Peterborough Panthers fans’ favourite confident he has plenty in reserve

Ostergaard was excellent for Panthers in Monday’s (May 31) opening league meeting against title favourites Belle Vue with an 11+2 haul in Manchester helping his side go close to a shock away victory.

In the end they had to settle for a 45-45 draw – still worth two league points – before being turned over 50-40 at home by the same opponents later in the same day.

But Ostergaard feels there are plenty of reasons for Panthers to be positive, and he is looking to play a big part in the challenge ahead.

Ostergaard said: “I know 2019 wasn’t the best year for the club and then we all had a year off, so some people are probably coping better with having so much time off than others.

“I just want to try and hit it as hard as I can, get a good run going and score plenty of points.

“Hopefully I can be a real threat for Peterborough at reserve, and I can take advantage of being there.

“I’ve got plenty of experience, and hopefully it will keep working and I’ll keep scoring points for Panthers.

“Belle Vue is always a hard place to go to so we should be pleased with the result up there.

“But it’s a proper race-track as it’s fair for everyone and I think we produced some brilliant speedway.

“I hadn’t been there for five years, but the guys showed their experience to come so close to winning.”

Ostergaard’s total of 17 points across the two Monday meetings could in fact have been higher as he was on the receiving end of a 5-1 in Heat 2 at Belle Vue because of a bike issue.

And then back at home he suffered the unbelievable misfortune of two punctures which cost him places on both occasions, including a win in Heat 14.

Ostergaard added: “It was the spark plug cap at Belle Vue, so every time I got a bit of dirt on the spark plug it just died. It did that four times through that one race, but I changed the spark plug cap and the bike was a lot better after that.”

Ostergaard returns to Panthers duty back at the East of England Arena in Monday’s (June 7, 7.30pm) A47 derby with local rivals King’s Lynn.

Panthers officials are hoping for another bumper crowd after a big turnout for the Bank Holiday meeting with Belle Vue.

The Stars have endured a miserable start to the season losing both meetings and axing number one Craig Cook after a recent home humiliation by Wolverhampton, with former Panthers rider Richard Lawson set to make his debut in his place at Ipswich this evening (Thursday).