King’s Lynn owner Keith Chapman admits he missed out in a move for new world No.2 Robert Lambert after naming a star-studded 2025 line-up for the Rowe Motor Oil Premiership season.
Just 24 hours after the conclusion of the British Speedway Promoters Ltd annual meeting in Tenerife, the Stars completed their entire starting septet, with league rivals Leicester also naming returning Speedway GP rider Max Fricke in their team.
The King’s Lynn side features Czech SGP regular Jan Kvech, who impressed in his debut season in British racing this year. He is joined by former world No.3 Niels-Kristian Iversen as well as triple British champion Chris Harris, who starts the season at reserve in what could prove a huge boost to the side.
They are joined by Australian talent Ben Cook, British racer Richard Lawson, Danish international Nicolai Klindt and British rising star Ashton Boughen.
Discussing Stars' team selection on the club’s official website, Chapman confirmed King’s Lynn contacted Speedway GP silver medallist Lambert about a possible return to his boyhood team.
He 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.”
After a turbulent 2024 season of rider injuries and absences, Chapman hopes a more tried and tested side will serve the club well in 2025.
He said: “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 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. 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. We will 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 has 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.”
Elsewhere, Leicester team manager Stewart Dickson is backing Fricke to star at No.1 for the Lions again. He said: “I’m very happy that Max has committed to a third season with Leicester, and I think he’s feeling at home here now. He’ll come back and lead the side again, and I don’t think there was any real danger that it wasn’t going to happen because he’s pretty loyal, and that works both ways.
“He’s fairly easy to deal with and seems to like the way the club is run, and he also takes an interest in what I’m doing with the rest of the team, and we’re happy to have that input from him.
“I think it’s also good for Leicester commercially that Max is in the GPs again next season, and we have a GP rider leading the team. I’m sure he’ll be around that nine-point mark again for us, and if he is, he’ll have done his job.”