King’s Lynn’s Danish star Frederik Jakobsen says it would be wrong to read too much into Monday’s opening-night defeat at Wolverhampton.
The MacInnes Stars were beaten 56-34 in their first Premiership match of the season, on a night when only Jakobsen and Michael Palm Toft really got to grips with the tricky, diminutive Monmore circuit.
The duo scored 22 of the visitors’ points between them with Jakobsen piling up 13+1 from a maximum seven-ride schedule at reserve – but several of their other riders displayed clear signs of it being their first competitive meeting.
And they were virtually out of contention after just six races, having conceded three 5-1s to go 14 points down before improving in the closing stages.
Jakobsen said: “It was the first match of the season, and we’ve got a long year ahead.
“This doesn’t define anything with how the team is going to be all year, it’s only the start.
“I think we got a bit of a slap in the head you could say, a wake-up call, so we’ll be ready to go from now on.
“It’s not that we weren’t ready on Monday, but I imagine it’s never easy coming to Wolves, it’s not an easy place to ride.
“We’ll move on well from here. It was very difficult all round and I think straight from Heat 1 we got a bit caught out.
“I don’t know if we were just not as prepped as the home boys, but obviously they’ve had a few goes here and it was the first time for most of us.
“It was my first time ever at Wolves and it wasn’t an easy track to dial in. I felt I was alright, but it wasn’t the way we wanted to start the season.
“We’ve got to bounce back, and hopefully sooner rather than later.”
Jakobsen rode for Poole in 2018 but both of their visits to Wolverhampton had taken place before he joined the club, so racing on the Premiership’s smallest track did come as something of a culture shock.
The Dane, though, showed just what an asset he is to the Stars and it would be no surprise to see him in a heat-leader berth – or even at No.1 – before too long.
He said: “I’ve been here once to watch, five years ago and I was thinking I’m probably 10cm too tall to get turned around this place!
“But it felt alright as I was going into turn one, it just took a bit to get used to it, and when I didn’t make the starts I had to try and dial in with the bike a little bit more, and my style on the bike.
“But I learned heaps, and I was quite happy with my own performance.”
The Stars will still have additional-rides potential of Jakobsen at reserve for the return fixture against Wolves next Thursday.
The meeting kicks off the Premiership campaign at the Adrian Flux Arena, before he moves up the order one week later.
The Dane has been a revelation since arriving in Norfolk towards the end of last season.
