Buster hoping switch will upset the odds

Wednesday, August 25, 2010
3:47 PM

KING’S Lynn Stars’ chief Buster Chapman is backing his men to upset the odds against play-off chasing Birmingham on Wednesday night at the Norfolk Arena (7.45pm).

Lynn slipped to a maiden home Premier League defeat of the season last time out to Somerset but Chapman is in bullish mood ahead of the Brummies’ visit.

“On paper, Birmingham are a much stronger team than us but we don’t race on paper,” he said. “The reserve changes should help and I think Rob (Lyon) has done the right thing pairing Lasse (Bjerre) with Olly (Allen). I also wouldn’t be surprised if the Birmingham management are counting the league points before they have actually won them, but that will do us a favour as it will only add pressure onto their own team and not ours. The team will be giving it 110pc so I hope the fans get behind them.”

Lyon believes a positional switch could strengthen the Stars, with Bjerre and Kozza Smith handed new partners, while Cal McDade retains his place at reserve. The Scottish-based racer scored an encouraging paid six in the Stars’ recent Premier League, KO Cup exit at Edinburgh. Young Stars’ National League colleague Adam Lowe gets his chance to impress at a higher level.

“Lasse and Kozza both seem to have the same amount of speed and also seem to ride on the same part of the track,” said Lyon. “This has led to them getting in each other’s way on a number of occasions. Olly is quicker than both of them so pairing Lasse with him should give him some more track space, and I also think that Kozza and Adam should ride well together.”

Birmingham’s biggest fight this week is set to come off the track with the club’s long term future at their Perry Barr base finally decided by the city council’s planning committee.

Owner Tony Mole has submitted a fresh application to continue operating at their home for the past four seasons after taking measures to combat noise problems. New trees have been planted around the stadium, airhorns banned amongst fans and from next season bikes will use new silencers which have already past stringent noise tests.

Mole was instrumental in the Brummies re-launch after a 20 year gap back in 2007 but current lease holder Gary Patchett is hoping common sense prevails at Thursday’s meeting.

“We are all hoping for a positive outcome,” he said. “This would be of huge benefit to the city of Birmingham and the sport of speedway in general.”

Stars: 1 Olly Allen, 2 Lasse Bjerre, 3 Adam Roynon, 4 Kozza Smith, 5 Tomas Topinka, 6 Cal McDade, 7 Adam Lowe.

Brummies: 1 Jason Lyons, 2 Justin Sedgmen, 3 Aaron Summers, 4 Steve Johnston, 5 Richard Sweetman, 6 Kyle Newman, 7 Klaus Jakobsen.

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