King’s Lynn ‘Roger Warnes Transport’ Stars captain Rory Schlein announced his return from injury with an impressive display in the season-opening Ben Fund Bonanza at the Adrian Flux Arena on Saturday night.
The popular Aussie, who was making his first return to the track since his serious back injury last season, received a warm reception from the supporters as he came out for his opening ride. There was much speculation to how his return to would go, but he soon showed that despite being off the bike for a number of months, he could still do it, and to a high standard.
Emotions were running high in the Schlein camp during the meeting, and when he crossed the line for his first race win since the injury, it was clear to see what it meant to be back doing what he loves.
Schlein continued to impress and went on to score 10 points in the qualification races and secured his place in the final.
Great Britain international Craig Cook remained unbeaten all night and stormed through the qualifying heats with maximum points, which meant he joined Schlein in the final.
A semifinal was used to determine the last two places in the grand final of the 2016 season-opening meeting. Bjarne Pedersen, who scored 8 and Robert Lambert, who also scored 8 points in the qualification races completed the final quartet after beating Chris Harris and Nicolai Klindt in the penultimate race.
An unbeaten Cook claimed the first win of the 2016 season to continue his unbeaten run, but he was made to work hard for it, with Schlein pushing him all the way to the chequered flag. Stars rider Lambert just missed out on a podium place as Pedersen just edged him out on the final lap.
After the meeting Schlein said: “I was pleased with how it went. It was a good meeting to start with and I couldn’t have hoped for much more.”
Lynn’s other riders, Mads Korneliussen and Kai Huckenbeck also competed in the meeting on Saturday night. Korneliussen finished with 4 points but also hit the deck in his final race, fortunately he was able to walk away. Due to withdrawals from Simon Stead (concussion) and Krzysztof Kasprzak (collarbone), reserve Huckenbeck got his chance for some early laps before he makes his club debut next week against Wroclaw. The talented German scored 4 points from three rides and that included a very determined performance in his final ride against Cook, Jason Doyle and Pedersen.
BEN FUND BONANZA QUALIFYING SCORES: Craig Cook 12, Rory Schlein 10, Chris Harris 8, Bjarne Pedersen 8, Robert Lambert 8, Nicolai Klindt 8, Jason Doyle 8, Ulrich Ostergaard 7, Steve Worrall 7, Josh Bates 6, Josh Auty 6, Ryan Douglas 5, Richie Worrall 4, Mads Korneliussen 4, Kai Huckenbeck (res) 4, Danny King 3, Ben Barker 2, Simon Stead 2, Krzysztof Kasprzak 2, Kevin Doolan 2, Emil Grondal 2, Kacper Woryna (res) 2.
