PREVIEW: PREMIERSHIP PAIRS, LEICESTER

LEICESTER host a big night in the top-flight as all seven clubs compete in the Premiership Pairs tonight (Thursday).

Ipswich are the defending champions from last season’s five-round series, whilst this year’s event has become a one-off after bad weather earlier in the year forced fixture re-arrangements.

Lions boss Stewart Dickson has selected GP star Max Fricke and in-form fellow Aussie Justin Sedgmen to represent the home club – but he says all riders are currently enjoying racing at the Pidcock Motorycles Arena, Beaumont Park.

Dickson said: “People may say that we’ve got a home track advantage but the fact is Belle Vue have raced here twice, Ipswich have been here twice, Sheffield have been here recently and have a strong pairing, so in general the riders here have done plenty of laps around Leicester.

“It’s a big honour for the club to bring this Major Event to Leicester. It’s no secret that there was a huge amount of work done on the track here over the winter, and it’s already come in for plenty of praise from visiting riders.

“The most important thing is that it’s an entertaining night with some good racing, so I very much hope we serve up a product worthy of the occasion.”

The meeting runs over a total format of 23 races, with each team competing six times in the qualifiers over a 4-3-2-0 scoring system. The top-scoring team goes straight to the Final with second and third competing in the semi-final for the right to meet them in the decider.

KING’S LYNN: Nicolai Klindt, Thomas Jorgensen, Anders Rowe (RS)

IPSWICH: Erik Riss, Danny King, Dan Thompson (RS)

WOLVERHAMPTON: Sam Masters, Steve Worrall, Leon Flint (RS)

LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Justin Sedgmen, Drew Kemp (RS)

BELLE VUE: Dan Bewley, Brady Kurtz, Jake Mulford (RS)

SHEFFIELD: Jack Holder, Tobiasz Musielak, Dan Gilkes (RS)

PETERBOROUGH: Ben Cook, Richie Worrall, Jordan Jenkins (RS)

*LIVE STREAMING: https://watch.britishspeedway.co.uk