Two West Cumbrian stars go head-to-head tonight when the 2024 speedway season gets underway.
The line-ups have been declared for the opening Premiership fixtures of the season and Leicester v Belle Vue is top of the bill at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena, Beaumont Park.
The Lions have made four changes to the team which completed last season while Ben Cook and Connor Mountain make their debuts for the Aces.
Still very much part of the Leicester side is Richard Lawson, now 38, who spent the early part of his career – 2009-2014 – with his local side Workington Comets.
Riding for Belle Vue again is World number seven Dan Bewley, Maryport-based and another former Workington rider (2018) whose career has blossomed in the Grand Prix over the last two years.
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Richard Lawson, Sam Masters, Luke Becker, Ryan Douglas, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson.
BELLE VUE: Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Jaimon Lidsey, Ben Cook, Dan Bewley, Connor Mountain, Connor Bailey.
Referee: Chris Durno
There’s also Workington interest in the meeting between newcomers Oxford and Birmingham who square-up at Cowley, with Polish star Maciej Janowski making his UK return at No 1 for the Spires.
Charles Wright, who rode for the Comets in four seasons (2007, 08, 09, 11) is making his Oxford debut after leaving Belle Vue.
He has been practicing at Northside ahead of the new season, returning to action after a horror crash in Poland towards the end of the 2023 campaign put him in hospital with back and rib injuries.
The Brummies have signed Scott Nicholls having received the shock news last week that Piotr Pawlicki would not be fit to start the season. Nicholls was at Northside recently passing on tips to some of the best riders in the country.
OXFORD: Maciej Janowski, Charles Wright, Nicolai Klindt, Chris Harris, Rohan Tungate, Lewis Kerr, Ashton Boughen.
BIRMINGHAM: Vaclav Milik, Tom Brennan, Wiktor Lampart, Steve Worrall, Scott Nicholls, Zach Cook, Leon Flint.
Referee: Matthew Wear
