Klindt praises supportive fans after Stars’ return

Nicolai Klindt will make his return to King’s Lynn colours when the Stars host Birmingham at the Adrian Flux Arena next Thursday (May 2).The Dane was one of the shining lights for the club in 2023 but missed out on the closing six weeks of the campaign after suffering a broken neck in a horrific crash in Poland.He then signed for Oxford this year, but after making a slow start to the season in the UK he was surprisingly released by the Cowley club last week in favour of another former Stars rider, Erik Riss.Klindt’s issues were set-up rather than fitness-related as he has scored well in Poland this season, and he was already being strongly linked with a return to Lynn (see page even before they were hit by the news that Vadim Tarasenko had quit.Klindt said: “King’s Lynn is a place I enjoy riding at, it’s a good club, and the fans there are great – even though we didn’t win many meetings in the last couple of years, they were still supportive! “Of course, you get the ones who are negative which is the case in any sport, and we did our best last year, and I really enjoyed it on a personal note.“I turned my season around and I think I had only two meetings out of the last ten when I scored below 12 points. “So I’m looking to kick off on a track that I know and start strong when I come in for my first meeting against Birmingham.“When I joined them in ’22 I started off pretty well at home, and I know I can ride the place well. “I have a good relationship with Buster (Keith Chapman) and the track guy from the last few seasons, so I know what to expect, and I’m also really looking forward to working with Rob Lyon.“It’s a long time since I’ve worked with him, other than the two meetings that he came in for last year, and I think it’s going to benefit me personally, because he’s one of the best team managers in the league.” There’s no doubt that Tarasenko’s exit is a huge disappointment, as he was expected to push on and offer significant top-end support to captain Tobiasz Musielak this season.Tarasenko was keen to gain extra meetings in the UK last year and even joined Championship club Glasgow’s title charge in addition to racing in the top flight for Peterborough, but he clearly now has different thoughts.The Stars are hopeful that Benjamin Basso will be able to return next week after an elbow injury, not helped by him spending time in hospital with an infection, whilst Niels-Kristian Iversen was due back at Oxford last night (Thursday).