Peterborough Panthers still pointless after a desperate start at King's Lynn

The Crendon Panthers this time got the points they needed from No.1 with Richard Lawson putting in a brilliant display as a guest on his old home cicuit, but their issues on this occasion were elsewhere in the riding order.

The meeting went away from the Panthers in the first half as they conceded four 5-1s in the first seven races to go 18 points down, before mounting a fightback which could well have seen the contest end closer, but there was no doubt the Stars were clear winners.

Lawson got Panthers off to a decent start with a smart move to go inside Nicolai Klindt on the back straight of Heat 1, but the Stars quickly took control of the meeting.

Ben Cook challenged strongly in the reserves’ race, but was unable to move Lewis Kerr aside as the home side recorded a 4-2, but far more damage was done in the next two heats.

Krzysztof Kasprzak and Frederik Jakobsen raced to a 5-1 over skipper Hans Andersen in Heat 3, before Michael Palm Toft and Kerr repeated the feat in the next with Niels-Kristian Iversen paying the price for a slow start.

Lawson stemmed the tide with a win in Heat 5 thanks to an electric getaway, whilst a frantic scrap for the minor places saw Benjamin Basso just unable to get on terms with Jakobsen.

But two more Stars 5-1s followed immediately, with Panthers’ current fortunes summed up in Heat 7 when Basso, taking the rider replacement ride for shoulder injury victim Richie Worrall, made a great start to lead only to fall heavily on the exit of turn two, thankfully being avoided by the following riders.

Basso picked himself up and rode strongly in Heat 8 but was eventually overtaken by a fine ride from Thomas Jorgensen before Panthers did finally gain a race advantage in the next, Lawson taking a tactical substitute ride and storming from the gate whilst Iversen picked up third place as Kasprzak hit trouble.

Cook managed to split Klindt and Jorgensen in Heat 10 before Panthers were able to enjoy a 5-1 of their own in Heat 11, Lawson making it four out of four and Basso holding off Palm Toft for second place.

Another hard-working effort from Cook in Heat 12 saw him finish between Kerr and Jakobsen, before another 5-1 to the visitors, this time with Iversen joining Lawson thanks to a great start from the outside.

The penultimate race was shared with Rising Star guest Sam Hagon taking a well-earned third place over Jason Edwards.

But with the aggregate point in mind, Heat 15 was a blow as the Stars finished with a 5-1 from Kasprzak and Jorgensen as Lawson’s superb unbeaten night to that stage finally came to an end.

Basso said: “It was one of those days where nothing went as planned, and after zero, zero I made the gate in my third heat and I think my front wheel slipped on the concrete, and I hit my shoulder.

“I bounced back pretty strongly so overall I finished better than I started. My expectations for today were really high, but this is sport sometimes.

“I don’t think there’s a good explanation or excuse for the results, we’ve just got to man up and get it together.”

KING’S LYNN 54: Lewis Kerr 11+1, Krzysztof Kasprzak 11, Thomas Jorgensen 10+2, Nicolai Klindt 7+1, Michael Palm Toft 7+1, Frederik Jakobsen 6+2, Jason Edwards 2.

PETERBOROUGH 36: Richard Lawson 14+1, Ben Cook 9, Benjamin Basso 5+1, Niels-Kristian Iversen 5, Hans Andersen 2, Sam Hagon 1+1, Richie Worrall r/r.