NEW King’s Lynn No.1 Max Fricke and skipper Chris Harris starred in a 50-40 opening-night reverse at Ipswich on Thursday which leaves the overall Knockout Cup situation finely poised.
The PSH Environmental Stars recovered from a shaky start at Foxhall to put themselves in position to challenge for what could be a crucial aggregate point in Monday’s return at the Adrian Flux Arena.
Fricke racked up 16 points from six rides and Harris contributed an all-action 9+2 to a result which would have been even closer but for mechanical trouble for Jan Kvech in Heat 13.
With five races remaining the home side had opened up an 18-point lead, but Lynn came charging back in the closing stages with a string of heat wins and a pair of 5-1s to reduce the deficit.
The opening four races all resulted in advantages for the Witches, and that was largely thanks to their supremacy out of the starts.
Fricke put plenty of pressure on home captain Danny King who held his nerve to win Heat 1, whilst Witches reserves Jason Edwards and Philip Hellstrom-Bangs collected a 5-1 in Heat 2 although Cooper Rushen did gain ground over the closing laps.
Ipswich were on a 5-1 again in Heat 3 but Harris rode a strong last lap to go around Scott Nicholls, only for the home side to notch a maximum in the next, this time when Kvech overshot turn two as he chased Edwards, with Richard Lawson taking advantage to move through.
That made it 18-6, but there was an excellent Stars response in Heat 5 with Ben Cook outgating Tobiasz Musielak and clamping him to the inside whilst Fricke made it from gate four to complete a 5-1.
Kvech then made a fast start to quickly take control of Heat 6, and the next race was also shared thanks to a superb first lap from Harris, who rounded Lawson off the second bend and then stormed past Hellstrom-Bangs on the way out of turn four.
But that containing work was undone after a scrappy start to Heat 8 where there appeared to be movement from several riders, as Edwards and King established themselves in a 5-1 position for the Witches.
That sparked another run of home advantages, with Ipswich taking a 4-2 in Heat 9 as Kvech retrieved second place from Nicholls in the early stages, before Tom Brennan and King gated to a 5-1 over Harris and Paco Castagna.
The Ipswich lead was up to 18 points, but the Stars pegged it back in Heat 11 with a terrific move on lap one by Fricke who moved inside Lawson into the third bend, which created a gap for Cook to follow him through for a 5-1.
Manager Rob Lyon then brought Fricke into Heat 12 for a tactical substitute outing, and the move paid dividends as the Australian took control whilst Harris supplied the thrills again, eventually re-passing Edwards for second place to complete back-to-back maximums for the visitors.
And there could well have been a hat-trick in the next race as Fricke maintained his winning ways whilst Kvech bundled his way inside Brennan for second, only to slow with a broken rocker arm allowing both Witches to come back past.
It had been a tough night for Castagna on his Stars debut, but at least things ended on a high as he made a sharp start to take victory in Heat 14 which Ipswich would have been targeting for another advantage.
The final race was also shared as Lawson made a flying start to end Fricke’s winning run, and he and Harris then focused on a containing job to keep Brennan at the back.
Lyon said: “The first four heats was a bit of a shellshock, but the boys made a lot of changes and got into the meeting, and we contained Ipswich from that point on really.
“We were a little unlucky with Jan having his engine problem in Heat 13 which would have reduced it even further to six points – but ten is not insurmountable, and we’re good enough to get the aggregate point on Monday.
“Obviously it’s a big learning curve for the younger boys, and in Cooper’s (Rushen) case it was his first taste of Premiership action, but there were some good points overall and it’s work in progress.
“Ipswich deserved to win, they were the more solid outfit which is what they’re built as, and we had too many last places, but we move on – and given the start, I was relatively pleased with the way the boys performed.”
The teams meet again at the Adrian Flux Arena on Monday (April 13) in the Stars’ first home meeting of the new season.
PREMIERSHIP KO CUP (NORTH) IPSWICH 50: Richard Lawson 10+1, Danny King 9+2, Jason Edwards 9, Tobiasz Musielak 8, Tom Brennan 6+2, Philip Hellstrom-Bangs 5+2, Scott Nicholls 3+1. KING’S LYNN 40: Max Fricke 16, Chris Harris 9+2, Jan Kvech 6, Ben Cook 4+2, Paco Castagna 3, Cooper Rushen 1, Jody Scott 1.
