Starke plans to keep the trophies coming his way

The winter recruit has become a trophy magnet in recent years while making terrific progress in the sport.

He was part of National League and KO Cup double-winning teams at Dudley in 2013 and Cradley in 2014 before helping Poole to Elite League glory in 2015 when he also won the Premier League KO Cup with Somerset.

And the 26 year-old’s stunning run continued last year when part of the Somerset side which dominated the second tier of the sport with another league and cup double.

“It’s a really good accomplishment and one that I’m very proud about,” said Starke.

“It’s also one that I don’t want to end and I’ll be doing all I can to help my two clubs pick up silverware this year.

“Here at Peterborough, we have a team full of riders who are capable of improving their averages.

“A lot of us already knew each other and everyone is getting on great. That will only help us.

“I think the Somerset team is also under-rated in the SGB Premiership.

“It’s a very similar situation to Panthers in that we don’t have the really big-hitter, but we do possess plenty of capable riders.

“I’m very pleased with the way I have progressed in the sport as well as winning trophies.

“Some years I could have done even better if I had taken a few more risks, but that’s not the way I like to do things.

“If I do take a big risk and it goes wrong, I could put myself out for the rest of a season and set my career back.

“I just focus on improving from year-to-year while gaining wisdom and experience.”

Starke reeled off a hat-trick of heat victories when helping Panthers to a 51-42 success against Scunthorpe in their SGB Championship opener last Friday.

And he is hopeful of following up that East of England Showground triumph with victory on the road in the return clash at the Eddie Wright Raceway this Sunday (5.30pm).

“It’s always good to start with a win, but there is a hell of a lot more to come from this team,” added Starke.

“The Showground is a proper racers’ track and I wouldn’t want anything different.

“It was an easy decision to join Peterborough when they showed an interest in me during the winter.

“It will be a tough one at Scunthorpe, but it would be ideal to follow up the home win with a good result there.

“If we ride how we did last Friday, and quickly get ourselves dialled in to their track, there’s no reason why we can’t be successful.”

Panthers are sweating on the fitness of Simon Lambert, who suffered muscle damage to an arm when crashing in his own testimonial meeting – Rambo Lambo’s Decennary – at King’s Lynn last Sunday.