Peterborough Panthers' Jordan Jenkins underlines progress with victory in National Development League

Peterborough’s Jordan Jenkins underlined his rapid progress over the course of the season with victory in Sunday’s National Development League Riders’ Championship at Scunthorpe.
Jordan Jenkins rode his way to victory. Pic: Ian Rispin.Jordan Jenkins rode his way to victory. Pic: Ian Rispin.
Jordan Jenkins rode his way to victory. Pic: Ian Rispin.

Peterborough Jordan Jenkins underlined his rapid progress over the course of the season with victory in Sunday’s National Development League Riders’ Championship at Scunthorpe.

Jenkins, who came into the Panthers’ squad in late May initially as cover for Jordan Palin, was representing Oxford at the Eddie Wright Raceway and finished top of the scorechart with 14 points.

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That left him one clear of the far more experienced Max Clegg, who beat another Premiership Rising Star Jason Edwards in a run-off for second place.

Jenkins said: “It was a tough meeting to win, because there were some quality riders in it, including past winners.

“It was hard out there. Jason beat me in one race and I had other riders pushing me in the others.

“The referee was holding the starts for quite a long time. I did move in one race and got a warning for it. After that, I had to stay still, because an exclusion would have been game over.

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“Winning a meeting like this is all about keeping your calm, and I knew what I needed to do going into the final race.

“I fluffed the start at the first attempt, so I was a bit fortunate that it got pulled back. We made a few changes to the bike prior to the re-run, and everything came right.

“The red lights came on when I was on the second bend of the final lap and then you’re wondering what’s happened. Of course, at that point in the race, you think it’s going to be awarded and it was.

“The moment I realised I’d won the meeting – you can’t beat it. I’m over the moon to win the NLRC.”

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Jenkins rode eleven Premiership matches for Panthers as long-term injuries ruled Palin and Dan Gilkes out of contention, and he took some time to get to grips with the step up to top-flight racing.

He scored just three points in his first six appearances – but August saw a major change of fortune and he finished the season with 14 points from his last three, including two race wins and two more paid wins.

Having clearly become comfortable with the East of England Arena circuit and having been well received by the crowd, it would be no surprise if he featured in Panthers’ plans for that position next year.

Meanwhile Chris Harris also had reason to celebrate over the weekend with a best-yet third place overall in the World Longtrack Championship.

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Harris secured his position in Sunday’s final round at Dutch venue Roden, with the series won by one-time Panthers racer Mathieu Tresarrieu.

Elsewhere Benjamin Basso will look to confirm a top-three place in the SGP2 (World Under-21) series at Torun tomorrow (Friday).Basso is placed third on 25 points after the first two rounds, three points behind Czech racer Jan Kvech and three ahead of fellow countryman Kevin Juhl Pedersen.