King’s Lynn Stars pick up point in dramatic clash with Ipswich Witches but lose out on super heat

Lynn picked up a point from a 45-45 draw in a dramatic derby clash with Ipswich – but it was the Witches who took victory in the deciding super heat.

It was a true match of two halves at the Adrian Flux Arena as the PSH Environmental Stars roared into a 31-17 lead after eight races whilst the visitors suffered a hammer blow with former World Champion Jason Doyle ruled out in an horrific heat four crash.

But Ipswich still dug their way back into the meeting and then benefited from a slice of fortune in heat 13 which ultimately proved crucial to them squaring the scoreline.

It was level after heat three with two Ipswich 4-2s either side of an excellent 5-1 from Stars reserves Patryk Wojdylo and Anders Rowe in heat two – but then the meeting changed completely in heat four.

Nicolai Klindt had made the gate for the Stars and coming off the second bend Doyle clipped the back wheel of his opponent, sending him into the back straight boards, and over into the neutral zone.

Thankfully the Witches skipper was able to walk away but understandably he was unable to take any further part in the meeting, being taken to hospital for checks with concern over an arm injury.

Stars took advantage with a 5-1 in the re-run as Klindt and Rowe raced clear of Jordan Jenkins, and another race without Doyle ended in another 5-1 to the Stars in heat six as Adam Ellis was squeezed out going into the first bend with Klindt and Benjamin Basso taking the maximum advantage.

Fast-gating Klindt took the flag in the next for a 4-2 to extend the lead to ten points, and it got even better for Lynn in heat eight with Basso making the start and the impressive Rowe fending off a strong Dan Thompson challenge for a 5-1 to make it 31-17.

But then the visitors began their comeback, first when guest Tom Brennan as injury rider replacement and Emil Sayfutdinov as a tactical substitute took a 5-1 in heat nine, Sayfutdinov steaming inside Niels-Kristian Iversen into turn three – and heat ten resulted in another maximum for the visitors as Ellis chased down Wojdylo and rounded him off the final bend to team up with Brennan.

It was nearly three successive Ipswich 5-1s as Sayfutdinov and Thompson hit the front in heat 11 with Klindt moving inside Thompson off bend four to split the Witches, and the Stars were forced to come from the back again in heat 12 as Rowe rounded Keynan Rew for third place in a shared race.

But disaster struck for Lynn in heat 13 where they appeared to be protecting a 3-3 behind the flying Sayfutdinov only for Basso to come down heavily on turn two, seemingly after a mechanical failure.

It narrowed the gap to two points, and also meant the Dane could not be involved in the closing stages.

The Stars shared heat 14 behind Brennan to go into heat 15 43-41 up, but when the Witches gated on a 5-1 the full turnaround looked likely, with Klindt rescuing second place by passing Brennan, which ultimately gave Lynn a league point.

Then they had to go again in the super heat with the Witches this time sending out Ellis to partner the previously unbeaten Sayfutdinov.

With avoiding last place the key in that race, Ipswich established themselves second and third ahead of Iversen, before Ellis made an impressive pass on Klindt to win the race.

Klindt said: “It’s very disappointing. I wouldn’t say we had it in the bag because as everyone knows Ipswich are so strong from one to seven, even without Jason Doyle and we wish him all the very best.

“They are a very strong outfit and they had a very good guest in Tom Brennan coming in, who did very well for Birmingham in our last home meeting.

“We knew we had everything on the line in the last few heats, and I think where we lost it was when Basso crashed. That was a very important point.”

Lynn 45: Nicolai Klindt 14+1, Anders Rowe 8+5, Benjamin Basso 8, Patryk Wojdylo 7, Niels-Kristian Iversen 6+1, Michael Palm Toft 2, Tobiasz Musielak r/r.
Ipswich 45: Emil Sayfutdinov 17+1, Tom Brennan 13, Adam Ellis 9+1, Dan Thompson 4, Jordan Jenkins 2, Jason Doyle 0, Keynan Rew 0.
Ipswich win Super Heat 6-3. Ipswich win aggregate point.