FOXES 47 KING’S LYNN 43

NORTHAMPTON Foxes ended their debut Premiership campaign on a high with a 47-43 win over King’s Lynn in the Shaleway season finale.

The significant aspect of the result was that it also saw the Foxes gain their first aggregate point, meaning they added three league points to their total, to finish on a respectable total of 13 thanks to five wins and two draws.

The meeting was effectively won and lost in the opening three races when the Foxes raced into a ten-point lead, and a further 5-1 in Heat 8 gave them the margin to defend when the visitors fought back in the second half.

Rider of the Year Kye Thomson fittingly top-scored with 13 points but there were good contributions throughout as the Foxes did enough to cover for the absence of Niels-Kristian Iversen and Jaimon Lidsey, with Sam Masters proving to be a good guest for his fellow Australian.

Masters got the Foxes off to a good start by winning Heat 1 with Thomson edging out Stars No.1 Max Fricke for third place as the Grand Prix man ran a rare last place.

Reserves Luke Harrison and Mitch McDiarmid then raced away with a 5-1 in Heat 2 despite a nervous moment on lap three when they came close to colliding, before Nicolai Klint and Adam Ellis added more maximum points in Heat 3 before the Stars really got started.

Visiting skipper Chris Harris pulled off a good pass on Masters in an eventful Heat 4 which saw Harrison re-pass Jordan Jenkins for third place, and that was the first of four successive shared races as the gap remained at ten points.

Klindt defeated Fricke in Heat 5 but was sent wide on the first bend of the next race when taking his rider replacement ride, whilst Thomson held off the challenge of Harris for the win, whilst Masters took Heat 7 with McDiarmid somewhat unfortunate off turn four as Jan Kvech and Cooper Rushen piled through for the 3-3.

Thomson and Harrison broke that run of drawn heats with an excellent 5-1 in Heat 8 despite the threat of Ben Cook, and the 14-point lead proved to be enough for the Foxes to defend as the Stars then began to hit back.

Reserve Jody Scott came into Heat 9 when Jenkins broke the tapes, and he pulled off a fine ride shepherded home by Harris to give the visitors a 5-1.

Kvech then split Rushen and Harrison in Heat 10 as the Foxes went 12 points up, but it could easily have been reduced in Heat 11 only for Lynn duo Fricke and Cook to get too close to each other on turn two, resulting in Cook dropping to the back.

However, a tactical substitute win for Fricke in Heat 12 in a 4-2 to Lynn, and then a 5-1 from Fricke and Harris in Heat 13 suddenly had the gap down to six points which meant the Foxes really needed to get the job done in Heat 14.

Thankfully Ellis was up to that task with a super ride around the outside to get the better of Scott and Jenkins, and that secured the win and aggregate point, with Thomson then doing well to split Fricke and Harris in the final race of the season.

Foxes manager Chris Adams said: “We did what we intended to do, and that was to start off good, get out of the gates quick and get some points on the board early on, and it was enough.

“Once again we had some ups and downs during the night, like we’ve had all year, but we stuck at it and stuck together as a team.

“It was good to get the result and to come away with a home win for our last one, and now we can look ahead to 2027.

“We couldn’t do it without the supporters. Their backing this year has been tremendous, and we’ll be back next year and hopefully a bit stronger.”

With the official season now complete, the Foxes will be awaiting decisions taken at the sport’s upcoming AGM regarding regulations for 2027 and making team plans accordingly.

But there will be a final gathering for this year at the end-of-season celebration night, which takes place at the Mercure Hotel, Northampton on Saturday October 24 from 7pm. Tickets are available by e-mailing tracey@northampton-speedway.com .

ROWE MOTOR OIL PREMIERSHIP R2
NORTHAMPTON 47: Kye Thomson 13, Sam Masters 10, Nicolai Klindt 8, Luke Harrison 7+2, Adam Ellis 6+1, Mitch McDiarmid 3+2, Niels-Kristian Iversen R/R.
KING'S LYNN 43: Max Fricke 14, Chris Harris 10+2, Jody Scott 6+1, Jan Kvech 6, Ben Cook 4+1, Jordan Jenkins 2+1, Cooper Rushen 1+1.
Northampton win the aggregate point