PETERBOROUGH kick-off their 2012 Elite League campaign with a Good Friday double-bill against near-neighbours King’s Lynn.
The Readypower Panthers host the Stars at the East of England Showground at 2.00pm and then the two sides make a hasty dash down the A47 for the return fixture at the Norfolk Arena at 7.00pm.
And a bumper crowd is expected at both venues with the Easter programme traditionally a popular attraction for speedway supporters up and down the country.
Panthers have made a bright start to the new season with two victories in their warm-up matches, and will be looking to continue in a similar vein to get their Elite League programme off to a flyer.
With a five-day break since their last meeting they go into the Bank Holiday with a clean bill of health and welcome skipper Kenneth Bjerre back from his exploits in last weekend’s New Zealand Grand Prix. The Dane landed back in the UK on Tuesday and is ready to face the club he helped to qualification in last season’s play-offs.
Olly Allen is another Peterborough rider facing his former team, along with Lasse Bjerre who joins up with his Panthers team-mates for the evening clash. Bjerre junior is riding for his Premier League club Leicester at Ipswich earlier in the day, so other double-up man Rene Bach gets the call for the afternoon match at the Showground.
Fast-rising Dane Michael Jepsen Jensen makes his first home appearance of the season and is fresh from his 14+3 match-winning performance at Rye House last Saturday.
King’s Lynn are reported to be at full-strength with current World Under-21 Champion Maciej Janowski likely to be the ‘one to watch’, along with former Panthers Niels-Kristian Iversen, Mads Korneliussen and doubling-up reserve David Howe who started his career at the Showground and has been piling up points in both Elite and Premier Leagues so far this year.
Panthers co-boss Jan Staechmann is looking to get some early league points on the board. He said: “Our opening meeting against the Sullivan’s Seven was a good way to start, and I thought Rye House was a very interesting exercise for us.
“This, however, is the start of the Elite League and we need to be on our guard from Heat 1. We want to start the Elite League season as well as we can, so we have to be going for home and away wins if we can manage it.
“Given what I’ve seen so far, I’m encouraged and hopefully we’ll have some good points on the board at the end of the evening.”
Teams @ Peterborough, 2pm: PETERBOROUGH: Kenneth Bjerre, Rene Bach, Olly Allen, Jesper B Monberg, Linus Sundstrom, Richard Lawson, Michael Jepsen Jensen.
KING’S LYNN: Niels-Kristian Iversen, Daniel Nermark, Mads Korneliussen, Kevin Wolbert, Maciej Janowski, David Howe, Filip Sitera.
Teams @ King’s Lynn, 7pm KING’S LYNN: Niels-Kristian Iversen, Daniel Nermark, Maciej Janowski, Kevin Wolbert, Mads Korneliussen, David Howe, Filip Sitera.
PETERBOROUGH: Kenneth Bjerre, Lasse Bjerre, Olly Allen, Jesper B Monberg, Linus Sundstrom, Richard Lawson, Michael Jepsen Jensen.
