TEAM boss Alex Brady hailed talkative skipper Josh Pickering’s off-track influence as King’s Lynn turned on the style to beat Belle Vue 50-40.
The Minors & Brady Stars finished with a 5-1 from Pickering and Richard Lawson to send the Aces packing and back up the valuable point they picked up in Manchester on Monday
Unsurprisingly, it was captain Pickering who led the way with his trademark blistering rides in which he beat Max Fricke, the man who had won the Warsaw Grand Prix only five days earlier, three times.
The hosts did not have it all their own way, though, trailing by two points going into heat six when Niels-Kristian Iversen and Thomas Jorgensen, who only dropped one point to an opponent all night, bagged a maximum to turn the tide.
The Stars were two to the good when the first grading break happened and a gathering in the pits helped continue the momentum with Iversen and Jorgensen gaining another 5-1 and Pickering proving masterful.
“To be honest I didn’t say a great deal, it was down to the riders who did everything they wanted to,” said Brady.
“I don’t have to do a lot of talking, Josh does a great deal of it for me and that makes my life quite easy.
“We have done it again. We have won three home meetings in a row and I think in each of those, four or five of the riders have raced to their true potential.
“When all seven do it together, we are capable of giving someone a real hiding.”
Star man Pickering added: “It was a great result for the boys in the end.
“The track was quite difficult, a little bit different to what we have been used to and we had not been here for three weeks.
“Early on it didn’t work for me, I had to make a couple of changes but I got going in the end.”
HOW IT PANNED OUT
The Minors & Brady Stars had to dig in as the Aces ran up a series of race wins, especially early in the meeting, but they kept in touch and then turned the screw in the second half of the meeting against a side who have been impressive so far.
Jack Thomas was King's Lynn's only winner in the first five heats with Fricke taking the flag twice for the visitors, who led 16-14 thanks to 4-2s in Heats 1 and 3.
Ex-Stars man Michael Palm Toft, riding as a guest, also impressed for the Aces with two victories, but the home side made a key move when Iversen and Jorgensen got the better of Brady Kurtz for a 5-1 in Heat 6.
Jorgensen then overtook Charles Wright to win Heat 8 after early leader Tom Brennan had lifted and dropped to the back, moving the Stars lead up to four points.
Wright was another visiting rider to hit trouble as he crashed out in Heat 10, with Iversen and Jorgensen racing to a 5-1 over Palm Toft in the re-run.
That gave the Stars an eight-point cushion to defend, which was assisted by Pickering beating Fricke in Heat 11 and Lawson then overcoming Kurtz, who was taking a tactical substitute ride.
Pickering and Iversen wrapped up the victory with a 4-2 in Heat 13, split by Fricke, and the only question then concerned whether the visitors could salvage a league point.
That looked likely when Palm Toft and Brennan combined for a 5-1 in Heat 14 – but Pickering and Lawson came up with a big finish to leave Kurtz and Fricke trailing and complete a highly satisfactory night’s work.
KING’S LYNN 50: Josh Pickering 12+1, Richard Lawson 10+2, Thomas Jorgensen 9+2, Niels-Kristian Iversen 7, Jack Thomas 6, Lewis Kerr 3+1, Riche Worrall 3+1. BELLE VUE 40: Max Fricke 10, Brady Kurtz 10, Michael Palm Toft 10, Tom Brennan 4+2, Norick Blodorn 3+1, Charles Wright 3, Jye Etheridge r/r.
