THREE fresh faces were handed their much-deserved first team debut for Coventry Cycle Speedway club at Leicester on Sunday.
Sam Hardie, Steve Stewart and Kyle Barlow all featured in Coventry’s 103-75 loss to the Monarchs, though team manager Lee Marsh has insisted the three lads are riders for the future.
The new trio have already injected tremendous energy into the club, with Stewart – an ex Bobsleigh athelete for Team GB – running weekly plyometric classes for some of the club’s rising stars.
Dynamic duo Barlow and Hardie, who have already developed a strong team riding relationship on track after ten years away from the sport, displayed signs of great promise on track.
The Sabres went down to their old rivals in the club’s concluding Midland League fixture, though Polish international Dominik Rycharski and British No.2 Myke Grimes starred with double figure hauls.
By the half way stage, Coventry trailed by 22 points.
Youngster Ollie Morris earned a well-deserved second place in heat ten as the fast improving skid kid became more accustomed to racing in the company of some of the sport’s Elite riders.
Other than Rycharski, Grimes and Morris, Coventry struggled to beat their powerful Leicester counter-parts, although the Dan Drewett and Joe McLaughlin pairing combined well to share heat 15.
Team manager Marsh said: “There’s no denying we have been seriously handicapped this year at senior regional level by not tracking our best side.
“However, we have managed to plug the gaps and we have been competitive, if not winning opponents, in all our matches.”
Coventry points scorers: Dominik Rycharski 16, Myke Grimes 16, Kyle Barlow 10, Steve Stewart 9, Dan Drewett 8, Ollie Morris 8, Sam Hardie 4 and Joe McLaughlin 4.
