King’s Lynn MacInnes Stars have suffered another huge injury blow with captain Nicolai Klindt hospitalised after a horror crash in Poland.
Klindt, who has recorded a string of high scores for the MacInnes Stars this season, was brought down in a three-man pile-up during the Ostrow v Gdansk fixture on Sunday.
He has suffered a broken neck in two places, with a C3 fracture, although mercifully there are reported to be no complications and he does have movement in his arms and legs.
The incident also involved Oliver Berntzon and Francis Gusts who appear to have escaped with heavy bruising.
The bad news came just two days after Stars boss David Hoggart heaped praise on skipper Klindt following Thursday’s 51-39 defeat at Ipswich.
Tracking a somewhat depleted team, the MacInnes Stars held the Witches far closer than had been anticipated, and even left Foxhall with the feeling that it could have been a winnable meeting.
Klindt scored a superb 15 points from seven rides, defeating top home duo Emil Sayfutdinov and Jason Doyle in the process, and he would have had more but for a disqualification in Heat 9 when he lifted and Danny King, who was trying to make it around the outside, came to grief.
Hoggart said: “Nicolai is one of the most outstanding captains in the league, without any shadow of a doubt.
“It’s not just him but also his pit team who rally round and help everybody else, and in terms of the effort he’s put in over the short time I’ve been with King’s Lynn he’s been outstanding.
“His commitment to the club, and to British Speedway, has been incredible, and I can’t thank him and his crew enough.
“I’m also grateful to young Sam Hagon and his family for taking the booking in the Rising Star berth, bearing in mind the rules only allow us to use riders not attached to another Premier League club to guest. To see such a positive attitude from such a young man was very refreshing.
“I must also say Connor Mountain deserves thanks for his contribution. It wasn’t a straightforward night for him given everything that was going on with a patched-up team, but my thanks to him.
“I know probably most people wouldn’t have expected us to score 39, but we actually could have won. I’d also like to wish Dan Thompson well after his crash in Heat 2, and obviously that long delay was something else that everyone had to deal with.”
Ipswich lost their Rising Star reserve Dan Thompson with a dislocated shoulder after he came down in first-bend bunching in Heat 2, which left the home side short-handed on a couple of occasions although Thompson’s colleague Danyon Hume took seven rides and scored paid-11.
The Stars, who lined up in exactly the order advertised in the build-up to the meeting, battled to remain in touch although Artem Laguta experienced a difficult first visit to the Suffolk venue with a crash and a retirement curtailing his scoring.
Three of the first four races were shared, punctuated by a fall for Hume after the hard-working Simon Lambert challenged him on the first lap of Heat 1, and the Thompson crash in Heat 2 which necessitated a lengthy delay to the meeting.
The Witches edged ahead with a 4-2 in Heat 3 from Erik Riss and King, and the same combination collected the first 5-1 of the night in Heat 5 as Laguta came to grief just after he had moved into second place.
Klindt had superbly defeated Doyle to win Heat 4 but he was unable to stop Sayfutdinov in Heat 6, and a likely 5-1 to the home side in the next was lost when Hume fell on the last lap.
Stars narrowed the gap to four points as Klindt took Heat 8 in a three-man race, but the King/Riss pairing picked up another 5-1 after Klindt’s disqualification, King having fallen heavily on the exit of turn two.
Lambert split Doyle and Hume in Heat 11 after Laguta hit more trouble as the Witches began to pull away, and Hume joined King for a 5-1 over guest Benjamin Basso and Lambert in Heat 12.
Klindt produced another storming effort in Heat 13 to defeat both Sayfutdinov and Doyle, and the Stars gained a deserved advantage in Heat 14 with Lambert beating Hume whilst guest Connor Mountain took third place.
The last race was shared with King retiring for the Witches although this time Sayfutdinov got the better of Klindt.
The Stars are back in action on Thursday at the Adrian Flux Arena in the return fixture against the Witches.
Ipswich 51: Emil Sayfutdinov 13+1, Danyon Hume 10+1, Jason Doyle 10, Erik Riss 9+2, Danny King 9+1, Dan Thompson 0, Keynan Rew r/r.
King’s Lynn 39: Nicolai Klindt 15, Simon Lambert 10+2, Benjamin Basso 6+1, Sam Hagon 3+2, Connor Mountain 3+1, Artem Laguta 2, Thomas Jorgensen r/r.
