LEICESTER captain Max Fricke made a solid start to his 2024 UK racing schedule with third place in Monday's Peter Craven Memorial at Belle Vue.
Fricke won his first three rides in the prestige event at the National Speedway Stadium, and was the only rider to defeat eventual winner Brady Kurtz when he took the flag in a fiercely contested Heat 10.
He finished on 12 points which was enough to book an automatic place in the six-rider Final, where he finished third behind home duo Kurtz and Dan Bewley.
Fricke will now turn his focus to Thursday night and the opening ROWE Motor Oil Premiership fixture of the season for the Watling JCB Lions at home to King's Lynn (7.30pm).
PETER CRAVEN MEMORIAL, BELLE VUE
SCORES: Brady Kurtz 14, Max Fricke 12, Dan Bewley 12, Ben Cook 11, Norick Blodorn 9, Jason Doyle 9, Niels-Kristian Iversen 9, Fredrik Lindgren 8, Chris Harris 7, Jaimon Lidsey 7, Robert Lambert 7, Maciej Janowski 6, Connor Mountain 5, Connor Bailey 2, Patryk Wojdylo 2, Celina Liebmann 0.
SEMI-FINAL: Doyle, Lindgren, Cook, Iversen, Blodorn
FINAL: Kurtz, Bewley, Fricke, Lindgren, Cook, Doyle (ret)
