LEICESTER return to their regular home race-night for a huge clash with defending ROWE Motor Oil Premiership champions Belle Vue on Thursday (7.30pm).
Recent Bank Holiday, KO Cup and televised matches have meant the Watling JCB Lions have had a run of Monday meetings at the Hydroscand Arena, Beaumont Park, but they are now due to be in action on their home track on three of the next four Thursdays.
And any match against the Aces is always a big one, with the two sides having contested the Premiership Grand Final last autumn which went in favour of the Manchester club.
Then when they met in the East Midlands back in April, Leicester took the honours in a dramatic Heat 15 when skipper Max Fricke overtook opposite number Brady Kurtz in a crucial move which enabled Luke Becker to come through for the point the Lions needed to hold on for a 46-44 triumph.
Becker of course is now on the sidelines with long-term back injuries, and the Lions will continue to operate the rider replacement facility with manager Stewart Dickson electing to keep it positioned at No.2, enabling the successful Ryan Douglas/Kyle Howarth combination to remain unchanged in the middle order.
Belle Vue are still in the top three although they have only raced once this month, and that was a narrow defeat at Birmingham, with recent focus having been on the Grand Prix stagings in Manchester.
Their away record this season includes wins on the road at King’s Lynn and more recently at Oxford where they were comfortable 52-38 victors with both Kurtz and Dan Bewley unbeaten.
The Aces will operate rider replacement for Kurtz after a heavy knock in the second GP on Saturday rules him out of this meeting, whilst Bewley won the opening GP of the weekend and will always be a big threat to the Lions, along with the likes of fast-gating Jaimon Lidsey and Zach Cook.
Dickson said: “We were ten points up against Belle Vue earlier in the season and we ended up hanging on, and I mean hanging on, to beat them by two.
“In fairness since the Birmingham loss at home we’ve raced Sheffield twice and put in two dominant performances, so I’d like to think that will continue on Thursday.
“Hopefully riders who are racing in the Championship will come through unscathed and then we can go with the same format that we’ve used in the last two meetings, and we go out to get the win.
“I know there will be people who say it’s a waste for us to be using Max (Fricke) in Heat 8, but Dougy and Kyle were really strong last week and I don’t want to meddle with that, plus it does also give us protection in Heat 8 with Max.
“It would be nice to say I’d like to win by ‘x’ amount to get the chance of the aggregate point, but at the moment the main focus is to keep winning at home and keep the confidence up.
“The good thing is it’s back to Thursday night racing, which I know is what the Leicester public prefer. I really hope the crowd comes out and backs us, because I do have to be honest and say for the last two home meetings, and I do appreciate they have been on Mondays, it has been a cause for concern.”
LEICESTER: Max Fricke, Luke Becker r/r, Ryan Douglas, Kyle Howarth, Sam Masters, Drew Kemp, Joe Thompson.
BELLE VUE: Dan Bewley, Norick Blodorn, Jaimon Lidsey, Zach Cook, Brady Kurtz r/r, Tate Zischke, Jake Mulford.
