BELLE Vue kick off a big week on the road when they visit King’s Lynn in ROWE Motor Oil Premiership action on Monday (7.30pm).
The ATPI Aces will be heading to East Anglia twice in the space of four days as the trip to the Adrian Flux Arena is quickly followed by another away match, this time at Ipswich, on Thursday.
King’s Lynn opened their league campaign with a home win over Sheffield a fortnight ago, but they were beaten at Ipswich on Bank Holiday Monday.
The Stars made a big move over the winter when they signed former Aces skipper Max Fricke as their out-and-out No.1, having generally lacked a rider of that calibre in recent seasons.
They swooped for the Australian star after he was released by Leicester having spent three seasons at the Hydroscand Arena.
Elsewhere, Lynn include the evergreen Chris Harris and another recent ex-Belle Vue rider in Ben Cook, whilst last year’s Aces’ Rising Star Jake Mulford makes a guest appearance for the home side as Jody Scott is ruled out following a crash on Thursday.
Aces boss Mark Lemon has spoken of the need for consistency in away matches, and the venue has proved reasonably productive in the past as Belle Vue have won a league match in Norfolk in each of the past three seasons.
They remain without Peter Kildemand due to his broken collarbone, and Lemon has moved to book Northampton’s in-form Kye Thomson to guest.
Thomson racked up a remarkable 18+1 score for the Foxes last Thursday, ironically racing at reserve against the same opponents of King’s Lynn, and this time he slots in at No.3 alongside Zach Cook in the Aces’ middle-order.
Kildemand had his collarbone plated last week and his fitness will be assessed after around another fortnight of recovery.
Lemon said: “We always target wins, and that doesn’t change. We want to go there and put our best foot forward – we have a good team and we are certainly capable.
“We’ve seen some positive signs from riders who perhaps struggled last year in Norick (Blodorn) and Tate (Zischke), and I think if we get a tune out of Kye it’s going to be a pretty entertaining meeting.
“Kye’s form this season doesn’t surprise me. The talent is there, he’s always been a good motorcyclist and now he’s taking his opportunity, and I’m sure he’ll be fine around King’s Lynn.”
KING’S LYNN: Max Fricke, Paco Castagna, Chris Harris, Ben Cook, Jan Kvech, Cooper Rushen, Jake Mulford.
BELLE VUE: Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Kye Thomson, Zach Cook, Dan Bewley, Tate Zischke, Will Cairns.