CLASSY King’s Lynn turned up the heat in a tense play-off race with a brilliant 55-35 win over rivals Belle Vue.

Despite the absence of brilliant British youngster Robert Lambert - who is due to make his return from injury this weekend - the Poultec Stars went about their business brilliantly to close the gap on the top four with meetings in hand.

And it means Monday’s return showdown in Manchester (midday) becomes one of the biggest meetings of the league season.

But King’s Lynn made a dreadful start in with Steve Worrall and ex-Stars man Kenneth Bjerre romping to an opening 5-1.

Stars guest Tero Aarnio had a tough start to the meeting, falling twice in the space of three races, and on both occasions the home side were on a heat advantage which meant the Aces kept their lead.

In heat 5 the Stars finally got level as Erik Riss and Thomas Jorgensen eased to a 5-1.

And then they took the lead for the first time in heat 6 as Michael Palm Toft and Guest Rory Schlein secured a 4-2.

The home side had well and truly woken up by heat 8 as they secured the first of three straight heat advantages, which meant they had a comfortable 36-24 lead going into the interval.

The break in racing didn’t stop the Stars as they reeled off four heat advantages in the last five heats to secure a comfortable victory to make it eight straight wins at the Adrian Flux Arena.

Stand-in skipper Lewis Kerr carded 11+1 and was delighted with the result.

“I enjoyed it,” he said. “It was a great performance by us and we need to take that into Monday at Belle Vue.

“I’m enjoying the role of captaincy and it’s brought the best out of me. Hopefully I can continue that form when Robert comes back too.

“Well done to all the boys, it was an enjoyable night!”

KING'S LYNN 55: Thomas Jorgensen 12+1, Lewis Kerr 11+1, Craig Cook 9, Michael Palm Toft 8+1, Rory Schlein 7+1, Erik Riss 6+1, Tero Aarnio 2+1
BELLE VUE 35: Kenneth Bjerre 9+1, Dan Bewley 9, Steve Worrall 8, Jaimon Lidsey 6+1, Nathan Greaves 2, Dimitri Berge 1+1, Max Fricke r/r