Red letter day for Peterborough Panthers' rapidly ‘Rising Star’

​Jenkins picked up 9 + 1 in a superb 45-45 draw at Monmore Green.

Jenkins said: “I was really up for the meeting. I was maybe a lot more focussed in the build-up than I had been. I wanted to improve on my Premiership scores. I definitely wasn’t happy with them and everyone could see that.

“I got it right for my first ride in Heat Two. If you have a good first race, and I won it, you are set-up for the rest of the meeting and that’s what happened.

“It was a real boost for the team to take it all the way to a ‘Super Heat’ and the result and performance are only going to be positives to take forward.

“I hadn’t been happy with my scores in a couple of recent Premiership meetings. You see a few riders who are not too bothered about their scores. but I’m not like that. I wonder if they have really got the hunger.

“I have been miserable after a few meetings this season, but it’s only really two, Sheffield and Leicester away, where I didn’t feel like I had done what I should have done, otherwise it’s been a terrific year.

“I never let my head drop, I wasn’t getting low as that’s the worst thing you can do, but I just couldn’t be satisfied with my results, far from it. I knew what I needed to do and I turned it around.

“I knew a few riders were available and teams were making changes, but I’m fairly confident I’m one of the best, if not, without being too cocky, the best ‘Rising Star’ in the league. Self-belief is massive and I did feel secure, but there is always something in the back of your mind because teams do drop riders.

“I get on really well with Jason Edwards and to see him getting dropped by King’s Lynn was a surprise. A few of the ‘Rising Stars’ have been dropped this year, but Jason could do a job anywhere.

“Oxford, where I am riding in the Championship, has been really good. I’m learning loads of things and I’m over the moon to be high in the averages.

“At the beginning of the year I was disappointed I had been overlooked by Great Britain at U21 level, but I hoped I would get the call to ride for my country one day, and I have now done that.

“I went to Finland last weekend as reserve for GB in the European Pairs with Chris Harris and Tom Brennan of Belle Vue. I didn’t get a ride, but the experience was great and it was a big confidence boost to put on a GB race suit.

“The call-up definitely surprised me, but I jumped at the chance. Logistically it was a pain in the backside. We were all racing in the UK on the Thursday and the only flights were from Manchester. I come from Norwich so had to drive to Manchester to get the flight to Helsinki and then a minibus to the track at Varkaus which was 200 miles away.

“All I wanted to do was put my name out there and one of the other nation’s managers, who runs a club in Sweden, asked if would I be interested in going out there to race in the Second Division, but I had to turn it down because of my UK commitments.

"It’s good to be on the radar though. That was my plan for this year.”