NEW signing Richard Lawson inspired an astonishing King’s Lynn comeback to snatch victory in Thursday’s Premiership local derby at Ipswich.
The Minors and Brady Stars struck two 5-1s in the last two heats, both involving Lawson and skipper Lewis Kerr, to turn a six-point deficit into a memorable 46-44 win for their first league points of the season.
And the result was all the more remarkable for the fact that the Stars lost Thomas Jorgensen after a heavy Heat 12 crash with Cameron Heeps.
Both sides were already somewhat depleted with Lewis Bridger missing for the visitors due to illness, whilst the hosts were without Australian duo Jason Crump and Jordan Stewart after track crashes this week.
Early signs were less than encouraging as Ipswich went six points up with reserve Anders Rowe starring once again against Lynn.
But Lawson was the Stars’ first winner in Heat 4 with Erik Riss following suit in the next race and Lawson defeating home guest Scott Nicholls in the sixth.
Jorgensen took Heat 7 with Kerr passing Danny King for third place, and even a Witches 5-1 over Lawson in Heat 9 was met with a determined response of successive 4-2s headed up by Kerr and Riss.
Heeps won the re-run of Heat 12 in the absence of Jorgensen and another Ipswich 4-2 followed in the next with Lawson riding strongly to split King and Nicholls on the opening lap.
Stars boss Peter Schroeck responded by bringing Lawson into Heat 14 as a tactical substitute, and he duly delivered the 5-1 required with skipper Kerr to set up a last-heat decider.
And amidst scenes of high drama, a draw looked likely as Lawson led from the start – only for Kerr to come through to second place ahead of Heeps and King in the most sensational of finales.
Schroeck said: “It’s unbelievable. We came here with a fresh mind, we’ve made a change in the team, and it worked for us. We had a really good evening in the pits, and we all worked together.
“The tactical substitute fell in our hand in Heat 14 with the dynamic duo in Richard and Lewi, I decided to have a go at it, and it paid off. We had the best gates, so it wasn’t wasted, and then when the going gets hot you’ve got to keep it going!
“I’m just so pleased for the fans and for King’s Lynn Speedway. We had a lot of stick over the last couple of weeks, but I think we can be very proud tonight.
“I’d like to think this will be the turning point. We’ve made a very positive change, which brought something new to the team, so I’m very happy with it all.
“We’re really enjoying what we’ve done tonight, and hopefully when we got to Peterborough we’ll go with the same attitude, and see what happens there.”
Early indications on Jorgensen are that he was badly winded but appears to have escaped with no broken bones, and the Stars will hope he is fit to race at the East of England Arena on Monday.
PREMIERSHIP: IPSWICH 44: Anders Rowe 13+1, Jake Allen 9+2, Danny King 8, Cameron Heeps 8, Scott Nicholls 4, Drew Kemp 2+1, Jordan Stewart r/r KING’S LYNN 46: Richard Lawson 15, Lewis Kerr 11+3, Erik Riss 8, Ty Proctor 6, Thomas Jorgensen 5+1, Ryan Kinsley 1, Lewis Bridger r/r Premiership points: Ipswich 0 King’s Lynn 3
