafsson. Ultimately, Chris and Captain Nicolai saw us home in a tense finale, as the Stars won by two points to secure their first points of the season.It didn’t really matter whether the margin of victory was two or 22, it was important to pick up the league points and get ourselves on the board. It gives us a two-week break to regroup and go again, and hopefully the luck will start to change and see us climb up the league table and into a play-off position, which is ultimately the end goal.It was double delight for King’s Lynn on Monday evening as the Young Stars started their National Development Trophy campaign with a 48-41 victory away to the Birmingham Bulls. Having reformed after a near 10 year absence from the third tier of British Speedway, it was a difficult fixture given the way that Birmingham dealt with the Leicester Fox Cubs in their opening fixture of the Trophy, but the Young Stars made light work of the opposition, led superbly by 15-year-old Cooper Rushen, and Norfolk’s very own Jody Scott.The performance of Cooper Rushen, completing only his second competitive meeting on a 500cc bike, was the most eye-catching.He top-scored with 15+2 from his seven rides, only a day after his debut, ironically guesting for Leicester Fox Cubs at Kent Eagles, where he scored 12+2, completing a stunning first week and showing a huge amount of potential, defying his tender years.I have to reserve special praise also for Jody Scott, who endured ultimate heartache at the Press and Practice Day as his brand new engine blew up after only six laps. The public rallied, and after a GoFundMe page was set up, I was delighted to hear from his dad Shaun when he told me the new engine had been fitted ready for this meeting, due to the efforts of all those who had donated.Jody went on to score 12 points and win the crucial heats 13 and 15 as the Young Stars started off with a bang.Congratulations to Jason Pipe and the team for this achievement, and I am looking forward to seeing them at the Adrian Flux Arena on April 30 as they return to Norfolk, looking to take another victory as Birmingham become the visitors.The Stars themselves will be in action two days prior to this as they take to the tapes in front of the TNT cameras in what should be an exciting week for all King’s Lynn fans. I can’t wait.