New-Look Peterborough Panthers will try and cause a Premiership shock at leaders Belle Vue

The Crendon Panthers’ long search for a replacement for Nicki Pedersen was ended when they pulled off the signing of Vadim Tarasenko, who makes his debut in British Speedway at the National Speedway Stadium.

Tarasenko agreed to join the club earlier this month, but would have missed last week’s postponed match at Wolverhampton whilst the paperwork was completed, and that is now all in place for him to ride in Manchester.

He comes in to take the No.5 position in a re-jigged line-up which involves Niels-Kristian Iversen moving to No.1, whilst skipper Hans Andersen remains at reserve.

Iversen heads into the meeting in good shape after a positive round of the Speedway Euro Championship in Czestochowa on Saturday, where he was a late call-up to the event, but worked his way into the semi-final.

However, the task at the NSS is a tough one and Panthers will look to first and foremost improve greatly on a 34-56 defeat at the venue on their previous visit in mid-April.

The Aces have become something of a bogey club since Peterborough’s dramatic title-winning Grand Final success of 2021, and they are currently sitting pretty at the top of the Premiership table.

Led by the likes of Dan Bewley and Brady Kurtz, Belle Vue are clearly a strong outfit although they were run close by King’s Lynn last week, coming away with a 47-43 home win, and they were then beaten 52-38 at Leicester on Thursday.

It’s a busy week for the Panthers as they also visit Ipswich on Thursday and then face the home return against the Aces next Monday (June 26).

BELLE VUE: Dan Bewley, Tom Brennan, Jaimon Lidsey, Charles Wright, Brady Kurtz, Norick Blodorn, Jake Mulford.

PETERBOROUGH: Niels-Kristian Iversen, Ben Cook, Benjamin Basso, Richie Worrall, Vadim Tarasenko, Hans Andersen, Jordan Jenkins.