KING’S Lynn reserve Patryk Wojdylo raced to a sensational paid maximum as the PSH Environmental Stars defeated Birmingham 49-41 for their first win of the season.
Wojdylo went through the card from six rides at the Adrian Flux Arena in what was a crucial performance as the Stars lost the services of No.1 and captain Tobiasz Musielak in a heavy Heat 6 crash.
Musielak came down on the third bend when the Stars had appeared set for a 5-1, and he was collected by the following Vaclav Milik.
Neither rider was able to continue in the meeting, and the Stars are awaiting news on Musielak who was taken to hospital with a shoulder injury.
Without him, their six remaining riders dug in to put their first points on the board in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership, coming from behind after nine races to record the win.
Wojdylo was well backed by Niels-Kristian Iversen who hit double figures and there was a solid return from Nicolai Klindt.
The Brummies had an in-form rider of their own in British youngster Tom Brennan, who was unbeaten heading into the final race before he was beaten by Wojdylo after a terrific battle, but their No.1 Piotr Pawlicki remarkably failed to score from three rides, falling twice.
The early stages of the meeting saw a trading of 5-1s, Lynn enjoying success in Heat 2 from reserves Wojdylo and Anders Rowe, but they were then hit by back-to-back maximum advantages from the visitors before Benjamin Basso and Michael Palm Toft responded in Heat 5.
The Musielak/Milik crash in Heat 6 resulted in a 4-2 to the Brummies in the re-run to level the scores, before Wojdylo and Klindt put Lynn back ahead with a 4-2 in Heat 7.
Birmingham fought back with nine points from the next two races, including a 5-1 in Heat 9 when Leon Flint defeated Basso and Palm Toft to make it 28-26 in their favour, before a 4-2 from Iversen and Klindt made it all square with five heats to go.
Lynn took a crucial step forward with a 5-1 in Heat 11 as Klindt won from the gate whilst Wojdylo made it around the outside at the expense of Steve Worrall and Pawlicki, and that result was backed up by a 4-2 in the next with that man Wojdylo out front again.
Birmingham kept the nerves jangling with a 5-1 in Heat 13 as Worrall took a tactical substitute ride and teamed up with Brennan against Klindt and Iversen, leaving the scores at 40-38.
But the penultimate heat proved the clincher as Wojdylo and Basso got themselves clear of Wiktor Lampart and Flint to secure victory.
And a 4-2 in the last race with a brilliant ride by Wojdylo to complete his paid maximum in a ding-dong scrap with Brennan which was only resolved on the last lap extended the advantage to eight points and puts Lynn in a decent position for the aggregate point when they visit Birmingham later this month.
Manager Rob Lyon said: “It’s been an eventful night, but it’s good to get two points on the board. It probably should have been a little easier, but a win is a win.
“It’s a bit bitter-sweet with Tobi’s injury, but our boys all chipped in at certain times and Patryk did his best to get us over the line!
"Hats off to him, he practiced yesterday and it paid dividends. He got set up and he was absolutely outstanding. All the boys put a shift in, but he was the star of the show and it was a good team effort in the end.”
The Stars will now await injury news on Musielak before finalising their plans for the Bank Holiday Monday trip to Ipswich (2.15pm).
KING’S LYNN 49: Patryk Wojdylo 17+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 11, Nicolai Klindt 7+1, Michael Palm Toft 5+1, Benjamin Basso 5+1, Anders Rowe 3+1, Tobiasz Musielak 1. BIRMINGHAM 41: Tom Brennan 13+1, Steve Worrall 10, Leon Flint 8+2, Wiktor Lampart 6, Zach Cook 4+1, Piotr Pawlicki 0, Vaclav Milik 0.
