Peterborough Panthers are keen to see plenty of home comforts this season

Peterborough Panthers team boss Rob Lyon wants to see his side win their home meetings as a starting point for their Premiership play-off bid.
Panthers team boss Rob Lyon.Panthers team boss Rob Lyon.
Panthers team boss Rob Lyon.

The bikes will return to the East of England Arena on Monday, May 24, when Lyon’s men face Sheffield in their opening home League fixture.

It will be the first track action at Alwalton in 20 months due to the pandemic and Lyon is keen to emphasise to his riders the need for home track advantage.

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Panthers open their Premiership season at Sheffield next Thursday, May 20 and round off the month with a home and away double header against Belle Vue on Bank Holiday Monday, May 31.

Lyon said: “In any successful side, winning home matches is the key starting point, and then you build on that.

“The away record two years ago wasn’t too bad, but it’s key that we get a consistent track surface at home that all the riders are comfortable with.

“It’s important that when they turn up we’ve got the same type of surface they raced on the previous time.

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“As we know in modern speedway, youngsters can pop out of the start, and with the nature of Peterborough’s track and the way these bikes behave, riders with much less experience can open the throttle, hang on and be hard to catch - so we need a track with a lot of lines and the ability for riders to make passes.

“We want to see entertainment, but ultimately from my perspective the main issue is getting some consistency of wins at home.”

Panthers are selling tickets online for the meeting and fans who purchased season tickets for 2020 can use them in 2021. Further details are available from the club’s website www.peterborough-speedway.com.

The club have also announced they will go back to previous arrangements for disabled parking at gate two.

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Six of the riders will be at the Showground track tomorrow (Friday) for the club’s press and practice session which must this year take place behind closed doors.

Work has taken place at the track with new fencing and replacement air bags in place and there will be a restricted numbers of fans allowed in the main grandstand for the first part of the season.

**Two-page Panthers season preview in the PT next Thursday (May 20).