LEICESTER’S three Australian stars face a gruelling start to 2024 with five rounds over ten days to decide their national Senior Solo Championship.
Watling JCB Lions No.1 Max Fricke and winter signings Ryan Douglas and Sam Masters are all competing in the series – with the line-up primarily made up of regulars in the Sports Insure Premiership.
The competition gets underway at North Brisbane on January 4 before taking in rounds at Kurri Kurri (Jan 7), Albury-Wodonga (Jan 9), Mildura (Jan 11) and Gillman (Jan 13).
An additional incentive for the riders is the top four will receive spots in the Grand Prix qualifying rounds which take place in Europe this summer leading toward the 2025 series. A further spot is available from the FIM Oceania Championship at Gillman on January 27.
Fricke was champion in 2019, 2020 and 2022, with the 2021 competition not staged due to the pandemic. Masters is also a former winner, having triumphed back in 2017.
Jack Holder defends the title, with the line-up also including the likes of Brady Kurtz, Chris Holder, Jaimon Lidsey, Josh Pickering and Rohan Tungate.
Fricke finished second behind Lidsey in the Australian Speedway Centenary meeting at North Brisbane on Friday, getting the better of Jason Doyle in a terrific scrap in the Final, whilst Douglas finished fourth after coming through the semi-finals. Masters just missed out on the semis on countback.
Following their racing over the coming weeks, the Lions trio will then step up their preparations for the 2024 campaign in the UK, with league racing getting underway at the Pidcock Motorcycles Arena on Thursday March 14 with the visit of Belle Vue in a hotly anticipated opener.
