It’s double header time on the road again on Saturday (25th. Sept.) with both Kent Speedway’s sides in action at Leicester. And in both cases the opponents remain (for the moment at least) reigning champions in their respective leagues.
Leicester Lions are the TouchTec Kings’ last opponents in the SBG Championship this season and allows Scott Nicholls a return to the track where he captained the East Midlanders to the SGBC league title in 2019. Of course it’s a very quick reunion for all the Kings and Lions as the two teams met at Central Park on Tuesday with Leicester coming out on top 53-37.
The hosts (looking forward - as they now can do – to the 2021 title-deciding Play Offs) are expected to be unchanged while for the TouchTec-sponsored Kings coming in to replace the missing Jake Mulford for a first SGBC appearance will be the Royals’ Alex Spooner.
That will mean a very busy evening for club loyalist Spooner, of course, as the second part of the double header sees the Royals side he rides for go up against the 2019 NL champions, Leicester’s ‘second side, the Lion Cubs. The Leicester side are much changed in terms of line up from that title winning campaign but do retain in their ranks the Thompson twins, Dan & Joe who like Dan Gilkes and Spooner will be doubling with the senior side too in the meeting.
Dan Thompson was GB Youth 500cc champion in 2020 and this term (indeed last weekend) took the runners up position in the next age range up, the British U19 championship. Both brothers have huge experience around their home track at Beaumont Park and will certainly represent a challenge for the title-chasing Iwade Garage Royals who will really be after another win on the road before the five home matches in a row coming up.
Utilising Rider Replacement for the recently retired Joe Lawlor, there are three 2021 newcomers in the Lion Cubs side. Ben Trigger comes out of the Youth ranks where he’s actually succeeded his team mate Dan Thompson as the national 500cc champion this term. Mickie Simpson has been a familiar face in the youth scene for some tine now, as is Kai Ward. There’s more experience in the form of 21-year-old Tom Spencer who spent 2019 as a Cradley Heathen.
John Sampford’s Royals side will themselves be utilising the R/R facility for the unavailable Mulford.
The action gets underway at Leicester’s Beaumont Park track at 6pm on Saturday 25th. September