King’s Lynn Stars announce 2025 line-up for Premiership campaign

The King's Lynn Stars have signed a 2024 Premiership winner after announcing their full team line-up for 2025.

Australian Ben Cook, who was part of the Belle Vue Aces title-winning septet last season, is one of four new faces at the Adrian Flux Arena.

The others are Chris 'Bomber' Harris in the reserve berth alongside hot prospect Ashton Boughen, who was named as the club's new Rising Star last month, and Richard Lawson.

Lynn fans are guaranteed non-stop commitment and entertainment with the arrival of veteran campaigner Harris, who rode for the Oxford Spires last term.

His place in the lower-order of the team will be seen as something as a masterstroke.

Lawson arrives for his second spell with the club having ridden for the Leicester Lions in 2024.

The experienced British racer joined the Lions for their step up to the top flight last winter and enjoyed a great campaign at Beaumont Park Stadium.

The Stars will be led by the fit-again Nicolai Klindt, who comes back in on a 6.59 average and will captain the side.

Klindt missed the bulk of the 2024 campaign after fracturing the C5 vertebra in his neck following a crash in Poland.

Popular Czech rider Jan Kvech, who became a firm fans' favourite this year, will again ride for the team.

Kvech, 23, Kvech was voted as the Rowe Motor Oil Premiership's 2024 Signing of the Season.

Club legend Niels-Kristian Iversen also returns to the fold.

The seven-time Danish champion and four-time Speedway World Cup winner will don the club's colours for another season.

Iversen first rode for the Stars back in 2001 with the club bringing him in for the last three meetings of the 2001 Elite League speedway campaign.

The top six comes in at fractionally under the 40-point limit, and a unique feature of the side is that the starting averages of each of those six riders are between 6.00 and 7.00. It means Cook will start the season at No.1 on 6.99, whilst Harris will be at reserve on 6.06.

The management team of Keith Chapman, Dale Allitt and Rob Lyon have carefully considered all options and permutations, and believe they have settled on the best available to make a concerted play-off challenge.

They said: “As everyone would expect, we did speak to Robert Lambert, and unfortunately his commitments don’t allow for a full British season at the moment.

“We fully understand that. He was World No.2 this year, he wants to be World Champion, and we completely support him in that.

“Once we knew the situation there, we looked at what we could do, and we knew the riders we wanted to bring in.

“It’s fair to say that what happened this year was part of our thought process, because we assembled a team that we thought was very competitive, and the general opinion amongst the other promoters was that as well.

“Unfortunately through no fault of the club we lost two riders very quickly, including an out-and-out No.1, and we could do nothing about that.

“For next season we’ve taken the conscious decision to go with riders we’ve worked with before, and/or who are a little closer to home.

“We decided to go down the route that we’ve taken on the basis that when you look at the team we’ve assembled, virtually all of those riders have ridden at No.1 or No.5 this year, either for us or others, and we believe it’s more than solid – that term is actually an injustice to the ability of these riders.

“The thought of having Chris Harris at reserve and potentially taking seven rides will frighten the life out of most teams, and we’ll have him there in March/April and it could be somebody else there in May.

“We’ve got a very well-balanced team, and a team that knows how to win things as well. It’s been hard work, but we knew we needed a major overhaul and also a team that will be entertaining.

“King’s Lynn fans have been starved of success, we have to go back six or seven years since we had a decent year, and we need to do that again and put pride into the club.

“Hopefully with the team we’ve assembled we can tick those boxes and also provide good racing for home fans and neutrals.”

King’s Lynn Stars for 2025:2025: Ben Cook 6.99, Richard Lawson 6.91, Niels-Kristian Iversen 6.83, Nicolai Klindt 6.59, Jan Kvech 6.58, Chris Harris 6.06, Ashton Boughen (RS).