Wednesday, February 18, 2026
OXFORD SPEEDWAY
Oxford Speedway

REPORT: King’s Lynn too powerful for Spires

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BETGOODWIN Oxford Spires suffered a 35-55 home reserve to the King’s Lynn Stars in their televised ROWE Motor Oil Premiership encounter at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium last night (Bank Holiday Monday).

King’s Lynn have also missed out on the play-offs and will finish fifth out of seven teams in the Premiership. But they have proved the most accomplished visitors to Cowley this season. Last night’s tally of 55 came on top of scoring 53 and 52 on their previous visits.

Birmingham’s defeat in their final-ever home meeting at Perry Barr last night confirmed that Spires will finish the season in sixth place, while Brummies will finish below them with the wooden spoon.

Stars quickly took control against Spires, quickly firing into a 17-7 advantage after four races.

Rohan Tungate suffered a bizarre exclusion from Heat 3. Already at the starting tapes, he was ordered to move over by the start marshal. He did so, and moved straight back up to the tapes. But referee Seth Perkin excluded Tungate under the two-minute allowance and refused to change his decision, even after the situation was explained to him.

Oxford team manager Peter Schroeck wasted no time in introducing skipper Maciej Janowski as a tactical substitute in Heat 5 and he joined Tungate for a 5-1 to reduce the deficit to six points.

But Stars then powered back away and won the meeting with three heats to spare. Janowski produced a terrific ride to back up Charles Wright in Heat 13 and keep both Nicolai Klindt and Jan Kvech behind, as the Pole was involved in a second 5-1 to Spires.

The same pair attempted to take another 5-1 from Heat 15, but on this occasion, Janowski was pushed wide down the back straight. Wright held on to win the race and the meeting concluded with a 3-3.

Skipper Maciej Janowski top-scored for Spires with 10+1. He will ride as a wildcard in the Polish Grand Prix in his hometown of Wroclaw at the weekend.

The Pole said: “As a team, we always want to do as well as we can for the supporters. But we didn’t have a good night tonight. I did alright in the meeting, although I know that I can do better. It was nice to be involved in a couple of 5-1s.  

“We haven’t done as well as we would have liked during this season. But we have one last home meeting next week and we will do all we can do to win that for the fans.

“I’m also looking forward to riding in the Grand Prix on Saturday. I just want to have some fun in the meeting and see what I can do.”

The next action at the BetGoodwin Oxford Stadium sees Spires host Leicester Lions in the ROWE Motor Oil Premiership a week on Thursday (September 4) at 7.30pm. It is the final meeting of the season involving the Spires and they will be looking to go out on a high. Tickets are on sale on the Oxford Speedway website at: https://oxfordspeedway.club/tickets/

Oxford’s annual collection for the Speedway Riders’ Benevolent Fund last Wednesday in the meeting against Poole raised £1203.89 for the charity.

BetGoodwin Oxford Spires 35: Charles Wright 10, Mitch McDiarmid 2, Rohan Tungate 5+1, Victor Palovaara 0, Maciej Janowski 10+1, Peter Kildemand 5+1, Luke Killeen 3.

King’s Lynn Stars 55: Jan Kvech 5, Niels-Kristian Iversen 9+2, Chris Harris 7+2, Richard Lawson 12+1, Nicolai Klindt 10, Ben Cook 10+1, Luke Harrison 2.

PHOTO: Skipper Maciej Janowski and Charles Wright on a 5-1 in Heat 13 (pic: Steve Edmunds)