King’s Lynn have completed their line-up for 2024 with the signing of two exciting newcomers to the club.
The Stars have moved to bring in Vadim Tarasenko, who was a spectacular success during his spell with Peterborough this year, and who has already shown his liking for the Adrian Flux Arena.
And he will be joined by Polish racer Patryk Wojdylo, who had a shorter period with the Panthers in 2023 but also put in some eye-catching displays.
Tarasenko, 29, is an established performer in the Polish Ekstraliga, where he races for Grudziadz, and he came to the UK for the first time in late June, immediately banking a 12-point score on his debut at Belle Vue.
He hit double figures on four more occasions to record a highly creditable 6.94 average despite seeing all of the tracks for the first time, and his visit to King’s Lynn with the Panthers saw him unbeaten in his first three rides before a heavy crash on the first bend of Heat 13.
Team manager Rob Lyon said: “Vadim is a great guy with a very professional set-up. We saw that when he came over this year, and we could see the Ekstraliga influence there.
“He was very popular with the Peterborough fans, and whilst he’s a very good starter, he’s also an out-and-out racer.
“He averaged 6.94 despite never seeing the UK tracks before, so you’d expect him to improve on that and I’ll have no qualms about putting him at No.5.
“He’s a second heat-leader, a quality performer all-round, he was very keen to come to King’s Lynn and I think he’ll only get better.”
Meanwhile 24-year-old Wojdylo races in the second tier in Poland, the newly re-named Ekstraliga 2, where he has recently joined Krosno from Rybnik.
Last winter he won the Argentinean International Championship in a multi-round series, and whilst he was limited to just four matches in Peterborough colours during mid-summer, two of those produced impressive scores of 12 against Ipswich and 13+2 against Sheffield.
Lyon said: “Patryk is a young, exciting rider who was highly recommended to us by two or three different people, and what we saw of him was pretty impressive.
“He’ll start at reserve, although I don’t think it will be long before he’s pushing his way into the main body of the team.
“I feel King’s Lynn is a track which will really suit him, and I’m looking forward to seeing him on track for us.”
Tarasenko and Wojdylo join the five riders already announced – Tobiasz Musielak, Niels-Kristian Iversen, Benjamin Basso, Michael Palm Toft and Anders Rowe – in a much-changed Stars septet for 2024.
All signings are subject to completion of the appropriate paperwork and formal ratification by BSP Ltd.